The Sabbath is For....

DEVOTION

THE GOSPEL OF MARK

THE SABBATH IS FOR

Mark 2:23-28

23 One Sabbath Jesus was going through the grainfields, and as his disciples walked along, they began to pick some heads of grain. 24 The Pharisees said to him, "Look, why are they doing what is unlawful on the Sabbath?" 25 He answered, "Have you never read what David did when he and his companions were hungry and in need? 26 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."  27 Then he said to them, "The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath.  28 So the Son of Man is Lord even of the Sabbath."

NIV

The key to this whole exchange between Jesus and the Pharisees is about the Sabbath and that he is Lord over it. But there is much told about how people approach this Sabbath. We were not made for the purpose of the Sabbath. We were not made to surround our lives with the Sabbath. This Sabbath of the Pharisees represents traditional religious attitudes and activities. It is part of their law which is the main focus of their lives. They have rules and regulations which dictate every action especially on the Sabbath. But they lost the true meaning of God’s word. We have to examine whether we live with some of the same attitudes about our Sabbath, Sunday morning church. Have we surrounded our Sunday morning church with a bunch of traditional religious views and activities? Should we not simply see this as God did, a day to rest from all our work? Why do some of us consider ministry as resting? We pay the pastors to work on the Sabbath, we expect them to harvest grain, to harvest souls on the Sabbath, or do we expect them to feed us on the Sabbath? We labor for free in various forms serving other members of the body, is that resting from all labor as God did? Is that what he created the Sabbath for? Church was made for us, the Sabbath was made for us, a place of rest and comfort from all our work, a place of rest for our soul, our spirit and our body. But how do we labor for Christ while resting? Can we just forget about all the ministries of the church? Can we forfeit all activities, all the extras, all the stuff we do in church and just gather to worship the Lord of the Sabbath? But then we would not need all the pastors, lead pastor, associate pastor, youth pastor, children’s pastor, worship pastor and who knows how many more we have come up with. We would not need nursery workers, children workers, greeters, choir directors, multi-media staff, and all the other areas of service we have come up with. What we would have is a place for all of us to gather together and worship the Lord of the Sabbath. But then who would organize the style in which we do that? Have we turned into the Pharisee with all their rules and regulations about Sunday morning Church? Why did God give us the Sabbath?