I love a good system. I have 66 reminders currently scheduled on my phone, with prompts to do particular loads of laundry on certain days, take supplements at specific times, and pray for people routinely. I have a strategy for keeping my home clean. I have a process for reviewing my day, getting things done, and keeping my priorities in view.
In other words, I am kind of a systems nerd. I thrive on routine. I love developing strategies that keep me on track. Coming up with methods to follow is just something I do. (I’m trying to own it and not be so embarrassed about it.)
There are a lot of benefits to being this way. It keeps me focused, fosters productivity, and cultivates diligence. But I am often reminded that there’s a dark side to this tendency. If I’m not careful, my methods become laws unto themselves, and I subject myself to a slavery of my own making.
Jesus once said that “The Sabbath was made for man and not man for the Sabbath” (Mark 2:27). I think the same can be said for systems; they were made for us, not the other way around.
GOD'S SYSTEM FOR THE SABBATH
The Sabbath goes all the way back to Israel’s days of wandering in the wilderness, and it is the central feature of one of the Ten Commandments:
Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy: You are to labor six days and do all your work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the Lord your God. You must not do any work — you, your son or daughter, your male or female servant, your livestock, or the resident alien who is within your city gates (Exodus 20:8-9).
The Lord created a system for Israel to follow: every week, they were to work six days and then rest on the seventh day. This was to be the pattern of His people, and the policy extended to everyone who resided among them.
This system was to be taken very seriously. Anyone who did work on the Sabbath was to be executed (Exodus 35:2). To profane the Sabbath day was not considered merely unwise, but evil (Nehemiah 13:17). The person who honored the Sabbath would be blessed; the person who did whatever they wanted on the Sabbath was in direct violation of God’s command (Isaiah 58:13-14).
AN ENCOUNTER WITH THE PHARISEES
No one was better at taking systems seriously than the Pharisees, as demonstrated in this story:
On the Sabbath [Jesus] was going through the grainfields, and his disciples began to make their way, picking some heads of grain. The Pharisees said to him, “Look, why are they doing what is not lawful on the Sabbath?” (Mark 2:23-24).
The Pharisees saw Jesus’s disciples picking grain to eat, and they equated it with reaping a harvest, which was, under the Mosaic Law, considered “work.” By this measure, the disciples were violating God’s law, and the Pharisees wasted no time in pointing their fingers and making accusations.
The story continues:
[Jesus] said to them, “Have you never read what David and those who were with him did when he was in need and hungry — how he entered the house of God in the time of Abiathar the high priest and ate the bread of the Presence — which is not lawful for anyone to eat except the priests — and also gave some to his companions?” (Mark 2:25-26).
Jesus often confronted the Pharisees’ narrow-mindedness, and this interaction is no exception. He reminded them of a time when David was on the run, and he came to the priest Abiathar with hungry men (1 Samuel 21:1-6). Abiathar only had consecrated bread, which was intended by the Lord Himself to be set out on the Sabbath and only eaten by the priests (Leviticus 24:8-9). However, he made an exception for men who legitimately needed help. He chose to meet the legitimate needs of people rather than turning them away hungry.
THE HEART OF THE LAW
Jesus was not suggesting the high priest got away with doing something he should have been punished for. I’m not even sure He was arguing that there are justified exceptions for breaking the Law. I think that what Jesus was doing was accusing the Pharisees of, yet again, missing the whole point of the Law.
The Lord’s instructions about the bread of the Presence were meant to convey something about His holiness. In the same way, the Sabbath was meant to convey something about the God who designed it. This intention was not a secret the Pharisees had yet to discover; it was explicitly stated right alongside the original commandment:
For the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and everything in them in six days; then He rested on the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and declared it holy (Exodus 20:11).
The Sabbath was not arbitrary. One of the things the Sabbath was meant to accomplish was to remind the Israelites that they were made in God’s image. He created all we know in six days and then rested on the seventh; we are to follow His pattern of work and rest because we are His image-bearers.
