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Bro. Bill Nichols
chapter 6. In fact we'll go almost to the
Sermon on the Mount and that's where we'll close for today and we'll do
Sermon on the Mount next time. So let's just read it first. And it came to pass on the second
Sabbath after the first that he went through the cornfields and his disciples plucked the ears of corn and did eat, rubbing them in their hands.
And certain of the Pharisees said unto them, Why do ye that which is not lawful to do on the
Sabbath days? And Jesus answered them, said,
Have you not read so much as this? What David did when himself was a hungered, and they which were with him?
How he went into the house of God, and did take and eat the shewbread, and gave also to them that were with him, which is not lawful to eat, but for the priest alone.
And he said unto them, That the Son of Man is Lord also of the
Sabbath. And it came to pass also on another Sabbath that he entered into the synagogue and taught.
And there was a man whose right hand was withered. And the scribes and the
Pharisees watched him, whether he would heal on the Sabbath day, that they might find any accusation against him.
But he knew their thoughts and said to the man which had the withered hand, Rise up and stand forth in the midst.
And he arose and stood forth. Then Jesus said unto him, I will ask you one thing,
Is it lawful on the Sabbath days to do good or to do evil, to save life or to destroy it?
And looking round about upon them all, he said unto the man, Stretch forth thy hand.
And he did so, and his hand was restored whole as the other. And they were filled with madness, and communed one with another what they might do to Jesus.
And it came to pass in those days that he went out into a mountain to pray. And he continued all night in prayer to God.
And when it was day, he called upon him his disciples, or unto him his disciples.
And of them he chose twelve, whom also he named apostles. Simon, whom he also named
Peter, and Andrew his brother, James and John, Philip and Ptolemy, Matthew and Thomas, James the son of Athias, and Simon called
Zelotis, and Judas the brother of James, and Judas Iscariot, which also was the traitor.
And he came down with them, and stood in the plain, and the company of his disciples, and a great multitude of people out of all of Judea and Jerusalem.
And from the seacoast of Tyre and Sidon, which came to hear him, and to be healed of their diseases.
And they that were vexed with unclean spirits, and they were healed. And the whole multitude sought to touch him, for there went virtue out of him, and healed them all.
And he lifted up his eyes on his disciples, and he said, Blessed be you poor, for yours is the kingdom of God.
That's the first 20 verses. Let's take a moment and pray. Most gracious Heavenly Father, thank you for giving us this place, and this time, where we might get together and worship you by studying your
Holy Scripture. Thank you for giving us the Holy Spirit to help us understand the
Scripture, and to point us to your Son, Jesus Christ, who gave his life to redeem us.
In Jesus' name we pray, Amen. Okay, verse 1.
And it came to pass on the second Sabbath after the first, that he went through the cornfields, and his disciples plucked the ears of corn, and did eat, rubbing them in their hands.
That doesn't sound too bad, does it? What they did, they were in the eyes of the religious leaders guilty.
Guilty of at least four things. Reaping, when they plucked the grain.
Threshing, when they rubbed them together in their hands. Blowing the chaff away, winnowing, and preparing the food to eat.
From the perspective of the Pharisees, there were four violations of the Sabbath, in each mouthful of grain.
And certain of the Pharisees said unto him, Why do ye that which is not lawful to do on the
Sabbath days? I've got a question right out of the gate. Was what they did unlawful?
No, and I've got a question for you. Okay. Did the
Jewish people make up all these laws, or were they part of them?
They were part of what God instructed them. But, they made up a bunch.
See, I knew that, but I didn't know how much. There's a little hint of everything that they blossomed out into, hidden in the laws.
There are laws. There are laws about, can you steal your neighbor's corn? No, but it's explicitly allowed for you to go through your neighbor's field and pluck enough corn, which is really wheat, to eat.
That was legal. That was set out in the law.
Deuteronomy 23 -25 tells us this, When thou comest into standing corn of thy neighbor, thou may pluckest the ears with thine hand, but thou shalt not move a sickle upon thy neighbor's standing corn.
So, yes, they could pick enough by hand to eat to satisfy their hunger.
They could even thresh it, and winnow it, and prepare it, and eat it.
That was allowed in the law. But, there were restrictions about what they could do.
