The Sabbath was made for man, and not man for the Sabbath. Therefore the Son of Man is also Lord of the Sabbath

 Now it happened that He went through the grainfields on the Sabbath; and as they went His disciples began to pluck the heads of grain.  And the Pharisees said to Him, "Look, why do they do what is not lawful on the Sabbath?"  But He said to them, "Have you never read what David did when he was in need and hungry, he and those with him:  how he went into the house of God in the days of Abiathar the high priest, and ate the showbread, which is not lawful to eat except for the priests, and also gave some to those who were with him?"  And He said to them, "The Sabbath was made for man, and not man for the Sabbath.  Therefore the Son of Man is also Lord of the Sabbath." 

And He entered the synagogue again, and a man was there who had a withered hand.  So they watched Him closely, whether He would heal him on the Sabbath, so that they might accuse Him.  And He said to the man who had the withered hand, "Step forward."  Then He said to them, "Is it lawful on the Sabbath to do good or to do evil, to save life or to kill?"  But they kept silent.  And when He had looked around at them with anger, being grieved by the hardness of their hearts, He said to the man, "Stretch out your hand."  And he stretched it out, and his hand was restored as whole as the other.  Then the Pharisees went out and immediately plotted with the Herodians against Him, how they might destroy Him. 

- Mark 2:23-3:6

Yesterday we read that Jesus went out again by the sea; and all the multitude came to Him, and He taught them.  As He passed by, He saw Levi the son of Alphaeus sitting at the tax office.  And He said to him, "Follow Me."  So he arose and followed Him.  Now it happened, as He was dining in Levi's house, that many tax collectors and sinners also sat together with Jesus and His disciples; for there were many, and they followed Him.  And when the scribes and Pharisees saw Him eating with the tax collectors and sinners, they said to His disciples, "How is it that He eats and drinks with tax collectors and sinners?"  When Jesus heard it, He said to them, "Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick.  I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners, to repentance."  The disciples of John and of the Pharisees were fasting.  Then they came and said to Him, "Why do the disciples of John and of the Pharisees fast, but Your disciples do not fast?"  And Jesus said to them, "Can the friends of the bridegroom fast while the bridegroom is with them?  As long as they have the bridegroom with them they cannot fast.  But the days will come when the bridegroom will be taken away from them, and then they will fast in those days.  No one sews a piece of unshrunk cloth on an old garment; or else the new piece pulls away from the old, and the tear is made worse.  And no one puts new wine into old wineskins; or else the new wine bursts the wineskins, the wine is spilled, and the wineskins are ruined.  But new wine must be put into new wineskins."

 Now it happened that He went through the grainfields on the Sabbath; and as they went His disciples began to pluck the heads of grain.  And the Pharisees said to Him, "Look, why do they do what is not lawful on the Sabbath?"  But He said to them, "Have you never read what David did when he was in need and hungry, he and those with him:  how he went into the house of God in the days of Abiathar the high priest, and ate the showbread, which is not lawful to eat except for the priests, and also gave some to those who were with him?"  And He said to them, "The Sabbath was made for man, and not man for the Sabbath.  Therefore the Son of Man is also Lord of the Sabbath."  Jesus uses David as an image prefiguring the Christ, who is the true Lord of the Sabbath.  In David's time it was lawful only for the high priests to eat the showbread, but this was deemed acceptable for David and his men at the time.  Now, the expected Messiah, also titled Son of David (10:47-48), is present.  Jesus, for the first time, uses the title Son of Man for Himself, a messianic title for a mysterious figure in Daniel's apocalyptic vision (see Daniel 7).  It is, in effect, a declaration of His Lordship and the new covenant, and a prefiguring of the Eucharist, a food which will be freely given to all on the Sabbath.  Consistent with all that has happened in Mark's Gospel so far, the theme is healing and wholeness, giving us the image of Church as hospital.  This ministry is one of a Physician, who tends to humankind.  Thus, "The Sabbath was made for man, and not man for the Sabbath."

