“And he
said unto them, The sabbath was made for man, and not man for the sabbath. Therefore
the Son of man is Master also of the sabbath.” Mark 2:27, 28.
Yahuwah ordained that the
Sabbath should be a blessing, not a burden. The Sabbath was for man’s interest
and not his injury to observe it.
The all wise Creator knew
that man, the creature of His hand, needed time to put aside his own pursuits
and contemplate the goodness and glory of Yahuwah. Had the Sabbath always been
sacredly observed, there could never have been an atheist or an idolater.
The profuse requirements of
the rabbis pertaining to the meticulous observance of the Sabbath were based on
the concept that the Sabbath was of more importance in the sight of Yahuwah than
man himself.
The Jewish leaders had put
unnecessary laws and regulations on the Sabbath day that Yahuwah never asked for.
Yahushua repeatedly rebuked these man-made traditions. According to these blind
leaders, man was made for the Sabbath—made to keep it mechanically. The rabbis
reduced the Sabbath to an absurdity by their rigid and meaningless distinction
between what could and could not be done on that day.
The Sabbath institution,
which originated in
is as old as the world itself. To tamper in any way with the Creator’s
specifications – as to when and how the day should be observed – is tantamount
to denying that Yahuwah knows what is best for the creatures of His hand.
In Mark 2:24-28, Yahushua and
His disciples were passing through a field of grain on the Sabbath day, so they
began to pluck and eat. The Pharisees, seeing this, took the opportunity to
accuse Yahushua of allowing unlawful actions on the Sabbath.
It was Yahushua’s purpose to
teach His disciples and His enemies that the service of Yahuwah is first of all.
The object of Yahuwah’s work in this world is the redemption of man; therefore that
which is necessary to be done on the Sabbath in the accomplishment of this work
is in accord with the Sabbath law. Yahushua then crowns His argument by declaring
Himself the "Master of the Sabbath,"–One above all question and above
all law. This infinite Judge acquits the disciples of blame, appealing to the
very statutes they are accused of violating.
Yahushua states that He is
Master even of the Sabbath day, thus informing us that being Master and Creator of
its sanctity, He would not otherwise demean its true holiness in any way.
The words “the Son of man is Master also of the Sabbath" are
full of instruction ad comfort. The Sabbath belongs to Yahushua. By Him it was
set apart as a memorial of the work of creation.
The Sabbath points to Him
as both the Creator and the Sanctifier. It declares that He who created all
things in heaven and in earth, and by whom all things are upheld, is also the
head of the ekklesia, and that by His power we are reconciled to Yahuwah. For,
speaking to His children, He said, "I gave them My
Sabbaths, to be a sign between Me and them, that they might know that I am Yahuwah that sanctify them,"– makes them holy. Ezekiel 20:12.
The Sabbath is a sign of
Yahushua’s power to make us holy. And it is given to all whom Yahushua makes holy
as a sign of His sanctifying power.
Comments