This week’s devotions are based on this week’s message: Shadows: A Glimpse of the Sabbath! (WATCH HERE)
Mark 2:27 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.”
The car was made for man, not man for the car.
Perhaps when we insert anything that we use that was created or made for our benefit, Jesus’ statement makes more sense. Our history of inventions by in large have made life better and easier for humanity. From the abacus to make math easier to a computer in our phone to make life easier, they were all made for mankind, not the other way around. In fact, when you think about it when other humanity think that people were made for them, it turns that relationship into one that is not very pleasant or enjoyable. Consider the era of slavery or the time when business tycoons took advantage of the workers in their factories. If one tries to GET something out of people, that relationship is often not a blessing. If one tries to GIVE something to another person, the person receiving is the one who is blessed.
So it is with the Sabbath. The Sabbath is not trying to GET anything out of people. People were not made FOR the Sabbath. Rather the Sabbath is trying to GIVE something to people. The Sabbath was made FOR people.
The people of Jesus’ day and before had turned the Sabbath into an entity that was trying to GET something out of people. The religious rabbis and Pharisees were the ones who parsed out the do’s and don’ts of the Sabbath to make sure the Sabbath got all it could from people. It was as if the Sabbath needed to be served by people by the steps they took or didn’t take, the effort they made or didn’t make to eat, the activities they did or didn’t do. The Sabbath had become in many people’s mind a crushing, demanding, obligation that people had to give to.
This couldn’t be farther from the truth of what the Sabbath really was.
God made the Sabbath for mankind. The observation of the Sabbath was to GIVE blessings to the people who observed it. The Sabbath loved to give rest physically so one’s body could recuperate and recharge. The Sabbath loved to give rest mentally and emotionally so one’s mind and heart could relax and reset. The Sabbath especially loved to give to all who would observe it, time in the love and grace of God to give rest to souls. The Sabbath loved to UNBURDEN people by allowing them to place their burdens on the Lord. The Sabbath loved to give peace to unsettled hearts by giving people the promises of the LORD to calm their souls. The Sabbath loved to give goodness to people as people reflected the grace and mercy of God.
How could it do this? The Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath. The Son of Man…not man… is the one who made the Sabbath for mankind. So like an engineer who designs an implement with a purpose to bless people, so Jesus gives us the blessing of the Sabbath to be a specific blessing of rest to our bodies, minds, and souls.
So when man started being the “owner” of the Sabbath and burdening people with laws that they couldn’t follow, the meaning and blessing of the Sabbath was lost. Jesus came to fulfill the Sabbath by being the one who would give ultimate rest for our souls. So it is he who loves to give us Sabbath rest, not as an obligation of the law, but as a true gift of grace.
Enjoy it as such!
Apply: What gifts does God desire to give you when you practice Sabbath rest?
Prayer: Lord, thank you for making the Sabbath for me. In a way that honors you and blesses my soul, help me to observe Sabbath rest today! AMEN.