Companionship is what makes every journey enjoyable. Today, we continue our journey with Jesus. Join Scott Paulin as we make brief stops in the Gospel according to Mark. We trust you will enjoy the journey. Isn't it amazing how one question often leads to another question? Well, that's what you find in Mark chapter 2, a chain of questions. And they're coming from the Pharisees to the Lord Jesus Christ, and they're not really looking for information. No, they're looking for something that they can accuse him of. They have asked him already why he was willing to eat with publicans and sinners. Aren't you glad Jesus came and loved sinners? Then they want to ask him why his disciples weren't fasting like they were, and so he has to answer that question. And then you come to the final question. The Bible says in verse 23 of Mark 2, And it came to pass that he went through the cornfields on the sabbath day. And his disciples began, as they went, to pluck the ears of corn. And the Pharisees said unto him, Behold, why do they on the sabbath day that which is not lawful? And he said unto them, Have you never read what David did when he had need, and was unhungered, he and they that were with him? How he went into the house of God in the days of Abiathar the high priest, and did eat the shewbread, which is not lawful to eat, but for the priest, and gave also to them which were with him. And he said unto them, The Sabbath was made for man, and not man for the Sabbath. Therefore the Son of Man is Lord also of the Sabbath." So they ask another question. This question relates to the Sabbath day. The Sabbath, of course, was instituted actually even before the law. You remember way back at the beginning of the creation, on the seventh day God sanctified it and on that day God rested. That's a beautiful truth, because actually that was Adam's first full day on earth. Remember, man was made on the sixth day of creation. And so, instead of God saying, now get busy and get to work, God says, now your first full day on earth is going to be a rest day, and you're going to rest with me. And then out of that Sabbath rest, you're going to go to your work. That's the opposite of the way we operate, isn't it? We run until we have to drop and have to rest. But instead, God says, no, you should begin with rest. You should begin with Me, and then out of the overflow of the strength that I'll give you, you'll be able to do the work I've given you to do. We don't celebrate the seventh day for the New Testament Christians. New Testament believers began meeting and honoring the first day of the week, Sunday, and we refer to it as the Lord's Day. John even talks in the Revelation about being in the Spirit on the Lord's Day. In a very real sense, every day is a Lord's Day, but Sunday, the first day of the week, is the Lord's Day because it's the day that Jesus Christ rose from the dead and we celebrate a risen Savior. Now having said all of that, the point of the passage is the Pharisees wanted to know why these disciples were plucking ears of corn to eat on the Sabbath. You see, not only were they following what God intended as far as Sabbath rest, but the Pharisees went beyond that. Be very careful when people go beyond Scripture. They went beyond that to the point of adding things to the observance of the Sabbath and making sure that nothing was done that they didn't think should be done. I have to say, I think eating should be done. And this is a matter of necessity. They're walking through the fields. They're hungry. They pluck ears of corn and begin to eat. And so the Pharisees jump on that. Why do they on the Sabbath day that which is not lawful? And I love Jesus' response. He said unto them, Have you never read? Now, would you please don't miss the humor in this. Because he's speaking to Pharisees and scribes who were the religious teachers and leaders of their day. They were the most well-educated people in society. They knew the Old Testament Scriptures better than anybody. As a matter of fact, that's really how they promoted themselves as the interpreters of the Old Testament. And Jesus basically pokes them in the eye and asks them, have you never read the Old Testament? Have you never read the Scriptures? And he uses the illustration of David. David and his men who go into the house of God in the days of Abiathar the high priest, and they ate the showbread. Now that was not lawful. Only the priests could eat the showbread, and yet they ate it. Why? Because God provided for their necessity on that day in a unique way. And so Jesus uses that illustration and then says to him, you've missed the point. The Sabbath was made for man and not man for the Sabbath. This is profound. And what is the whole point of the line of questioning? Well, you'll remember in the first question, the Pharisees revealed that they thought more of themselves than they did of others. In the second question, they revealed that they thought more of the external than they did the internal. And in this question, they revealed that they were thinking more about the what than the why. You know, in our Christian living, it's so easy to begin doing all of the right things, and doing the things we think are right, without giving much thought to why we're doing them. You see, motive matters, and God's divine purpose must always be realized. Otherwise, we're simply going through the motions. The Apostle Paul warns about those who have a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof. He says, from such, turn away. Let's get away from this spirit as quickly as we can. We have reduced so much of our following of Jesus Christ to a list of things that we do and do not do. And for the record, I believe in the commandments of God, and I believe in the negative ones as surely as the positive. I believe in the thou shalt nots. They're in Scripture. But I want to remind you that God has a purpose for all of this. You know, even with our children and teaching the next generation, sometimes we take the shortcut and we say, do this. Do it because I say to. Do it because it's right. With very little explanation as to why we're doing what we're doing. Why do we celebrate the Lord's Day? Why do we love the Word of God? Why do we pray as we do? Why do we desire to live holy lives? You see, if you'll get the why right, you'll have the what in place. You'll do the right thing. And not only will you do the right thing, you'll do it from your heart. And not only will you do it from your heart, you'll do it in a way that truly pleases God. If we back all the way up to where this series of questions started, could I remind you it began when Jesus said to a man, follow me. and a group of people began to be followers of Jesus Christ. You see, the problem with the Pharisees is that they were following rules, but they weren't following Jesus. They were following laws, but they weren't following God. You see, if we're not careful, we are doing all of the right things, but we're not doing them for the right reason. Do you know the thing that has most convicted me, as I've studied through Mark chapter two, is that I often have the spirit of a Pharisee. You know, the hardest thing to do, the hardest thing to do, is to spot the Pharisee in me. I can spot Phariseeism in other people. And even in church work sometimes we spot something and we say, that's Pharisaical. But wait a minute, here's the real secret, here's the real truth. There's a little bit of Pharisee in every one of us. Because at times we all think more of ourselves than we do of others. We think more of the external, what men see, than of the internal. And we think more about what we're doing than why we're doing it. And we think that simply because we're doing all the right things, we're pleasing God. Mark chapter 2 ends with a short little verse, a statement by the Lord Jesus in verse 28. He simply says, therefore, the Son of Man is Lord also of the Sabbath. It all ends with Jesus. It all leads us to Jesus Christ. May I say all the questions stop with Him. He is the answer. He doesn't give the answers. He is the answer. When you come to recognize Jesus Christ for who He is, the Son of Man, the Lord of Sabbath, and you yield to Him and say, Lord, be Lord of me, that answers all the other questions. Recently a man came to me at the end of a meeting where I had preached on Christ and he said, I intended to ask you several questions after the service tonight, but as you preached on Jesus, God answered all my questions. Can I tell you, the questions end with Jesus. Oh my friend, would you work today not to have the spirit of a Pharisee, but to be a sincere follower of Jesus Christ. Thank you for traveling with us through God's Word. We would love to hear from you and share additional resources for enjoying the journey. Visit us online at scottpauley.org. May God bless you as you walk with Christ today.