Lord of my Sabbath

And he said to them, “The Son of Man is lord of the Sabbath.”

Luke 6:5

Jesus said this controversially profound claim to be the God in control of the Sabbath... He is the One to Whom the Sabbath was devoted. He said this to His accusers who were very upset that His disciples had snacked on grain on the Sabbath. This was to all Jews the holy day of rest from all work in worship to the God Who gave the Sabbath command. And there were two responses to the Sabbath Law of the Old Testament.

The first response was that given by strict observers who policed any possible hit of physical labor and promptly sought to penalize offenders. They focused most on the actions performed and NOT necessarily the God being worshiped. The accusers were in this first camp.

The second kind of responses was to simply enjoy the day of rest and to focus most on being with the Lord to Whom to Sabbath was devoted. By stating His position as Lord of the Sabbath, Jesus was advocating for this second focus, and also assured His accusers that the Old Testament allowed for the spirit of the Law to govern Sabbath-keeping. His disciples were right to be with Him most on that day. This put the attention on the God Who asked for the Sabbath, not just rules to make it a worrisome event.

I write these words thinking hard on the concept of Sabbath rest. I am on day 28 of a 90 day sabbatical, and so far in this first month, though I have not really worked in pastoral ministry, I’ve been incredibly busy. Maybe too busy at times. I’ve traveled for an extended family get together. I’ve traveled for leisure. I’ve had numerous medical appointments to deal with what I’m now seeing are the effects of years of burnout. I’ve worked on car maintenance and lots of home maintenance that has been neglected for years... with more plans to do even more things to the house. And I see that I need to do less of this and more honoring of the Lord of my sabbath sabbatical. 

Jesus... You are Lord of my Sabbath. Forgive my neglectful disobedience. I tend to pour myself into the next task more than rest in You. Save me from becoming legalistic about the whole thing as well. I want to walk with You, through the grain fields, picking grain, snacking along the way, and just enjoy the presence of my Lord.

Amen