Mark 2:28

The context

The saying comes at the end of a Sabbath controversy, after the disciples have plucked grain and the Pharisees have objected. Jesus answers with the precedent of David eating the bread of the presence, then adds a second principle about the Sabbath being made for man. This verse is the conclusion of that argument.

What it establishes

Jesus claims authority to interpret the Sabbath and to say what it is for. The claim is made in his own idiom, and it rests on the purpose of the institution rather than on a legal precedent alone.

What it does not establish

It does not abolish the Sabbath or define its keeping. The saying asserts authority over interpretation, and the Gospel does not record Jesus instructing his followers to disregard the day; what that means for later practice is disputed.

Short note, first pass, October 2026. Corrections welcome.

Cited in these answers

• Did Jesus really claim to be God, or did His followers just say that about Him? Might not Dan Brown have been on to something?

Part of Scripture, Opened — the exegetical layer behind every citation on this site. Scripture quotations are from the ESV.