In their legalistic mania to justify themselves in the sight of God, the Pharisees took God’s Sabbath requirement and blew it up to ridiculous proportions. For they had come to the conclusion that it was work to have a snack while walking through a field. They even thought the Sabbath forbade Jesus from performing a miracle of healing.

So, it’s easy for modern Christians to read this passage and come to the conclusion that we shouldn’t keep the Sabbath anymore. But if we do that, we will have made just as big a mistake as the Pharisees did. For what does Jesus tell us the Sabbath is for? In Mark 3:4, He tells us it’s all about doing good and saving life. And this is just common sense, isn’t it? For how many of us return to the workplace refreshed after a relaxing weekend that we spend with friends and family? So, how can we doubt that taking a day off every week is a healing thing?

But in Mark 2:28, Jesus also tells us that He is the Lord of the Sabbath, and this reminds us of another important truth: the Sabbath is the Lord’s Day, a day for us to turn our attention away from our worldly cares and concerns and turn to look at God. It’s a day to shift our focus off of the creation and onto our Creator, the One Who made us in His image so that we might be in relationship with Him.

So, perhaps if we look at the Sabbath in relational terms it will make more sense. For at root, it’s all about spending quality time with our Heavenly Father, isn’t it? And how can we doubt that such a day spent with God and with God’s people would be good for us and our relationships with others?

So, I suppose we could look at the Sabbath the way the Pharisees did: as an onerous, restrictive commandment. But how many of us would have to be commanded to take a day off from work and spend it with our sweethearts? The good news is that the God Who loves us enough to give His Son to die for us wants a weekly date with us. Let’s not disappoint Him.

Mark 2:23-3:6 (NASB)

23 And it came about that He was passing through the grainfields on the Sabbath, and His disciples began to make their way along while picking the heads of grain.
24 And the Pharisees were saying to Him, “See here, why are they doing what is not lawful on the Sabbath?”
25 And He said to them, “Have you never read what David did when he was in need and became hungry, he and his companions:
26 how he entered the house of God in the time of Abiathar the high priest, and ate the consecrated bread, which is not lawful for anyone to eat except the priests, and he gave it also to those who were with him?”
27 And He was saying to them, “The Sabbath was made for man, and not man for the Sabbath.
28 “Consequently, the Son of Man is Lord even of the Sabbath.”
And He entered again into a synagogue; and a man was there with a withered hand.
2 And they were watching Him to see if He would heal him on the Sabbath, in order that they might accuse Him.
3 And He said to the man with the withered hand, “Rise and come forward!”
4 And He said to them, “Is it lawful on the Sabbath to do good or to do harm, to save a life or to kill?” But they kept silent.
5 And after looking around at them with anger, grieved at their hardness of heart, He said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” And he stretched it out, and his hand was restored.
6 And the Pharisees went out and immediately began taking counsel with the Herodians against Him, as to how they might destroy Him.