COMMENTARY ON MARK


LESSON NUMBER 27


“ Mark 2:27 And He said unto them, The Sabbath was made for man, and not man for the Sabbath: 28 therefore the Son of man is Lord also of the Sabbath.” (Mark 2:27-28)

   ABOUT THE SABBATH DAY


INTRODUCTION

               From the early times of Israel until this very day, considerable controversy has existed concerning the Sabbath day. When the manna fell in the wilderness, those who went on out the Sabbath day to gather it found that none was there (Ex 16:27). Once a man was found gathering sticks on the Sabbath day. The Lord ordered that he be put to death by all of the congregation stoning him with stones (Num 15:32). Nehemiah once contended with men from Tyre who sold fish to in Jerusalem on the Sabbath day (Neh 13:16). Jeremiah had to remind the inhabitants of Jerusalem not to bear burdens on the Sabbath day, nor bring it into Jerusalem on that day. They did not obey, but “made their neck stiff” (Jer 17_21-23). Paul instructed the Colossians to not allow any person to bind Sabbat day observance upon them (Col 2:16). There remain major divisions among professed followers of Christ over this very matter – which day is the Sabbath, and how should it be observed? In order to negate the view that the seventh day is still the day to be honored by Christians, some have developed a theology that conveniently gets rid of the fourth commandment. They say God has erased the Law – the Ten Commandments – and has restated the commands that are to be kept by those in Christ. They imagine that this resolves the problems related to the Sabbath day. Still others say that the first day of the week replaced the seventh-day Sabbath, and that it is the new Sabbath day. Many have simply chosen to ignore the whole subject, finding it too difficult to address. In this text, Jesus will make two key statements regarding the Sabbath day. He will give us a Divine perspective of the case, and therefore provide some insight into this matter, in order that we can think soundly about it. It is possible to be delivered from the scribes and Pharisees way of thinking.


THE SABBATH WAS MADE FOR MAN

               “ 2:27 And He said unto them, The Sabbath was made for man, and not man for the Sabbath.” Only Mark provides this pungent saying. It is omitted in the other Gospels. Other versions read, “The Sabbath was made on account of man, not man on account of the Sabbath,” DARBY “The Sabbath was made to benefit people, and not people to benefit the Sabbath.” NLT


               THE SABBATH WAS MADE FOR MAN. This does not refer to mankind in general, but particularly to the Jews. While the principle of the Sabbath applies to all men, it had special significance to Israel, and was part of the covenant that God made with them. Thus it is written in Exodus, “Wherefore the children of Israel shall keep the Sabbath, to observe the Sabbath throughout their generations, for a perpetual covenant. It is a sign between me and the children of Israel for ever: for in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, and on the seventh day He rested, and was refreshed” (Ex 31:16-17). And again, “Verily My Sabbaths ye shall keep: for it is a sign between Me and you throughout your generations; that ye may know that I am the LORD that doth sanctify you” (Ex 31:13).


               This is a most arresting statement. It confirms that man was not made to fulfill a routine – that humanity itself is the point. The point here – “the Sabbath was made for man” – means that it yields to fundamental human necessities. Whether those are the extensive sacrifices offered on the Sabbath (Num 28:9-10), satisfying human hunger (Lk 14:1), or healing the oppressed (Lk 13:14), the Sabbath yields to the genuine needs of humanity. It is to be understood that these not needs established by human wisdom. The women who were intent upon anointing the body of Jesus with “spices and ointments,” prepared them, then “rested the Sabbath day according to the commandment” (Lk 23:56). In their case, there were very strong sentiments associated with their objective to anoint the body of Jesus. However, sentiment and preference are not the same as “need.”


