The Jewish people were expected to observe strict rules about the Sabbath. They accused the Disciples of breaking the Sabbath when they picked a little grain in a field – they rubbed it together in their hands and then ate it one Sabbath day when they were hungry. Jesus told their accusers that the Sabbath was made for man, and not man made for the Sabbath.

Later, Jesus healed a man whose hand was deformed on a Sabbath in the synagogue. Again, the religious leaders were critical of Jesus. But Jesus said it was better to do good on the Sabbath than to do evil, implying it would have been evil to ignore this man’s problem based on the rule about the Sabbath. At this point, the religious leaders started looking for a way to kill Jesus.

Jesus rejected rules that were blindly followed for rules’ sake. The Sabboth was established by God to help man, not to cause hardship. Are the rules we live by so rigid that they sometimes prevent us from doing good for someone in need? Perhaps you have experienced a time when you got in trouble for being late to an important event, but the reason you were late was that you stopped along the way to help an accident victim or for some other valid interruption.

Let us remember the reasons for the rules we follow and pray for discernment before we choose to break them. There are times when we choose to break rules that we end up wrecking our lives in the process. Always pray first and listen for God’s answer. Don’t settle for less.

Mark 2:23-3:6

New Living Translation (NLT)

A Discussion about the Sabbath

23 One Sabbath day as Jesus was walking through some grainfields, his disciples began breaking off heads of grain to eat. 24 But the Pharisees said to Jesus, “Look, why are they breaking the law by harvesting grain on the Sabbath?”

25 Jesus said to them,“Haven’t you ever read in the Scriptures what David did when he and his companions were hungry?26 He went into the house of God (during the days when Abiathar was high priest) and broke the law by eating the sacred loaves of bread that only the priests are allowed to eat. He also gave some to his companions.”

27 Then Jesus said to them,“The Sabbath was made to meet the needs of people, and not people to meet the requirements of the Sabbath. 28 So the Son of Man is Lord, even over the Sabbath!”

Jesus Heals on the Sabbath

3 Jesus went into the synagogue again and noticed a man with a deformed hand. 2 Since it was the Sabbath, Jesus’ enemies watched him closely. If he healed the man’s hand, they planned to accuse him of working on the Sabbath.

3 Jesus said to the man with the deformed hand, “Come and stand in front of everyone.” 4 Then he turned to his critics and asked,“Does the law permit good deeds on the Sabbath, or is it a day for doing evil? Is this a day to save life or to destroy it?” But they wouldn’t answer him.

5 He looked around at them angrily and was deeply saddened by their hard hearts. Then he said to the man, “Hold out your hand.”So the man held out his hand, and it was restored! 6 At once the Pharisees went away and met with the supporters of Herod to plot how to kill Jesus.