Mark 2:23-28 – Jesus is Lord of the Sabbath

Mark 2:23

1. When God had created the earth in six days, He rested on the seventh (Genesis 2:1-3).
2. The Sabbath is the day that God wants man to keep holy and to rest from work (Exodus 20:8-11).

Mark 2:24

1. Is it “work” to “pick axles”?
   1. It was permissible according to the Pentateuch to pick ears of grain in the fields (Deuteronomy 23:26).
   1. It was forbidden according to the Pentateuch to work on the Sabbath (Exodus 20:9-10).
   1. According to the oral Torah of the Pharisees, the disciples’ ax-picking meant “threshing”, which according to the Pharisees was forbidden on the Shabbat.
   1. When two rules clash, it was traditional that the most important rule should prevail.
      1. Priests were allowed to work on the Sabbath if certain feasts happened to occur on the Sabbath.
      1. Boys were to be circumcised on the eighth day after their birth, even if that day happened to fall on the Sabbath.

Mark 2:26

1. “Showbread” was bread that was always on display in the temple before the presence of God (Leviticus 24:5-9) and could only be eaten by priests.
2. According to the book of Samuel, David ate of these showbread even though he was not given (1 Sam 21:1-6).
3. Jesus’ answer is that under certain circumstances one may break the Sabbath because the Sabbath is for the good of man and not the other way around.