TRANSCRIPT Jesus Is Lord Even Over The Sabbath (Mark 2:23-28) A Sermon By Elise Beatrice - Sunday 4 January 2026 “Our Father who is in Heaven, hallowed be Your Name. Your Kingdom come, Your will be done, on earth as it is in Heaven. Give us today our daily bread; forgive us our sins, as we forgive those who sin against us. Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For the Kingdom, the Power and the Glory are Yours. Now and Forever. Amen." Holy Father, God of Abraham, God of Isaac, God of Jacob, thank You so much, oh my Lord, thank You for Your joy, thank You for Your peace, thank You for Your love. My God, thank You for Your healing, thank You for what You do, thank You, God, that You are God Forever. You are the Lord of lords, You are the King of kings, You are the Alpha, You are the Omega, You are the Beginning, and You are the End, and You are the First and the Last. Please take over, let Your Holy Spirit take over and guide me, my Lord. Please help me to understand Your words and to not miss anything You're saying to me, and help me, please, to express it in a way pleasing to You. Thank You for Your will to be done. In Your Holy Name, Lord Jesus, I pray. Amen. (Mark 23-28) "23 One Sabbath day as Jesus was walking through some grainfields, His disciples began breaking off heads of grain to eat. 24 But the Pharisees said to Jesus, “Look, why are they breaking the law by harvesting grain on the Sabbath?” 25 Jesus said to them, “Haven’t you ever read in the Scriptures what David did when he and his companions were hungry? 26 He went into the house of God during the days when Abiathar was high priest, and broke the Law by eating the sacred loaves of bread that only the priests are allowed to eat. He also gave some to his companions.” 27 Then Jesus said to them, “The Sabbath was made to meet the needs of people, and not people to meet the requirements of the Sabbath. 28 So the Son of Man is Lord, even over the Sabbath!” Yes, these are the Pharisees, all hypocrites as the Lord has described them. Yet, they are here, looking for something they can use to incriminate our Lord. They would look and look and would not find what they could use to incriminate our Lord, and they would hide even behind the grains. The Lord was with them. He did not reprimand His disciples, because in the eyes of the Lord, they were hungry, and being their Everlasting Father, He had to let the children eat. Yes, there was a Sabbath, and according to the Law of Moses, they were supposed not to work on the Sabbath. But were the disciples really working by eating on the Sabbath? Is it written anywhere that we should not be hungry on the Sabbath? But the Lord responded to the Pharisees with the example of David. This is real teaching; the Lord is bringing our attention to the fact that 'Work should not come first before the human being.' If we are working and see that a human being is in danger, we don't say, "Oh no, this is a working day; I cannot save this person." If someone is hungry, we cannot just say, "No, this is a working day, and I cannot give food to this person." When it comes to humans, did the Lord say, 'Neglect those who are hungry, neglect those who are poor, neglect those who are ill on the Sabbath day? No. In that case, you are missing the point of the Sabbath. So, as we see in 1 Samuel 21:1-6, and as the Lord Jesus mentioned in Mark 2, back in the days when Abiathar was a better-known high Priest, the acting high Priest Ahimelech knew that no one was allowed to eat the consecrated bread but the priests alone. But in this situation, he gave the bread to David, who was on the run, because he was chased by King Saul. The high priest, who did a good thing here, was a true man of the Lord, a truly good servant of the Lord, in order to understand that in a situation like this, it was not about letting David starve when David, the chosen one of God, was running from the jealous King Saul. When the Lord Jesus says, "If you give even a glass of water to one of these disciples of mine who believe in Me, you are doing it to Me." In Matthew 25:34-46, the Lord Jesus says, "Then the King will say to those on His right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the Kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger, and you welcomed Me, I was naked, and you clothed Me, I was sick, and you visited Me, I was in prison, and you came to Me.’ Then the righteous will answer Him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry and feed You, or thirsty and give You something to drink? And when did we see You a stranger and welcome You, or naked and clothe You? And when did we see You sick or in prison and visit You?’ And the King will answer them, ‘Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to Me.’ “Then He will say to those on His left, ‘Depart from Me, you cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. For I was hungry and you gave Me no food, I was thirsty, and you gave Me no drink, I was a stranger, and you did not welcome Me, naked and you did not clothe Me, sick and in prison, and you did not visit Me.’ Then they also will answer, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and did not minister to you?’ Then He will answer them, saying, ‘Truly, I say to you, as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to Me.’ And these will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.” So we can see now, when that priest gave the bread to David, he was feeding the Lord, for if we feed the Lord's disciples, the Lord's prophets, the Lord's servants when they are in need or hungry, we are feeding the Lord. Everything we do to one of the Lord's servants, good or evil, we're doing it to the Lord. So, the high priest did right by giving the bread that was not supposed to be eaten by anyone else but the priests, because at that moment, the Lord's Holy Spirit in Him, prompted Him to give the bread to David. So, when he gave that consecrated bread to David, he was feeding the Lord, because the Lord is the Moral Law. He is Lord even over the Sabbath. So, when the Pharisees saw that the Disciples of Christ were hungry and eating grains, that was, right there, their opportunity to attack Jesus. I mean, they were supposed to know the Scriptures, yet they could not even recognise that in front of their eyes was the Son of God, was the Messiah, who had long been prophesied through the prophets. Their faith was not in the right place; they were hypocrites, they were evil shepherds, they did not care, really, about the Lord's flock, they did not care even about the words of God they were reading in the Scriptures. They did not even care about the Law of Moses. And that is not the Way of the Lord; that is not what the Lord teaches us. In this situation, the Apostles were with Christ and by His side; they were picking up these grains to eat because they were hungry. Christ did not see it as a sin. As the Father, He let His hungry children eat. Christ is the Master of the Harvest. He is the Creator of everything; He is the Provider, and in front of Him, His children were hungry. And this goat comes in, intending to use that as an excuse to falsely accuse the Lord Jesus, when he did not even practice what he preached. I mean, since the Lord Jesus introduced them to all as hypocrites, in the Scriptures, and said that their real father is satan, this means they were goats, not the Lord's sheep, liars, pretending to be so perfect when God can see the list of their sins they practice behind closed doors and even openly when people are not looking. Then Jesus said to them, “The Sabbath was made to meet the needs of people, and not people to meet the requirements of the Sabbath. 28 So the Son of Man is Lord, even over the Sabbath!” “The Sabbath was made to meet the needs of people, and not people to meet the requirements of the Sabbath." So, the need of people. What is the greatest need that humans, without it, will be completely lost and unfulfilled? The greatest need for humans is the Lord; it is God. The Lord Jesus is the greatest need for all humans, whether all people agree with t it or not. The One who made the Sabbath, the One who even gave that Law, is God. God Is Lord, the Son of Man, the Lord Jesus, who was speaking, who was letting His Apostles eat these grains. He was letting them as the Lord, as the Son of Man, who is Lord even over the Sabbath. And He is the need; our greatest need, what we need the most. And because His Apostles were doing it in front of Him, and He was fine with it, the Pharisee had no right to say otherwise. When the One who is Lord even over the Sabbath sees no problem, there is no problem. Therefore, no one should hide behind excuses for their evil purpose. This applies to all those who act as the Pharisees today, claiming to love the Lord but do not do what He says, because all the hypocritical church leaders today can be referred to as the Pharisees of the 21st century. What the Pharisees do is: though the Sabbath was made for man, they worship instead the Sabbath, and not the One who is Lord over the Sabbath. So, God is Lord over the Sabbath; the Lord Jesus Is Lord over the Sabbath. He is the greatest need for all human beings. So it is Him we should worship, not the Sabbath day. Mankind was not made for the Sabbath, but was made for God. The Spiritual meaning of the Sabbath is to remind people what it is really important to remember about not living in sin, not just for a day, but always, so as not to defile that Day when Father God Almighty rested after the Creation of the world. It does mean that we should go to church on a day called Saturday, no. But we should remember that time, that Day the Lord God Almighty through His Son Jesus, finished the work and rested on the Seventh Day. We remember this by not disobeying God, by not practising sin, for by resting on that Day meant resting from His hard work while giving all authority to His Son Jesus, who is our Perfect Rest in whom we are saved and safe. And by listening to Him and doing what He says, we rest in Him indeed. This spiritual Rest has nothing to do with the physical rest most people take from work on Saturday or the whole weekend. What is made through Christ is perfect, but when humans sinned by disobeying God, they have defiled the Body of Christ. All things were made through Him, and humans defiled His body by disobeying Him, beginning with Adam and Eve. Only through His death on the Cross would He make things right again. Everything was created through Him and for Him, and all people were created for Him, even if many have rebelled against God's will, which is why the Lord Jesus is Lord even over the Sabbath. So through obedience to the Son of God, and to His Father, we rest in Him, that One who Is Lord even over the Sabbath and not rest on the Sabbath Day, or on any day. This is not about going to church on Saturday, or worshipping God on Saturday, but about resting in the Lord Jesus Christ every day through obedience to Him and His Father, to His will and words, whether we go to church on Sunday or worship God every day. For that is indeed respecting God's