Mark 2:23-28

Controversy #4: Jesus’ disciples break the Law on the Sabbath

Mark 2:23-28

Big Idea: The Sabbath was instituted for the good of man and the glory of God.

It’s Saturday, and Jesus and His disciples are taking a stroll through a grain field. Apparently, they are a bit hungry and in need of a snack, so they grabbed what was closest to them and began to eat. Sounds kind of weird, walking through someone else’s field and eating their grain. Listen to this, though, out of Deuteronomy 23:24-25: “If you go into your neighbor’s vineyard, you may eat your fill of grapes, as many as you wish, but you shall not put any in your bag. If you go into your neighbor’s standing grain, you may pluck the ears with your hand, but you shall not put a sickle to your neighbor’s standing grain.”

In other words, you can gather what is necessary to fulfill the immediate need, but no more than that. They aren’t stealing anything. So why did the Pharisees take such issue with it? By the way, what were the Pharisees doing in the fields? It’s Saturday, the day of rest, and these religious leaders are watching Jesus, seemingly trying to catch Him in defiance of the Law. 

So what is the issue? If you have memorized or are familiar with the Ten Commandments, you might remember that one of them goes like this: 

“Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. 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. For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested on the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy.” (Exodus 20:8-11)

The Sabbath day was a holy day that had been set apart for Israel to rest. No work was to be done on that day. There is a Messianic Jewish writer named Alfred Edersheim, and here’s what he says about what the Pharisees took issue with in Mark 2: 

“On any ordinary day this would have been lawful; but on the Sabbath it involved, according to the Rabbinic statutes, at least two sins, viz., plucking the ears, which was reaping, and rubbing them in their hands (Luke 6:1), which was sifting, grinding, or fanning. The Talmud says: 'In case a woman rolls wheat to remove the husks, it is considered as sifting; if she rubs the heads of wheat, it is regarded as threshing; if she cleans off the side-adherencies, it is sifting out fruit; if she bruises the ears, it is grinding; if she throws them up in her hand, it is winnowing'"

AHA! So this is what the Pharisees saw as the issue. It was laid out very specifically that the disciples were not allowed to pick the grain, or rub the grain in their hands to loosen it up, specifically on the Sabbath. The Pharisees’ diligence in watching and listening to Jesus was working. Here we go again! 

But Jesus is about to reveal the legalistic heart behind their concern. There are 3 pieces in the response that Jesus gives.

1.. Old Testament Case Study (25-26)

Jesus brings to mind what would have been a very familiar story to these men. It’s almost like Jesus is challenging their knowledge of the Scriptures. “I thought you guys were the experts? But don’t you remember when David…?” Well, yea, obviously Jesus, hehe, we know that story. Let me give a brief summary for us this morning. This coming out of 1 Samuel 21.

David was on the run from King Saul. Saul was trying to kill him, and David and a few of his closest friends are hiding out in the wilderness. Naturally, they start to get really hungry. During the time that Abiathar is the high priest, David goes to a priest named Ahimelech and basically lies to him. He tells him that the King has sent him on a mission, and they need some food, so Ahimelech gives David the “holy bread.” In Exodus 29 we see that “Aaron and his sons shall eat the bread that is in the basket, by the door of the tabernacle of meeting but an outsider shall not eat them, because they are holy. And if any of the bread remains until the morning then you shall burn the remainder with fire. It shall not be eaten, because it is holy.” So David broke the Law by eating the holy bread. 

Jesus was trying to get them to understand that the Law surrounding the Sabbath was in place for a purpose, which we’ll get to next. But why would He use this story of David breaking the Law to justify the actions of His disciples? What Jesus is going to explain in his follow up statements is that there must be exceptions to the rule. Caring for human life takes precedence over following the letter of the law. In fact, it was a common understanding that “nothing was ‘absolutely necessary’ except those tasks that could result in loss of life if left undone.”

What he says next is going to completely flip everything the Sabbath had become on it’s head. 

2.. The Purpose of the Sabbath (27)

As I mentioned earlier, the Sabbath was instituted by God as a way for Israel to rest. Back at the very beginning, God created everything in 6 days, and then what did He do on the 7th? He rested. He did this, not because He needed to rest, God cannot grow tired. He did it to set an example for us. He did it to show us the importance of rest. 

It was so important, in fact, that out of the 10 most important rules to follow, it was one of them. The day of rest, the Sabbath, was an opportunity for Israel to take a day away from work, to let their minds and bodies take a break and regain energy. It was also meant as a time to remember and honor the Lord. 

