The Sabbath was Made for Man
Christ taught that “the Sabbath was made for man.” Mark 2:27. Some say since the Sabbath was made for man we can choose not to keep it or choose our own day. Is this true? Man was made on the sixth day and the only reason we have a seventh day is because God added it for a Sabbath rest for man. The Sabbath was made for man at creation so what has changed? Absolutely nothing! The fact is that all the Commandments were made for man. So does this mean we can choose to ignore all of the other Commandments as well? Of course not!
The Pharisees assumed the Sabbath was made just for them so Jesus corrected them stating that the Sabbath was made to be a blessing for ALL man and not a day of legalistic rules that they had enforced. They had accused Jesus of breaking the Sabbath by picking corn for sustenance and so Jesus pointed out that the Sabbath was made to be a blessing to man and not a burden. This statement of Jesus in Mark 2:27 is not some magical subclause that annuls the fourth Commandment. Picking corn on the Sabbath for nourishment was a necessity. It was not wrong for Jesus to heal the sick and to meet human needs on His Holy Day. Jesus said that not even a comma of the law is going to change (Matthew 5:17-19) and Isaiah prophesied “The LORD … will MAGNIFY the law…” (Isaiah 42:21) not make the law less strict by allowing us to pick and choose if we want to obey a Commandment or not. God Commanded, “Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy ... the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord thy God.” Exodus 20:8-10.
