The Scandal Over The Sabbath

Mark 2:23-28

Jesus And The Irritation (23-24)

The Conduct Of The Disciples

The Pharisees were upset.

The disciples were eating heads of grain in a field on the Sabbath Day.

The Criticism Of The Disciples

The Pharisees came to the Lord Jesus Christ.

They accused His disciples of doing something unlawful on the Sabbath Day.

They considered what they were doing to be work.

But that was not true.

The disciples were not working.

They were simply meeting a pressing need.

They were hungry and they were simply doing what the Law gave them permission to do.

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Jesus And The Illustration (25-26)

When His men were attacked, the Lord Jesus Christ neither condemned the disciples nor condoned their actions.

Neither did He enter into an argument with the Pharisees.

Instead, He pointed them to the Word of God.

The Lord’s Confrontation

The Lord Jesus Christ looked at these men and He said, “Have you never read…?”

He used a little sarcasm to get these men to understand that their argument was not based on a proper understanding of what the Bible says about such matter.

The Lord’s Clarification

The Lord Jesus Christ proceeded to remind them of an incident that occurred during the life of David.

When David was fleeing from Saul, he and his men needed food.

They came to the priest and ask for food.

The priest told David there was no bread there but the showbread.

The showbread was 12 loaves of bread that were baked fresh every Sabbath Day.

They were placed on a table in the holy place in the Tabernacle.

They represented the 12 tribes of Israel.

They reminded Israel of their dependence upon the Lord God for their physical needs.

The showbread was changed every Sabbath Day.

The old bread was eaten by the priests in the holy place.

This bread was not to be eaten by non-priests, according to the Law.

But it was given to David and His men.

The clear teaching here is that there are times when human needs are more important than a legalistic keeping of the Law.

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Jesus And The Illumination (27-28)

The Reason For The Sabbath

The Lord Jesus Christ told these men that the Sabbath Day was given to man.

The Sabbath does not exist to be served, it exists to serve.

The Sabbath was given to man out of the grace of God.

God gave man one day out of seven in which he did not have to work for a living.

Man was to take that one day per week and he was to rest from his physical labors.

Man was to use that day for reflection on what the Lord had done for him the other 6 days.

Man was to use that time to rest his body; reflect on the blessings o the Lord and refresh his spirit by worshiping the Lord.

That was the original intent of the Sabbath.

The Reality Of The Sabbath

The Lord Jesus Christ summed it all up by telling the Pharisees that He is “Lord of the Sabbath”.

It is far more important to know Him through a personal relationship than it is to keep rules and rituals.

The Lord Jesus Christ is greater than the Sabbath!

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Sunday is a very special day.

It is the Lord’s Day.

It is the day when the church gathers to celebrate our Lord’s resurrection from the dead.

It is a day set aside to honor Him.

It is good not to do physical work on Sunday.

But there is nothing wrong if we have to.

This whole thing comes down to personal opinion.

It is a matter of conscience.

Whatever we do, let us be sure that we honor the Lord, not just on Sunday, but 7 days per week.

Every day is our Sabbath Day because we are in Jesus the place of Rest.