               Refreshment. The Sabbath was a provision for man – given in consideration his frail spiritual and physical constitution. Physically, there was a need for rest from the rigorous toils of life. Therefore, God is said to have been “refreshed” when He ceased from his labors on the seventh day (Ex 31:17). It is not that God was wearied by the work of creation, for “God, the Lord, the Creator of the ends of the earth, fainteth not, neither is weary” (Isa 40:28). With Him, refreshment had to do with realizing profound satisfaction with the creation, of which He said, “And God saw every thing that He had made, and, behold, it was very good. And the evening and the morning were the sixth day” (Gen 1:31). All of this was His “handiwork,” and it was gratifying for Him to behold it (Psa 19:1-3).


               For man, refreshment has to do with the rejuvenation of the inward and outward man. The outward man is renewed by refraining from the toil imposed upon him because of sin (Gen 3:19). How gracious of God to lift the curse for the seventh part of the week! It was certainly not because man deserved it. “The Sabbath was made for man.” Inwardly, this was a time for Israel “afflict” their souls. As it is written, “It shall be a Sabbath of rest unto you, and ye shall afflict your souls, by a statute for ever,” or “humble,” NASB and “deny” themselves NIV (Lev 16:31). It was a day to be kept “holy,” or dedicated to the Lord for holy remembrances and involvements (Ex 20:8). This was a time when they were particularly were brought to “know that I am the Lord that doth sanctify you” (Ex 31:13). The day was to be regarded asa “holy unto you” (Ex 31:14), “holy to the Lord” (Ex 31:15), and “a Sabbath of rest to the Lord” (Ex 35:2).


               Without this day, Israel would quickly have forgotten the Lord altogether, for they were fundamentally corrupt within – a “stiffnecked people” (Ex 32:9). They had to be forced to recall the Lord. The Sabbath was made for them. Jesus sanctified the Sabbath, bringing it to its highest profit when He regularly taught in the synagogues on that day (Lk 4:31).


               MAN NOT MADE FOR THE SABBATH. Man was not made to keep rules – even the most ancient of day of, sanctified by God Himself on the day following the creation – the seventh day (Gen 2:3). There was a more lofty purpose for the creation of man – it was to “have dominion” (Gen 1:26,28; Psa 8:6; Heb 2:7). In his infancy and weakness, the Sabbath was given to man – but he was not given to the Sabbath. The pinnacle of spiritual life is not the fulfillment of obligations, which is nothing more than our duty (Luke 17:10). This is not a license to sin, or to engage in self-will, for even the Sabbath did not allow that. Jesus is speaking with the coming freedom in mind, not man’s natural state. The purpose for man’s creation is realized ONLY in Jesus Christ. It is for this reason that Jesus will now turn the spotlight upon “the Son of Man.” He is the ultimate man – “THE Man Christ Jesus” (1 Tim 2:5). If man is made for the Sabbath, then that rule will apply to Jesus also.


THE LORD OF THE SABBATH

               “ 28 Therefore the Son of man is Lord also of the Sabbath.” Other versions read, “Consequently, the Son of Man is Lord even of the Sabbath,” NASB “Consequently, the Son of Man is Lord even of the Sabbath,” NIV and “And I, the Son of Man, am master even of the Sabbath!" NLT


               THEREFORE. That is, because the Sabbath was made for man, and man was not made for the Sabbath, the following conclusion is made known.


               THE SON OF MAN. This is Jesus most common reference to Himself, used eighty-two times in the Gospels. It refers to Jesus as the chief Man, and is equated with “the Second Man” (1 Cor 15:47), and “the last Adam.” Jesus is the true “Seed” of the woman, of the chief representative of the human race. He is the Inheritor of all things, and is therefore called “the Firstborn among many brethren” (Rom 8:29), the “Firstborn over all creation,” NASB (Col 1:15), the “Firstborn from the dead,” Col 1:18), and God’s “Firstborn” NKJV (Heb 1:6).


               The “Son of Man” refers to Jesus in His vicarious, or substitutionary, role. “The Son of God” refers to Him in His commissioned role. Here, the emphasis is on His Manhood – “the Word . . . made flesh” (John 1:14), “God manifest in the flesh” (1 Tim 3:16), and “Jesus Christ . . . come in the flesh” (1 John 4:2).


