Text: Mark 2 : 23 – 3 : 6

The Question of the Sabbath was not about the Sabbath itself, but about the Pharisees’ hypocrisy and lack of sincerity in their inquiry. The Sabbath, which was instituted in Genesis 2:2, 3 and later codified in the Law in Exodus 20:11, was intended as a day of rest, refreshment, and recuperation. It was also a covenant sign between God and Israel.

During the Jewish Sabbath, the Pharisees were preoccupied with pestering Jesus instead of being busy at the synagogue. They questioned him about eating with impure hands and observing the traditions of the elders, which Jesus rebuked as teachings based on the traditions of men rather than the Word of God.

Jesus responded by taking them back in time to David and the showbread, exposing their ignorance of the Law and the prophets. The true purpose of the Sabbath is to honor and worship God, and Jesus showed that this can be done without being bound to the Pharisees’ legalistic interpretation of the Sabbath. The Sabbath is not about rules and regulations, but about God’s grace and mercy towards His people.