The farmer could not put a sickle to his own corn on the Sabbath day, because that would be labor for the sake of a prophet.
So, the farmer couldn't harvest on the Sabbath, but a person passing through could.
That's what the law said. It was just getting enough to eat.
It was a difference between harvesting for profit and harvesting enough to eat. And that was explicitly permitted in the law, but not in the rules.
Well, there was an apartment building in Jerusalem not too long ago burned, because it happened in an
Orthodox Jewish community, and they were afraid to call the fire department, because they thought that they would be violating the
Sabbath. And so, what happened is, the apartment burned to the ground. Well, would that have been lawful?
According to the laws of God, it would have been lawful. It's better. This is what Jesus is saying.
Is it better to do good, or is it better to do evil? You do good on the Sabbath, as you do every day.
So, what was prohibited was labor for the sake of a prophet. A farmer could not harvest for profit on the
Sabbath, but an individual could glean enough grain to eat. But the Pharisees weren't really so concerned about a lawful picking of the corn.
They were concerned about the day that it was done. In fact, what the disciples did was legal, but the day they chose to do it violated not the law, but the rules of the
Sabbath that man had established, because you couldn't turn the switch on Sunday or Sabbath.
You're right, and of course, the law is inspired of God, and because it's inspired of God, it will deliver upon the intent.
It will speak to the intent, but the rules of the Sabbath were designed by men, and therefore, you're not always guaranteed that they will speak to the intent.
It wasn't necessarily a Jewish thing. They were called the blue laws.
You couldn't go to the grocery store, but you couldn't buy things in a department store.
You couldn't buy a candle, but there was a candle booth. Okay, and that was before you had to tear off lids.
I think that's absolutely perfect.
I wouldn't want to add anything to that, and would you say that again, and maybe I'll repeat it so it will get on the tape.
Okay, so if I can recall and get all of this together, what you're saying is the laws of God accurately portray the righteousness of God, and the rules of man attempt to do that, or at least attempt to show the righteousness of men.
Is that pretty close? I couldn't remember it all, but I wanted it to be able to be on the tape because a lot of things that you guys say does not appear on the tape.
It's not loud enough. Any other comments? Just like salvation.
Well, they thought that God didn't do a good enough job, didn't they?
They said, obviously God really meant for us to not do anything on the Sabbath, and Jesus answered them, and Jesus answering them said,
How he went into the house of God, and did take and eat the showbread, and gave it also to them that were with him, which is not lawful to eat, but for the priest alone.
So here David and his crew is eating the food that was set aside for only the priest to eat.
What Jesus is doing is a not so subtle rebuke, suggesting that they were accountable for their ignorance of such basic truths.
I want to read the account in Matthew, and it's going to add a little bit and explain why the
Pharisees are going to be so angry when Jesus finishes this statement.
Luke leaves out a lot of stuff. Luke leaves out in his explanation a lot of things that pertain only to the
Jews, because he's a Gentile, and he is aiming his gospel toward the
Gentile. So things pertaining mostly to the Jews would be left to the account of, say,
Matthew. Matthew 12, 3, if you want to go there. Matthew 12, beginning with verse 3.
You'll see it begins the same way. But he said unto them, Have you not read what David did when he was a hungered, and that they that were with him?
How he entered into the house of God, and did eat the showbread, which was not lawful for him to eat, neither for them which were with him, but only for the priest.
Then he goes on to say, Or have you not read in the law, how that on the
Sabbath days the priests of the temples profaned the Sabbath, and are blameless?
Because they do work on the Sabbath, don't they? But I say unto you, that in this place is one greater than the temple.
I want to read that verse again. That's the one. But I say unto you, that in this place is one greater than the temple.
He's talking about the temple not being profaned when the priest of the temple profaned the
Sabbath in the temple. But that is allowed by the law.
But he says this, I say unto you, that in this place is one greater than the temple.
Who is that one greater than the temple? Jesus. This was a straightforward claim of deity.
The Lord Jesus Christ was God incarnate. He was God dwelling in human flesh.
He was God dwelling in a structure far superior to any building. The structure was the body of Jesus Christ, far superior to just a building that God merely visited.
