The Lord of the Sabbath

In the Gospel of Mark, we read: "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 2:23-27, NIV)

The same story, of course, appears in the Gospel of Matthew with a slightly different version of Christ's statement. After telling them the story of what David did, he is quoted as saying: "Or haven’t you read in the Law that the priests on Sabbath duty in the temple desecrate the Sabbath and yet are innocent? I tell you that something greater than the temple is here. If you had known what these words mean, ‘I desire mercy, not sacrifice,’ you would not have condemned the innocent. For the Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath." (Matthew 12:5-8, NIV) Likewise, in the Gospel of Luke, the same incident is described in much the same manner as it appears in Mark's account, although he only records the key phrase "The Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath." (Luke 6:5, NIV)

Now, in all three accounts, the Greek word "kyrios" is translated into English as "Lord." According to Blue Letter Bible, the Greek word indicates the owner, master, controller of something. In other words, "the possessor and disposer of a thing." Hence, we see that Jesus is asserting his absolute authority over the Sabbath as a human (as the "Son of Man"). In fact, throughout the four Gospels, Jesus always spoke of the Sabbath in these terms. He saw the Sabbath as a GIFT to humankind - as something that ministered to the needs of humankind.

Indeed, the New Living Translation renders the same passage as: "The Sabbath was made to meet the needs of people, and not people to meet the requirements of the Sabbath." In other words, Christ's statements about the Sabbath precluded a legalistic approach to the observance of it. In fact, the difference in Christ's approach to the Sabbath is underscored by the way that the Jewish religious leaders reacted to his healings on the day. On one occasion, when Christ had healed a blind man, we read: "Some of the Pharisees said, 'This man Jesus is not from God, for he is working on the Sabbath.'" (John 9:16, NLT) From their perspective, Christ was violating the Sabbath.

Who was right? Christ or the Pharisees? What prompted Christ to declare that he was "Lord of the Sabbath"? Did he really have the authority over the Sabbath that he claimed to have?

In another place, Christ was reported to have said: "I did not come to abolish the law of Moses or the writings of the prophets. No, I came to accomplish their purpose." (Matthew 5:17, NLT) Over and over again in the various Gospel accounts, the authors pointed to various Old Testament passages which Christ had fulfilled. The clear message was that the Hebrew Scriptures pointed to HIM. Thus, the only relevant question for folks who claim to be his disciples is: Do you believe these claims about Jesus Christ? Do you believe that Jesus of Nazareth was the fulfillment of the Hebrew Scriptures? If so, then Christ's claim about his authority over the Sabbath must be accepted! After all, the Sabbath is clearly an integral part of those writings. Even so, how did he fulfill the Sabbath?

Paul wrote to the disciples at Colossae "don’t let anyone condemn you for what you eat or drink, or for not celebrating certain holy days or new moon ceremonies or Sabbaths. For these rules are only shadows of the reality yet to come. And Christ himself is that reality." (Colossians 2:16-17, NLT) But how does Christ represent the reality of the Sabbath? Like the Sabbath, Christ came here to meet the needs of humankind. In the words of Faith Radio, "Jesus came to earth to meet people’s physical, emotional, and spiritual needs by teaching the truth, healing the sick, casting out demons, and finally, dying on a cross to save us." In the Gospel of Matthew, we read that Jesus said: "Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you. Let me teach you, because I am humble and gentle at heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy to bear, and the burden I give you is light." (Matthew 11:28-30, NLT) So, for Christ's disciples, we find our rest in HIM.

The author of the epistle to the Hebrews wrote about how the Israelites, under the leadership of Moses, had failed to believe and trust in God and had, consequently, been denied entrance into God's rest (Hebrews 3). Nevertheless, he assured his readers that "God’s promise of entering his rest still stands, so we ought to tremble with fear that some of you might fail to experience it. For this good news—that God has prepared this rest—has been announced to us just as it was to them. But it did them no good because they didn’t share the faith of those who listened to God. For only we who believe can enter his rest." (Hebrews 4:1-3, NLT) Believe what? What rest was the author of the epistle talking about?

He continued: "this rest has been ready since he made the world. We know it is ready because of the place in the Scriptures where it mentions the seventh day: 'On the seventh day God rested from all his work.' But in the other passage God said, 'They will never enter my place of rest.' So God’s rest is there for people to enter, but those who first heard this good news failed to enter because they disobeyed God. So God set another time for entering his rest, and that time is today." (Hebrews 4:3-7, NLT) Then, he briefly turned back to the experience of the Israelites, he wrote: "Now if Joshua had succeeded in giving them this rest, God would not have spoken about another day of rest still to come. So there is a special rest still waiting for the people of God. For all who have entered into God’s rest have rested from their labors, just as God did after creating the world. So let us do our best to enter that rest." (Hebrews 4:8-11, NLT) Salvation requires faith in Jesus Christ, NOT the works of the Law (Galatians 2:16). Hence, we must conclude that Jesus Christ is the ULTIMATE Sabbath rest for those who claim to be his disciples!