Lord of the Sabbath

Therefore the Son of Man is also Lord of the Sabbath."
Mark 2:28*

When the Lord’s disciples passed a grain field on the Sabbath day, some of His disciples plucked a few heads of grain and started to eat. Actually, the corners of the fields were left unharvested for this very purpose but that didn’t stop the fault-finders who were watching and waiting for Jesus to make a misstep.

According to the Pharisees, the disciples broke the law, the fourth commandment to be exact, and since these were the Rabbi’s followers, they said He was responsible for their behavior.

Jesus answered their theological argument by citing that even David technically broke the law when he ate the showbread that was meant only for priests to eat. God allowed David’s action in order to meet the greater human need of hunger. He then cited the principle “The Sabbath was made for man, and not man for the Sabbath" (Mark 2:27). The point was clear; God gave this day of rest so people wouldn’t work themselves to death, not to make hoops for them to jump through.

After winning the debate against these Ph.D.’s of the law, Christ added that He was Lord of the Sabbath. That just added fuel to the fire and they were more determined to bring Him down. This time they planted a man with a withered hand in the synagogue to see if the Master would heal him.

Christ recognized the trap that was set for Him, but he went straight to the invalid and said, “Stretch out your hand” (Mark 3:5). The man was healed, the Pharisees were furious, but the Lord proved He really was the Lord of the Sabbath. His critics couldn’t cure the man if they tried every day for a full year, but Jesus restored the hand as good as the other even though His critics disapproved.

When people blindly follow rules, they feel that they are better than those who don’t. Here, men with academic titles even felt superior to the Lord of the Sabbath.

*also Matthew 12:8 and Luke 6:5