Mark 2:23-28

Mark 2:23-28 One Sabbath Jesus was going through the grainfields, and as his disciples walked along, they began to pick some heads of grain. The Pharisees said to him, “Look, why are they doing what is unlawful on the Sabbath?” He answered, “Have you never read what David did when he and his companions were hungry and in need? 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.” Then he said to them, “The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath. So the Son of Man is Lord even of the Sabbath.”

“The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath." The Sabbath was made for man's benefit, not man for the Sabbath's benefit. The Sabbath was one day of the week when men would cease from their work and play to meditate on the Lord, to remember his great works. This was a day consecrated to God. This was a day when the children of Israel considered the benefits of being God's chosen people, a day set apart for God just as they the children of Israel had been set apart for him. Therefore dishonoring the Sabbath was to dishonor their special position with God, their chosen people heritage. One reason David could break the Sabbath without the wrath of God being expelled on him was that the “The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath." Mankind would benefit from the loins of David, for Jesus Christ would come from his lineage. Therefore, he was in the will of God when he broke the Sabbath, for Jesus is the Lord of the Sabbath because He is the great benefactor of humanity. Jesus Christ brought God to man. The Lord of the Sabbath came to man. No longer would man just have a special day to honor God and to experience his presence, for they would be privileged to have his presence every day. No longer would they have to quit their activities to remember God, for his Spirit would abide in them every day.

We Christians have literally quit working to please God, for the Lord of the Sabbath, the day of rest, has come down to us to display God's mercy and grace. Those who place their faith in Jesus Christ and HIS WORKS are now in a place of righteousness, holiness, for we are literally in him. He is in our hearts, and we are in him. Jesus said to them, “I tell you the truth, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you. Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day. For my flesh is real food and my blood is real drink. Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me, and I in him. Just as the living Father sent me and I live because of the Father, so the one who feeds on me will live because of me. This is the bread that came down from heaven. Your forefathers ate manna and died, but he who feeds on this bread will live forever.” (John 6:53-58) The Law and its fulfillment has been written in our hearts in the form of Jesus Christ. We now serve God by resting in the work of the cross where mercy and grace flowed down to us. The Lord of the Sabbath, the Lord of Rest, the Lord of Honoring God, the Lord of Worshipping, the Lord of Peace has come down to man in the form of Jesus Christ. We no longer please God by merely not working on one day, but we please him by accepting his Son as our Rest, by communing with him on a daily basis, and by allowing the Spirit of God to change us. We have been set free from the rules and regulations of the Law and are no longer tethered to its restrictions. Since we have been set free by the Holy One who is free inside us, He alone makes us totally righteous, He alone makes us appealing to God, He alone makes us Children of the Most High. PRAISE HIS NAME FOREVERMORE!