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THE SABBATH FOR WHOM?
LORD’S DAY, JANUARY 16
Mark 2:23-28

Colossians 2:16

 

“…the sabbath was made for man,

and not man for the sabbath.”

 

THE SABBATH FOR WHOM?
 
Jesus in this particular instance did not depart from a God-given ceremonial law, but a man-made rabbinical tradition. The charges of the Pharisees were totally baseless and without merit. Jesus being Author of the law did not break the law but kept it perfectly.
 
Jesus laid down a wonderful principle for sabbath-keeping when He said, “The sabbath was made for man, and not man for the sabbath” (Mark 2:27). In other words, the sabbath was made for man’s advantage and not disadvantage. The sabbath was instituted not as a burden but as a benefit to man. Thus, any legalistic application of the sabbath law contradicts its God-given role for man. There are neo-Pharisees today who say that eating out on the Lord’s day violates the sabbath law. Christians should eat at home, and not eat at the restaurant. The sabbath is violated when Christians make unbelievers cook for them. Is there any logic to this? Whether Christians eat or not, unbelievers would still operate their business. Is it then wrong for husbands to relieve their wives from cooking on the Lord’s Day, and bring them out for a nice dinner?
 
Calvin has rightly commented, “The point of it is that it is wrong to turn the sabbath to man’s destruction, since God instituted it for his sake. The Pharisees saw Christ’s disciples busy in a holy work, they saw them exhausted and famished by their journey, yet they are angry that these hungry men should refresh their weary bodies with a few grains of corn. Is it not an ignorant perversion of God’s will to demand the observance of the sabbath to man’s hurt when God intended it to help him?” What insight and wisdom!
 
THOUGHT: We do not condemn those who do not eat out on the Lord’s Day, but neither should they condemn those who do.
PRAYER: Lord, grant me wisdom to apply the Sabbath law for man’s good and for Thy glory.

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