"For six days, work is to be done, but the seventh day is a Sabbath of rest, holy to the Lord. Whoever does any work on the Sabbath day must be put to death." -- Exodus 31:15

The law of observing the Sabbath was one taken very seriously.  If broken, it was punishable by death.  As part of the faith community, we are all guilty of breaking this law.  We have all sinned.  But we live and are not put to death because Jesus fulfilled the law with the New Law:  Love--  Love God, Love Each Other.  He and his disciples were guilty themselves for working on the Sabbath.  They plucked grain, and he healed.  Jesus asks, 'was man made for the Sabbath or was the Sabbath made for man?'  We've taken it to a different place.  Jesus was telling them that they had fallen into an extreme and nonsensical observance of a law that was intended to bring rest and renewal to people.  They had forgotten the spirit of the law by only focusing on the letter of it.  Today, we too have forgotten the spirit of this law.  By rejecting the extreme nature of its observance, many of us have stopped observing it altogether and are missing out on a gift God has for us.  Yes, Jesus was right... we were not made for the Sabbath... it was made for us.  It's a gift we might consider accepting.

Readings:  Exodus 30:11-31:18; Matthew 26:47-68; Psalm 32:1-11; Proverbs 8:27-32