Preparing for Worship - June 2, 2024

The Scriptures this week focus on the transition from the Old Testament understanding of the Sabbath Day to the New Covenant understanding, centered on Christ Jesus as the Lord of the Sabbath, who frees us from many of the Old Testament rules and regulations about this day, but for the purpose of being filled by Him.

The Old Testament lesson is Deuteronomy 5:12-15. God’s people were to observe the Sabbath Day, to keep it holy, set apart for the Lord. No one was to do any work but to have a day of rest. That included servants and animals. This was to be a day to remember their time of slavery in Egypt and how the Lord rescued them with His mighty power.

The Psalm is Psalm 81:1-10. Remembering the Sabbath day was to be a statute and rule and decree for God’s people of Israel, but it was to be a day of joy and song because God had heard the distress of His people in slavery in Egypt and delivered them and brought them through the wilderness to the promised land. Above all, they were to listen to the Lord and not listen to strange and foreign gods. They were to open their mouths in praise of Him, and He would fill them with His good gifts.

The Gospel lesson is Mark 2:23-28 (3:1-6). Early in His ministry, Jesus was being challenged by Pharisees as his disciples were doing work, plucking some grain to eat on the Sabbath. Jesus used an Old Testament example of David and his friends being so hungry that they ate some bread that only the priests were supposed to eat. Jesus made the point that people were not made just to obey Sabbath rules but that the Sabbath was ultimately made to be of benefit to them. Jesus also made the claim that He, as the Son of Man (and really, the Son of God) was Lord even of the Sabbath. Jesus demonstrated that by healing a man with a withered hand. The Sabbath was made for the benefit of people, and especially for the Lord to do good and save the lives of people. Already, though, the Pharisees were upset enough to want to get rid of Jesus, for He was upsetting their rules and systems and control.

The Epistle lesson is from 2 Corinthians 4:5-12. Paul speaks of the importance of proclaiming not himself, but Jesus Christ as Lord. The light of the glory of God is shone in the face of Christ and His surpassing power, through His death and resurrection, for us and the world. Paul and others are simply God’s servants, jars of clay, with many troubles and afflictions, but bringing the Good News of life in Christ to as many as possible, no matter what the cost.