Disciples Plucking Grain on the SabbathBible World
2:28Mark 2:28
Therefore the Son of man is Lord also of the sabbath.
Jesus as the Son of man, God in the flesh in whom divine and human nature are united, is Lord also of the Sabbath because He made it and set it apart as the memorial of creation. As its Creator and rightful Lord He is above all question and above all law concerning it, with authority to declare its purpose and proper observance, to free it from burdensome human rules, and to acquit His disciples of blame for plucking and eating grain on the Sabbath to satisfy hunger. He did not abolish the law or break the Sabbath but kept His Father's commandments without violation, so His lordship upholds the commandment and magnifies God's law rather than canceling its binding claims. The Sabbath He is Lord of was made for man for rest and peace and human good, so what is necessary in doing the work of Christ and works of mercy to relieve suffering and meet human need is in accord with the Sabbath law. That Sabbath is the seventh day instituted in Eden for all mankind before the Jews existed, and it has not been changed to the first day nor canceled by His death, but remains sacred as long as heaven and earth remain.
Christ's Lordship and Defense
As Son of man He is Lord also of the Sabbath, One above all question and above all law, and as the Infinite Judge He acquits His disciples of blame for plucking and eating grain on the Sabbath to satisfy hunger and sustain bodily strength for God's service, appealing to the very statutes they were accused of violating to prove the act right and lawful. His lordship means that what is necessary to be done on the Sabbath in doing the work of Christ and in accomplishing God's redemptive service for man is in accord with the Sabbath law, because the service of God is first of all. In divine and human nature united as God in the flesh with all the fullness of the Godhead, He exercised His own divine prerogative as Lord of the Sabbath. When the disciples were charged with breaking the Sabbath for plucking heads of wheat and rubbing out and eating the kernels, He repelled the charge, established their innocence, and with unique dignity cast over them the shield of His own lordship.
He has authority to declare the Sabbath's purpose and proper observance and to explain its original meaning, cutting through burdensome human rules. The Sabbath was made for human good to give rest and peace and remind of the Creator, not to burden or deny bodily needs, so meeting hunger to continue serving God was lawful. Because He made the Sabbath and is its Creator and Lord, the rulers' charge that He broke it was wrong. Charging its own Maker with transgression was blindness.
As rightful Lord He denied the Pharisees' right to question Him or interfere with His work, for the Jewish system gave them no such authority and their claims rested on pride and arrogance. Though virtually summoned before the dignitaries to be tried for His life on the charge of breaking the Sabbath, His words were unanswerable and they could not condemn Him. He refused to plead guilty to any wrong or submit to unjust claims. He did not abolish the law, break the Sabbath, or justify His disciples in breaking it, but kept His Father's commandments without violation of its holy precepts so that He could ask unchallenged who could convict Him of sin. His declaration and conduct uphold the Sabbath commandment with respect for God's holy law, and His death magnifies God's law and shows it immutable.
Sabbath's Origin and Permanence
The Sabbath belongs to Christ and is the Lord's day because the Sabbath was made for man and Christ made it. He set it apart as a memorial of creation, so it points to Him as both Creator and Sanctifier. He who created all things in heaven and earth and by whom all things hold together is head of the church and by His power reconciles to God.
It is a sign of His power to make people holy, given to all whom He makes holy and to all who through Him become part of the Israel of God. Received as a sign of His creative and redeeming power it is a delight, and seeing Christ in it brings delight in Him. It points to the works of creation as evidence of His mighty power in redemption, calls to mind the lost peace of Eden while telling of peace restored through the Saviour, and repeats His invitation to rest.
His lordship rests on creatorship, for He made the worlds and made the world and man, proclaimed the law at Sinai, and made the Sabbath and gave it to man to keep holy. The seventh day is sacred to Him as the day set apart to receive the worship of angels and people. He displaced the rubbish of human tradition that had been piled upon the Sabbath and made its true meaning plain.
He put His divine sanction on the seventh day by freeing the Sabbath from the human traditions and rubbish under which it had been buried and placing it on its eternal basis. He kept it according to God's law rather than rabbinical requirements, and rejected observance that reflected human selfishness and arbitrariness rather than God's character. His authority therefore does not cancel its binding claims. Through His precepts and example His disciples kept obtaining new discoveries of truth, as He presented heaven and earth united in harmonious action.
The Sabbath He is Lord of is the seventh day, not the first day, and His lordship confirms its claim as the Lord's day rather than authorizing a change to Sunday. The seventh-day Sabbath is God's memorial of creation and a witness to His claim to human reverence and homage. His words cut through human rules that had burdened the Sabbath with extra demands, for He has authority to explain its original meaning. The Sabbath is the Lord's Sabbath commanded in the fourth commandment and enduring, so replacing it with Sunday is a change to God's law, not an equivalent choice of day. His death did not cancel the fourth commandment, which was to remain sacred forty years after His death and to retain its claim as long as heaven and earth remain.
