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Scripture Reading: Mark 2:23-28; 3:1-6
In this message we shall continue to consider the ways the Slave-Savior carried out His gospel service. According to Mark 2:23-28, He cared for His followers’ hunger rather than for religion’s regulation, and according to Mark 3:1-6 He cared for the relief of the suffering one rather than for the ritual of religion.
Mark 2:23 says, “And it came about that He passed through the grainfields on the Sabbath, and His disciples began to make their way, picking the ears of grain.” I believe that the Lord Jesus purposely led His followers into the grainfields on the Sabbath. He certainly knew that it was a Sabbath day. As a rule, He should not have made a decision to pass through the grainfields on the Sabbath, for that was a breaking of the regulation concerning the keeping of the Sabbath. Nevertheless, He, as the Shepherd, led all of His followers, His sheep, into the grainfields, and those fields became their pasture. Verse 23 says that “His disciples began to make their way, picking the ears of grain.” Here we see that the disciples were eating the fresh ears of grain. Through this kind of eating they were satisfied.
In verse 24 “the Pharisees said to Him, Look! Why are they doing on the Sabbath what is not lawful?” The Sabbath was for the Jews to remember God as the Creator (Gen. 2:2), to keep the sign of God’s covenant with them (Ezek. 20:12), and to remember God’s redemption of them (Deut. 5:15). Hence, to profane the Sabbath was a serious matter in the eyes of the religious Pharisees. To them it was not lawful, not scriptural, for the Lord’s disciples to pick ears of grain on the Sabbath. As we shall see, the Pharisees did not have adequate knowledge of the Scriptures. According to their meager knowledge, they cared for the ritual of keeping the Sabbath, not for the hunger of the people. What folly to observe a vain ritual!
In Mark 2:25-26 we see the Lord’s reply to the Pharisees: “Have you never read what David did when he was in need and was hungry, he and those with him? How he entered into the house of God when Abiathar was high priest, and ate the bread of the presence, which is not lawful for anyone to eat except the priests, and he gave also to those who were with him?” The Pharisees said that it was not lawful for the Lord’s disciples to pick the ears in the grainfields and eat. The Pharisees condemned them for acting contrary to Scripture. But the Lord asked them, “Have you not read?” He pointed out to them another aspect of the truth in the Scriptures that justified Him and His disciples. This condemned the Pharisees for lacking adequate knowledge of the Scriptures.
The Lord’s answer in these verses indicates that He must have had an excellent way of studying the Bible. Here the Lord seemed to be telling the Pharisees, “Have you never read what David did? You religionists respect the Bible to the uttermost. Have you not read how David entered into the house of God, ate the bread of the presence, and also gave it to those who were with him? Don’t you know that David led his followers to do this? Would you say that he misled them in this matter?” How excellent is the Lord’s way of studying the Bible! We all need to learn of Him.
In the eyes of the Jews, the Lord was unlearned. They marveled and said concerning Him, “How does this man know letters, having never learned?” (John 7:15). This One, who apparently was unlearned in the Scriptures, questioned the scribes, ancient scholars of the Bible, concerning their knowledge of the Scriptures. Although they were regarded as Bible scholars, they knew the Scriptures only in a superficial way and in the way of doctrine in dead letters. The Lord exposed their inadequate knowledge of the Scriptures when He asked them if they had never read what David did when he and those with him were in need and were hungry.
The Lord’s word to the Pharisees is very wise and rich in its implications. The Lord’s word here implies that He is the real David. In the ancient time, David and his followers, when rejected, entered into the house of God and ate the showbread, seemingly breaking the Levitical law. Now the real David and His followers were also rejected and took action to eat, seemingly against the sabbatical regulation. Just as David and his followers were not held guilty, neither should Christ and His disciples be condemned.
