Following Jesus in the Gospel of MarkSampl

SABBATH

Look Closely: All of these stories have implications for the new kingdom that Jesus is bringing to the world. The first part about fasting and the analogies about old and new things not mixing well imply that Jesus’ new way is not going to fit with the old. Mark tells the stories about the two Sabbath interactions to further draw this point home. The Sabbath had a lot of extra rules associated with it established throughout the years by the priests and Pharisees. Jesus is pointing out that their old rules don’t fit with what God intended with the Sabbath and they were actually preventing people from doing good.

-By referencing King David’s eating of the bread, Jesus is associating Himself with David as a king. What insight does this give into the Pharisees’ reaction?

-Why were the Pharisees angry and upset by Jesus' teaching? What did they have to lose with the Jewish people?

Challenge: What is God saying to you about the Sabbath? What are you going to do about it?