The Lord of the Sabbath

THE LORD OF THE SABBATH

An Exposition of Mark 2:23–3:6

By Pastor Brian Wilbur

Date:   January 12, 2020

Series: Mark: Knowing and Following God’s Son

Note:   Scripture quotations are from The ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard   Version®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

SCRIPTURE PASSAGE

Holy Scripture says:

2 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.” 

3 ^{L)" data-cr="#cen-ESV-24286L">1} Again he entered the synagogue, and a man was there with a withered hand. ² And they watched Jesus, to see whether he would heal him on the Sabbath, so that they might accuse him. ³ And he said to the man with the withered hand, “Come here.” ⁴ And he said to them, “Is it lawful on the Sabbath to do good or to do harm, to save life or to kill?” But they were silent. ⁵ And he looked around at them with anger, grieved at their hardness of heart, and said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” He stretched it out, and his hand was restored. ⁶ The Pharisees went out and immediately held counsel with the Herodians against him, how to destroy him. (Mark 2:23–3:6)

INTRODUCTION

Jesus Christ brings life to mankind.

If you don’t know that, you will keep missing the point.

If you don’t know Him, you will always mishandle His good gifts.

If you don’t have His life in you, you will ultimately become an agent of death.

It doesn’t matter how much Bible you have in your head, or how many religious duties are on your to-do list, or what number of moral principles show up in your conduct – if you don’t have a lively relationship with the living Lord, and if His ways haven’t been internalized into your heart, then you will walk in the darkness and misuse His gifts.

As an illustration, suppose that a great building was constructed: large columns, beautiful arches, lovely windows, fine craftsmanship everywhere you look. You are handed the keys and told to utilize this wonderful space in a way that befits the excellence of its construction. The foolish man takes the keys and puts the building to use in a way that makes sense to him. The wise man, before he does anything else, seeks to know the building’s owner and the owner’s purpose. Because if you don’t know the Owner, you will always waste His gifts.

God had given an excellent gift to mankind – a gift that far surpassed an impressive building. As human beings in general, and as Israelites in particular, the Pharisees had received this good gift called “Sabbath.”

Other peoples might regard every day of the week alike, but not the Jewish people. They understood that the Sabbath Day was set apart from the other six days. God established the specialness of the Sabbath Day in the beginning: God created “everything that he had made” (Genesis 1:31) in six days, then “he rested on the seventh day” (Genesis 2:2) and “blessed the seventh day and made it holy” (Genesis 2:3).

God calls human beings into the rhythm of that initial ‘creation week’: six days of work, and one day of rest.

When God redeemed Israel out of its enslavement to the Egyptians, He led them to Mount Sinai and revealed His law to them. This revelation of the law is a gracious gift: instead of being ‘in the dark’ about how we are supposed to live, God gave us the light of His instruction. Therefore we say: “Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.” (Psalm 119:105) The law is fundamentally a blessing, not a burden – provided that you know God’s heartbeat and vision for the law.

One of God’s commandments is about the Sabbath. The Sabbath Day was to be a day of rest for the entire household: “Six days you shall labor, and do all your work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the LORD your God. On it you shall not do any work, you, or your son, or your daughter, your male servant, or your female servant, or your livestock, or the sojourner who is within your gates.” (Exodus 20:9-10) What a blessing! Take a whole day in order to rest, be refreshed, and enjoy the fruit of your labor from the preceding six days of work. Take a whole day, and remember the Lord who created all things (Exodus 20:11). Take a whole day, and remember the Lord who redeemed you from the unrest of slavery in Egypt (Deuteronomy 5:15). Take a whole day, and be together as a family and as a wider community and enjoy festive meals together as you celebrate the goodness of the Lord.

