Lord of the Sabbath - Joy and Freedom in the Gospel

Thesis: The gospel of Jesus radically transforms religiosity and brings joy and liberty to the lives of those who place their trust in him.

I. THE JOY OF HAVING JESUS
* Overemphasizing legalistic religious
practices leaves out joy of Christ's presence
* Jesus came to make all things new
* Psalms "blessedness" = happiness for those
who have Jesus : 16:11,32:2,34:8,40:4,84:12

II. LIBERTY IN FOLLOWING JESUS
* Pharisees added to law (Talmud)
* Pharisees created burdensome lawkeeping
* Jesus pointed to scripture for freedom
* Jesus shows real priorities and real law

CONCLUSION: God's gospel is one of mercy and grace. Jesus closes argument in passage by showing that the sabbath was made for man - grace of rest for man, not a religious duty of man for the sabbath.