Anchor My Faith

The Sabbath is for Our Benefit

Scripture: Matthew 12:5-7; Mark 2:25-28

We ended the previous lesson with the Pharisees accusing his disciples of breaking the law, on the Sabbath, by plucking heads of grain and rubbing them in their hands to release the grain so they could eat to satisfy their hunger. Jesus now responds with three examples. In the first ^{“Mk 2:25} He said to them, “Have you never read what David did, when he was in need and was hungry, he and those who were with him: ²⁶ how he entered the house of God, in the time of Abiathar the high priest, and ate the bread of the Presence, which it is not lawful for any but the priests to eat, and also gave it to those who were with him?”’

There doesn’t seem to be a clear connection between the accusation of the Pharisees and the response Jesus makes. The accusation of the Pharisees related to working on the Sabbath and the illustration Jesus gives relates to eating bread that only the priest could eat. The connection seems to be based on personal need. David and his men were escaping from Saul and needed food to eat and came to the priest for help, but there was no common bread available, only holy bread, the bread that was removed from before the Lord to make way for new bread. Under the conditions described in 1 Samuel 21:1-6, the priest decided it was ok for David and the men to have the bread. The implication is that Jesus and the disciples had a personal need and thus they were allowed to pluck the heads of grain and rub them between their hands to release the grain to be used for food.

Jesus then gives a second example: ^{“Mt 12:5} Or have you not read in the Law how on the Sabbath the priests in the temple profane the Sabbath and are guiltless? ⁶ I tell you, something greater than the temple is here. ⁷ And if you had known what this means, ‘I desire mercy, and not sacrifice,’ you would not have condemned the guiltless.” In this example, if the priests were to do their assigned work they had to work on the Sabbath, thus profaning the Sabbath, yet they were held guiltless. When there is need, God makes allowance within the law to meet that need.

Jesus then claims to be greater than the temple and thus has power over the laws and can thus grant to his disciples a release from those laws. Having that authority, Jesus can grant permission for his disciples to do what they were doing on the Sabbath and not be doing wrong. Only God can authorize people to do something contrary to divine law and thus Jesus was again claiming to be God.

Jesus then tells the Pharisees they didn’t understand the meaning of “I desire mercy, and not sacrifice,” for if they had they would have not condemned the disciples. The Pharisees were viewing what the disciples were doing through sacrifice or the observance of religious rituals, but Jesus wanted them to view it through mercy, which implies steadfast love, which would have led the Pharisees to care for these disciples, and thus sinners, as Jesus did.

As the third example, or maybe point, that Jesus gives is: ^{“Mk 2:27} And 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.”’ The Sabbath was not intended to restrict people, but to encourage a time each week for spiritual and physical refreshment. Therefore, if the Sabbath was designed for the benefit of people, and if Jesus, the Son of Man is Lord over all mankind, then Jesus “is lord even of the Sabbath.”

Prayer

Father, again the Pharisees were trying to shame Jesus bases on him allowing the disciples to work on the Sabbath. Jesus response brings shame to the Pharisees for being so focused on their laws that they are not meeting the needs of the people they should be carrying for. In the process Jesus gains honor by claiming to be greater than the temple and lord of the Sabbath. Father, in my western culture it is all about being guilty or being innocent, but in the culture of the Bible, it is about being shamed or gaining honor.