The Sabbath Day is a beautiful gift from the Lord to His people. Why would you not want permission to cease from ‘performance and productivity’ for an entire day and simply enjoy being with the Lord, with loved ones, and with God’s good gifts? And yet, sinners have a way of acting against what is truly in their own best interest.  Sinners also have a way of taking the joy out of simple commandments by turning them into rulebook with extensive regulations. Sinners have a way of glorifying the letter of the law while forgetting the spirit and purpose of the law. Sinners do this because their heart is far from the heartbeat of God! Thus the blessing of Sabbath rest becomes the burden of Sabbath duty.

And yet, in this world of great unrest, Jesus Christ brings life to mankind. Jesus entered into this broken and burdened world, and He brought into it the freedom and joy and love of His own generous heart. But the Pharisees couldn’t handle the truth. And neither can we, unless by God’s grace we become “fresh wineskins” who can hold the exhilarating “new wine” that Jesus pours into believing hearts (to refer back to Mark 2:22).

SABBATH LESSON #1: MARK 2:23-28

The Pharisees’ Question

It is not difficult to understand the Pharisees’ reaction to the disciples. What were Jesus’ disciples doing? They were “[plucking] heads of grain” on a Sabbath Day (v. 23). In general, there is nothing wrong with plucking grain. Further, the law allowed the poor to pluck grain from a stranger’s field. The problem with what the disciples were doing is that they were picking grain on a Sabbath Day. 

There is a legitimate question as to whether the Pharisee’s interpretation of the law was correct on this point. The law stipulated ‘no work’ on the Sabbath. So we want to know how to define ‘work’, right? One passage prohibits harvesting crops on the Sabbath (Exodus 34:21). There is also the earlier passage in Exodus 16 where the Israelites were to gather food on each of the first six days, including a double portion on the sixth day, but they were not to gather food on the seventh day. So the Pharisees’ viewpoint was certainly understandable: since the disciples were harvesting grain and gathering food, by all appearances they were breaking the command to “not do any work” on the Sabbath.   

Thus the Pharisees ask Jesus about His disciples’ conduct: “Look, why are they doing what is not lawful on the Sabbath?” (v. 24)

Jesus’ Answer

What is so very interesting about Jesus’ answer in verses 25-26 is that He doesn’t dispute the Pharisees’ claim that the disciples are breaking the law. Isn’t that interesting? If Jesus thought that what the disciples were doing didn’t meet the definition of prohibited work as defined by the Old Testament, He could have said so. For example, He might have said – had it been true – that the prohibition on harvesting crops applied to the systematic, large-scale and labor-intensive reaping of one’s fields, but it didn’t apply to the small-scale gathering of fruits and vegetables for the evening meal. But Jesus doesn’t do that.

Jesus doesn’t answer the Pharisees’ charge by saying that what the disciples are doing is actually lawful because it doesn’t meet the definition of ‘work’. Jesus apparently agrees with the Pharisees that what the disciples are doing is “not lawful.” But Jesus adds another layer of understanding in order to communicate this very important lesson: Sometimes it is lawful to do what is not lawful. Sometimes it is ‘according to law’ to do what is ‘not according to law’. And to put it more precisely: Sometimes it is ‘consistent with the spirit of the law’ to do what seems ‘inconsistent with the letter of the law’. Listen to what Jesus says:

“Have you never read what David did, when he was in need and was hungry, he and those who were with him: 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?” (v. 25-26)

Jesus is defending the disciples’ unlawful action by appealing to a Scriptural lesson in which a person was justified in the performance of an unlawful action. David is the one who undertook this unlawful action – and the point is that it was acceptable for David to do this. Which means that God’s viewpoint is that there are certain circumstances in which it is lawful to do what is not lawful – there are exceptional situations in which it is lawful to do what would not be lawful to do in ordinary situations – there can be difficult and unusual occasions when the spirit and purpose of the law allows you to break the letter of the law – and when you do that, you are not regarded as a lawbreaker. Instead, you are regarded as a law-keeper, because you are keeping the spirit and purpose of the law.

We Must Know the Spirit and Purpose of the Law

As a general rule, of course, and in the ordinary situations of everyday life, we keep both the spirit and the letter of the law. Our desire should be straightforward and heartfelt obedience to God’s commands. Nevertheless, there are times when this fallen world presents us with some very difficult situations.

