Mark - Lesson 3...Continued from page 4

DAY FIVE:  The Lord of the Sabbath

Please carefully read Mark 2:23-28 and answer the following questions.

1.  The fourth example Mark listed was a conflict between the legalists and Jesus about the Sabbath.  What did the disciples do that was so upsetting to the Pharisees this time (v. 23-24)?

2.  The Law didn’t prohibit a hungry person from taking some fruit or grain from a neighbor’s field on the Sabbath unless they filled a vessel or used a tool to do so (Deuteronomy 23:24-25), yet the Pharisees had so legalized the Sabbath that they accused the disciples of working on that day.[13]  What analogy did Jesus give in response, which would have been a much more serious offense (v. 25-26)?

3.  What error had they made about their treatment of the Sabbath (v. 27)?

4.  There has been great disagreement between some Christian groups about the Sabbath and keeping it today, which we don’t have space to go into here.  Again, the error comes in ignoring the heart of the action, or the action of the heart about such things.  What does Colossians 2:16-23 about such disputes over religious rituals?  What type of rest remains for the believer today (Hebrews 4:8-11)?

5.  How did Jesus conclude His response to the Pharisees about this, again no doubt shocking His hearers (v. 28)?

NOTE: The Greek word for Lord (kurios) means being both the possessor and disposer of a thing, so He had the right to say such things about it; but it also was the word that the Septuagint (Greek) translation of the Old Testament used for the title of Jehovah; in that sense, He claimed to be the Lord who created the Sabbath, brought into being for our sake, not for us to be its slave! “The Sabbath for the sake of man came into being, and not man for the sake of the Sabbath.”[14]

Scripture Memory:  Can you write out this week’s passage by memory here below?  Give it a try, and keep reviewing the passage several times throughout the day.

Mark 2:17: