In Mark 2:27, some Pharisees complain because Jesus's hungry friends picked grain on the Sabbath, the rest day. Jesus says the Sabbath was made for people, not people for the Sabbath. A rest day was meant to help people. It was never meant to be a rule that people serve.
The Sabbath was the rest day, the seventh day of the week. The books of Moses said nobody could work on it. It is written in the Ten Commandments.
The Pharisees were a group of religious teachers of that time. They studied the law of Moses closely and argued about what counted as work. To these men, picking grain on the rest day was work.
The Gospel of Mark tells this in chapter 2. Jesus and his friends were walking through a field of grain on the rest day. His friends were hungry, so they pulled off some heads of grain and ate them. Some Pharisees saw it and asked why they were doing what was not allowed.
His answer
Jesus did not say sorry. He pointed to their own book. David, the shepherd boy who became their most loved king, was once hungry and on the run. He went into the house of God and ate the holy bread that only priests could eat. He gave it to his men too.
These men had read that story all their lives. Then Jesus said this.
And he said unto them, The sabbath was made for man, and not man for the sabbath:
Mark 2:27 · King James Version
What it means
The rest day was supposed to be a gift to people. Somewhere along the way, people had been turned into its servants. Hungry men were in trouble for eating.
Jesus put people first, out loud, in front of the men who were watching him. He did it on purpose. A rule that keeps a hungry person from eating did not come from his Father.
If you were ever made to feel that rules mattered more than you did, Jesus said the opposite, plainly. You come first.
You can read the full teaching on the Sabbath free in the Mercy app.
Read the whole chapter: Mark 2
1And again he entered into Capernaum after some days; and it was noised that he was in the house.
2And straightway many were gathered together, insomuch that there was no room to receive them, no, not so much as about the door: and he preached the word unto them.
3And they come unto him, bringing one sick of the palsy, which was borne of four.
4And when they could not come nigh unto him for the press, they uncovered the roof where he was: and when they had broken it up, they let down the bed wherein the sick of the palsy lay.
5When Jesus saw their faith, he said unto the sick of the palsy, Son, thy sins be forgiven thee.
6But there were certain of the scribes sitting there, and reasoning in their hearts,
7Why doth this man thus speak blasphemies? who can forgive sins but God only?
8And immediately when Jesus perceived in his spirit that they so reasoned within themselves, he said unto them, Why reason ye these things in your hearts?
9Whether is it easier to say to the sick of the palsy, Thy sins be forgiven thee; or to say, Arise, and take up thy bed, and walk?
10But that ye may know that the Son of man hath power on earth to forgive sins, (he saith to the sick of the palsy,)
11I say unto thee, Arise, and take up thy bed, and go thy way into thine house.
12And immediately he arose, took up the bed, and went forth before them all; insomuch that they were all amazed, and glorified God, saying, We never saw it on this fashion.
13And he went forth again by the sea side; and all the multitude resorted unto him, and he taught them.
14And as he passed by, he saw Levi the son of Alphæus sitting at the receipt of custom, and said unto him, Follow me. And he arose and followed him.
15And it came to pass, that, as Jesus sat at meat in his house, many publicans and sinners sat also together with Jesus and his disciples: for there were many, and they followed him.
16And when the scribes and Pharisees saw him eat with publicans and sinners, they said unto his disciples, How is it that he eateth and drinketh with publicans and sinners?
17When Jesus heard it, he saith unto them, They that are whole have no need of the physician, but they that are sick: I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.
18And the disciples of John and of the Pharisees used to fast: and they come and say unto him, Why do the disciples of John and of the Pharisees fast, but thy disciples fast not?
19And Jesus said unto them, Can the children of the bridechamber fast, while the bridegroom is with them? as long as they have the bridegroom with them, they cannot fast.
20But the days will come, when the bridegroom shall be taken away from them, and then shall they fast in those days.
21No man also seweth a piece of new cloth on an old garment: else the new piece that filled it up taketh away from the old, and the rent is made worse.
22And no man putteth new wine into old bottles: else the new wine doth burst the bottles, and the wine is spilled, and the bottles will be marred: but new wine must be put into new bottles.
23And 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.
24And the Pharisees said unto him, Behold, why do they on the sabbath day that which is not lawful?
25And 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?
26How 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?
27And he said unto them, The sabbath was made for man, and not man for the sabbath:
28Therefore the Son of man is Lord also of the sabbath.
King James Version