In the case of Jesus and His disciples, they were ‘on the road’. They were traveling about from place to place in the region of Galilee, and so they were often away from home. But they still needed food. It is a Sabbath Day – what do you do? Jesus’ perspective is: go ahead and pick some grain.

One commentator says: “where human need exists, allowance can be made.”[1] That’s the idea here.

David and his men were not in an ordinary situation either. David and his men were on the run in the context of opposition and persecution from the official government under the tyranny of King Saul. Entering into God’s house and eating the holy bread that is set apart exclusively for the priests is not an advisable course of action, except when a godly man and his friends are facing hunger and need. The heavenly Father’s perspective is: go ahead and eat the bread.

In The Book of Joshua, Rahab lied to the officials of Jericho about the whereabouts of the Jewish spies, whom she was hiding in her house. It is not lawful to lie, but it is lawful to have faith in the God of Israel and shelter His people.

Corrie ten Boom – a Christian woman – was involved in a deceptive scheme in Nazi-occupied Holland in order to save the lives of Jewish people. It is not lawful to deceive, but it is lawful to rescue those who are being led away to death.

Or consider this example, which is inspired by a true story told to me by a pastor-friend. Suppose you are on your way to the Sunday morning worship service, not just because you feel like it but because you really are obeying God’s call to gather with the saints for worship and fellowship, and on your way you notice that a neighbor on the side of the road needs help because his vehicle has broken down. How do you rank God’s call to worship with His people on the Lord’s Day versus God’s call to love your neighbor as yourself? The 11:00 hour is too short to allow obedience to both commands on this particular day – so which command holds more weight?

In difficult circumstances such as these, it is crucial to understand that the spirit and purpose of the law can override the letter of the law or it can help you discern which law makes a greater claim upon you . So you can see how utterly crucial it is to actually know the spirit and purpose of the law. Like I said earlier: you’ve got to know the heartbeat and vision of the Owner, of the Lawgiver, of the Lord Himself.

As a lead-in to verse 27, let me remind us that the entire law – including the law about the Sabbath Day – is based on the two love commands. Jesus said that “all the Law and the Prophets” depend on the two primary commandments to “love the Lord your God with all your heart” and to “love your neighbor as yourself” (Matthew 22:37-40). Which means that the priest’s holy bread in God’s house is ultimately about loving the Lord and loving people. Therefore, in exceptional circumstances, the priest’s holy bread can be deployed to feed a hungry band of travelers. Likewise, the Sabbath Day is ultimately about loving the Lord and loving people. Therefore, in exceptional circumstances, that day can be deployed to gather the sustenance needed for the body. Do you understand?

Jesus gets to the loving spirit and purpose of the Sabbath law in his summary statement in verse 27: “The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath.” In other words, the purpose of the Sabbath Day is not that man should serve the Sabbath in order to lift up and glorify the Sabbath. Instead, the purpose of the Sabbath Day is that the Sabbath should serve mankind in order to lift up, strengthen, and bless human beings, human bodies, and human households.

Those who think that “man [was made] for the Sabbath” turn the Sabbath into the ‘end all, be all’ and turn themselves into Sabbath slaves and Sabbath law enforcement officers. On the other hand, those who understand that “Sabbath was made for man” receive the Sabbath as a gracious gift to be enjoyed and to be stewarded in wisdom. It is mankind, not the Sabbath, who is created in God’s image and likeness; therefore mankind’s refreshment has priority over the Sabbath’s regulations.

So notice how Jesus and the Pharisees evaluate the disciples’ conduct in a very different way. The Pharisees see a violation of the letter of the law that prohibits harvesting crops. By contrast, Jesus sees a fulfillment of the purpose of the law that makes the Sabbath a gift to nourish and replenish weary people.

The Pharisees believe that total compliance with Sabbath regulations is more important than a poor traveler’s need for food. By contrast, Jesus knows that a poor traveler’s need for food is actually more important than keeping the Sabbath rules.