And then he goes on to say in the Matthew account, But if he had known what this meaneth, and then he quotes something,
I will have mercy and not sacrifice, you would not have condemned the guiltless.
He refers them to another passage, this one in the Hosea 6 .6. And he says,
If you had understood what this said, you would not have been so concerned about your rules and you'd been more concerned about the
Word of God. You'd be knowledgeable about the Word of God. Here's what he's referring to. In Hosea 6 .6
it says, For I desired mercy and not sacrifice, and the knowledge of God more than burnt offerings.
So what does he desire? He desires mercy and the knowledge of God. What does he not desire?
Burnt offerings and sacrifices. What he's saying is this, had you been more concerned with the knowledge of God, rather than the knowledge of your rules, for the
Sabbath, you would not have condemned my disciples. Now one of the commentaries
I looked at gave me this quote from a fellow by the name of Barclay. I couldn't help but put this in.
It is possible, this is his quote, it is possible to read the Scriptures meticulously, to know the
Bible inside out, from cover to cover, and pass any examination on it, and yet completely miss its real meaning.
I want to read that again. It is possible to read the Scriptures meticulously, to know the
Bible inside out, from cover to cover, and be able to quote it verbatim, and to pass any exam on it, and yet completely miss its real meaning.
That's what these Pharisees were. These Pharisees knew the Scripture inside out.
They could quote it verbatim, but they didn't understand its real meaning. We have that going on in a lot of seminaries at this particular time.
And it never will. It is always going to be the redemption provided totally from Christ.
It's never going to be what you do. And then he adds fuel to the fire.
I mean you would think that Jesus being all -wise would not throw fuel on the fire, unless he wants the fire to rage.
And he said to them, that the Son of Man is Lord also of the
Sabbath. They're already mad at him.
That'll make them madder. Christ has the prerogative to rule over not only their man -made rules for the
Sabbath, but also over the Sabbath itself, which was designed for worshiping
God. Again, this was an inescapable claim of deity.
And as such, it promoted the Pharisees' violent outrage, which we will see when we get to verse 11.
Verse 6, And it came to pass also on another Sabbath, that he entered into the synagogue and taught, and there was a man whose right hand was withered.
Okay, another Sabbath, another test. But John, who's being tested? They think they're testing
Jesus, and Jesus is really testing them. And the scribes and the
Pharisees watched him. They're testing him, whether he would heal on the
Sabbath day, that they might find an accusation against him. They thought they were testing
Jesus, but in actuality, Jesus was testing them. But he knew their thoughts.
And he said to the man which had the withered hand, Raise up and stand forth in the midst. And he rose and stood forth.
He told that guy with withered hand, Don't just stand there and be healed. Get up, stand up, call a kitchen to yourself, make everybody see you, stand forth so that everybody sees you.
Jesus was making certain that all of the scribes and all the Pharisees would see what he is about to do.
And then Jesus said unto them, I will ask you one thing, Is it lawful on the
Sabbath days to do good or to do evil, to save a life or destroy it?
Now who's he speaking to? Who's he asking this question of? Well, in this case, he's actually talking to the group.
In just a second, he's going to speak directly to the man with the withered hand. Yeah, so he's addressing this question to the group.
Is it lawful on the Sabbath day to do good or to do evil, to save life or destroy life?
What is it? And looking round about upon them all, he said unto the man,
Stretch forth thy hand. And he did so, and his hand was restored whole as the other.
Now, to whom is that command given? That's just to the man.
Stretch forth your hand. He could have refused to do that, and I suspect had he refused to do that.
You say he couldn't have refused? Okay. I think you're right, and I'm not even going to argue with that, but I am going to say it.
Had he not stretched forth his hand, would his hand have been withered? I'm sorry, healed.
The answer would have been no, but he had no real choice. He had to stretch out his hand, and his hand was healed.
That's why he was in the crowd to start with. I don't know that, but he knew enough to do what he was told to do.
He trusted him, and he had seen a lot of healing going on. This wasn't the first of the healings that Jesus had done.
Okay, so what about the Pharisees and the scribes? They were filled with madness, and communed one with another what they might do to Jesus.
Okay, they failed the test. They were filled with rage, the rage that we mentioned earlier.
