Then he said to them, “The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath. So the Son of Man is Lord even of the Sabbath.” Mark 2:27-28

            Sabbath means “rest.”  It was a day of rest, pointing to the creation of the world and the seventh day when God rested.  God rested that day, not because he was tired, but he ceased from working.  Moses brought the law which called for total rest, absolutely no work, on that day.  It showed faith and brought the people closer to God by removing them from the day to day tasks.

            The Pharisees came along and filled the Sabbath with rules, what to do and what not to do.  Apparently helping someone and healing them fell into to the “work” category.  Jesus clashed with all the manmade rules because they forget why the Sabbath was created—it was for our benefit, not for our destruction.  Like most things, man turned something positive into a negative.