“LORD of the Sabbath”

Mark 2:23–28 LSB

23 And it happened that He was passing through the grainfields on the Sabbath, and His disciples began to make their way along while picking the 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 he and his companions became hungry; 26 how he entered the house of God around the time of Abiathar the high priest, and ate the consecrated bread, which is not lawful for anyone to eat except the priests, and he also gave it to those who were with him?” 27 And Jesus was saying to them, “The Sabbath was made for man, and not man for the Sabbath. 28 “Consequently the Son of Man is Lord even of the Sabbath.”

Prayer of Thanksgiving and Adoration

Key Question: Who is Your Task Master?

I am no preacher of the old legal Sabbath. I am a preacher of the gospel. The Sabbath of the Jew is to him a task; the Lord’s day of the Christian, the first day of the week, is to him a joy, a day of rest, of peace, and of thanksgiving. And if you Christian men can earnestly drive away all distractions, so that you can really rest today, it will be good for your bodies, good for your souls, good mentally, good spiritually, good temporally, and good eternally.—

Charles Spurgeon

Resting in God Grants Freedom (v. 23-24)

The freedom of the Christian is freedom in the law.

Augustus Hopkins Strong (America’s Leading Baptist Theologian)

There is a decisive difference between the Disciples and the Pharisees.

The Sabbath appears clear to everyone, and yet, to some it is a burden.

Jesus is providing what is needed to have a clear understanding of the Law and the Gospel.

Deuteronomy 23:24–25 LSB

24 “When you enter your neighbor’s vineyard, then you may eat grapes until you are fully satisfied, but you shall not put any in your basket. 25 “When you enter your neighbor’s standing grain, then you may pluck the heads with your hand, but you shall not wield a sickle in your neighbor’s standing grain.

The Sabbath is a Matter of Grace, Mercy, & God’s Love. (v. 25-26)

A weekly sabbath walls in our wild nature.

Christopher Ness

A man-centered look at the Law makes the blessings God provides in His Word.

Jesus brings forward the spirit of the Law forward, pointing to Jesus Christ.

The issue is the individual’s spiritual condition, not the Law or Gospel of God.

1 Samuel 21:1–9 LSB

1 Then David came to Nob to Ahimelech the priest; and Ahimelech came trembling to meet David and said to him, “Why are you alone, and no one is with you?” 2 And David said to Ahimelech the priest, “The king has commanded me with a matter and has said to me, ‘Let no one know anything about the matter on which I am sending you and with which I have commanded you; and I have directed the young men to a certain place.’ 3 “So now, what do you have on hand? Give five loaves of bread into my hand, or whatever can be found.” 4 And the priest answered David and said, “There is no ordinary bread on hand, but there is consecrated bread; if only the young men have kept themselves from women.” 5 And David answered the priest and said to him, “Surely women have been kept from us as previously when I set out and the vessels of the young men were holy, though it was an ordinary journey; how much more then today will their vessels be holy?” 6 So the priest gave him consecrated bread; for there was no bread there but the bread of the Presence which was removed from before Yahweh, in order to put hot bread in its place when it was taken away. 7 Now one of the servants of Saul was there that day, detained before Yahweh; and his name was Doeg the Edomite, the chief of Saul’s shepherds. 8 And David said to Ahimelech, “Now is there not a spear or a sword on hand? For I brought neither my sword nor my weapons in my hand because the king’s matter was urgent.” 9 Then the priest said, “The sword of Goliath the Philistine, whom you struck down in the valley of Elah, behold, it is wrapped in a cloth behind the ephod; if you would take it for yourself, take it. For there is no other except it here.” And David said, “There is none like it; give it to me.”

How and Why We Rest Reveals Our True Taskmaster. (v. 27-28)

The essence of the sabbath could not be changed without changing the nature of man.

Archibald Alexander Hodge (Presbyterian Theologian and Teacher)

Jesus declares the truth about His authority.

Jesus also affirms His eternality and Identity.

Jesus brings the the Disciples and the Pharisees back to the intended meaning of Rest in God.

Leviticus 24:5–9 LSB

5 “Then you shall take fine flour and bake twelve cakes with it; two-tenths of an ephah shall be in each cake. 6 “And you shall set them in two rows, six to a row, on the pure gold table before Yahweh. 7 “And you shall put pure frankincense on each row that it may be a memorial portion for the bread, even an offering by fire to Yahweh. 8 “Every sabbath day he shall set it in order before Yahweh continually; it is an everlasting covenant for the sons of Israel. 9 “And it shall be for Aaron and his sons, and they shall eat it in a holy place; for it is most holy to him from the offerings to Yahweh by fire, his portion forever.”

What About Rest?

Rest is meant to cause us to trust in God with all our lives.

Through community, God desires to be the first priority in our lives.

God being Lord over our rest gives Him credence as Lord over everything about us.