The Lord of the Sabbath

Scripture — Mark 2:23-28 (NRSV)

One sabbath [Jesus] was going through the grainfields; and as they made their way his disciples began to pluck heads of grain. The Pharisees said to him, “Look, why are they doing what is not lawful on the sabbath?” And he said to them, “Have you never read what David did when he and his companions were hungry and in need of food? He entered the house of God, when Abiathar was high priest, and ate the bread of the Presence, which it is not lawful for any but the priests to eat, and he gave some to his companions.” Then he said to them, “The sabbath was made for humankind, and not humankind for the sabbath; so the Son of Man is lord even of the sabbath.”

Devotion

For the Jewish people in the time of Jesus, the sabbath was more than just a religious observance. Yes, it was central to their understanding of God’s law. But sabbath-keeping was also a crucial marker of identity. It distinguished the Jews from other peoples and their cultural practices.

Thus, Jews who were particularly committed to keeping God’s law devoted considerable attention to the question of how someone should keep the sabbath. They were not supposed to work, that was clear (Exodus 20:8-11). But what counted as work to be avoided? The Pharisees, who sought to keep all of the law blamelessly, had labored hard to answer this question, creating an elaborate interpretational schema that specified what kinds of work faithful Jews were to avoid and what was permitted. The Pharisees were critical of Jews who did not live according to their exacting standards.

We see an example of Pharisaic disapproval in Mark 2:23-28. In this case, the recipients of this disapproval are the disciples of Jesus who, while walking through a field on the sabbath, “began to pluck heads of grain” (2:23). Though Mark doesn’t say so specifically, the context suggests (2:25) that the disciples were hungry. They plucked the grain and, presumably, prepared it in their hands in order to eat it . . . a modest sabbath snack.

But some Pharisees who happened to be present criticized the disciples, accusing them of doing what was unlawful on the sabbath according to the Pharisaic interpretation of the law. (Note: They did not accuse the disciples of stealing someone else’s grain because the law permitted a person to pluck a neighbor’s grain for personal use but not to harvest large amounts of it; Deuteronomy 23:25).

Jesus’ response to the Pharisees did not get into the fine print of sabbath law. He did not, for example, try to argue that his followers were not really working. Rather, Jesus pointed to a familiar story from the Hebrew scriptures, one in which David ate the “bread of the Presence,” holy bread that was legally reserved only for priests (Mark 2:26). So, from a strictly legal point of view, David did what was wrong. But from a human-need point of view, David’s behavior was permitted. There are times, Jesus suggested, when human need takes precedence over ceremonial law.

No doubt the Pharisees wanted to speak up and challenge Jesus’s interpretation of the Hebrew Scriptures. But before they could answer, Jesus added something even more shocking: “The sabbath was made for humankind, and not humankind for the sabbath; so the Son of Man is lord even of the sabbath” (Mark 2:27-28). The Pharisees may well have agreed with Jesus that the sabbath was made for people, but his claim about the Son of Man would have been scandalous. He was saying, in effect, that the Son of Man had ultimate authority over the sabbath. The Son of Man alone could rightly determine what true sabbath-keeping entailed.

This isn’t the first time in Mark’s Gospel that Jesus pointed to the supreme authority of the Son of Man. Earlier in chapter 2, Jesus forgave the sins of a paralyzed man before healing him (2:5). The Pharisees were horrified, believing that only God can forgive sins (2:7). Jesus defended his behavior by saying, “the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins,” after which he healed the paralyzed man (2:10-12). This passage from Mark not only underscores the authority of the Son of Man, but also shows that Jesus saw himself as the true Son of Man, something that will be made clear later in Mark (for example, 8:31).

Jesus claims the right to determine the purpose of the sabbath. This purpose is seen in the fact that God made the sabbath “for humankind” (Mark 2:27). As I noted previously in this devotional series, the sabbath is a gift from God to us. It’s always good to remember this core truth about the sabbath. But today I want to emphasize the claim of Jesus to be the lord of the sabbath. As we wrestle with what it means for us to keep the sabbath today, we should look to Jesus for definitive guidance.

The example and teaching of Jesus will help us discover how we should receive God’s gift of sabbath today. For this reason, we study the biblical gospels as well as the whole biblical narrative. But, in addition to studying, we ought also to pray, asking Jesus for wisdom about how, in our cultural milieu, we might experience the regular rest God intends for us. The same Jesus who once spoke in a Galilean field speaks today through Scripture, through the community of his followers, and through the indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit.

Banner image by Max Bottinger on Unsplash.

Find all Life for Leaders devotions here. Explore what the Bible has to say about work at the unique website of our partners, the Theology of Work Project’s online commentary. Reflection on today’s Life for Leaders theme can be found here: The Lord of the Sabbath (Mark 2:23-3:6).

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