Okay, verse 12, "...and it came to pass in those days that he went out into a mountain to pray, and he continued all night in prayer to God."
Was it unusual for him to pray? Was it unusual for Jesus to pray? Was it unusual for Jesus to pray?
Was it unusual for him to pray all night? Well, maybe not,
I don't know, but this appears to be a special case, because it mentioned the fact that he prayed all night.
He didn't pray a long time. He prayed all night. Jesus is preparing to make a decision.
He's preparing to make a decision that he knows will have lasting ramifications. So he lays out a model for us to follow when we're faced with the decision.
Has anybody in here ever faced a decision? Everybody has.
What do you do? Well, that's like the 12th thing
I do. Eventually, I get around to it.
That's a Texan word. We have a couple of visitors in here. I'm not sure who you are, but I don't know whether you're
Texan or not, but we have a thing here called around to it, and when we get around to it, we'll do it.
Well, when we have to, we'll have around to it. Jesus is preparing to make a decision that he knows will have lasting ramifications.
So he lays out a model for us to follow when we're faced with the decision, and Mrs. Mitchell was right.
Go to the Lord in prayer. That's the first thing we should do. That's the first thing he did, not the 12th thing.
Do it the first thing, and you'll skip all the 11 steps that were counterproductive or not productive.
And when it was day, he called unto him his disciples. How many disciples do you think he had?
Well, I know he had at least 70. At least because in chapter 11, he's going to send 70 out in pairs of two.
He called unto him his disciples, and of them, of the disciples that he called out, he chose 12.
That's what you're thinking about, whom also he named the apostles, and now he names them.
This is my next thing. Something to remember, Christ had many disciples. In fact, at one point, he sends 70 disciples out in pairs to proclaim the gospel.
That was in Luke 10. I think I said 11. Luke 10, verse 1, and after these things, the
Lord appointed other 70 also, and sent them two and two before his face into every city and place where he himself would come.
So he's sending them out ahead of him. Therefore, said he unto them, the harvest is truly great, but the laborers are few.
Pray ye, therefore, the Lord of the harvest, that he would send forth laborers into his harvest. Go your way.
Behold, I send you forth as lambs among wolves. Carry neither purse nor script nor shoes, and salute no man by the way.
And into whatsoever house you enter, first say, Peace be upon this house, and if the
Son of Peace be there, your peace shall rest upon it, and if not, it shall turn again to you.
And in the same house remain eating and drinking such things as they give, for the laborer is worthy of his hire.
Go not from house to house, and into whatsoever city you enter, and they receive you, each set things as are set before you, and heal the sick that are therein, and say unto them,
The kingdom of God has come nigh unto you. But into whatsoever city you enter, and they receive you not, go your way.
Out into the streets of the same, and say, Even the very dust of your city which cleave upon us, we do wipe off against you.
Notwithstanding, be you sure of this, that the kingdom of God is come nigh unto you. But I say unto you, that it should be more tolerable in that day for Sodom than for that city.
Woe unto thee, Chorazin! Woe unto thee, Bethsaida! For if the mighty things, the mighty works, had been done in Tyre and Sidon, which have been done in you, they had a great while ago repented, sitting in sackcloth and ashes.
But it should be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon at the judgment than for you. And thou,
Capernaum, which art exalted to heaven, shalt be cast down to hell.
And he that heareth you, heareth me. And he that despiseth you, despiseth me. And he that despiseth me, despiseth him that sent me.
That's the occasion where he sent out 70. There was an earlier occasion when he sent out the 12.
And there is this occasion when he actually chose the 12. The ones specifically commissioned as apostles with special authority to deliver his message on his behalf.
And here they are. Simon, he also named Peter, and Andrew his brother,
James and John, Philip and Bartholomew, Matthew and Thomas, James the son of Alphaeus, and Simon called
Zealotus, and Judas the brother of James, and Judas Iscariot, which also was the traitor.
Now I've got a question. Do you think at this time Jesus knew that Judas Iscariot was to be the traitor?
And that's one of the reasons he prayed all night. I think.
And he came down with them and stood in the plain. And the company of his disciples and a great multitude of people out of all
Judea and Jerusalem and from the seacoast of Tyre and Sidon, which had come to hear him and to be healed of their diseases.
