He said to them, “The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath.” Mark 2:27 ESV1
Read Matthew 12:1-8, Mark 2:23-28 & Luke 6:1-5
During the raising of our children, my husband and I were blessed with some excellent parenting resources. From one of those sources, we gleaned the valuable advice: Rules without relationship equals rebellion. That truth, paired with other wisdom and the help of God Almighty, allowed us to develop a home with high standards bathed in grace and love to which our children responded beautifully. It is too bad the Pharisees of old weren’t able to discover such life-giving truths from the resources available to them, the Law and the Prophets. Instead, they exhausted themselves making up new rules, trying to enforce those requirements, and attempting to punish anyone who broke those man-made laws.
Such was the case when “one Sabbath [Jesus and His disciples were] … going through the grainfields, and as they made their way” (Mark 2:23a), “His disciples were hungry, and they began to pluck heads of grain” (Matthew 12:1b), “rubbing them in their hands” (Luke 6:1c), “and to eat … but when the Pharisees saw it, they said to Him, ‘Look, Your disciples are doing what is not lawful to do on the Sabbath’ (Matthew 12:1c-2). “And He said to them, ‘Have you never read what David did, when he was in need and was hungry, he and those who were with him: how he entered the house of God, in the time of Abiathar the high priest, and ate the bread of the Presence, which it is not lawful for any but the priests to eat, and also gave it to those who were with him’” (Mark 2:25-26)? “’Or have you not read in the Law how on the Sabbath the priests in the temple profane the Sabbath and are guiltless? I tell you, something greater than the temple is here. And if you had known what this means, “I desire mercy, and not sacrifice,” you would not have condemned the guiltless’” (Matthew 12:5-7). “And He said to them, ‘The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath. So, the Son of Man is lord even of the Sabbath’” (Mark 2:27-28).
The Pharisees represented in the above passage failed to grasp another important principle for those in charge: Seek to understand over being understood. Granted, as teachers of the Law, the Pharisees were familiar with the importance of keeping the Sabbath. God instructed Moses, “’You are to speak to the people of Israel and say, “Above all you shall keep My Sabbaths, for this is a sign between Me and you throughout your generations, that you may know that I, the Lord, sanctify you. You shall keep the Sabbath because it is holy for you. Everyone who profanes it shall be put to death. Whoever does any work on it, that soul shall be cut off from among his people”’” (Exodus 31:13-14). I believe most of the religious leaders truly wanted to honor the LORD and prevent unnecessary bloodshed, but, in their zeal, they had added impossible demands to God’s Law as to what constituted work on the Sabbath. The following is from Rabbinic teachings:
“The principal acts of labor (prohibited on the Sabbath) are forty less one—viz.: Sowing, ploughing, reaping, binding into sheaves, threshing, winnowing, fruit-cleaning, grinding, sifting, kneading, baking, wool-shearing, bleaching, combing, dyeing, spinning, warping, making two spindle-trees, weaving two threads, separating two threads (in the warp), tying a knot, untying a knot, sewing on with two stitches, tearing in order to sew together with two stitches, hunting deer, slaughtering the same, skinning them, salting them, preparing the hide, scraping the hair off, cutting it, writing two (single) letters (characters), erasing in order to write two letters, building, demolishing (in order to rebuild), kindling, extinguishing (fire), hammering, transferring from one place into another. These are the principal acts of labor—forty less one” (Mishnah Shabbat 7:2).
On the other hand, Jesus’ interpretation of the Law of the LORD and the writings of the Prophets revealed only two rules: Love the LORD with all you’ve got, and Love others as much as you love yourself (see Mark 12:29-31). When one is a position of authority, it is important to remember to: Make rules few, easy to remember, and simple to understand. All these specific requirements were almost impossible for the religious leaders to enforce and equally unfeasible for the common people to remember and keep.
In this case, the disciples were hungry, and the food was at their fingertips. Yet, I do not think they were rambling through the field mindlessly eating. They knew it was the Sabbath and probably considered their actions in relation to the Law and felt justified in partaking of the food available to them. The Law taught, “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” (Deuteronomy 23:25). They were not harvesting the grain, and they weren’t gathering it (see Exodus 16:26); they were merely taking a few handfuls and removing the husks with their hands. And they ate it raw, so they were not breaking the rule, “You shall kindle no fire in all your dwelling places on the Sabbath day” (Exodus 35:3). The disciples were not employed as farmers, so they were not breaking the Sabbath Day commandment, “You shall not do any ordinary work” (Leviticus 23:25a). Besides, even during the Sabbath days of one of the holiest festivals, the Passover, food preparation was allowed. God had commanded, “’No work shall be done on those days. But what everyone needs to eat, that alone may be prepared by you’” (Exodus 12:16b). The disciples likely had no idea what they were doing would be considered wrong by the Pharisees.
There is a difference between acting in ignorance and outright disobedience. If the Pharisees had considered the situation from the disciples’ point of view, they might have been a little less critical in their response about them to Jesus, “’Look, Your disciples are doing what is not lawful to do on the Sabbath’” (Matthew 12:1c-2). Jesus, on the other hand, saw from where each party was coming and responded to the Pharisees, “’If you had known what this means, “I desire mercy, and not sacrifice,” you would not have condemned the guiltless’” (Matthew 12:5-7). The Pharisees knew the Scriptures; Jesus’ words would have cut like a knife. “I desire mercy, and not sacrifice” was quoted from the prophet Hosea (6:6) and were part of a chastisement by God upon the unrepentant Israelites. The disciples revered Jesus; His words declaring them guiltless would have blessed them.