Jesus isn’t teaching us to be dismissive of the law’s commands. Instead, He is teaching us that it is impossible to walk in obedience to the law if we don’t know the law’s fundamental aim and purpose.

Like my illustration about the ‘great building’, we must know the heartbeat and vision of the owner. In terms of Mark 2:23-28, we must know the heartbeat and vision of the Lord of the Sabbath. 

The Lord of the Sabbath

The reason that Jesus can give a clear answer to the Pharisees is because He is Lord over the Sabbath. The Gospel of Mark has been unfolding for us the nature and scope of our Lord’s authority. The Lord taught “as one who had authority” (Mark 1:22): Jesus is Lord of truth. “He commands even the unclean spirits, and they obey him” (Mark 1:27): Jesus is Lord over demons. “And he healed many who were sick with various diseases” (Mark 1:34): Jesus is Lord over the physical world. Further, “the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins” (Mark 2:10): Jesus is Lord of salvation. And now we learn that “the Son of Man is lord even of the Sabbath” (Mark 2:28) – therefore Jesus is able to give us authoritative divine teaching about the nature of time, work, rest, Sabbath law, and really all law. After all, if Jesus is Lord of the Fourth Commandment (and He is!), then He must be Lord of the entire Law!

Do you know the Lord of the Sabbath? Do you know the Lord who makes provision for your rest and restoration? Do you know the Lord who lifts burdens and meets needs?

Jesus Christ brings life to mankind. His presence is the ultimate ‘breath of fresh air’ in a stuffy world. Are you staying close to Him and letting Him transform the eyes of your heart?

TRANSITION FROM MARK 2:23-28 TO MARK 3:1-6

We must keep our eyes on the Lord of the Sabbath – and the very next passage helps us to do just that.

In Mark 2:23-28, the Pharisees questioned Jesus. In Mark 3:1-6, Jesus questions the Pharisees.

In Mark 2:23-28, the Pharisees questioned Jesus about something that is “not lawful on the Sabbath,” but in Mark 3:1-6 Jesus questions the Pharisees about what is “lawful on the Sabbath.”

In Mark 2:23-28, after the Pharisees questioned Jesus, Jesus had an answer for them. He felt wonderfully free to tell them the truth! But in Mark 3:1-6, after Jesus questioned the Pharisees, the Pharisees remained silent. They were unable to deal honestly with the truth, nor could they be publicly transparent about their own convictions.

SABBATH LESSON #2: MARK 3:1-6

At the beginning of Chapter 3: Jesus enters a synagogue, and it so happens that “a man was there with a withered hand.” (v. 1) The Pharisees were present as Sabbath law enforcement officers, and they were motivated by antagonism against Jesus: “And they watched Jesus, to see whether he would heal him on the Sabbath, so that they might accuse him.” (v. 2) Don’t you just ‘love it’ when people show up to a worship service, ministry event, or business meeting with an eagerness to find fault, accuse, and tear down?

The heartbeat of genuine disciples is totally different: They watch Jesus, to see what He’s going to do next, so that they might learn from Him.

But the critical heart cannot help itself: “[They] watched Jesus, to see whether he would heal him on the Sabbath, so that they might accuse him.”

The Heart of the Law

Jesus has every intention of healing the man “with a withered hand,” but He is going to do the healing as part of an important lesson. After inviting the handicapped man to “[come] here” (v. 3), Jesus said to the Pharisees: “Is it lawful on the Sabbath to do good or to do harm, to save life or to kill?” (v. 4)

Once again, Jesus is getting at the law beneath the law. Jesus is getting at the loving spirit and purpose of the law. I am reminded of what Paul said in Galatians 5 – that there is “no law” against “love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, [and] self-control” (Galatians 5:22-23). In other words, it is lawful – and always lawful! – to demonstrate love, show kindness, and do what is good. It is lawful to do good on the Sabbath and on every other day! It is lawful to save life on the Sabbath and on every other day! By contrast, it is not lawful “to do harm” and “to kill.”

