Discovering the New Covenant by Greg Taylor - exAdventist Outreach

THE SABBATH IN THE GOSPELS
Paul in the book of Galatians, in Colossians 2:16-17, and
elsewhere in the Epistles.
In Mark two we find this story repeated. Mark 2:27
adds one statement, however. “The Sabbath was made for
man and not man for the Sabbath.” Some Adventist
scholars say this means that it was established at Creation
and therefore a moral ought and binding for all time. But
the problem with that interpretation is the linguistics study
does not bear this out. Jesus is not making a universal
statement here. He is basically saying that the Sabbath was
made for man, not the other way around. The context
teaches that Sabbath is not in the category of moral oughts.
It is lumped in with the temporary or ceremonial system.
This truth, right from the heart of Jesus’ Sabbath teachings,
truly opened up to me a new paradigm. I had always
studied these passages with the agenda of showing that
Sabbath must be the Lord’s Day. (Therefore the statement
in Revelation 1:10 regarding the Lord’s Day must refer to
the seventh-day Sabbath and not to Sunday). While doing
that, I had missed the intended message from the passage.
Jesus was plainly setting the stage for a fulfillment
theology.
One more observation—the passage in Matthew begins
with Jesus calling Himself the Rest Provider. Mark’s
account starts with this statement:
And no one puts new wine into old wineskins; or else
the new wine bursts the wineskins, the wine is spilled,
and the wineskins are ruined. But new wine must be
put into new wineskins. Mk. 2:22
In Luke’s account of the same story, the same
introduction is used. (Luke. 5:36-39) Jesus is teaching (the
Gospel writers understood it) that it is not possible to hang
onto the old system and at the same time make room for the
true Sabbath, Jesus Christ. One or the other will have to
give. No, Jesus does not directly say that the Sabbath will
107