Sabbath. We cannot live in Christ when we are practising sin. We only live in Christ by ensuring that we don't live in sin on any day. It is when we are not practising sin that we can rest in Christ. He is Lord over the Sabbath. He did not make a day so that people can worship the day. For us to live in the One who is Lord even over the Sabbath, we must see to it that we are not living in sin. And we're seeing here the Pharisees, who were truly worshipping the Sabbath; they were taking that Sabbath to another level, yet they were not obeying God; they were not listening to God. In fact, the Lord was introducing them to us as hypocrites. They are respecting the day that they set aside, claiming to worship, but they are not respecting God. They are not respecting the Ten Commandments of the Lord; they are not respecting His other instructions and words; His Moral Law. But many people are worshipping the day and not the Lord who made the day. You can worship the Lord on Saturday and still go to hell, just as you can worship the Lord on Sunday or even every day and still go to hell, because that is not really the point. The point is that you should seek to live in Christ, to live in that perfect Rest, who is Christ, and if you are not in Him, you're outside of Him, and if outside of Him, you are in darkness. And if you don't repent and seek to live in the Lord, to worship and obey the One who is Lord even over the Sabbath, then you are nowhere near the Door of Heaven. Yes, only the Lord Jesus takes us to Heaven. And He won't take us to Heaven if we are not listening to Him. How are we supposed to get to Heaven if we are not listening to the One who takes us to Heaven? He says, "I am the Way, and the Truth, and the Life. No one comes to the Father except through Me." So, it is He we should listen to; He is the Lord of the Sabbath; it is Him, because man was not created for the Sabbath, but for God. If God did not create humans for Himself, out of love, to be with Him in His beautiful Heaven, what would be the point of the Creation? God would not create humans for satan, for He cares not for evil beings but for His human beings. So He made us all for Himself. Colossians 1:16 says, "For through Him God created everything in the heavenly realms and on earth. He made the things we can see and the things we can’t see— such as thrones, kingdoms, rulers, and authorities in the unseen world. Everything was created through Him and for Him." So, focus your mind on the right One, God. He says, "If you love Me, obey My Commandments." Please allow me to recap this: God Almighty said in Exodus 20:8-10, 8 “Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. 9 Six days you shall labor, and do all your work, 10 but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the Lord your God. On it you shall not do any work, you, or your son, or your daughter, your male servant, or your female servant, or your livestock, or the sojourner who is within your gates." Please note: this is the physical Sabbath, and the Lord wants me to speak here about the Spiritual Sabbath, not the physical Sabbath. "Remember the Sabbath Day, to keep it holy." This spiritually means, 'Remember the Day of Rest and sanctify it, bless it, purify it, keep it free from sin.' 'The Day' here is not just one day, but a period of Time, called a Day, just as 'The Day of the Lord' does not refer to just one day but a period of Time. Remember the Time of Rest, remember the Day I rested after the Six days of the Creation of the world, and bless it. One word can mean many things. Sabbath Day spiritually means 'The Day of God’s Rest.' And 'Sabbath' can also mean something else: a physical name given to a day: Saturday. But that does not mean that we must keep Saturday holy or wait for Saturday to do something pleasing to God. God rested on the Seventh Day because He had just finished something so beautiful, so important and special: the Creation of humankind. So it is a BIG wondrous work, and now that He has done it, ‘It is Finished.’ That was the first finished work the Lord did on this earth before His great work on the Cross. It took Father God six days to create all these beautiful things, through His Son Jesus. But then, we ruined it, we cursed that creation by disobeying Him. By sinning against Him, we defiled His Body, and that left Him only one way: to come to earth to die for our sins, because it was the only way to fix what we have done and rescue us. He gave everything on that Cross: His Body, His Blood, His Life, in order to declare the great work He has done FINISHED. At the Creation, God Almighty finished the work through His Son, Jesus, in six days, and on the Seventh Day, He gave us His Rest. Because mankind sinned against God, it defiled the Body of the Lord Jesus, through whom all was created. We were made through Him, and can only rest in Him, and go to His Father only through Him. The Day of God’s Rest. Yes. We cannot bless God's work with sin, but only by keeping it holy: obedience to the Lord and hatred for sin are the blessings pleasing to the Lord. We are part of God's beautiful work, and we can only bless the Body of Christ, the church, and our bodies by keeping them holy, free from sin. The Lord Jesus said in 1 Corinthians 11:24-25, “This is my body, which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of Me.” “This cup is the new covenant between God and His people—an agreement confirmed with My blood. Do this in remembrance of Me as often as you drink it.” So, remember what the Lord Jesus did on the Cross for us