Holy rest
One Sabbath Jesus was going through the cornfields, and as his disciples walked along, they began to pick some ears of corn. 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.’
Another time Jesus went into the synagogue, and a man with a shrivelled hand was there. Some of them were looking for a reason to accuse Jesus, so they watched him closely to see if he would heal him on the Sabbath. Jesus said to the man with the shrivelled hand, ‘Stand up in front of everyone.’
Then Jesus asked them, ‘Which is lawful on the Sabbath: to do good or to do evil, to save life or to kill?’ But they remained silent.
He looked around at them in anger and, deeply distressed at their stubborn hearts, said to the man, ‘Stretch out your hand.’ He stretched it out, and his hand was completely restored. Then the Pharisees went out and began to plot with the Herodians how they might kill Jesus.
Mark 2:23–3:6 (NIVUK)
This reading from Mark tells us about two encounters which at first seem very different: the disciples eating heads of grain and Jesus healing the man with the shrivelled hand. The common thread between these two, and the real issue for Jesus’ critics, is that they both happen on the Sabbath. Before we can understand what Jesus is doing in either of these two encounters, we first need to understand what the Sabbath is and why the people were so protective of it.
Way back when God rescued the Israelites from Egypt, He gave them a baseline for life as His people: the Ten Commandments. In these basic rules for holy living, God establishes a rhythm for His people which revolves around seven days. This isn’t just a number that God picked out of thin air—it comes from His own work ethic when He created the world:
Thus the heavens and the earth were completed in all their vast array. By the seventh day God had finished the work he had been doing; so, on the seventh day he rested from all his work. Then God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it he rested from all the work of creating that he had done.
Genesis 2:1–3 (NIVUK)
So, in His instructions for living, He establishes a weekly rhythm that is based on His own way of living, working, and resting. We are made in His image, after all. In the Old Testament reading today, we heard when God established the Sabbath in the Third Commandment:
‘Observe the Sabbath day by keeping it holy, as the Lord your God has commanded you. Six days you shall labour and do all your work, but the seventh day is a sabbath to the Lord your God. On it you shall not do any work…
Deuteronomy 5:12–14 (NIVUK)
When God commands something, it is best that we obey. He establishes His Law for our benefit, which Jesus will show us. The Israelites took God’s Law seriously because there were consequences for disobedience. There were times when people literally went up in smoke.
Israel’s leaders knew that human nature often led us to breaking God’s commands, so they set up extra rules around God’s rules. It’s like how modern car designers know that all people are simply terrible drivers. We have road rules to protect us from colliding into other cars, cyclists, or pedestrians, but cars now also have in-built sensors, alarms, and even partial control of the steering wheel and brakes to avoid those incidents for you. We all know how irritating those extra beeps are and most of the time we don’t even know what the beep means. Thankfully, some car designers are clever enough to have a “cancel all assists” button.
The Pharisees, who were a particular group of Jewish religious leaders, did this with God’s Law. They created additional rules to minimise the risk of breaking God’s commands. As with our driving assists, this led people to complacency—forgetting which laws were God’s and which ones were made by man—and intense stress and pressure to keep not just God’s Law, but thousands of man-made laws as well.
When it came to the Sabbath, the people took the command to do “no work” very, very seriously. You had to do all your cooking the day before because you couldn’t even bend over to open the oven on the Sabbath.
God did explicitly say that the people were not to do any work on the Sabbath, but the people forgot the purpose of it. When you understand why something is expected, it’s not about how well you follow the instructions but whether you benefit from its intended purpose. The Sabbath was set apart as a holy day to rest, both physically and spiritually, so that on Monday, we are well-rested and ready to get on with the work God has given us to do.
So, with that background, we can now come into these two interactions with a good understanding. These two interactions—the disciples in the field and the man with the shrivelled hand—tell us three things about Jesus: Jesus is Lord, Jesus is good, and Jesus grieves.
1. Jesus is Lord
As the disciples are a bit peckish, they pluck and eat heads of grain as they walk through the field. The Pharisees understand this to be “work” and as it happens to be a Sabbath, they pull them up on it. Jesus responds with an example from the Old Testament where King David even bent the rules around food for priests because he and a few others were in need. His summarising statement is striking: “The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath. So, the Son of Man is Lord even of the Sabbath” (Mk. 2:27–28).
It's a similar point when he heals the man with the shriveled hand. When Jesus sees the man and everyone is waiting to see if he’s going to break the rules again, Jesus asks the question, “Which is lawful on the Sabbath: to do good or to do evil, to save a life or to kill?” (Mk. 3:4)
Jesus has the authority to do challenge their understanding of the Law because He is the Son of God. In the healing that takes place here, He demonstrates that He is Lord over all, including over the Law itself.
What does this mean for us? It means that we listen to Jesus when He speaks. It means we obey what He commands. It means that when we are unsure how to interpret the rules, we look to Him for the last word.
The Law is not our Lord. The rules we create are not our Lord. Jesus is Lord.
2. Jesus is good
When Jesus sees the man in need of healing, He does not consider what the people will think. He doesn’t think about how He will have to justify His actions. He has compassion on the man and heals him.
Likewise, He allows the disciples to eat because He has compassion on them and understands their need. Jesus does this throughout the gospel of Mark, healing people, feeding people, and even raising people from death.
What does this mean for us? It means that He also daily provides for our needs. It means that, in baptism, He rescues us from sin and death forever. He even feeds us His own body and blood for forgiveness, life, and salvation. It means His mercies for us are new every morning.
3. Jesus grieves
Notice that this wasn’t just about the man in front of Him, though:
He looked around at them in anger and, deeply distressed at their stubborn hearts, said to the man, ‘Stretch out your hand.’ He stretched it out, and his hand was completely restored.
Mark 3:5 (NIVUK)
Jesus felt anger because He was grieved to see their attitude. His heart aches when His people have hard hearts and will not receive or share His grace out of sheer stubbornness and pride.
Even on the cross, Jesus will pray for those who persecute Him: “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.” (Lk. 23:34)
In the same way, Jesus instructs us to love our enemies and pray for those who persecute us (Mt. 5:44). As He has compassion on us, so we are to show compassion to others. As He forgives us, we are to forgive those who sin against us.
Jesus does not want to be angry with us. Even in the Old Testament, God did not want to punish His people or exile them, but He did it because He loves His people and deeply desired for them to know Him. Judgement is God’s alien work—it’s not in His true nature to do it, but He does it because He wants to forgive, restore, and resurrect us.
In our daily lives, all kinds of things battle for our attention and to be lord of our lives. Yet, we live under one Lord, Jesus Christ. We rejoice that He is a good Lord who loves, forgives, and cares for us.
Like Him, we grieve for those who reject Him, but we also pray for them and do our best to welcome them into life under Him in His kingdom, where we find everlasting righteousness, innocence, and blessedness.
We give thanks to God that He gives us time for rest—rest from our work and rest in Him. Through the Holy Spirit, may we live each day in His presence and fulfil the purposes He has for us. Amen.
