PONDERING... What's Up With The Sabbath? (Mark 2:23-28)

What’s Up With The Sabbath? (PM Lesson Notes)

GIST: ...27 And he said to them, “The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath. 28 So the Son of Man is lord even of the Sabbath.” Yeah, I think that will work. :D

SCRIPTURE: Mark 2:23-28

23 One Sabbath he was going through the grainfields, and as they made their way, his disciples began to pluck heads of grain. 24 And the Pharisees were saying to him, “Look, 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 was hungry, he and those who were with him: 26 how he entered the house of God, in the time of Abiathar the high priest, and ate the bread of the Presence, which it is not lawful for any but the priests to eat, and also gave it to those who were with him?” 27 And he said to them, “The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath. 28 So the Son of Man is lord even of the Sabbath.”

1. What were they doing? (23)

• Deuteronomy 23:25
• They weren’t stealing.

2. Why were the Pharisees mad? (24)

• The stage for this was probably set in John 5:1-9
• Jesus has already healed a man in Jerusalem, sparking this Sabbath breaking controversy...because it was on “their turf”.
• The center of this controversy was the Sabbath laws they had added to God’s expectations.
• So, the Pharisees are stalking Jesus again and see His disciples picking grain and eating it, which we just saw, the law allowed. Yet, they call them out on it because, according to their Sabbath laws, “Plucking was reaping, rubbing in their hands was threshing, and blowing the chaff was winnowing” (Hobbs)--all of which were not allowed.
• John MacArthur puts this too well not to share.

“No burden could be carried that weighed more than a dried fig, or half a fig carried two times. If you put an olive in your mouth and rejected it because it was bad, you couldn't put a whole one in the next time because the palate had tasted the flavor of a whole olive. If you threw an object in the air and caught it with the other hand, it was a sin. If you caught it in the same hand, it wasn't.... A tailor couldn't carry his needle. The scribe couldn't carry his pen. A pupil couldn't carry his books. No clothing could be examined lest somehow you find a lice and inadvertently kill it. Wool couldn't be dyed. Nothing could be sold. Nothing could be bought. Nothing could be washed. A letter could not be sent even if it was sent via a heathen. No fire could be lit. Cold water could be poured on warm, but warm couldn't be poured on cold. An egg could not be boiled even if all you did was put it in the sand….You could not bathe for fear when the water fell off of you it might wash the floor. If a candle was lit, you couldn't put it out. If it wasn't lit, you couldn't light it. Chairs couldn't be moved because they might make a rut. Women couldn't look in a glass or they might find a white hair and be tempted to pull it out. Women couldn't wear jewelry because jewelry weighs more than a dried fig. A radish couldn't be left in salt because it would make it a pickle and that's work. No more grain could be pickled than you could put in a lamb's mouth. [There were] Laws about wine, honey, milk, spitting, writing, getting dirt off your clothes, you could use only enough ink for two letters, not two written letters, two alphabetic letters. ...What was forbidden? Sowing, plowing, reaping, binding sheaves, threshing, winnowing, sifting, grinding, kneading, baking, washing wool, beating wool, dying wool, spinning wool, putting on a weaver's beam, making threads, weaving threads, separating threads, making a knot, untying a knot, sewing two stitches...on and on and on. You talk about heavy laden...the system was oppressive and it was all unscriptural and horribly ungodly and brutally unkind.”

• Again, their expectations for the Messiah were all wrong.

3. What was Jesus’ response? (25-28)

• Is your complaint based on an understanding of Scripture?
• 1 Samuel 21:1-6: David example
• Matthew 12:5-6: Priest work on the Sabbath
• Hosea 6:6: Mercy not sacrifice?
• True worship, True Hearts, not meaningless Sacrifice! The Christian life does involve sacrifice, but not for sacrifice's sake...but for God’s. Doing religious things to seem more religious with absolutely no regard for God is completely against the point.
• What is the purpose of the Sabbath?
• Deuteronomy 5:12-15
• Root word means a complete stopping
• Rest in and Refocus on God
• Who is in charge of the Sabbath?
• Genesis 2:1-3
• Lord of the Sabbath= The one who is sovereign over (in full charge of) the Sabbath=God
• This was a clear claim of Jesus to be God!

TAKEAWAYS

1. Are you keeping the Sabbath holy?
• Note to self: take time to rest and refocus. Keeping the main things the main things. Are you taking conscious time to do that?
2. Is there anything you’re doing that is getting in the way of what He’s doing?
• Like the wineskins last week. He is Lord of every aspect of your life. Does it look like that? The Life Application Study Bible gives these four “tests” for the rules we impose on ourselves and others (slightly reworded here): 1. Does it serve God? 2. Does it reveal God’s character? 3. Does it point people toward salvation or push them away? 4. Is it rooted in Scripture?
3. What’s more important in your life, people being saved by Jesus, or people being like you?

Resource

I have quoted it several times in these notes. John MacArthur has a very useful sermon on this passage: Jesus is Lord of the Sabbath Part 1