Furthermore, the Lord’s word here implies a dispensational change from the priesthood to the kingship. In the ancient time, the coming of David changed the dispensation from the age of the priests to the age of the kings, to the age in which the kings were above the priests. In the age of the priests, the leader of the people should listen to the priest (Num. 27:21-22). But in the age of the kings, the priest should submit to the king (1 Sam. 2:35-36). Hence, what King David with his followers did was not illegal. Now by the coming of Christ the dispensation was also changed, this time from the age of the law to the age of grace, the age in which Christ is above the law. Whatever He does is right.
We have seen that the Lord’s word to the Pharisees implies that He is the real David. Matthew the tax collector was one of the followers of this David, the One who was fighting for God’s kingdom. When David led his company to the house of God, He was fighting for the kingdom. Likewise, as the real David, Christ and His followers were also fighting for the coming of the kingdom. Moreover, with the coming of the Lord there was a change of dispensation.
In 2:27 the Lord went on to say to the Pharisees, “The Sabbath came into being for man’s sake, and not man for the Sabbath’s sake.” Man was not created for the Sabbath, but the Sabbath was ordained for man so that man might enjoy it with God (Gen. 2:2-3).
In verse 28 we have a strong display of who the Lord is: “So the Son of Man is Lord even of the Sabbath.” This indicates the Slave-Savior’s deity in His humanity. He, the Son of Man, was the very God who ordained the Sabbath, and He had the right to change what He had ordained concerning the Sabbath. As the Lord of the Sabbath, He had the right to change the regulations concerning the Sabbath.
The Lord Jesus indicated to the condemning Pharisees that He was the real David, the King of the coming kingdom of God, and also the Lord of the Sabbath. Therefore, He could do whatever He liked on the Sabbath, and whatever He did was justified by who He is. He was above all rituals and regulations. Because He was present, no one should pay any attention to rituals and regulations.
I would call your attention to the word “even” in 2:28. Here the Lord says that the Son of Man is the Lord even of the Sabbath. His use of the word “even” here implies that He is not merely the Lord of one thing, but the Lord of everything, including the Sabbath.
The Lord’s word implies and indicates that He is the almighty God, the very One who ordained the Sabbath in Genesis 2. As the One who had the authority to ordain the Sabbath, He also has the right to change it. Therefore, the Lord could have said to the Pharisees, “Why do you trouble Me? I am the Lord who ordained the Sabbath, and I have the full position and right to change it. Whether I ordain the Sabbath or change it, I do it for the sake of man. The Sabbath came into being for man’s sake; man did not come into being for the sake of the Sabbath. You Pharisees would even let people die by the way you keep the Sabbath. But on the Sabbath I care for feeding My followers. In Genesis 2 I ordained the Sabbath because I wanted man to have rest. Therefore, the Sabbath came into being for the sake of man. But now that I am here, I want to cancel the Sabbath in order to feed My followers. As the Lord of the Sabbath, I certainly have the right to do this.”
How wonderful was the Lord’s handling of the situation in 2:23-28! He certainly is the best attorney, a heavenly attorney. Whatever He says is right. In arguing with Him, the Pharisees did not have a case, for He is the almighty Lord.
In 3:1-6 we see that the Lord carried out His gospel service by caring for the relief of the suffering one instead of caring for the ritual of religion. Here we have the last incident of the five recorded in 2:1—3:6, the case of the healing of a man with a withered hand. This healing also took place on the Sabbath (3:2).
Mark 2:23—3:6 records the Lord’s move on two Sabbaths (Luke 6:1, 6). What He did on the first Sabbath indicates that He was acting as the Head of the Body. As the Head, He is the real David and the Lord of the Sabbath. What He did on the second Sabbath signifies that He cared for His members. On this Sabbath He healed a man’s withered hand. The hand is a member of the body. The Lord would do anything for the healing of His members. Sabbath or no Sabbath, the Lord is interested in healing the members of His Body who are in need, even healing the members who are dead. Regulations do not matter, but the healing of the members of His Body means everything to Him.