The Sabbath is not Jewish in origin but was instituted in Eden before the Jews existed, made for all mankind and intended to last as long as humanity. He called it His holy day, and the seventh-day Sabbath of the fourth commandment has not been changed. He sanctified and blessed the seventh day, hallowing it as the day on which He rested. Its association with the Jews is no reason to reject it, just as that would be no reason to reject the Bible or Christ, and keeping it bears witness that God's original Eden Sabbath remains His Sabbath.
The Lord of the Sabbath is the Creator of heaven and earth, exalted above all false and other gods. Keeping the true Sabbath bears witness to knowledge of the true and living God. Observing it bears witness to the world that Christians know the true and living God and distinguish Him from false gods.
False zeal for the Sabbath joined with rejection of its Lord sets aside the true foundation for observance and makes the fourth commandment of no significance. Under pretense of honoring Christ such a course tears down God's great memorial and turns minds away from the Creator to a spurious institution. Keeping the Sabbath is obedience to the truth against the claim that the law has been done away. In the perilous period when universal contempt is placed on God's law and the world is choosing between the holy Sabbath of the fourth commandment and the spurious sabbath, His words about the Sabbath carry full authority and nothing should detract from them, for He foreknew the deadening and paralyzing influence abounding iniquity would have on the piety and loyalty of believers.
Right Sabbath Observance
The Sabbath permits works of mercy, and relieving the suffering of the sick is not a violation of it. It is a day set apart by God for sacred use under Christ's authority as its Lord. His miracles on that day showed that meeting the needs of people afflicted by Satan is fitting work for the Sabbath, done to relieve suffering and not merely to display power.
The disciples' plucking and eating grain as they passed through a field on the Sabbath was in keeping with God's provision for human need. A hungry person was permitted to take grain or fruit from a neighbor's field, and the laws reserving harvest leftovers and gleanings for the poor illustrate the same care.
That permission does not excuse regularly spending the Sabbath in writing or in ordinary labor, which harms spiritual life and dishonors God. Ordinary work and pleasure-seeking activities such as ball playing and swimming are not necessities and neglect the Sabbath's sacred purpose. Doing unnecessary work on this holy commandment can weaken its sacredness until the commandment has no effect. Work that is truly necessary does not make Sabbath observance unimportant, and those required to do such work need special care to preserve its sacredness.
Jesus as the Son of man, God in the flesh in whom divine and human nature are united, is Lord also of the Sabbath because He made it and set it apart as the memorial of creation. As its Creator and rightful Lord He is above all question and above all law concerning it, with authority to declare its purpose and proper observance, to free it from burdensome human rules, and to acquit His disciples of blame for plucking and eating grain on the Sabbath to satisfy hunger. He did not abolish the law or break the Sabbath but kept His Father's commandments without violation, so His lordship upholds the commandment and magnifies God's law rather than canceling its binding claims. The Sabbath He is Lord of was made for man for rest and peace and human good, so what is necessary in doing the work of Christ and works of mercy to relieve suffering and meet human need is in accord with the Sabbath law. That Sabbath is the seventh day instituted in Eden for all mankind before the Jews existed, and it has not been changed to the first day nor canceled by His death, but remains sacred as long as heaven and earth remain.
Christ's Lordship and Defense
As Son of man He is Lord also of the Sabbath, One above all question and above all law, and as the Infinite Judge He acquits His disciples of blame for plucking and eating grain on the Sabbath to satisfy hunger and sustain bodily strength for God's service, appealing to the very statutes they were accused of violating to prove the act right and lawful. His lordship means that what is necessary to be done on the Sabbath in doing the work of Christ and in accomplishing God's redemptive service for man is in accord with the Sabbath law, because the service of God is first of all. In divine and human nature united as God in the flesh with all the fullness of the Godhead, He exercised His own divine prerogative as Lord of the Sabbath. When the disciples were charged with breaking the Sabbath for plucking heads of wheat and rubbing out and eating the kernels, He repelled the charge, established their innocence, and with unique dignity cast over them the shield of His own lordship.
He has authority to declare the Sabbath's purpose and proper observance and to explain its original meaning, cutting through burdensome human rules. The Sabbath was made for human good to give rest and peace and remind of the Creator, not to burden or deny bodily needs, so meeting hunger to continue serving God was lawful. Because He made the Sabbath and is its Creator and Lord, the rulers' charge that He broke it was wrong. Charging its own Maker with transgression was blindness.