Shouldn’t the Pharisees have acknowledged their agreement with the obvious? The answer, of course, is that things are needlessly complicated when the heartbeat of the law of love isn’t in your heart. When the law of love is in your heart, it’s a simple answer: of course it is good and right to do good and save life on the Sabbath Day. But when the law of love is not in your heart, and when you’ve turned Sabbath simplicity into Sabbath chore, then it’s complicated: well, if the man is dying, then it’s okay to save life on the Sabbath Day; but if it’s a minor concern like a withered hand, then that can wait until the next day. Do you see? When the law of love is not in your heart, you come up with a fine-tuned definition of doing good and saving life, and then you put every situation through your twenty-five question test.

A pastor-friend once told me that the things of Jesus Christ are simple – by which he meant simple and straightforward, clear and plain. But the Pharisees were all knotted up and were beclouded by the impurity of their hearts, and they couldn’t give a simple answer to a simple question. “But they were silent.” (v. 4)

The Savior’s Anger and Grief

Jesus, the Lord of the Sabbath, looked through their silence and saw their calloused hearts: “And he looked around at them with anger, grieved at their hardness of heart.” (v. 5)

You can tell a lot about a person from what that person gets angry about. For us, we often get angry because we are driven by our own small and selfish hearts. But Jesus, God’s Son, got angry because of other people’s calloused, hard, and unloving hearts. Further, His righteous anger was accompanied by grief and sorrow that men’s hearts could be so far from the heartbeat of God.

Do you ever wonder if the Savior would look at you with righteous anger, grieved because there is such little love in your heart?

A Rebuke to the Pharisees (and to all Unloving Religious People)

Jesus’ loving presence in the synagogue was a rebuke to the Pharisees and to all unloving religious people.

Do you see this man with a withered hand? You don’t give a rip about him. You would prevent the Lord from doing good to him today, and yet you don’t have either the intention or the ability to do good to him tomorrow.

Do you see these tax collectors and sinners (to refer back to Mark 2:15-17)? You don’t give a rip about them, either. You would prevent me from bringing grace into their lives, and yet you don’t have either the intention or the ability to bring grace into their lives.

And on top of all that: you are using God’s law to justify your lack of love. You say that God’s law tells you to stay away from people who need grace. You say that God’s law tells you to do no healing on the Sabbath Day. How convenient for you! You get to stay in your own little bubble of sanitized, trouble free, well fed religiosity! Must be nice! But there is a big problem, actually: the world you have built for yourself is a grace-free world – and without grace, you’re on the path to ruin!

“Go and learn what this means: ‘I desire mercy, and not sacrifice.’” (Matthew 9:13) “[Love] your neighbor as yourself.” (Matthew 22:39) “The Sabbath was made for man,” not the other way around.

So tell me: Why shouldn’t this handicapped man’s hand be restored on the Sabbath Day? Wouldn’t that be in keeping with the spirit and purpose of the law?

Jesus Heals the Handicapped Man

Full of grief over the unkind hearts of the Pharisees, Jesus “said to the man [with the withered hand], “Stretch out your hand.” He stretched it out, and his hand was restored.” (Mark 3:5)

The character of Jesus and the character of the Pharisees were worlds apart. Jesus, the Sabbath Lord, did good and restored someone’s health on the Sabbath Day.

We have already noted that the Pharisees were unwilling to say that it is right to do good and save life on the Sabbath Day. They were unwilling to register their agreement with that. But do you know what they were willing to do? They were very willing on the Sabbath to do the work of Sabbath policing and the work of conceiving a plot to destroy someone. Maybe the letter of the law didn’t prohibit such activities. But what about the spirit? Is it lawful to “do harm” or “kill” or seek to “destroy” on the Sabbath? Do you see how utterly hypocritical and convoluted their hearts were? The problem, of course, is that they did not truly know the heartbeat and vision of the Owner! And when He showed up, they wanted to kill Him!

