The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath. So the son of man is Lord even of the Sabbath.
Mark 2:23-3:6
This is a period of time in Jesus' life where the Pharisees are questioning him critically and trying to expose him for violating Jewish law. They question him when they see his disciples plucking grains in the field. They also question him when he goes to a synagogue and encounters a man with a withered hand and heals him. The Pharisees interpret these acts as "working" on the Sabbath day, which is a violation of Jewish law. Jesus' response is that it is not work to satisfy one's hunger nor is it work to do good deeds, even if it is the Sabbath day.
Jesus was trying to teach us that it is ok to do God's work on the Sabbath. He declares the Sabbath for doing good rather than harm. God gave us the gift of the Sabbath Day to help us keep it holy and as a day of rest, not to practice just to make God happy or arbitrarily restrict our activities. So many times people become so preoccupied with the fine points of law that the big picture and compassion for others are lost. Sometimes in trying to keep with the "law," the most important points – justice, mercy and faithfulness - are lost. Let us make the holy day our weekly reminder of our dependence on God, that the world today is not as it should be and the most important things that happen in our lives are the things that happen through God's "work."
Cindy Carrier
