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Words of Faith 11-3-2023
Dr. Jeffrey D. Hoy © 2023
Jeff.Hoy@faithfellowshipweb.com
Faith Fellowship Church - Melbourne, FL
www.faithfellowshipweb.com
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Mark 2
[23] One Sabbath Jesus was going through the grainfields, and as his disciples walked along, they began to pick some heads of grain. [24] The Pharisees said to him, "Look, why are they doing what is unlawful on the Sabbath?"
[25] He answered, "Have you never read what David did when he and his companions were hungry and in need? [26] 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."
[27] Then he said to them, "The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath. [28] So the Son of Man is Lord even of the Sabbath."

Few things were more holy and protected in Judaism at the time of Jesus than the Sabbath. There was an elaborate set of rules passed down by rabbis relating to the observance of the Sabbath. These rules were designed to build a "hedge of protection" around the Sabbath. How could Jesus possibly justify allowing His disciples to pick some of the grain?
Jesus first answered in a rabbinical way, citing Scripture. He pointed out an instance when consecrated bread was consumed by hungry travelers. The incident is recorded in 1 Samuel 21:1-6.
David and his companions were hungry and ate the consecrated bread-- the twelve loaves baked of fine flour arranged in two rows or piles on the table in the Holy Place. Fresh loaves were brought into the sanctuary each Sabbath to replace the old ones that were then eaten by the priests.
Although the action of David was contrary to the law, he was not condemned for it. Jesus did not claim that the Sabbath law has not been technically broken but that such violations under certain conditions are warranted.
But then Jesus answered with an interpretation that was revolutionary in that setting. He turned the traditional interpretation of the Sabbath upside down. "The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath."
The primary purpose of the Sabbath is to benefit humans and all of creation. The Sabbath is organically connected to the creation.
In the pattern of life, we need rest from our normal labor. Fields need rest from planting and harvest. We need the renewal and re-creation that can only come by stopping. Sabbath renews us spiritually by setting a pattern of focusing on God. All this is for our benefit and is not intended as a burden upon us.
Sabbath is also for God. It is time that He desires to spend with us in the rhythm of each week. Genesis 2:1 explains that "by the seventh day God had finished the work he had been doing; so on the seventh day he rested from all his work."
The word translated "rest" is Shabbat and means stop or cease but it also means to celebrate and rest in stillness. On the seventh day of creation, God enjoyed and celebrated His creation with its light, darkness, plants, fish, birds, animals, and people. "God blessed the seventh day and made it holy because on it he rested from all the work of creating that he had done."
Sabbath also builds our faith. It is an act of faith to stop working and trust that the work of six days will be adequate. We must trust God as our provider rather than our hands as our provider.
Sabbath is a test of our faith in much the same way that the tithe is. When we tithe the first fruits of our labor, we declare our faith that everything comes from God and our trust in Him to provide our needs. When we rest from our labor after six days, we remind ourselves that God is the source of our blessing. We trust God to provide our needs from six days of labor just as we trust God to meet our needs in 90% of the blessing He brings to our hands.
The Sabbath is a gift to man just as the tithe is a gift to man that brings greater faith and blessing into our lives. Sabbath is our privilege as is the tithe. Sabbath is like a tithe of our labor but it is also a gift to ourselves for our refreshment and renewal. Sabbath is our time to simply quit and "Be still and know that He is God" (Psalm 46:10).
We rest in Him and we are renewed in his spirit. Real Sabbath is something that religion will never understand. It is not about rules; it is about relationship.
After this interchange, Jesus was most revolutionary. "So the Son of Man is Lord even of the Sabbath." Jesus declared Himself to be the Messiah, the Son of Man, and the Lord of the Sabbath. Jesus made it clear that he is the Lord over even the most rigid and treasured institution observed in Judaism. This called for a decision. One must now decide, is Jesus Lord or not?
If Jesus is Lord, He is Lord of the Sabbath. The Gospels do not present Jesus as a fine rabbi or ethical teacher. He is Lord or He must be dismissed as a madman. Jesus was not messing around. A decision must be made. What is yours?

Lord, God, my decision is that Jesus is Lord of all. Teach me what I need to know. Give me Sabbath rest in You. Guide me to a time and place in the pattern of my life so that I may stop and rest in You. Jesus, be the Lord of my life, the Lord of my Sabbath. In Your Holy name, Amen.

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© Jeffrey D. Hoy 2023
Dr. Jeffrey D. Hoy - Faith Fellowship Church (EFCA)
2820 Business Center Blvd.
Melbourne, Florida 32940 (321)-259-7200
Jeff.Hoy@faithfellowshipweb.com
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The Words of Faith devotion is published five days a week by E-mail, excluding Federal holidays. Please feel free to forward this devotion to a friend who might be blessed by this devotion. Unless otherwise noted, all Scripture is quoted from the New International Version (R) of The Holy Bible. Copyright (c) 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan Publishing House. All rights reserved. Words of Faith (c) 1997, 2023 Jeffrey D. Hoy. All rights reserved. Permission is granted to forward this copyrighted material or use portions of it with appropriate notation of the source for non-profit purposes.