As rightful Lord He denied the Pharisees' right to question Him or interfere with His work, for the Jewish system gave them no such authority and their claims rested on pride and arrogance. Though virtually summoned before the dignitaries to be tried for His life on the charge of breaking the Sabbath, His words were unanswerable and they could not condemn Him. He refused to plead guilty to any wrong or submit to unjust claims. He did not abolish the law, break the Sabbath, or justify His disciples in breaking it, but kept His Father's commandments without violation of its holy precepts so that He could ask unchallenged who could convict Him of sin. His declaration and conduct uphold the Sabbath commandment with respect for God's holy law, and His death magnifies God's law and shows it immutable.
Sabbath's Origin and Permanence
The Sabbath belongs to Christ and is the Lord's day because the Sabbath was made for man and Christ made it. He set it apart as a memorial of creation, so it points to Him as both Creator and Sanctifier. He who created all things in heaven and earth and by whom all things hold together is head of the church and by His power reconciles to God.
It is a sign of His power to make people holy, given to all whom He makes holy and to all who through Him become part of the Israel of God. Received as a sign of His creative and redeeming power it is a delight, and seeing Christ in it brings delight in Him. It points to the works of creation as evidence of His mighty power in redemption, calls to mind the lost peace of Eden while telling of peace restored through the Saviour, and repeats His invitation to rest.
His lordship rests on creatorship, for He made the worlds and made the world and man, proclaimed the law at Sinai, and made the Sabbath and gave it to man to keep holy. The seventh day is sacred to Him as the day set apart to receive the worship of angels and people. He displaced the rubbish of human tradition that had been piled upon the Sabbath and made its true meaning plain.
He put His divine sanction on the seventh day by freeing the Sabbath from the human traditions and rubbish under which it had been buried and placing it on its eternal basis. He kept it according to God's law rather than rabbinical requirements, and rejected observance that reflected human selfishness and arbitrariness rather than God's character. His authority therefore does not cancel its binding claims. Through His precepts and example His disciples kept obtaining new discoveries of truth, as He presented heaven and earth united in harmonious action.
The Sabbath He is Lord of is the seventh day, not the first day, and His lordship confirms its claim as the Lord's day rather than authorizing a change to Sunday. The seventh-day Sabbath is God's memorial of creation and a witness to His claim to human reverence and homage. His words cut through human rules that had burdened the Sabbath with extra demands, for He has authority to explain its original meaning. The Sabbath is the Lord's Sabbath commanded in the fourth commandment and enduring, so replacing it with Sunday is a change to God's law, not an equivalent choice of day. His death did not cancel the fourth commandment, which was to remain sacred forty years after His death and to retain its claim as long as heaven and earth remain.
The Sabbath is not Jewish in origin but was instituted in Eden before the Jews existed, made for all mankind and intended to last as long as humanity. He called it His holy day, and the seventh-day Sabbath of the fourth commandment has not been changed. He sanctified and blessed the seventh day, hallowing it as the day on which He rested. Its association with the Jews is no reason to reject it, just as that would be no reason to reject the Bible or Christ, and keeping it bears witness that God's original Eden Sabbath remains His Sabbath.
The Lord of the Sabbath is the Creator of heaven and earth, exalted above all false and other gods. Keeping the true Sabbath bears witness to knowledge of the true and living God. Observing it bears witness to the world that Christians know the true and living God and distinguish Him from false gods.
False zeal for the Sabbath joined with rejection of its Lord sets aside the true foundation for observance and makes the fourth commandment of no significance. Under pretense of honoring Christ such a course tears down God's great memorial and turns minds away from the Creator to a spurious institution. Keeping the Sabbath is obedience to the truth against the claim that the law has been done away. In the perilous period when universal contempt is placed on God's law and the world is choosing between the holy Sabbath of the fourth commandment and the spurious sabbath, His words about the Sabbath carry full authority and nothing should detract from them, for He foreknew the deadening and paralyzing influence abounding iniquity would have on the piety and loyalty of believers.
Right Sabbath Observance
The Sabbath permits works of mercy, and relieving the suffering of the sick is not a violation of it. It is a day set apart by God for sacred use under Christ's authority as its Lord. His miracles on that day showed that meeting the needs of people afflicted by Satan is fitting work for the Sabbath, done to relieve suffering and not merely to display power.
The disciples' plucking and eating grain as they passed through a field on the Sabbath was in keeping with God's provision for human need. A hungry person was permitted to take grain or fruit from a neighbor's field, and the laws reserving harvest leftovers and gleanings for the poor illustrate the same care.
That permission does not excuse regularly spending the Sabbath in writing or in ordinary labor, which harms spiritual life and dishonors God. Ordinary work and pleasure-seeking activities such as ball playing and swimming are not necessities and neglect the Sabbath's sacred purpose. Doing unnecessary work on this holy commandment can weaken its sacredness until the commandment has no effect. Work that is truly necessary does not make Sabbath observance unimportant, and those required to do such work need special care to preserve its sacredness.