Mark 2:23-28- Love is Greater Than Law

And it happened that He was passing through the grainfields on the Sabbath, and His disciples began to make their way along while picking the heads of grain. The Pharisees were saying to Him, "Look, why are they doing what is not lawful on the Sabbath?" And He said to them, "Have you never read what David did when he was in need and he and his companions became hungry; how he entered the house of God in the time of Abiathar the high priest, and ate the consecrated bread, which is not lawful for anyone to eat except the priests, and he also gave it to those who were with him?" Jesus said to them, "The Sabbath was made for man, and not man for the Sabbath. So the Son of Man is Lord even of the Sabbath."


The Sabbath was a custom established by Moses in the Ten Commandments for all of God’s people to take the seventh day of the week (today called Saturday) and to cease from work. The types of work rejected for the Sabbath was: working for one’s provision (Numbers 15:32-36); gathering food (Exodus 16:22-30); or cooking food (Exodus 35:3). This was to be proof to the people that God would provide food according to his power—and they would eat abundantly, even though they were reducing their work by a seventh.

However, on the Sabbath, one would still care for children and animals (Matthew 12:11), and the priests would still do their regular business (Matthew 12:5). But the Pharisees and other groups had a list of laws that they wanted all Jews to follow to obey the Sabbath “properly”—beyond the written command. Some of the laws were that one could only walk about a mile on the Sabbath, and one had to limit how much one did for oneself or others.

The disciples were technically violating the Sabbath, because they were gathering food from the fields. But their manner of ministry and following Jesus often meant that they were unable to prepare for the Sabbath ahead of time. Thus, if they followed all the commands and traditions of the Sabbath, they would go hungry every Sabbath. But Jesus gave lenience to the disciples on this point. He used the example of David, who ate food that was traditionally not allowed for him to eat, because he was on a mission and was hungry. Even so, Jesus indicates, the disciples may break this technical rule because they were on a mission and hungry.

Jesus’ statement in verse 28 is a short poem that indicates that mankind, and especially God’s chosen Human, has the right to determine what is good for mankind in obeying the Sabbath. Notice that Jesus never sets aside Sabbath practice, but he makes it merciful. Nor could the Pharisees accuse Jesus himself of even breaking their tradition.

Love is greater than any law. Should a law stand against love, then, in the eyes of God, that law is illegal. This means that if we side with law instead of love, then we do not side with God. God always stands with love instead of ritual, tradition, executieve or legal force.