And He said to them, “The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath.”
This saying is a clear and powerful summary of the purpose of the law. God gave the Sabbath as a gift, so that a person might rest, remember the Creator, and be strengthened spiritually. That is, the Sabbath serves for a person’s good. But when it is interpreted in such a way that a person becomes the one who bears its heavy yoke and is continually accused, the true purpose of the law is distorted. Here Christ restores the Sabbath to its true place, as an ordinance of goodness and ordered rest. This verse is of great significance, because it shows that all God’s commandments are ultimately directed toward a person’s well-being, when they are understood with God’s wisdom rather than with people’s rigid interpretations.