and bless Him for it. Glorify Him, magnify Him. Remember Him the right way by obeying Him and His words. Remember the Day that represents God, the Father's Rest from His beautiful Creation and bless Him and His Son for it by not defiling His Day of Rest. And this does not mean we should do this on 'Saturday,' but spiritually, all the days of our lives. Obeying God and His Son, Jesus, listening to His instructions and doing His will means loving God and His Son, and His Holy Spirit, and loving people, in a way pleasing to the Lord God. When the Lord Jesus said on the Cross, "It is finished,' He had done something so beautiful by granting us salvation from sin and freedom from slavery to satan and sin, if we embrace it and turn from our ways. He had defeated death. God did this beautiful Creation through His Son, gave us something beautiful, humankind as part of it, and when we think about that, do we think we need one day to bless that Day of Rest? That Day of Rest must be blessed all the days of our lives, not just on one selected day. It is not a matter of one day, but of living for God. Keeping that Day of Rest Holy, respecting God's Sabbath, means most of all, obeying the Lord and keeping our bodies holy as a living sacrifice pleasing to His Father and Him, not practising sin and letting demons defile our bodies that are supposed to be the Temples of the Lord's Holy Spirit. The Day of Rest, the Day Father God rested from His six days of work, the Day He gave us His Son, Jesus; the Day He gave us the Rest, and that Perfect REST is our Lord Jesus. He created everything through His Son, and for Him, and once He finished it, He gave all authority in Heaven and on Earth to His Son, and gave Him to us as our Rest. When Father God created us, He already knew that we would disobey Him, and He looked ahead and saw that the only Solution to the mess we have gotten ourselves into, our only Hope of salvation, would be His Son Jesus' death on the Cross. Because of disobedience to Him, because of sin, we would not be at rest. So He gave us His Son, Jesus Christ, as the perfect Rest; God's Rest and Salvation for all people. He did so, so that we could rest in Him. God did not abandon us. We disobeyed Him, but He gave us His Son. And we can only receive that Rest in His Son. We were created through Him and for Him. It is why our bodies are meant to be the temples of His Holy Spirit. So when we're sinning, we're defiling the Temple of the Holy Spirit and God's Day of Rest; God's Sabbath. And this has nothing to do with a day called 'Saturday.' Father God made something beautiful, us, the Creation. But we defiled it through disobedience to His words, and only through His Son, Jesus, can it be made beautiful again. What God did for us is not something that must take just a day to please Him and thank Him for, but every day, to live as His children, for Him, in a way pleasing to Him, by His words. So, we live to bless that Day of Rest, to sanctify it and keep it free from sin, through obedience to our Lord Jesus Christ. The Scriptures say in Romans 12:1, "I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God, which is your spiritual worship" (Romans 12:1) This means we don't let demons pollute our bodies; we don't practice sin, but strive to listen to the Lord Jesus and do what He says. By doing so, we are resting in God's Perfect Rest, Christ, remaining in His Love and with Him. The Spiritual meaning of the Sabbath is the Day of Rest, the Day God gave us 'The Rest: Jesus.' So, if you keep your body holy as a living sacrifice pleasing to God alone, then you are respecting God's Sabbath; God's Day of Rest, you are loving God, because you are obeying Him. God hates sin. There is only one thing on this earth, only one thing in our lives, that God hates: sin. And by not giving God what He hates means loving God and not defiling His Day of Rest and the Body of His Son, Christ, in whom we rest. The Lord Jesus has given me this spiritual meaning of the Sabbath because it is what's really important, and we must understand His will and do it. Only the spiritual meaning can take us closer to the Lord; only obedience to the Lord can make it happen. Father God said, "Listen to My Son." He Is Lord even over the Sabbath. The Lord Jesus Is Father God's Rest for all of us, and in Christ we rest, and we cannot rest in Christ unless we turn from our ways and repent. Let's not live like the Pharisees, but let us live like the Apostles. And then the Lord Jesus will be on our side, and if the Lord is on our side, His Father is on our side, and the whole Kingdom of Heaven is on our side. So may the Lord Jesus' peace be with you. He is Lord even over the Sabbath. He is Lord over everything. Thank You so much, Lord God, for this sermon and this inspiration. You are the Lord forever, and we love You. Thank You, my gracious Lord, Jesus. You are the Bread of Life. You are the Living Water. Lord, in You we don't go hungry. The earth is Yours. So, Lord, we are blessed to have You, and we bless You forever. Thank You for feeding us; thank You for Your provision; thank You for Your love; thank You for Your forgiveness. Thank You for Your protection. Thank You for Your deliverance from evil, my Lord. Thank You, God. Thank You for Your guidance. Thank You for Your teachings. Thank You for You. Thank You for Your Father, and thank You for Your Holy Spirit. Thank You for saving us and thank You for keeping us with You, my Glorious Saviour, Jesus. Oh, thank You, God. In Your Holy Name, Lord Jesus, I pray. Please hear my prayer. Amen.