Jesus Is Lord of the Sabbath
Mark 2
23 One Sabbath Jesus was going through the grainfields, and as his disciples walked along, they began to pick some heads of grain. 24 The Pharisees said to him, “Look, why are they doing what is unlawful on the Sabbath?”
25 He answered, “Have you never read what David did when he and his companions were hungry and in need? 26 In the days of Abiathar the high priest, he entered the house of God and ate the consecrated bread, which is lawful only for priests to eat. And he also gave some to his companions.”
27 Then he said to them, “The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath. 28 So the Son of Man is Lord even of the Sabbath.”
When I worked on a college campus, my students used to say all the time that I would "get them together" - meaning I would tell them the truth about themselves, whether they wanted to hear it or not, encourage them to do the right thing, or just set them straight.
This narrative is another example of rules overpowering the needs of the people. God designed the Sabbath so that we could come into fellowship with Him and to be mindful to keep a day, set apart, for holiness. God gave us the Sabbath because he offered us grace, love and rest. God didn't need the Sabbath. However, the Sabbath was a way to identify God's people who were in covenant relationship with Him.
We are so often caught up with what "the rules" say that we forget why the rules existed in the first place. But it was Jesus' words that should remind us that "the Son of Man is Lord even on the Sabbath" and all other days of the week. Yep, Jesus "got them together." He saw a need and set the rules aside to meet the need just as David had done previously.
God is certainly honored by us observing the Sabbath, but He is even more honored when we actually do something with it. We should always be willing to function in the spirit of service for those who are in need. Don't miss that by getting caught up in the rules.
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