Jesus, Lord of the Sabbath

By:  Dale Weckbacher

Mark 2:27-28

Then he told them, “The Sabbath was made for^[a] man and not man for the Sabbath. ²⁸ So then, the Son of Man is Lord even of the Sabbath.”

(CSB)

During the week of creation, God rested on the seventh day declaring it holy (Genesis 2:1-3).  While God is tireless and needs no rest, He was setting an example for humanity to follow.  Helen Meldrum, EdD, studied strategies by successful surgeons with the purpose of finding a strategy for avoiding burnout.  (1)  The study documented strategies involving exploration of personal values and choices, setting limits, time with family and friends, nutrition and exercise, having a healthy outlook on life, and a supportive partner.  However, the study also discovered that true, deep renewal involves time for vacations, travel, and family-life.  While the study is secular, it shows that God’s establishment of the Sabbath as a time of rest has both biblical and scientific support.

The Pharisees in Mark 2:23-28 were not interested in Jesus and His disciple’s health and avoidance of burnout but took the opportunity of the Sabbath to accuse Jesus.  However, Jesus takes the opportunity of their accusation to teach them the true purpose of the Sabbath and who He is. In this passage we learn that,

1)      Gleaning of fields by those on a journey is legal according to Levitical law (Leviticus 23:22) – There is no mention in this passage forbidding gleaning of the fields during the Sabbath.  However, the law of the Sabbath does forbid doing any work leading to the assumption of forbidding gleaning of fields on the Sabbath (Exodus 20:10).  However, Jesus as God, Messiah, and Lord of the Sabbath has authority to allow gleaning of the fields by his hungry Disciples.  Therefore, the Pharisee’s questioning of Jesus allowing the gleaning of the fields by His disciples is more a question of Jesus’ authority then violation of Levitical law.  The Sabbath remained Holy for God Himself allowed the gleaning of the fields on the Sabbath. 

2)      The priest allows David to eat the consecrated bread (1 Samuel 21:1-6) – David, the anointed future King of Israel is fleeing Saul and needs food.  He asks Ahimelech the priest at Nob for five loafs of bread, but the only bread the priest has is the consecrated bread.  The priest allows David to eat the bread as long as his men have kept themselves holy. 

3)      Jesus as prince of peace provides continual rest from sin in the heart of one accepting Jesus as his or her Savior (Hebrews 3:7-4:13) – We typically think of rest as a means of renewing strength when fatigued but the rest spoken of in the law of the Sabbath is cessation of effort.  (2)  All our efforts to achieve righteousness are as filthy rags (Isaiah 64:6).  However, Jesus finished the work needed to provide a right standing with God through the finished work of the cross and the tearing of the veil of the Temple from top to bottom by God (John 19:30; Matthew 27:51).  Our Sabbath rest is when we realize salvation comes through our cessation of efforts to become righteous and reliance on the grace of God (Ephesians 2:8-9).  If you have yet to experience the rest of God’s grace, I invite you to enter into that rest by praying with me now,

Dear Lord Jesus, I know I have sinned (Romans 3:23) and know that the penalty for my sin is death (Romans 6:23).  I ask you to forgive me of my sin and cleanse me as you promise in your Word (1 John 1:9).  I believe you died, was buried, and resurrected from the dead and now declare you Lord of my life.

To thoroughly enjoy the rest of Jesus as the Sabbath, I encourage reading and studying the Word of God both by reading it regularly and attending a church teaching from the Bible.  I also urge daily praying to the God who has given you rest.  May God bless all reading this. 

1. Helen Meldrum, EdD. Exemplary Physicians' Strategies for Avoiding Burnout. www.wafp.org. [Online] The Health Care Manager, 2010. [Cited: February 4, 2019.] https://www.wafp.org/assets/files/pdfs/wafp_health-well-meldrum_2010_exemplary-strategies-for-avoiding-burnout.pdf.

2. Stedman, Ray C. Jesus is our Sabbath Rest. eee.idolphin.org. [Online] Discovery Publishing. [Cited: February 4, 2019.] http://www.ldolphin.org/sabbathrest.html.