Let Jesus Eat!

Mark 2:23-27

Lord of the Sabbath

"One Sabbath Jesus was going through the grainfields, and as his disciples walked along, they began to pick some heads of grain. The Pharisees said to him, "Look, why are they doing what is unlawful on the Sabbath?" He answered, "Have you never read what David did when he and his companions were hungry and in need? In the days of Abiathar the high priest, he entered the house of God and ate the consecrated bread, which is lawful only for priests to eat. And he also gave some to his companions." Then he said to them, "The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath."

Jesus uses the incident of David (cross-reference: 1 Samuel 21:1-6) to point the ridiculousness of the Pharisees' accusations. The Pharisees interpreted the actions of Jesus and his disciples as harvesting on the Sabbath, so they judged Jesus as a lawbreaker. The problem is that the Pharisees did what a lot of the times we do as Christians; they became legalistic and did not realize the intent behind the law. God's law was clearly put in place so that farmers would not get greedy and harvest on the Sabbath. He did not put this rule in place so that people would starve. The Pharisees missed the intent of the law. As Christians oftentimes we miss the intent of the law, and instead become legalists. We miss allow the Holy Spirit to guide us, not just what we want the law to say.

Furthermore, God created the Sabbath for our own benefit. He did not create the Sabbath for his benefit. God derives no benefit from our weekly Sabbaths, but we are restored both physically and spiritually when we take time to focus on him. For the Pharisees the laws of the Sabbath had become more important than the point of the Sabbath. We must continually check ourselves to make sure that the laws and lifestyle of Christianity do not become more important to us than our relationship with Jesus Christ himself...Godspeed!