Re:Verse passage – Mark 2:23-28 (day four)
One of the tasks of Mark in his gospel was to establish the identity of Jesus. We are introduced to a new name for Jesus in our passage…”Lord of the Sabbath.” Jesus was declaring His deity and authority to the Pharisees and it did not go unnoticed by them.
The commandment to remember the Sabbath and keep it holy had been given to free God’s people to be able to focus on and worship God. In John MacArthur’s commentary, he identifies 24 chapters in the Talmud that regulated the observance of the Sabbath. The Jews were not freed to worship, they were bound to slavery to a set of extra-biblical rules. Jesus was confronting, head on, the hypocrisy of the Pharisees.
Jesus was not one to let things slide. Are we as diligent to confront false teaching and misunderstood truth with those around us? We may not be faced with the likes of the Pharisees, but truth and understanding of God’s Word are vital to our right relationship with God. Ask God to surround you with truth!