And He entered the synagogue again, and a man was there who had a withered hand.  So they watched Him closely, whether He would heal him on the Sabbath, so that they might accuse Him.  And He said to the man who had the withered hand, "Step forward."  Then He said to them, "Is it lawful on the Sabbath to do good or to do evil, to save life or to kill?"  But they kept silent.  And when He had looked around at them with anger, being grieved by the hardness of their hearts, He said to the man, "Stretch out your hand."  And he stretched it out, and his hand was restored as whole as the other.  Then the Pharisees went out and immediately plotted with the Herodians against Him, how they might destroy Him.  My study bible tells us that according to certain traditions that the scribes and Pharisees had built up around the Law, healing was considered work, and thus was not permissible on the Sabbath.  They believed that they were serving God by zealously keeping their peripheral traditions, but it was a form of legalism that made them insensitive to God's mercy.   My study bible comments also on Jesus' anger.   It says that righteous anger is a natural human emotion which is experienced in the face of sin.  While there is anger that is sinful (Matthew 5:22), there is also anger that is God-given and proper to humanity (Psalm 4:4).  Christ's anger here, my study bible says, is in response to people professing God, and yet having such hardness in their hearts that they could not rejoice in the healing of one of their brothers.

Both stories in today's reading emphasize the growing contrast between the ways in which the religious leadership understands and interprets the Law (and the traditions built up around it), and the ways in which Jesus views the intentions of the Law and the character of God who is the true author of the Law.  He calls Himself the Son of Man, a title, as we noted above, which comes from the apocalyptic vision of Daniel (Daniel 7).   In that vision, the Son of Man joins the Ancient of Days and He is given a kingdom:  "Then to Him was given dominion and glory and a kingdom, that all peoples, nations, and languages should serve Him.  His dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and His kingdom the one which shall not be destroyed" (Daniel 7:14).  In some icons of the Holy Trinity, the figure of the Ancient of Days as described in Daniel 7 is used to represent God the Father.  But this apocalyptic language is clearly mirrored in our understanding of Christ and of the kingdom of God, and the images in Revelation continue in the same apocalyptic tradition.  Jesus' use of this title is therefore significant in terms of a depiction of a spiritual battle going on, and also of the Lord's dominion and precisely what kind of kingdom He brings into the world.  This is not the kingdom of Israel, a political entity, nor the expected Messiah who would be a warrior king, throwing off the Romans and reviving Israel's fortunes and physical dominion over other kingdoms of the world.  This is an entirely different sort of reality manifesting and brought into the world.  Jesus will  tell Pilate, representative of the Roman State over Israel, "My kingdom is not of this world. If My kingdom were of this world, My servants would fight, so that I should not be delivered to the Jews; but now My kingdom is not from here" (John 18:36).  In today's reading, Jesus both states the power of His Lordship, and also the nature of this Kingdom, in the qualities of healing and mercy for which He stands and expresses His authority.  Jesus' usage of the title Son of Man is an indication of a war going on, but nothing like human, earthly warfare with which we're familiar.  This is a battle for hearts and minds, and souls and spirits.  It is one not seen by the eye, and not assigned simply to a group that we can define in physical or political or even philosophical terms.   Some who write on this subject are fond of quoting the author Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, who wrote the following:  "If only there were evil people somewhere insidiously committing evil deeds, and it were necessary only to separate them from the rest of us and destroy them. But the line dividing good and evil cuts through the heart of every human being. And who is willing to destroy a piece of his own heart?" (p168, The Gulag Archipelago, Collins 1974).  I put this quotation here as it fits the struggle depicted in apocalyptic literature, as experienced by human beings.  Solzhenitsyn writes of destroying a piece of one's own heart, but Jesus puts this in more stark terms of imagery, when He speaks of offenses to little ones, and commands His disciples, "If your hand or foot causes you to sin, cut it off and cast it from you. It is better for you to enter into life lame or maimed, rather than having two hands or two feet, to be cast into the everlasting fire. And if your eye causes you to sin, pluck it out and cast it from you. It is better for you to enter into life with one eye, rather than having two eyes, to be cast into hell fire" (Matthew 18:8-9).  This is a battle of faith, and each must come to their own place in such a struggle through faith.  St. Paul calls it the "good warfare" and "the good fight of faith" (1 Timothy 1:18, 6:12).   Christ is in the world to express and manifest the true nature of God, to show us the way of this Kingdom, and also to claim His Lordship.  As Lord, He proclaims to us that the Sabbath was made for man, and not man for the Sabbath.  His Kingdom is one of healing and regeneration, redemption, nurturing, medicine, correction.  Let us never lose sight of the One who leads the way for us, our deepest point of focus to cling to at all times, for we are always in this struggle, whether we know it or not.  The present season of Lent is precisely the time in which we enter more deeply into it, the struggle that remains not simply "out there" but within us, the one we are meant to know and understand.   In our text, this is what the religious leaders fail to heed in their zeal for what they know to be good, their belief that they serve God.  Let us remember in our own zeal for what we think and know as good what Christ commands and asks of us.