A sermon on Luke 14:1-11 for the Seventeenth Sunday after Trinity. Delivered by Pastor Caleb Strutz.

One of the most exhausting places to be in is the hospital. And it’s really ironic that that’s the case. Because with all of the medical problems going on they want you to get rest and get better, but that’s so difficult. Medical issues aside, the bed is uncomfy and there’s all this beeping from the machines and as soon as you manage to fall asleep then a nurse comes in to check on you or there’s another test that needs to be done. A hospital should be a place of rest to get better, but even though you’re just laid up in a bed all day, real rest is hard to come by.

Throughout His ministry, Jesus addresses various points of debate that existed in the religious world at that time. One of the big ones that keeps getting revisited is the question of the Sabbath, the God-given day of rest. Although Jesus’ opponents confused rest with not working and made a bunch of rules to govern that, Jesus shows us what the Sabbath is all about and He restores us to a true state of rest.

I. Work-Free Sabbath

Now before we get to the ways that the Pharisees mucked it up, it’s important to reiterate that the Sabbath was a good thing given by God.

When God creates the world and everything in it, He works for six days and rests on the seventh. It’s not that God is tired or needed to take a break, but in the very act of creation, He sets the model and rhythm for our work and shows the proper role of rest.

The Sabbath is a good thing. Rest is a good thing. But as sinful man always does, this good gift of God was taken and distorted into something it was never meant to be.

By Jesus’ time, the Jewish oral law had developed a strict set of rules surrounding the Sabbath. They had 39 classifications of prohibited activity governing even the minutia of everyday life with prohibitions on sewing, cleaning, and even lighting lamps. But this debate was also ongoing. When would moving an object be considered work? Could you move a ladder a few inches or a few feet? How far could you walk before it became “work”?

It’s easy to see how making sure that you’re following all of these rules would be more work than just trying to have a relaxing day. They confused rest with not working so they made a bunch of laws to make sure you weren’t working while entirely missing the point of what rest is supposed to be all about.

The Pharisees are sucking Jesus in to these ongoing religious debates and trying to prove him wrong. This has been a point of conflict before and Jesus has made His position clear. But they can’t just let go of it. They invite Him to a Sabbath meal to keep eyes on Him, to watch Him and see where He messes up. But they don’t understand what the Sabbath’s about. They don’t understand rest.

Now, maybe I’m projecting as a father of three little children, but I think rest is still something that we struggle with today.

Our technologically advanced society promotes productivity and efficiency, to the point where down time is seen as wasted time. It’s not enough to work a full-time job anymore, you gotta have a side hustle, too. You always have to be working. And if you’re not working, well, are you really doing anything meaningful? It’s no wonder that retired people often struggle with a sense of identity or purpose when we’ve placed all the emphasis of life into work.

And that mindset has warped our view of rest. Just like the Pharisees, we confuse not working with rest. But that’s not the case, is it? It’s so easy to do nothing, to lay on the couch and watch TV or scroll on your phone, but that’s not restful. When you get up you’re even more exhausted than when you began. True rest isn’t just laziness. But how often do we confuse the two?

Another important part of the Sabbath day was the spiritual aspect. This day of rest was meant to provide an opportunity to study God’s Word and find rest there. Now, there’s some important distinctions between the Sabbath day then and our worship today that we’ll make later, but for now it’s worth considering how we view our religious practices through this lens of work and rest.

Do you come to church because you get to, because you want to, because it’s rest? Or do you come because you have to, because there’s this sense of responsibility, because it’s work? Is reading your Bible a moment of rest in your day or is it just another item on the checklist because you have to be productive? Is the Lord’s Supper something refreshing and restoring or is it an inefficient waste of your time because it adds a whole fifteen minutes to the service?

Our sense of work and rest is distorted to the point where we don’t appreciate them both as gifts from God. And even our spiritual life is corrupted by this mindset. We’re exhausted, we need rest, true rest, but we’re hopeless trying to find it or define it on our own.