But the Pharisees had completely missed this. Legalism is defined as a “dependence on a strict following of the law in order to be counted righteous.” “Legalism is a focus on the external behaviors rather than the internal issues of the heart.” They didn’t follow the Law because they wanted to honor the Lord with their lives, they followed the Law because they believed it’s how they attained salvation, and they wanted everyone to see how righteous they were. They had it so backwards. So Jesus, Jesus is like “guys listen, man was not created to serve the Sabbath, but the Sabbath was created to serve man! It’s for your good, it’s for your benefit!”

By adding all of the strict regulations, the Pharisees had made the Sabbath a “master” over men. It had become a burden instead of a blessing. Instead of looking forward to resting and enjoying time away from work, they were constantly looking over their shoulder to make sure they were doing all the right things. I mean if that’s what I’m being taught, I’m dreading the weekend and looking forward to getting back to work! It sounds exhausting to be constantly worrying, like, is what I’m doing the right thing? Is this ok? Is God going to be displeased with me if I mess up? Is God going to punish me? I mean what a way to live!

After everything Jesus says, again, flipping what had become the normal rule of religion on its head, look at what He says:

3.. Jesus Holds Authority Over the Sabbath (28)

So Jesus makes another bold claim here of Deity. He is claiming to be God. I am the Son of Man, and I am Lord over the Sabbath. I am the ultimate authority. No man has control, it is only me. This is his Him also claiming the authority by which He speaks. Only Jesus has authority to interpret the Law. Only Jesus has the authority to make the necessary changes. Only Jesus has the right to tell people what they can and can’t do. 

So here we are again. These Pharisees, I’m sure, become so enraged with Jesus. I mean they must just be burning inside. And Jesus is not done. We have one more controversy that arises that we’ll see next week. But for now, I want to focus in on 2 things this morning. 

Application

One of them is a direct application out of this passage, and one is a bit of an extrapolation, but I think necessary all the same. 

1.. Breaking Down the Legalism in Our Own Lives

One of the most common lies that we can believe as Christians is that our relationship with God is dependent on the things that we DO, rather than trusting in what Jesus already DID. I think we can often believe that by being disciplined enough, making the right decisions, going to church every week, reading our Bible and praying every day, while all great and really important things, we can often believe that if I do those things, I’ll be a better Christian. Like, my standing with God is dependent on what I can do. 

Whether it’s our music choices, how much we give to the church, what we watch or don’t watch, what we read, how much we read, how much we pray, how often we fast, how often we go to church, small group, bible studies, if we aren’t careful, those things become the justification for our righteousness, instead of trusting in what Jesus did. Those things can become chores for us, instead of a source of joy and fulfillment in our lives. We make the right choices not because we want to honor the Lord out of a love for Him, but because we believe that we will be punished if we don’t. 

Can I just tell you that that way of thinking is so wrong. In fact, I think it dishonors the Lord! Jesus died BECAUSE there is nothing we can do. We are incapable, therefore Jesus had to step in. To think that we still need to work to be spiritual, do all these things to be spiritual, is, if I can say it, almost a slap in the face to Jesus. No, INSTEAD, what we do is live in the freedom that has been granted us, and in that freedom we pursue Jesus and live rightly out of a desire to please Him. The Holy Spirit works in us and works on us and we look more like Jesus because we WANT to not because we HAVE to. 

2.. Finding True Sabbath

Let me ask you a question. What happens to you when you don’t rest? Do you get sick? Do you get irritable? Do you have trouble keeping your eyes open? If I don’t get rest, and Jade would tell you this if she were here, I get really impatient and grumpy. I don’t want to talk, I don’t want to clean, I don’t want to work, I just want to sit and mope. “UGGGHHH, I’m so tired…”

Let me ask you a follow up question. What happens to your spiritual well-being if you don’t rest? Do you become prone to anger, worry, impatience? Do you make unwise decisions? See the ramifications of NOT resting don’t just reach to our physical exhaustion, but it takes its toll on our emotional, mental, and spiritual health as well. 

One more follow up question. Do you have a day every week that you set aside for rest? I don’t mean you don’t do anything, but a day where you can unplug from work and do something that rests your mind? Some examples: Read a book. Spend time outside. Go for a walk. Go to the lake. Go for a bike ride. Play a game with your kids. Do a puzzle. Take a nap. Those are all really good things. But better yet, the number 1 thing you can do to rest and recharge is to spend time with the Lord. Plug yourself into the source of life. Draw from Him. Rest in Him. 

Personal Sabbath should be a weekly rhythm for us. God rested to give us the example. Our bodies need rest! Our minds need rest! Our souls need rest! 

“Come to me all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.”