5 Then Jesus said to them, “The Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath.”
What does it mean to be ‘lord’ of something? We often want to think of ourselves as being in charge of something, of having control or being able to make up the rules that govern a place or situation. We often struggle in a world that seems to be spinning out of control. We want solid footing, but the ground keeps shifting. When the rules change, we get upset. We want to know what is expected of us. The words of the cowardly lion in the Wizard of Oz said it well when he sang “if I were king of the forest.” He expressed a dream that we often feel when things are out of our control. If we were ‘lord’ of our situation, we could call the shots, make the rules, and control the outcome. Nothing would surprise us. We would manipulate every contingency to our ends. Jesus says He is Lord of the Sabbath. He is the One who made the rules and understands not only the letter of the law, but the intentions behind the letter. He sees through the artificial rule keeping straight to their hearts. The religious leaders don’t really care about people, or even about pleasing God. All they want to do is keep the rules, which they have warped to satisfy their own need to feel like they are good enough for God to accept. But as Jesus and His disciples are hungry on that day, His disciples pick some grain, rub it between their fingers and eat it. They have thus harvested grain; they have worked. And working is not allowed on the Sabbath. But Jesus is the one who wrote the rules in the first place. The Law was written to meet the needs of humankind, not humankind made to meet the needs of the Law. The religious leaders had flipped the Law on its head. They served it rather than allowing the Law to serve their eternal needs. The Law’s purpose was to show their need of a Savior, to show their inability to be righteous on their own, and to draw them close to God in humble dependence. But they were using the Law in a way never intended by its Author. The Author was walking through that field. Jesus declares that He is in charge, that He is King of the Sabbath. How are you using the Law? Are you trying to please God through the things that you do? Or do you know that God is pleased with you and that motivates what you do? In Jesus we are pleasing to God. Now do what is right because God totally accepts you.
The Arnold Journey 