II. True Rest in Christ

Jesus powerfully shows the Pharisees and us what the Sabbath is all about. They’re trying to trip Jesus up, but when He asks them a question, they’re speechless. They knew Jesus’ position, they should have had their arguments prepared, but they know that no matter what they say, Jesus is going to put them in their place.

“Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath?” On the inside, they’re screaming, “No! That’s work!” But that’s really missing the point. The Sabbath isn’t about work. It’s about rest.

So there’s this man with dropsy, a medical condition known today as edema, where fluid is retained in the body and causes really severe, disfiguring swelling. We don’t know who this guy is or why he’s here or how he got here, but that’s not important. Jesus powerfully demonstrates His answer to that question by healing the man.

And by their own logic, Jesus is in the right! If a donkey or an ox falls into a pit, yeah, you’re gonna save it. So why shouldn’t He rescue this man on the Sabbath? “[T]hey could not answer Him regarding these things.” They’re fumbling for an answer, but, honestly, what are they going to say? “No, Jesus, you shouldn’t have healed that guy?” They’re speechless. Because Jesus is showing them what the Sabbath is all about. And as the Lord of the Sabbath, Jesus’ mission is to bring all men to rest in Him.

This concern for true rest permeates Jesus’ ministry. Not just when He confronts the Pharisees about the Sabbath. But Jesus’ whole purpose is rest. There’s so many things that plague us. So many things that rob us of our peace. But Jesus comes to rescue us and to give us rest.

Jesus was there when God made the heavens and the earth. He knows what the Sabbath is about. And He comes to restore us to that paradise, to give us rest for our souls.

By His death on the cross, Jesus suffered all the evil of this world. He put in the work of our salvation, so that He could cry out, “It is finished!” Work’s over. Sins forgiven. Then Jesus rested in the tomb on the Sabbath. Not because He was tired. But because the work was done.

For all six of the days of creation in Genesis 1, each day ends. “And there was evening and there was morning, the first day,” and so on (Gen 1:5). But the Sabbath day doesn’t end. There’s no evening or morning, but that rest continues.

So Jesus rose from the dead on Sunday. Not the first day of the week, not another day of work, but the eighth day of creation. The continuation of that rest. By His resurrection, Jesus draws us into this new creation. We don’t just have one day a week for rest, but as Christians, our entire life is a life of rest. Jesus has rescued and delivered you from all of your enemies, from everything that would rob you of your peace, so that you have eternal rest in Him.

That’s what Jesus is all about: rest. Not just the lack of work, but true rest, refreshing rest, the peace that we receive because we know that our sins are forgiven and we are right with God. This is the true Sabbath into which the Lord of the Sabbath invites us.

Now, how we view and treat the Sabbath day and the Third Commandment is a potentially tricky issue and one that has messed up every confirmation class that I’ve been in or taught.

The Third Commandment, “You shall keep the day of rest holy,” isn’t about having one particular day set aside for worship and rest. There’s a common misconception that we still have the Sabbath day but now it’s just on Sunday instead of Saturday. But that’s not what it’s about.

The Sabbath day is about rest. And in Jesus we don’t just have rest one day out of the week, but every day of our lives. The Sabbath day is, for us, a never-ending day, this eighth day of the new creation, into which Jesus, by His resurrection, brings us into eternal rest.

And the Third Commandment is about how God gives that rest to us. That’s something that we get chiefly here on Sunday, but it doesn’t stay contained to one day. We need that rest every day of our lives, so we receive God through His Word and turn to Him in prayer every single day. The Sabbath isn’t just about Sunday. It’s about our lives of rest in Jesus.

When Brianna and I were looking for places to cater our wedding reception, we ended up doing a taste test at a local Mexican restaurant. And before we even got into the place, we knew we liked it, because on the front door, next to their hours, was a sign that said, “We are closed on Sundays to allow our employees to worship with their families. Thank you for understanding.” And we just thought, “This is a good place.” Not that restaurants being closed on Sunday is a divine ordinance, but finding rest in Jesus, coming here to receive that rest in Word and Sacrament, is the most important thing. Amid the business and exhaustion of this world, Jesus offers you true rest in Him. Amen.