THE STORY OF JESUS: Mark 2:23-28
“The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath.” (Mark 2:27)
The Sabbath day was a prescribed day of rest in the Moses Law.
In order to protect the Sabbath Law, the religious leaders had added laws over the years.
If harvesting your crops was work, then plucking grain was kind of like harvesting.
There were MANY such added laws, to guard the Sabbath Law (and the other Laws).
Jesus’s response is essentially that peoples’ well-being matters more than the Law.
For example, when David was hungry while on the run from Saul, he ate the temple bread.
The Law did not need to be protected, people do… and that is the purpose of the Law.
The Sabbath was intended as a gift, to protect people from being overworked.
Jesus then adds a zinger: “So the Son of Man is Lord even of the Sabbath.” (Mark 2:28)
The Son of Man – the promised ‘offspring’ (Genesis 3:15) – has authority over the Sabbath Law.
Think back to Genesis 1:26-28, when Adam and Eve were put in charge of creation.
They were also lords of the Sabbath, and enjoyed it as a gift from God.
Through sin they lost their authority and freedom, and God’s Laws became their accusers.
Jesus crushes the serpent, reverses the curse, and restores God’s order.
By faith in Jesus, we are restored, seated with Christ in the highest place (Ephesians 2:6).
As a result, the Law no longer accuses us, but serves us, blesses us, helps us.
To see God’s Laws as gifts, not burdensome rules, makes all the difference.
How can I use God’s gift of rest to bless others, not oppress others?
Sadly, Christians are often not known for blessing others with God’s will.
Like the Pharisees, we accuse, we judge, we point the finger, we ‘throw the book at them’.
This is NOT why God has restored us as His children, and not how we are to follow Jesus.
Like Jesus, we are here to serve and bless the world, not to condemn it.
And God’s Laws give us ways to do this.
What do you sense the Lord saying to you?
PRAYER
Lord, help me to see Your moral code as a way to bless, not a way to oppress. May the gift of rest that I experience in you help others experience it too.
Observations/Application
It seems that what the disciples did was OK as long as it was not on the Sabbath. The Pharisees were out to ‘get’ Jesus. However, Jesus once again used God’s Word to confront the nitpickers. They had many rules and rituals to make themselves look holier than those around them. Yet Jesus reminds them that the Sabbath was made for man. Working seven days makes one week. A day of rest is needed. God set the example yet He really didn’t need that rest. Man does. But that rest does not have to be ritualistic – do this and live. Do that and you die. Yet man has made many rules for the Sabbath over the years. Man rules vs God rules. Where is God in all the man rules? The law becomes the focus and not the grace of God. God gives His people rest.
1. God gives His people strength.
If we believe in His way, He’s swift to repay
All those who bear the burden of the day
God gives His people strength.
2. God gives His people hope
If we but trust in His word, our prayers are always heard
He warmly welcomes anyone who’s erred.
God gives His people hope.
3. God gives His people love
If we but open wide our hearts, He’s sure to do His part
He’s always the first to make a start.
God gives His people love.
4. God gives His people peace.
When sorrow fills us to the brim, and courage grows dim
He lays to rest our restlessness in Him.
God gives His people peace.