In these two portions we have two cases of the breaking of the Sabbath. The first instance of breaking the Sabbath took place in the grainfields; the second took place in a synagogue (3:1). The first breaking of the Sabbath was related to satisfaction, and the second was related to liberation. We may be satisfied, but we may not yet be liberated. We may not be free. We need not only satisfaction but also liberation. Have you been liberated? Have you been emancipated? Are you fully free? You may be quite satisfied because you have learned to feed on the Lord Jesus. However, you may not have the assurance to say that you have been liberated. Actually, we need liberation even more than satisfaction.
According to the sequence in the Gospel of Mark, liberation follows satisfaction. If we have not been satisfied, we shall not sense the need for liberation. Our immediate need is to have our hunger satisfied. First, the Lord satisfies our hunger, and then, as the divine Surgeon, He operates on us. Once we are satisfied, He brings us into the “operating room” where He heals us and we are liberated. In 3:1-6 the operating room was the synagogue. It was in the synagogue that the man with a withered hand experienced the restoring of his hand (v. 5).
In verse 4 the Lord said to those in the synagogue, “Is it lawful on the Sabbath to do good or to do evil, to save life or to kill?” This word implies that the Slave-Savior was the Emancipator, who set the suffering one free from the bondage of religious ritual.
In 2:1-12 we have the case of a paralytic, the case of someone fully paralyzed. But in 3:1-6 we have the case of someone with a withered hand. This is the case of a person who is partially free, but is not wholly free. Are you fully free? You may find this question difficult to answer and say, “On the one hand, I cannot say that I am wholly free. On the other hand, it would not be true to say that I am not free at all. I must answer by saying that I am partially free.” Like the man with the withered hand, we need to be fully liberated. This man was not dying. He could move about and do things with one of his hands. Yet the other hand was withered. This indicates that he needed to be set free.
It is significant that the case of the man with the withered hand is the last of the five cases in 2:1—3:6. In the first incident (2:1-12) we have the forgiveness of sins; in the second (2:13-17), the entering into the enjoyment of God; in the third (2:18-22), joy through the living Christ as the Bridegroom, the One who has a garment with which to cover and beautify us and who has the divine life with which to fill us; and in the fourth (2:23-28), satisfaction through the Lord’s feeding. Now in the fifth incident we have complete freedom. Here we see a person who is wholly free.
If we put these five incidents together, we shall see a complete picture of a fully saved person, the picture of someone enjoying salvation in the fullest way. According to this picture, the Lord’s salvation includes forgiveness, enjoyment, joy, satisfaction, and freedom. May we all experience these five aspects of the Lord’s salvation.
Mark 3:5 says, “And looking around at them with anger, being greatly grieved at the hardness of their heart, He says to the man, Stretch out your hand! And he stretched it out, and his hand was restored.” Toward the opposers the Savior’s anger was exercised, and He was greatly grieved at their hardness of heart. But toward the sick His compassion was exercised, and He restored the withered member. His anger and grief may be considered the expression of the genuineness of His humanity, whereas His compassion and healing were a merging of His human virtue with His divine power. Thus His deity was again expressed in His humanity. The restoration of the withered hand displayed the power of the Slave-Savior’s deity.
The Lord gave the man the word, “Stretch out your hand!” In the Lord’s word was the enlivening life. By stretching out his hand, the man took the Lord’s life-giving word, and his withered hand was restored by the life in His word.
In 3:6 we have the conclusion of this incident: “And going out, the Pharisees immediately took counsel with the Herodians against Him, how they might destroy Him.” In the eyes of the religious Pharisees, for the Lord to break the Sabbath was to destroy the covenant of God with the nation of Israel, that is, to destroy the relationship between God and Israel. Hence, the Pharisees took counsel with the Herodians concerning how they might destroy the Lord Jesus. The breaking of the Sabbath caused the Jewish religionists to reject the Slave-Savior. As the religionists of the old and lifeless religion, the Pharisees were motivated by Satan and used by him to oppose, resist, and frustrate the gospel service of the Slave-Savior throughout His ministry. Blinded by their traditional religion from seeing Him in God’s economy, they plotted to kill Him.