As soon as Jesus had healed the man, the Pharisees were hot with anger: “The Pharisees went out and immediately held counsel with the Herodians against him, how to destroy him.” (Mark 3:6) The Pharisees were so out of touch with the spirit and purpose of the Sabbath, that they actually began an effort to destroy the Lord of the Sabbath.

Jesus did good, but they would do harm. Jesus came to save life, but they would do violence.

LOOK TO JESUS!

Mark 2:23–3:6 teaches us that the fundamental spirit and purpose of the Sabbath is constructive: it is “for man,” that is, for man’s good, for man’s nourishment and restoration, it is for doing good and saving life. Sabbath law, and all of God’s law, is meant to facilitate our love for the Lord and our love for other people.

Tragically, when the root of the law of love is not in us, we are unable to handle the law properly. And Mark 3:1-6 shows us that having a critical spirit and a hard heart blind us to the constructive spirit of the law, which is always to edify, build up, do good, and save life. When we are overtaken by a critical spirit and a hard heart, we become fault-finders instead of humble learners, we become accusers and opposers instead of restorers, and we become destroyers instead of healers.

Followers of Jesus must learn to follow Him – the One who is the Lord of the Sabbath who brings compassion and grace into this needy, hungry, and withered world. We must learn to follow Jesus into the broken places of our world – which of course is everywhere – and shine the light of truth and bring real refreshment to other people. But we will only learn to do such things by staying close to Jesus and drinking from the well of His grace.

It is all too easy, of course, to follow the Pharisees’ example: we can bring a critiquing spirit into this needy, hungry, and withered world; we can increase other people’s burdens; we can make simple things complicated; we can turn our home or our church into a grace-free zone with a thousand rules and no heart; we can force compliance, but feel no compassion; we can turn God’s law into a barrier that keeps us from showing compassion to people; we can be remarkably slow to do good, and yet remarkably quick to do evil. The tragedy of Mark 3:1-6 isn’t that one man had a withered hand that didn’t work properly, but that several men had withered hearts that didn’t work properly.[2]

What do you say to someone (and the someone might be you!) who has a hard, ungracious, and sin-withered heart? You say, ‘The main lesson from this passage is not that you should be gracious and do good.’ And you say, ‘The main lesson from this passage is not that you should become a theological master of the law’s spirit and purpose.’ As important as those things are in their proper place, it is far more important to say: Jesus is the Lord of the Sabbath. Jesus is the Savior who gives rest and restoration. Jesus is the One who came to do good and save life. Jesus Christ brings life to mankind. Look to Him!

Remarkably, He brings this life to us ultimately through His own death. In due course the Pharisees ‘succeed’ in their plot to destroy Him, but that is only a sub-plot. The larger story is that Jesus willingly laid down His life as a sacrifice for sin, so that sinners who deserve death can get life instead. Jesus brings eternal life, never-ending goodness, and everlasting rest to everyone who trusts in Him. 

And it is by depending on Him and discovering His heart that you begin to get the point of everything else.

ENDNOTES

[1] Victor Babajide Cole, “Mark.” In Africa Bible Commentary: A One-Volume Commentary Written by 70 African Scholars. Tokunboh Adeyemo, General Editor. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2006: p. 1202.

[2] Witherington gives the heading “The Withered Hand and the Withered Heart” for his comments on Mark 3:1-6. Ben Witherington III, The Gospel of Mark: A Socio-Rhetorical Commentary. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2001: p. 132.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Victor Babajide Cole, “Mark.” In Africa Bible Commentary: A One-Volume Commentary Written by 70 African Scholars. Tokunboh Adeyemo, General Editor. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2006.

James R. Edwards, The Gospel according to Mark (The Pillar New Testament Commentary). Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2002.

William L. Lane, The Gospel of Mark (The New International Commentary on the New Testament). Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1974.

Eckhard J. Schnabel, Mark (Tyndale New Testament Commentaries Vol. 2). Downers Grove: IVP Academic, 2017.

Ben Witherington III, The Gospel of Mark: A Socio-Rhetorical Commentary. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2001.