Mark 2:23-3:6
Introduction
In this passage we see a growing conflict between Jesus and the religious leaders of the time. At this point in the Gospel, Jesus has barely begun His public ministry and yet He has the religious leaders aggressively opposing Him. As we will see, the religious leaders hated Jesus so much that they wanted Him dead.
Bear this in mind as we make our way through it.
Chapter 2, Verses 23 to 28
As we will see throughout this study, Jesus comes under attack because of what He does on the Sabbath.
On the one hand we have the legalism of the Pharisees and on the other hand we have the graciousness of Jesus.
In verse 24 we see the Pharisees accusing the disciples of Jesus of breaking the Sabbath laws. So, what is the Sabbath? It is a day of rest for the Jews. It takes place on Saturday. It is part of the covenant made between God and Israel. It is part of the Mosaic Law and only applies to Jews.
So, what Sabbath laws were the disciples accused of breaking? Mark does not tell us in this passage but we can get an idea of what the Pharisees had in mind when we understand what laws they had at the time.
At the time, the Jews had two sets of religious laws: the Written Law and the Oral Law. They still have them today. The Written Law is the Law of Moses, otherwise known as the Torah. The Torah is the first five books of the Old Testament. The Oral Law is a collection of the teachings or laws of revered Rabbis put together over many years. These Rabbis took the Written Law and added to it with their own laws.
So, for instance, they developed a set of laws that defined what you could do on the Sabbath. Their laws went into minute detail about what you could and couldn’t do as a Jew. Initially the Oral Law was secondary to the Written Law and was just a guide. But eventually, it became equal to the Written Law and then by the time of Jesus, it had become more important than the Written Law. And so, it would have been the Oral Laws that the Pharisees had in mind when they questioned Jesus.
The law that they probably had in mind was the ‘unnecessary labour law’. Under this law, harvesting was not permitted on the Sabbath. The Pharisees regarded picking the heads of grain as harvesting. This gives you a flavour of what the Oral laws were like.
There is a name for a system of strict, harsh laws like this. It is called legalism. Legalism is a system of rules and regulations that go beyond the essential teaching of scripture and that put unnecessary burdens on God’s people. Legalism is the opposite of grace.
Can you think of any examples of legalism in the Church today? If you think about it carefully, you will find many examples.
In response to the accusation of the Pharisees, Jesus reminded them of a story in the Old Testament about David. We can find this story in 1 Samuel 21:1-6. David and his followers broke the Law when they ate the consecrated bread in the temple. David did this because he and his men were hungry and had no other way of getting food at that time. The Pharisees held David in great esteem even though he broke the Law in a similar way to the disciples of Jesus. The Pharisees had nothing to say, so Jesus moved on to say something much more important on the matter.
The next thing that Jesus said can be found in verses 27 and 28. The firstly thing He said was, “The Sabbath was made for man, and not man for the Sabbath” But, what did Jesus mean by this? He was saying that the Sabbath was a gift from God to His people for their benefit. It was a day of rest to stop them from wearing themselves out by doing too much work. However, the Rabbi’s had ruined the Sabbath by making it a burdensome experience. Some of the Oral Laws when followed would cause pain and suffering for people. For instance, if someone was injured on the Sabbath (broke their leg) but it was not life threating, they were not allowed to be given first aid until the Sabbath was over.
Then Jesus said, “…the Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath”. But, what did Jesus mean by this? He was saying that He made the Sabbath and that it’s up to Him to decide what we can do on the Sabbath. The Rabbis who created the Oral Law are not the Lords of the Sabbath.
After declaring that He is Lord of the Sabbath, Jesus goes on to demonstrate what He meant in chapter 3.
Chapter 3, Verses 1 to 6
In these verses, we see Jesus heal a man on the Sabbath while the Pharisees looked on.
The Pharisees were watching what Jesus was doing to see if He would heal the man on the Sabbath. They did this because they wanted to accuse Him. According to the Oral Law, a withered hand is not life threatening. Therefore, if Jesus healed the man, He would be breaking the Oral Law by doing unnecessary work. However, Jesus defied this law and went ahead and healed the man.
Notice the question that Jesus put to the Pharisees in verse 4. This question tells us about Jesus’ attitude to the Sabbath. It tells us that doing good on the Sabbath trumped all other considerations.
When Jesus looked at the Pharisees in verse 5, He was angry and grieved. The Greek word translated as anger actually means ‘fury’. Try to picture this in your mind. Jesus was outraged with the Pharisees.
There is a personal lesson to be learned for us here. Make sure that you never incur the fury of Jesus by hardening your heart.
And Finally
The big lesson that we should take away from this study is that we are under grace, not law. Think about it.
Furthermore, we should reject legalism wherever we find it in the Church.