The Pharisees had also missed another important leadership concept: When it comes to enforcing rules, one must consider the context of the situation. Jesus made sure to point out this to them. He cited a time when David, the anointed King of Israel, was running for his life from the reigning King Saul. “David … was hungry, and those who were with him … [so] he entered the house of God and ate the bread of the Presence, which it was not lawful for him to eat nor for those who were with him, but only for the priests’” (Matthew 12:3-4 2:25-26). David didn’t take the bread without permission; he asked for anything the priests could spare. Having nothing else, a priest gave the bread of the Presence to David (see 1 Samuel 21:3-6). Unlike the Pharisees in Jesus’ time, the priest in David’s time realized, based on context, that loving God sometimes requires the relaxing of some rules to best care for His people.
Then Jesus gave the Pharisees an example that hit even closer to home. “’Or have you not read in the Law how on the Sabbath the priests in the temple profane the Sabbath and are guiltless’” (Matthew 12:5)? Because it was necessary for the worship of the LORD, the priests did much of their usual work and special responsibilities on the Sabbath, yet they were not condemned. Elsewhere, Jesus mentioned one of those special responsibilities which was often performed on the Sabbath. “’On the Sabbath, a man receives circumcision, so that the law of Moses may not be broken’” (John 7:23). Since it was considered righteous and necessary work, likely (if they or any of their sons or males relatives had been born on a Friday) some of the Pharisees standing there that day accusing others had, in some capacity, taken part in the work of a circumcision on a Sabbath.
When we were raising our children, we taught them to obey those in authority unless obedience requires breaking a higher law (ex. the laws of the land or of God). When Jesus said, “‘Something greater than the temple is here’” (Matthew 12:6) and “’The Son of Man is Lord even of the Sabbath’” (Mark 2:28), He was declaring Himself the highest authority on the subject of Sabbath requirements. The disciples looked to Jesus for guidance. Probably, if there were any doubts in their minds as to what actions were considered appropriate on the Sabbath, the disciples would have consulted Jesus. I can only speculate, but I imagine, before taking the grain, the disciples said to Jesus something like, “We’re hungry.” And Jesus probably answered something to the effect of, “Look, and see what is at hand; take, therefore, and eat.” The disciples likely happily obeyed.
Jesus ended the argument with the Pharisees, in part, with, “The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath” (Mark 2:27). The observation of the Sabbath was never intended to place a burden on the Jewish people. It was designed to give them rest and help them focus on the LORD. None of God’s laws were intended to be a hardship to the Israelites but to be a blessing for their benefit (see Deuteronomy 10:12-13). The observation of the commandments of the LORD was supposed to display God’s favor on His people (see Deuteronomy 28:9-10) and help those of other nations desire to follow the LORD (see Deuteronomy 4:6-8).
Trusting God’s ways and obeying His words is just as important today. When the Church is unified in loving God and sharing the truth with one another “and an unbeliever or outsider enters [a Christian gathering], he is convicted by all, he is called to account by all, the secrets of his heart are disclosed, and so, falling on his face, he will worship God and declare that God is really among [His people]” (Corinthians 14:24b-25)!
Unfortunately, as a Church, we are largely not sharing the truth with one another. Some of us, in the name of tolerance, are allowing, in the Church, all sorts of things that are clearly against God’s law and an insult to God’s character. Neither are we unified in loving God or people. Others of us, not unlike the Pharisees, in the name of righteousness, are demanding that those in the World follow what is prescribed for those who have dedicated themselves to Christ—that which is only possible with the help of the Holy Spirit.
Some of the other parenting principles around which we ran our home included: Be kind; Say “yes” as much as possible, so “no” means something; Give absolute freedom within appropriate boundaries; Model the behavior you are requiring; and Teach children to so love what is in the light that the dark won’t tempt them.
Truth must be tempered by grace. We have no idea what pain others carry, what lies they believe, or why they make the decisions they do. And no one cares what we know until they know how much we care.
Instead of condemning or condoning those tempted by sexual sin, what if we were so satisfied in the monogamous relationships with the spouses of our youth for our lifetimes that those contemplating something other than God’s plan for marriage would want what we have? Instead of identifying ourselves as Pro-Life or Pro-Choice, what if we were so proud of our children and so helpful to struggling parents that anyone thinking of aborting her child would have the courage to keep it or have the confidence to give it up to a loving, happy family? Instead of living like the world or pushing our faith down the throats of others, what if we were so ecstatic about our relationship with Christ and the places He has us serving that unbelievers can’t help but want that joy too?
What if we were recognized for building bridges instead of throwing stones? What if we were known more for what we are for than what we are against? That wouldn’t change God’s requirements at all, but it would make following Him more attractive. With that, I am reminded of another parenting principle: Peer pressure is only as strong as your family identity is weak. Let’s work together to make God’s family something desirable to be part of.
1 Scripture quotations marked with ESV are from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version (ESV), copyright 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. All Scriptures are taken from the ESV unless otherwise noted. To aid in understanding, I have capitalized references to God.