Lord of the Sabbath

In response to Jewish religious leaders, Jesus demonstrated that the Son of Man is Lord even of the Sabbath Day - Mark 2:23-3:6.

The Pharisees and Scribes objected to the looseness of Jesus toward their Sabbath regulations, but he used the opportunity to demonstrate that “the Son of Man” is Lord even of that day. God ceased His creative activities on the seventh day, but its establishment as a regulated day on which no work could be done did not become law until the Torah was given through Moses (“Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy”).

[Wheat field - Photo by Paz Arando (Buenos Aires) on Unsplash]

The ‘Tradition of the Elders’ prohibited Israelites from journeying more than a short distance on the seventh day, the so-called ‘Sabbath day’s journey’. How far the disciples walked on this day is not stated in the passage. The traditional regulation specified a journey of no more than 1,999 paces, approximately eight hundred meters.

• “And it came to pass, that he was going on the sabbath day through the grainfields; and his disciples began, as they went, to pluck the ears. And the Pharisees said to him, Behold, why do they on the sabbath day that which is not lawful? And he said to them, Did you never read what David did, when he had need, and was hungry, he, and they that were with him? How he entered the house of God when Abiathar was high priest, and ate the showbread, which it is not lawful to eat except for the priests, and he gave also to those who were with him? And he said to them, The sabbath was made for man, and not man for the sabbath, so that the Son of Man is lord even of the sabbath” - (Mark 2:23-28).

• “And the Pharisees and the scribes ask him, Why do your disciples not walk according to the Tradition of the Elders, but eat their bread with defiled hands?” - *(Mark 7:5).

The devout Jews present on that day observed the disciples plucking ears of grain and rubbing them in their hands to separate the grain from the chaff. According to the ‘Tradition of the Elders’, this qualified as “reaping and winnowing,” an activity forbidden on the Sabbath.

Under the Law, it was permissible for anyone passing through a grain field to pick grain by hand for immediate consumption (“gleaning”). The Pharisees objected because the disciples did this on the Sabbath Day, not because of any violations of the landowner's property rights or theft of the farmer’s grain - (Deuteronomy 23:25).

Jesus responded with a question based on the life of David. One day, while famished, David and his men ate bread prohibited by the Mosaic Law to anyone except the priests. The story referred to the “showbread” or the “bread of the presence,” the twelve loaves of sanctified bread placed in the Tabernacle every Sabbath - (1 Samuel 21:1-6).

The circumstances of David’s story were not the same as those of Jesus and his disciples. The disciples were not in a state of physical distress. Jesus did not cite the violation of a Torah regulation by David as an excuse for what his disciples did, but instead, he used David’s act as a legal precedent.

The Son of Man is the true Messiah and King. If that which is holy was set aside for common use by David, how much more appropriate was it to use that which is “holy” by the Greater David and the true King of Israel, the Messiah destined to rule over the nations of the Earth?

• “Yet I have set my king upon my holy hill of Zion. I will tell of the decree: Yahweh said to me, You are my son. This day, I have begotten you. Ask of me, and I will give the nations for your inheritance, and the ends of the earth for your possession. You will shepherd them with a sceptre of iron” – (Psalm 2:6-8).

• “I saw in the night-visions, and behold, there came with the clouds of heaven one like a Son of Man, and he came even to the ancient of days, and they brought him near before him. And there was given him dominion, and glory, and a kingdom, that all the peoples, nations, and tongues should serve him”  – (Daniel 7:13-14).

Christ’s declaration was appropriate - “The Sabbath was made for man, and not man for the Sabbath.” In their zeal to obey even the tiniest regulation of the Law, the Scribes and Pharisees forgot its original purpose, namely, to do that which is beneficial for men and women. As the day of rest and worship, God did not intend for anyone to be deprived of the necessities of life. It was for the well-being of humanity, and even slaves and animals were allowed to rest on the Sabbath.

Since the Sabbath was made to benefit mankind, it followed logically that “the Son of Man was Lord even of the Sabbath.” He was the designated representative and ruler of Israel and the nations, the King sent by God “to shepherd the nations.”

In the Greek sentence of the passage from Mark, “Lord” is emphatic and thus stresses Christ’s authority as the “Son of Man” and “Lord.” The version of the story recorded in Matthew adds the following:

• “Or have you not read in the Law, that on the Sabbath the priests in the temple break the Sabbath, and they are guiltless? But I say to you that something greater than the Temple is here. But if you had known what this means, I desire mercy and not sacrifice, you would not have condemned the innocent” – (Matthew 12:5-8, Hosea 6:6).

Sabbath restrictions were never absolute. Temple priests engaged in work on the Sabbath and other feast days while carrying out their priestly duties. Moreover, Jesus, “the Son of Man,” is the “something” that is greater than the Temple.

If priests are authorized to violate the Sabbath while performing their required duties in the Temple, and Jesus is greater than the Temple, how could he be restricted in his work to help men and women by Sabbath regulations, especially those added centuries later by the ‘Tradition of the Elders’?

HEALING ON THE SABBATH

• (Mark 3:1-6) – “And he entered again into a synagogue, and there was a man with his hand withered and they were narrowly watching him whether he would heal on the Sabbath that they might accuse him. And he said to the man who had his hand withered: Arise into the midst! And he said to them: Is it allowed on the Sabbath to do good or to do evil? To save life or to slay? But they remained silent. And looking around on them with anger, being at the same time grieved on account of the hardening of their heart, he said to the man: Stretch forth your hand! And he stretched it forth, and his hand was restored. And the Pharisees, going out immediately with the Herodians, were giving counsel against him that they should destroy him.”

Is it lawful on the Sabbath to save life or destroy it? Like the Sabbath, the Mosaic Law is intended to benefit humanity. The first part of the question refers to what Jesus intended to do for the man with the withered hand, good rather than evil. Not restoring his hand would be the same as doing evil. The second half refers to what his opponents were plotting: the destruction of Christ.

Healing on the Sabbath was forbidden under the regulations of the elders. However, there was an exception approved even by the Scribes and Pharisees. It was permissible to heal on the Sabbath if a life was at risk.

In this case, the man would come to no further harm if Jesus waited until evening to restore his hand, but he refused to draw such a narrow distinction between saving a life and restoring the man to wholeness. To delay healing for even a few hours was tantamount to denying the Law’s intent. Restoring the man was paramount, and doing so could not be delayed - (Leviticus 21:16-21).

The actions of Jesus answered his question. Not only is it permissible to do good on the Sabbath Day, but it is right and merciful to do so. The narrow-minded and merciless attitude of his opponents would lead to the destruction of life in the end. These were men who preferred sacrifice to mercy.

This incident was a major turning point in Christ’s Galilean ministry. The reaction of his opponents transformed them from critics into bitter enemies. They were now determined to destroy Jesus.

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SEE ALSO:

• The Son of Man - (The figure of the Son of Man in the Book of Daniel is the source of Christ’s self-designation, the Son of Man)

• The Son's Authority - (Jesus is the ‘Son of Man’ foreseen by Daniel, the Messiah with absolute authority over the peoples and nations of the Earth)

• Forgiving Sins - (Jesus healed a paralytic. By doing so, he demonstrated the authority of the Son of Man to discharge the stain of sin – Mark 2:1-12)

• Le Seigneur du Sabbat - (En réponse aux chefs religieux juifs, Jésus a démontré que le Fils de l'Homme est Seigneur même du jour du Sabbat - Marc 2:23-3: 6)