Dwell in the Word Mark 2:23-28

Consider these questions as you dwell in Mark 2:23-28.

1. How does Jesus use the example of David and his men eating the bread of the presence in the house of God to respond to the Pharisees' accusation about the disciples plucking grain on the Sabbath?

2. What significant point is Jesus making when He declares, "The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath"? How does this perspective influence our understanding of the Sabbath?

3. How does the concept of the Sabbath as a foretaste of eternal rest in God's presence impact our observance of the Lord's Day and our approach to rest and worship?

Transcript:

And so here we arrive in another passage that establishes the authority of Jesus. So, we know this story. This is rather well-known. If you've ever decided to read the Gospel of Mark, even if you didn't get all the way through, you probably got to this story, and it has some phrases that we know. So, what is happening here is the disciples are walking on the Sabbath day and they're going through some grain fields and they're hungry. Now, there was a provision in the law that said that people who were hungry, they couldn't just steal, but it wasn't stealing to pluck some heads of grain in order to eat. That wasn't stealing, that was providing for people who were in need. So obviously the disciples are hungry and they're plucking these heads of grain, and the Pharisees see it. Now, they're not upset that the disciples are stealing. What they're upset about is that they are reaping on the Sabbath. Now, let's think this through. Is plucking a head of grain really reaping on the Sabbath? Would you consider yourself to have worked on the Sabbath if you had an energy bar and you took it out of the package?

Would you consider it to be working if you put your fork through a piece of chicken in order to cut it so that you can fit it in your mouth? Would you consider that? Would you even consider sticking the fork in a piece of chicken and bringing the whole thing to your mouth and taking a bite? Would you consider that work? Obviously not. The disciples are not working here, but the Pharisees are looking for every little chance to see something that the disciples are doing wrong. But Jesus takes this and He turns it on its head. And you got to love what He says here. Have you never read what David did? Of course they'd read it. They were Pharisees. They knew the Old Testament very well. But Jesus is saying, Haven't you read? I know you have, but I am going to show you how to understand it. Once again, the authority and the teaching that Jesus teaches with here is a teaching of authority. And that's the idea that we're seeing here. So, what's this story? Well, David and some of his group of men go into the house of God, and they eat the bread of the presence.

Even though it's not lawful for them, they were on mission from God. They were doing the work of God. And so that was where they got their sustenance. That's where they got their energy to continue to do God's work. And the point is that the disciples are doing the same. Even though it's a Sabbath, they are eating these heads of grain because they need energy. They need to eat. Well, Jesus informs the Pharisees of an important truth here in verses 27 and 28. The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath. So, the Son of man is Lord even of the Sabbath. Now, Son of man is a Messianic term. Jesus uses this term for himself all through the Gospel of Mark. We are going to see this over and over. But the point that's being made is that the Sabbath was established long before the law of Moses was made. Before it was the fourth commandment to absorb the Sabbath. The Sabbath existed right there at the end of the first chapter or the first part of the creation story. So, God established the Sabbath before it was even a law. So, the idea is that the Sabbath was made for not only God to rest, but for his people to rest.

And as we have seen when we've been in Genesis and in other parts of scripture that we look at on Sunday mornings, we've seen that the idea of the Sabbath is something that the people of God are longing to and they never arrive at. The idea is that there will one day be a Sabbath rest for the people of God. One day we will rest in Him. Now we strive. But one day we will reach our rest, and that one day a week is a foretaste of that eternal rest that we will have in Him. And so, what is Jesus saying? That the Son of man is Lord even of the Sabbath. He's saying that He established all of this. This is from God. It is from Him. And His authority is above all things, including the law to keep the Sabbath. Now, what do we do with it? Now, this isn't an excuse for us to do whatever we want on the Sabbath, but it's a reminder that there is a day once a week, we observe the Lord's Day. There is a day for us to worship God. There is a day for us to rest.

This is a part of the created order that we work for six days, and we rest, and we worship God, and we care for ourselves. And, when you go a long period of time without taking a rest, you know it. You know it, right? God created us to have some rest. And we need to remember that each day when we gather on the Lord's Day, we are worshiping God. And when we rest that this is a foretaste of heaven. This is what we're looking forward to that one day we will have actual Sabbath rest and we will worship God forever. So may we remember that on the Lord's Day when we worship God. And aswe strive and we work during the week, may we be looking forward to that Sunday that is coming where we can rest, where we can remember that one day we will rest eternally, not because of anything that we've done, but because God has won that rest for us in the Lord Jesus Christ. So may we look to that rest and strive for it each and every day.