Mark 2:23  And it came to pass, that he went through the corn fields on the sabbath day; and his disciples began, as they went, to pluck the ears of corn.
24  And the Pharisees said unto him, Behold, why do they on the sabbath day that which is not lawful?
25  And he said unto them, Have ye never read what David did, when he had need, and was an hungred, he, and they that were with him?
26  How he went into the house of God in the days of Abiathar the high priest, and did eat the shewbread, which is not lawful to eat but for the priests, and gave also to them which were with him?
27  And he said unto them, The sabbath was made for man, and not man for the sabbath:
28  Therefore the Son of man is Lord also of the sabbath.

Those who are saved need to be much in prayer for our country. We are in the midst of the biggest sham in the history of this country. Over the past couple of weeks the “polls” have suggested that the Liberals have taken the lead in popularity in this country. According to the rallies that the leaders of two main parties have been holding, the crowds are coming to hear the Conservative leader in much greater numbers than the Liberals. As is common in the world, never allow the facts to interfere with the propaganda. We are seeing the tax-payer funded media running a scam for the Liberals. It is similar to what happened in the 2020 U.S. election. That was a very crooked affair and this one in Canada is shaping up to be the same.
We have mentioned before that it will not make much difference who becomes the leader of this country in a few short weeks. The damage has already been done. What we need to pray for is that those who are born again Christians would wake up and be much in prayer for the salvation of souls. That is what is needed. We will not turn this country around. It is too far gone. God is in charge and He is not pleased with the direction this country has chosen. For too long, too many born again Christians have been silent and have in fact gone along with the corruption of this country. Possibly there just are not very many truly born again Christians in this country. The fear of man brings a snare and the love for money and comfort has interfered with the will of God.
We need to walk humbly with our God and shine brightly in a wicked world.
In our text, we read of the continued evil plot of the false religious leaders of Jesus’ day. The Pharisees were no friends of God, nor were they the friends of the common people. They had an agenda and that was dominance over the people. They had been doing quite well with their plot until John the Baptist and Jesus came along. There was no strong voice for truth for several hundred years prior to this. The Pharisees had been given the opportunity to build quite a dynasty. It was not that the people really liked them. Most of the people were ignorant of the truth and felt trapped. Jesus came to set the captives free.
We live in a time where the environment is similar. The difference is that personally, we have access to the Word of God. The false teachers far outnumber the true servants of God in our time. However, those who are saved have the Word of God and the God of the Word to guide us. We can speak the truth. We can be a voice for reason. No, we will not win any popularity contest, but that should not be what guides us. The truth matters.
In verse 23 of our text, we read that the disciples went through the corn fields on the sabbath day and they began to pluck the ears of corn. According to the corrupt Pharisees’ law, that was forbidden. They wanted to restrict travel among the people and they wanted the people to be bound by unjust laws.
In verse 24, the Pharisees came to Jesus to bring an accusation against His disciples. They were bold enough to take their corrupt laws and bring them to Jesus as evidence that His disciples were sinning. False teachers are quite arrogant. They think they can lie to God and get away with it. The reason being that their god is not very big.
Jesus never wasted words on anyone. He took these hypocrites back to the Word of God. There is no point in trying to argue with someone from a secular position. It does not matter what the opposition says. The Word of God is our authority and that is what we need to stand upon.
Jesus rebuked the Pharisees regarding their Scriptural ignorance. They had access to the scrolls. They knew better than what they were teaching. They had abused the Scriptures to their own evil advantage.
Jesus took the Pharisees back to the time of king David. The Jews respected king David. They thought highly of him. He had been running from king Saul and he and his men were hungry. They came to Abiathar the high priest and asked for some food. In that account in I Samuel 21, we read that Abiathar told David that the only bread he had there was the shewbread that was for the priests to eat. That bread had been baked and presented before the Lord as a type of the Lord Jesus Christ — the Bread of Life.
Abiathar asked whether David and his men had kept themselves morally clean as the criteria for giving him this bread. Abiathar gave them the bread based on what David declared.
Under God’s command to the priests, that hallowed bread was only for the priests. However, Abiathar agreed to give that bread to David and his men. Abiathar had not sinned in what he did. Because they had assisted David, which was also not wrong in God’s eyes, King Saul killed Abiathar and the others present there. King Saul wanted to kill David and that was wrong.
Jesus used that true account to give some clear teaching regarding the Sabbath. The Sabbath was made for man, and not man for the sabbath. God’s design for the Sabbath was to give the people a day away from the busyness of life and a day where they could focus their attention on the holiness of God. God was the giver of life and He was the One Who provided for their needs. They could stop their servile work on the Sabbath and their world would not fall apart. God would protect them from being attacked on that day and they could worship Him.
The Pharisees and their ilk had turned that day into a burdensome day for the nation. That was never God’s intent. There was no sin in the disciples picking enough corn to eat on the Sabbath day. They were on a journey. They were not at home. They were travelling with Jesus. They were not on a joy ride. They had important work (God’s Work), to do.
In verse 28 Jesus reminded the Pharisees that the Son of man — Jesus, was Lord also of the sabbath. They did not accept Him as the Lord of anything. However, that did not stop Him from declaring Who He was. Jesus was not ashamed of the truth. We should not be ashamed of the truth either. The work of God is important work. It needs to be done seven days a week. People need to hear the truth at all times.
Our hope is in the Lord. We need to know Him. There is so much false teaching today and so many people who are willing to embrace false teaching because they can feel somewhat comfortable in their sin. They make it very clear that they know they are in the wrong because they avoid the truth like the plague. If the false religionists were sure of themselves, they would want to help those of us who they claim are wrong, to get things straightened out. They cannot do that because there is no substance to what they believe.
The Pharisees were quite bold. They were wrong, but they confronted Jesus over and over again. He exposed their hypocrisy and taught the truth. He did not need to apologize for being right. He did not need to tiptoe around these deceivers. They needed to be exposed. The Truth stands in stark contrast to the lie. All we need to do is know the Truth and proclaim It. God’s Word will stand the test of time. It will still do Its’ work in the hearts and lives of people. Let us, those who are truly saved, stand upon the truth and answer people with Truth.
Pastor Bartel