For the Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath.”For the Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath.”For the Son of man is Lord even of the sabbath day.For the Son of man is lord of the sabbath.
9 sermons cite this verse
… seen it even in the first two chapters. It's a reference to the identity of Jesus as the Son of God. So the Son of Man, he says, is Lord even of the Sabbath. Some of you are asking about my authority to forgive sins. We've already dealt with that. Now you're asking about authority in relationship to the Sabbath? Well, let me tell you. The Son of Man is Lord even of the Sabbath. In other words, says Jesus, I have the prerogative to guard the Sabbath for the purposes God ordained it and to guard it against all of your Pharisaical additions and all of your Pharisaical distortions. And it is with this issue of distortion that the next incident deals. In the first incident, Jesus Christ declares himself authoritative over the Sabbath. In the second little incident of the opening five verses of Luke 3, Jesus demonstrates his authority as Lord of the Sabbath. Okay? And so now they're in the synagogue. It's a perfect setup, isn't it? It's the synagogue, it's the Sabbath, and it's the shriveled hand. And again, these miserable characters are there. …
… only for priests to eat, and he also gave some to his companions. Then he said to them, The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath. So the Son of Man is Lord even of the Sabbath. Another time he went into the synagogue, and a man with a shriveled hand was there. Some of them were looking for a reason to accuse Jesus, so they watched him closely to see if he would heal him on the Sabbath. Jesus said to the man with the shriveled hand, Stand up in front of everyone. Then Jesus asked them, Which is lawful on the Sabbath, to do good or to do evil, to save life or to kill? But they remained silent. He looked round at them in anger and, deeply distressed at their stubborn hearts, said to the man, Stretch out your hand. He stretched it out, and his hand was completely restored. Then the Pharisees went out and began to plot with the Herodians, how they might kill Jesus. Thanks be to God for his Word. …
… So the Sabbath, it's for man. and the son of man is Lord of the Sabbath. His character and the realities of his life, the realities of his death and his resurrection, they define this day, the day of our Lord. So if you're here tonight and you're a Christian, you love Jesus, you desire to keep his commandments. We do not want to do that in a way that the Pharisees did. We love the lawgiver because before he gives us the law, he brings us into a relationship, freeing us from our bondage to our sin. Remember as it said, and I intentionally read verses 1 to 2 of Exodus 20, before it goes into the Ten Commandments, remember what it says in verse 2. I am the Lord your God who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery. That's God's redemption, the paradigmatic redemptive act of the Old Testament is the Exodus. And then after he reminds the Israelites of this, he gives the law within that context of redemption. …
… something greater than the temple is here. If you had known what these words meant, I desire mercy, not sacrifice. You would not have condemned the innocent for the son of man is Lord of the Sabbath. Jesus says these beautiful words to his disciples on the Sabbath while they're walking through some grain fields. He's teaching and he's demonstrating. It's not a coincidence that he's telling them this on the Sabbath. He's talking to them about rest on the day of rest, and he allows them to eat some grain as they're walking through the field, knowing that this is breaking a Sabbath rule. Now, what's important to note is that during this moment in time, the Jewish people were weighed down with rules. They had rules on rules on rules about everything, but especially the Sabbath. Now, these rules, they started out as well-intentioned. The Pharisees, they were the teachers of the law. Their original intent was good. They were trying to interpret the law so that ordinary people could obey it under daily conditions. …
… not man for the Sabbath So the Son of Man is Lord even of the Sabbath. We understand now, see, this rhythm of work. And in the Old Testament, listen to me very carefully. In the Old Testament, Sabbath was on Saturday, which was the seventh day. Let me say that again. In the Old Testament, the Sabbath was on Saturday, the seventh day. A beautiful transition took place, though, obviously, in the New Testament. When Jesus came, died on the cross, rose again, ascended to heaven, we have this massive sea change. Sabbath is moved from the seventh day, Saturday, to the first day of the week, Sunday. Does that make sense? That's why we worship on Sunday. Sunday is the first day of the week. There's the power, the power in the first. So really, I guess if you want to get very, very technical, the rhythm changed. Old Testament. that's the old testament and that's a great groove the new testament You worship, you recreate, you replenish yourself, you recalibrate, then you work. …
… and Luke chapter six, verse five, talking about himself as the son of man, Jesus said to them, the son of man is Lord of the Sabbath. Jesus says, fellas, I've got news for you. I made the Sabbath. I am Lord of it. Are you seeing this? Jesus is Lord of rest. Jesus is the author, the giver, the creator, the source of rest. And this is why he came. So check this out. You keep going in Matthew's account of Jesus's life. Right before Jesus says this same statement that he's the Lord of the Sabbath. In Matthew, he looks at a bunch of people who are working their hardest to follow religious rules in order to get to God. And Jesus says, come to me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, learn from me for I am gentle and lowly in heart and you will find rest for your souls. Don't miss what the whole Bible is teaching here. …
… sin because He can heal, and only God can heal, so He as God can also forgive sin. We find at the end of chapter 2 a very interesting statement, the Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath, Sabbath. He is superior to the law. Sabbath represents the law. He is over the law. He is above the prophets. He is the Holy One of God. The demons know it, and the people should know it by testimony of His miracles, which are laid out in these opening few chapters, and His power over Satan. But interestingly enough, in these opening chapters we don't have testimony from any of the crowd. Even though they were watching the miracles, seeing that He could cast out demons, there was no miracle too difficult for Him. But there is no human confession. That doesn't come until many chapters later. Mark wants us to know that in spite of what the initial response to Christ was, the testimony is clear. He is the Son of God, as the angel said He was when He introduced Mary to that child she would bear. …
… When Jesus heals people on the Sabbath day and the people cry out against Him because He's violating their rules. He said, I do this that you may know that the Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath. See, that's when they pick up stones because they got the message. Jesus was saying, I am the Lord of the Sabbath, and they understood that the Lord of the Sabbath was the Creator. And elsewhere when He forgives sins, He said, I say these things that you You may know that the Son of Man has the authority on earth to forgive sins." These are not statements of humility. These are statements by which Christ openly declares His authority as the One who has come down from heaven. And so before we get John's glimpse of the earthly visitation of Jesus, he tells us where He's from by saying, in the beginning. Here he's echoing the very opening words of the Old Testament, in the beginning God created the heaven and the earth. …
… was made for man, man was not made for the Sabbath. And He said, I do these things that you might understand that the Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath day. Now when He said that, everybody understood what He was saying. When He said, I am the Lord of the Sabbath, everybody knew that it was God who created the Sabbath, and only God could be Lord over the Sabbath. And so when Christ says that He is Lord of the Sabbath day, that is an unambiguous claim to deity, and that's what He's saying right here in this text. The Father works up till now, and I work too. Now what happens? Therefore the Jews sought all the more to kill Him, because He not only broke the Sabbath, but He also said that God was His Father, making Himself equal with God. Now listen to this difficult text. Then Jesus answered and said to them, Verily, verily, or most assuredly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of Himself but what He sees the Father do. …