Okay, so who's with him on the plateau? The 12 apostles. All of the remaining disciples who were not chosen to be apostles.
A whole multitude of people coming to be healed. And some to be healed and some to hear.
Verse 18. And they were vexed, and they that were vexed with unclean spirits, and they were healed.
So not only did he heal the sick, he cast out devils. And the whole multitude sought to touch him, for there went virtue out of him, and healed them all.
So everybody that comes in contact with him is healed. Just to touch him was enough to be healed.
Verse 20. And he lifted up his eyes on his disciples and he said,
Blessed be ye poor, for yours is the kingdom of God. Now John MacArthur says this about that passage.
He calls it the Sermon on the Plateau. It's similar, he says, the similarity to the
Sermon on the Mount is remarkable. It is possible, of course, that Jesus simply preached the same sermon on more than one occasion.
It appears more likely, however, that these are variant accounts of the same event. Luke's version is abbreviated somewhat because he omits sections from the sermon that are uniquely
Jewish. Particularly Christ's exposition of the law.
Aside from that, the two sermons follow exactly the same flow of thought, beginning with Beatitudes and ending with a parable about building on the rock.
The difference in the wording between the two accounts are undoubtedly owing to the fact that the sermon was originally delivered in Aramaic.
Luke and Matthew translate the Greek with slight variances. Of course, both translations are equally inspired and authoritative.
Now, at this point, I'd like to add a comment of my own. Over the past couple of months,
Brother David has come back and forth many times to his belief and my belief,
I'm not going to quibble with him on this, that John 3 .16 might be or is the most misunderstood verse in the
Bible. And that's due primarily to the fact that it is taken out of context.
It's taken out of context so often in an attempt to force it to support the claim that Jesus died for every man, woman, and child that ever lived.
Were that the case, then every man, woman, and child that ever lived would be saved.
If Jesus died for every man, woman, and child, every man, woman, and child would be saved.
But we know this, Matthew 7 .13, Enter ye at the straight gate, for wide is the gate, and broad is the way that leadeth to destruction.
And many there be which go in thereat. Because straight is the gate, and narrow is the way that leadeth to life, and few there be that find it.
Many go in at the way that leads to destruction, and few go in to the way that leads to life.
That's what that says. It says, more not saved than saved.
Now while I'm in agreement with Brother David that John 3 .16 might very well be the most misunderstood verse in the
Bible, I would like to propose a candidate for the most misunderstood passage in the
Bible. And that would be the Sermon on the Mount, or the
Sermon on the Plateau. We're going to begin that next week.
But what I want to do this week, God willing, but what we're going to do this week is conclude with a few things it's not teaching.
It's not teaching that being poor is good. A lot of people think that's so.
They think it's better to be poor than to be rich. It's not teaching that being rich is bad.
It's not teaching that being hungry is good. It's not teaching that not being hungry is bad.
It's not teaching that crying is good. And it's not teaching that laughing is bad.
It's not teaching that ignoring evil is good. And that judging evil is bad.
Those are some of the things that people misapply these two sermons on.
Or this one sermon, the Sermon on the Mount. And they read it to say it's better to be poor than it is to be rich.
It's better to be sick than it is to be healthy. It's better to not judge than to judge.
It's better to mourn than to laugh. It's not teaching any of that. What I'd like for you to do sometime between this week and next is to read
Matthew 5 verse 1 all the way through chapter 7.
It'll be three chapters. Three chapters in Matthew deal with the Sermon on the
Mount and the parables that follow. And then Luke 6 verse 20 through 49.
That's what we will exactly cover next time. And you notice how much briefer that account is.
Any other questions or comments? Most gracious Heavenly Father, thank
You for this day and thank You for giving us Your Son. Who came into this world for one thing.
To glorify You. And in glorifying You, He did several other things.
Not the least of which is He provided a way. A narrow way through a straight gate.
That will lead us to Him. To be redeemed by Him. And to live with Him forever in the place that He has gone to prepare for us.
Go through the rest of the service today. Be with us. Lead Brother David to deliver to us the message that you want him to deliver.
And each of us hear the message that we need to hear. We ask these things in the name of Jesus Christ.