               Now, before He is glorified, and while He was yet “dwelt among” humanity, He declares that He is still “Lord.” While, at that time, He had not yet been “exalted” (Phil 2:9), and “angels and authorities and powers” had not yet been “made subject to Him” as they are now (1 Pet 3:22), He was still in charge!


               While He remained in the body, and prior to His crucifixion, Jesus said, “The Father loveth the Son, and hath given all things into His hand” (John 3:35). Even then, He had “power over all flesh” (John 17:2), so that none could effectively oppose Him until He was ready to “lay down His life,” that He might “take it up again” (John 10:17-18). As He walked among men Jesus said, “All things are delivered unto Me of My Father” (Lk 10:22). He could dismiss demons with His Word (Matt 8:16). Nature yielded to His authority, whether winds (Mk 4:39), waves (Matt 8:24-27), trees (Mk 11:20-21), fish (Matt 17:27), or water in purification vessels (John 2:7-10). Even in His humbled state (Phil 2:8), He was in command.


               LORD ALSO OF THE SABBATH. By saying this, the Lord points out that the Sabbath was, in some way, distinct from all other commandments. Jesus could dispense with the ordinary rules of the Sabbath, and even abrogate the commandment as binding upon men, if He so willed. He did not say this of any other of the Ten Commandments. In this very saying Jesus points to a time when the Sabbath day would no longer be an issue. This is not true of not having “other gods,” not making “graven images,” not bowing down and serving idols, not taking the name of the Lord in vain, honoring father and mother, not killing, not committing adultery, not stealing, not bearing false witness, or not coveting (Ex 20:3-17). Jesus never left the most vague notion that He was introducing economy in which such things would be allowed – a time when those prohibitions could be violated with impunity.


               Jesus was pointing to the time when the Temple veil would be violently torn in two from the tope to the bottom – a time when the way into the very presence of God would be opened (Matt 27:51). There would no more be a seasonal remembrance of God, or the smaller part of life given to Him. Men would be brought to so know the Lord that we would consciously and joyfully “live, and move, and have our being in Him” (Acts 17:28). No longer would men, “through fear of death,” be “all their lifetime subject to bondage” (Heb 2:15). The “redeemed of the Lord” (Isa 62:12) would be prone to remember the Lord, and not to forget Him.


               Here, the proof that Jesus was from God, with all power, is confirmed in His right to direct the affairs of the Sabbath day. He will care nothing for the traditions and interpretations of men, but will “do good” on the Sabbath day, where men agree with it or not (Lk 6:9). During the time of Moses, a man was stoned according to the commandment of God, for picking up “sticks upon the Sabbath day” (Num 15:32-36). When Jesus arrived on the scene, He commanded a lame man to take up his bed and carry it about on the Sabbath day (John 5:8-10). He was “Lord of the Sabbath.”


               The scribes and Pharisees had criticized Christ’s disciples for picking grains, rubbing them in their hands, and eating them as they walked through the fields on the Sabbath day. Jesus had reminded them that the priests profaned the Sabbath, and that David violated the law by eating the showbread. But now He rises even higher, pointing to Himself. He is inducting an era that cannot be contained within the framework of a Law, or within the confined of rules and regulations – and that even included the Sabbath day. I realize this can be abused by carnally minded people. However the spiritually minded will not do so.


A SABBATH OF GREATER GLORY

               As for the Sabbath day, Israel, who received the commandment, never really entered into God's rest, or Sabbath. That is a matter of record. In fact God Himself said of them, “As I have sworn in My wrath, they shall not enter into My rest” NKJV (Heb 4:1-9).


               There is a greater rest that was typified by the Law's Sabbath day, but never was fulfilled by it. That is the rest of faith, and is discussed at length in the fourth chapter of Hebrews. There, a parallel is made between the fourth commandment Sabbath and the “rest” of faith. “For we which have believed do enter into rest . . . Seeing therefore it remaineth that some must enter therein, and they to whom it was first preached entered not in because of unbelief” (Heb 4:3,6). He is speaking of the seventh day as confirmed in verse 4: “For he spake in a certain place of the seventh day on this wise, And God did rest the seventh day from all his works” (Heb 4:4).


