Mark 2:18-28

2:18-20 | Nothing was wrong with the Jew’s fasting, so long as it supported its true purpose: allowing a person to repent or focus more deeply on God. But the Pharisees fasted ritualistically - not from the heart – never realizing that God cannot be manipulated.

2:19 | Jesus announced that there was no need to fast as long as He was with them, meaning God was in their midst, in the flesh.

2:21-28 | Jesus’ earthly ministry was a transitional time between the religious practices of the Old and New Covenants. In the new era that Jesus had ushered in, for example, plucking heads of grain to eat on the Sabbath was not unlawful. Yet in their rejection of Jesus’ teachings, the Pharisees either did not understand or would not accept that many of their established rituals and traditions could no longer coexist with His new way of life.

2:25-26 | Jesus refers here to an incident when a famished David and his companions ate the consecrated bread in the Holy Place but were not condemned for their actions (1 Sam. 21:1-6; Matt. 12:5). After apparently ascribing to David and his companions a priestly role, Jesus now also assigns that role to Himself and those who follow Him.

2:27-28 | God created and established the Sabbath as a benefit and a blessing to His people (Deut. 5:14; Ezek. 20:12). The Pharisees, however, had turned His good gift into a weighty obligation. As the Creator of the Sabbath, Jesus had the sovereign authority to determine how it should best be practiced.