Mark 2:27-28

27          Jesus said to them, “The Sabbath was made for man, and not man for the Sabbath.

28          So the Son of Man is Lord, even of the Sabbath.”

You Have Heard It Said…

Exodus 20:8   “Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy.

The original goal of the Sabbath was to acknowledge it and keep it separated from our normal day. Jesus reminds us that the Sabbath was created for us to utilize. We did not create the Sabbath to use based on our own purposes. God is the one that ultimately created it, and Jesus has the power to command for his purposes. The Sabbath was always taught to me as a day of rest. To use this day as a separate day to rest, reflect, and recharge.

REFLECTION CHECKPOINT: How was the Sabbath taught to you?

The True Purpose of the Sabbath

For context, Jesus was addressing the Pharisees in Mark 2. The Pharisees (teachers of the law) were questioning Jesus’s disciples’ actions on the Sabbath. Originally, the sabbath was created as a day of rest following God’s creation work. It was a gift to humanity to set aside time for rest and spiritual renewal. It later became one of the ten commandments, highlighting how important this is. The Sabbath was created to benefit humanity through providing rest and a reminder that God cares for us and will provide us everything that we need to live the life He created. It was never meant to be a burden or a routine, but a reflecting of God’s compassion.

By the time of Jesus, many rules were added to the Sabbath observance, making it a heavy responsibility. There was no work. You were taught to prepare in advance any meals or work that was needed so the Sabbath was purely a day of reflection with God. Exodus 31:14-15 says that anyone who violated the Sabbath rules would be put to death. Jesus often healed others and performed merciful acts to show the community the importance of compassion and human need over legalism. Jesus has the authority to interpret the Sabbath for its true purpose.

By declaring him as the Lord of the Sabbath, Jesus is showing his authority and power to determine the purpose and practice of the Sabbath. This was a challenge to the Pharisaic legalism that overlooked the Sabbath’s true intention.

REFLECTION CHECKPOINT: Understanding this perspective of the Sabbath, how does this change your perspective of the Sabbath?

Implementing Sabbath Time in Our World

The concept of the Sabbath is to take a period of rest after our normal routines of work. The goal of the Sabbath is to find time of renewal. Often, it’s through spiritual practices, but it’s through moments that allow our physical selves to rest, our mental selves to reflect, and our spiritual selves to renew. Sabbath time can look like a nap or a walk, a way to connect our bodies to their intended rhythm, harmonizing with God’s creation. Sabbath time can look like cooking or gaming, a time when we can we let go of the stressors and allow our minds to be channeled in a way that our creativity can be used for mentally strong purposes. Sabbath can look like worship, bible study, and prayer. It can be a time where we can spend with God, unloading our week, talking about the highs and lows, and leaning on God to help us find our energy and strength in what we went through and how we can do it again.

The Sabbath is a time for us to remember that God is our ultimate provider. The world often teaches us and pushes us to do MORE, get MORE, have MORE, where God says: “I have enough. I am enough.” God wants you to remember that no matter what you do, you are doing enough. You are doing the best you can with what you have in our fallen world. God is our ultimate provider to get through each day, providing enough strength and resources to do everything He calls us to do. Society will have rules and social norms about trying to navigate our resources and create restrictions about when and how resources can be used. The systems we have can create intentional barriers to entry that stifles people in actual need receiving the proper help they need. Jesus is saying that it should not matter how the systems are set up, if people need help – they need help. We should do whatever we can help to help however we can. Jesus’s call us to prioritize human need over the rigid systems, trusting that God’s provision is enough even when our resources are limited. We can offer what we can, knowing that God’s justice is bigger than our individual capacity.

REFLECTION CHECKPOINT: How are you spending your Sabbath time now?