The Pharisees were neglecting the central purpose of the Sabbath. It was just another rule to them, with a bunch of sub-rules they added on in an effort to not transgress the main rule on a technicality. Abandoning the heart of the Law drove the Pharisees to fixate on the letter of the Law – to tie up heavy loads that were hard to carry and put them on people’s shoulders (Matthew 23:4). The rules were the end in and of themselves.
Jesus reminds us that there is freedom when we keep the heart of the Law in view. That is why He could say that His yoke is easy and His burden is light (Matthew 11:30). The Sabbath was a means to an end – to remember and worship God. The bread of the Presence was also a means to an end – to remember and worship God. With that in view, there’s no need to panic about picking heads of grain to eat when you’re hungry, or taking care of God’s image-bearers by feeding them the only bread you have on hand.
A SYSTEM DESIGNED FOR OUR GOOD
Jesus was bold in making His final point to the Pharisees:
The Sabbath was made for man and not man for the Sabbath. So then, the Son of Man is Lord even of the Sabbath (Mark 2:27-28).
What’s most striking is that, by saying that the Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath, He declared Himself to be God. Jesus is the Lord who made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and everything in them in six days. He is the Lord who rested on the seventh day. He is the Lord who blessed the Sabbath Day and declared it holy. This should astound us.
But He said something else that should lift a weight off our shoulders: the Sabbath was made for us, not the other way around. We weren’t created to follow the Sabbath; the Sabbath was created to be a gift to us, to serve us, to benefit us. God’s commands are not a burden (1 John 5:3) because they come from a heart that longs to give rest to all who are weary and burdened (Matthew 11:28).
Yes, the Sabbath was a system for Israel, but it was a system designed for the good of God’s people, not to be a burden.
SYSTEMS THAT DON'T WEIGH YOU DOWN
I think about this passage often when I find that I am tying up heavy loads that are hard to carry and putting them on my own shoulders. Systems themselves are not the problem. When I get into trouble is when I forget the central purpose of my system, or when I assign too much significance to my system.
For example, I have a routine for cleaning, and most people would say that’s a good thing. But sometimes I feel anxious when I can’t stay on schedule. Why is that? It might be that I’ve begun to equate following my routine with obedience to God – so if I was supposed to clean the kitchen today and I didn’t, I feel guilty. Without realizing it, the end goal has become marking my reminders as completed, not being a faithful steward of the home God has entrusted to me. The routine is meant to help me achieve that end, but there is no command in Scripture that says I must clean my kitchen every eight days in order to be right with God.
Maybe you follow a diet plan or an exercise regimen. Again, most people would say that’s commendable. But do you panic if you go off track one day or can’t count your calories on vacation? I wonder whether you’ve forgotten that the system is made for you, not the other way around. If the central purpose is to pursue better health, then breaking the routine on occasion is unlikely to destroy everything. Scripture does tell us to eat and drink for the glory of God (1 Corinthians 10:31) and that we are to glorify Him with our bodies (1 Corinthians 6:20). However, we have to be careful to not burden ourselves with sub-rules of our own creation and get our eyes off of what the Lord actually requires of us.
We can do this in all kinds of ways, with all kinds of systems. When I sense that I’m weighing myself down by my own methodology, I return to Jesus’s words and think about all the things they can apply to.
Budgets were made for man, not man for budgets.
To-do lists were made for man, not man for to-do lists.
Meal plans were made for man, not man for meal plans.
Prayer lists were made for man, not man for prayer lists.
Bible reading plans were made for man, not man for Bible reading plans.
The point isn’t to stick to the budget, check all the boxes, follow the meal plan, maintain your prayer list, or not get behind on your Bible reading. The point, I hope, is to be faithful with what the Lord has entrusted to you. And sometimes that means going over budget to meet someone’s needs, or picking up pizza instead of cooking dinner, or giving your family your full attention at the expense of your quiet time routine.
Remember that systems were made for you, not the other way around. There is great freedom to be found in this truth.
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