One Sabbath Jesus was going through the grainfields, and as his disciples walked along, they began to pick some heads of grain. The Pharisees said to him, “Look, why are they doing what is unlawful on the Sabbath?”

He answered, “Have you never read what David did when he and his companions were hungry and in need? In the days of Abiathar the high priest, he entered the house of God and ate the consecrated bread, which is lawful only for priests to eat. And he also gave some to his companions.”

Then 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 2:23–28)

When Jesus told the Pharisees that the Sabbath was made for man and not man for the Sabbath he was trying to teach them an important principle that they had somehow missed in all their study of the Scriptures.

The Pharisee’s concern for the Sabbath was genuine. But as well-intentioned as they might be, they had forgotten the reason that the Sabbath existed. Moses himself had written, “on the seventh day do not work, so that your ox and your donkey may rest and the slave born in your household, and the foreigner among you as well, may be refreshed.” (Exodus 23:12) The Sabbath existed because it was important for people to take time off. It was created in order to improve their lives. And such is the case with every law that God created. He didn’t come up with the rules arbitrarily. The rules exist to benefit us, as expressions of his love for us, so that we can live well and have the best lives possible.

Of course, supposedly the laws created by our government, whether city, county, state or nation are supposed to benifit us. But sometimes I think both the politicians as well as those implementing the laws have forgotten why they exist. Too often it seems that all that matters to them is “well, it’s the rules; we’ve got to follow the rules.” If it’s hurting people, if it isn’t making things better, if it’s not fulfilling the purpose of the law, then it’s not a good thing, no matter how carefully the law is followed, no matter how well-intentioned it might have been.

Send to Kindle