               The Sabbath day was bound upon Israel because their hearts were hard. They would have forgotten God altogether if He did not demanded they remember Him on that day, dedicating it exclusively to Him. In Christ, however, our nature is changed, so that we actually know, and delight in knowing, the Lord. Now every day becomes a Sabbath so far as sanctifying the Lord in our memory. Faith causes us to “enter” into the “rest” of God.


               This does not mean keeping the Colossians 2:16-17 forbids us to judge one another on this matter. The recollection of God as the Creator of the universe is wonderful. Intimate fellowship with Him by faith is more wonderful. That is why Scripture affirms, "We which believe do enter into rest" (Heb 4:3), even thought Israel did not. The word used in that text is “sabbaton,” or Sabbath. It is a higher and more extensive rest which overshadows, but does not obliterate, the former Sabbath. The greater glory removes the lesser one (2 Cor 3:7,11).


               The fourth chapter of Hebrews deals extensively with the Sabbath, showing it has been overshadowed by a greater Sabbath – one of spiritual rest. The passage is Hebrews 4:1-11,and speaks rather plainly. Under the Law, the Sabbath day was imposed upon the people because of their hard hearts. They would have forgotten God altogether if a day had not been commanded from which to rest from ordinary labors and concentrate upon the Lord. In Christ, we are simply told not to forsake the assembling of ourselves together (Heb 10:25) – we are not told not to work. There is something in the renewed heart that senses the need for focusing on a gathering of kindred spirits, and building one another up in the most holy faith. That is why an exhortation, or reminder, is given for them to do this, not a commandment like the Sabbath day commandment.


               We also have records of early believers meeting on the first day of the week (Acts 20:7; 1 Corinthians 16:2). This was doubtless done because of our Lord's resurrection on the first day of the week (Mark 16:9), and, after His resurrection, he appeared two times to the disciples on a first day of the week (John 20:19,26). The day of Pentecost was on the first day of the week, being the 50th day after the first Passover Sabbath (Lev 23:15-16). This is an area of sharp controversy among believers in Christ. However, the fact that neither Jesus nor the Apostles ever bound the Sabbath day upon people makes it wrong for others to do so. It is in the area of conscience. Jesus said of the Sabbath, “The Sabbath was made for man, and not man for the Sabbath: therefore the Son of man is Lord also of the Sabbath” (Mark 2:28).


               You do not have to prove the Sabbath has passed. The Adventists have to prove Jesus has bound it upon us. It will do no good to infer that such a thing is binding. We must have a word from Jesus or his Apostles on the matter. It cannot be affirmed that every one knew the fourth commandment, and therefore it was not necessary to affirm it, for that was not the case with the Gentiles. The Gentiles did not keep the Sabbath day. Although God's law was written upon their conscience (Rom 2:15), yet no Gentile nation advocated the seventh day as the Sabbath. If it was not a key issue for them, it cannot be for us. To me, that is a more powerful argument than one based upon research and inference.

 

The first day of the week is held before us as a central time for believers.

 

1.  Jesus rose on the first day of the week (Mark 16:9).

2.  He appeared to Mary Magdalene on the first day of the week (Mk 16:9).

3.  Following His resurrection, He twice appeared to His disciples on the first day of the week (John 20:19,6).

4.  The day of Pentecost was on the first day of the week (50 days after the Passover Sabbath).

5.  The disciples at Troaz met on the first day of the week (Acts 20:7).

6.  The Corinthians were instructed to lay aside their offerings on the first day of the week (1 Cor 16:2).


           This is sufficient evidence to confirm the Sabbath day is not binding upon those in Christ Jesus. It has been overshadowed by a greater glory. There is a greater “rest” realized in Christ, and it fulfills the Sabbath commandment.