Lords of the Sabbath!?

Reflecting on Mark 2:23-28

“So the Son of Man is Lord even of the Sabbath.” (Mark 2:28)
As a Jesus follower, I believe that Jesus is ‘God with us as a full human’.
“In Christ all the fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form.” (Colossians 2:9)
As a human, Jesus is a son of Adam, just as His mother was a daughter of Eve.
Just as we are all sons of Adam and daughters of Eve.
The name Adam literally means ‘human’ or ‘man’ (as in mankind).

This is important, because it help us understand the phrase ‘Son of Man’.
Jesus was not just a ‘son of man’ like us, for He was like God.
We are fallen sons and daughters, but He retained the fullness of God.
Jesus was “tempted in every way, just as we are — yet he did not sin.” (Hebrews 4:15)
In this regard, Jesus succeeds where the first humans failed.
The serpent attacked Jesus, but Jesus crushes the serpent.

“I will put enmity between you (the serpent) and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; he will crush your head, and you will strike his heel.” (Genesis 3:15)

This is the background we miss when we read that Jesus is the Son of Man.
He is the promised serpent-crusher, the promised Messiah who beats sin.
He is Adam before the fall, and in this sense He is the “Son of God”.
As Luke says it, Jesus was “the son of Adam, the son of God.” (Luke 3:38)
Jesus was in God’s own image, in God’s own likeness (Genesis 1:26-27).
He is the way Adam, and Eve, and all humans, were supposed to be.

All this brings us to the Sabbath, which is how the creation story ends.
All that God makes, and the final ‘very good’ result, was for Adam and Eve.
The completed project of creation was God’s gracious gift.
Humans were free to enjoy it in a God-like way, with love, joy, peace, etc.
The act of creation was done, they were now living in the seventh day.
They were lords (rulers) of the Sabbath, to use it for good.

Jesus does not come to restore the Moses Sabbath, but the Creation Sabbath.
Jesus reclaims Adam’s throne by refusing Satan and sin, and doing good.
With Jesus every day is Sabbath, a gift day to live and love and serve with God.
In Jesus we are restored as lords of Sabbath, to use each day in a God-like way.
We are not under the Moses Sabbath, we find our rest in Jesus (Matthew 10:28).
This will involve both work and rest, a healthy balance for us and others.

As I see it, every day is a day for love and good deeds.
Every day is a day to enjoy God and God’s family, and God’s creation.
Every day for us is like the ‘seventh day’.
We are free to take one day in seven as a more formal ‘rest day’.
But we are not bound to this or that day, or this or that time.
We embrace rest alongside of work because we want to, not because we have to.
And if a situation arises to help others during our rest time, we are glad to!
For what drives us is not law but love… like God, like Jesus.

I am learning how to balance work and rest, and I do not always get it right.
Sometimes Jesus compels me to slow down, to be still with Him.
Other times He calls me to arise from rest to help this or that person.
I am the Lord of my Sabbath too, free to enjoy God’s gift of life and time.
But I am led by the Spirit to use this freedom to love and serve others.
For this is how Adam and Eve were created, and how Jesus perfectly lived.
Jesus invites us to rest and work with Him in His yoke, as Lords of the Sabbath.

PRAYER
Lord Jesus, You are the fullness of life, of resting and working as God intended. You are the Lord of the Sabbath, living and loving like God.

Help me to better balance work and rest for the sake of my own soul, but also for the sake of others. May people experience Your peace in me as I live and love and work and rest each day. Help me to use my time in a healthy, God-like way. And help me to learn to relax more, and share the load (yoke) with You.