One of the most oft quoted phrases that Jesus uttered is found in Mark 2:27; “…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.”
I suspect there are times when we miss the import of what Jesus was saying and how it impacts our life. If he had said, “The Sabbath was made for man’s benefit…” we might understand it better for that seems to be the implication. However the Sabbath is no trivial matter either for the Christ or for those to whom he was speaking. The Sabbath was pivotal in Jewish life and even it the life of the Messiah. It was central to the faith practiced by the contemporary Jews of Jesus’ time and as practiced by him.
The Sabbath was not just a convenience, it was a command – Deut. 5:12-15. It was not something that merely represented God’s rest after creation ( Gen 2:3, Ex 20:8-11) it was a solemn day that God said must be observed and any one who did not properly observe it should be stoned to death (Ex 31:15). It is with that backdrop in history that reflects the magnitude of Jesus’ words regarding the intent of the Sabbath.
Over the years onerous stipulations were added to the idea of keeping the Sabbath. As the years passed and sabbath-keeping became a point of contention, the Mishna gave shape to some 39 stipulations regarding the Sabbath and the “hair-splitting in working out the details” (ISBE, Sabbath) was almost unbelievable. Just an example is that of kindling a fire or extinguishing a fire, neither were allowed on the Sabbath.
In our society, keeping the Sabbath, whether it’s a Saturday or a Sunday is most unusual. I cannot speak to other denominations or religions, but for those of the Christian faith, it appears that the Sabbath is in no manner a day of rest. It is a day of activity; worship, study, worship again, study again, family nights, youth night, committee meetings and business meetings. Activity is the order of the day not rest or even reflection necessarily. Even our worship is not focused on the spiritual per se. The sermon is often times simply an interruption in a list of announcements and “worship” songs. Activity is confused with accomplishment and it is thought that the more we do the more spiritual we become. It is for that reason that we all owe a debt of gratitude to the Apostle Paul.
Paul put the brakes on the Law and the Jerusalem council seemed to go along with it. For fear of putting a burden too difficult to bear (in the specific case of circumcision) the council decided to limit the need of Gentiles when it came to conforming to Jewish Law. Paul went further to basically say all things were allowed as long as it did not cause a brother/sister to stumble. In other words, if what we do offends another, don’t do it (1Cor 8).
Now I suspect that Paul was not abrogating the Law as in the Decalogue for that would be extreme. It was the “tradition of (his) fathers” that garnered his attention (Gal 1:14). It was the minutiae of the Law as evidenced in the Mishna and other “traditions” that became his bone of contention. If that is not the case, then we are left to do “whatever is right in (our) own eyes.” And of course, many of us do.
I suspect the power of what Jesus said, “The son of man is lord of the Sabbath” is lost to many of us. The impact of those words to those sitting in the synagogue or observing the Sabbath down to the tiniest details brought nothing but contempt for the Messiah. But for us it brought a sense of freedom. Not to ignore the Sabbath, but to keep it as it was intended – a day to refresh and focus on the mighty work of God whether that be reflecting on his creative power or his re-creative power in us through Christ.
Exo 20:8-11
“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.
