Saturday of the Twenty-second Week in Ordinary Time
At the end of today’s Gospel (Luke 6:1–5), our Lord makes the statement, The Son of Man is lord of the sabbath. It is worth reflecting on what this means for us.
For ancient Israel, the sabbath day was a day of rest from everyday labors, a participation in the rest of God after the work of creation (Gen 2:1–3). It is also a day of remembering the liberation from slavery God accomplished (Deut 5:12–15), a sign of the covenant between God and his people (Exod 31:12–17). Thus, it reminds Israel of who God is: their Creator and Redeemer.
In this context, Jesus says, The Son of Man is lord of the sabbath. He is the Word through whom all things were made (John 1:3), the one whose blood has redeemed us and freed us from sin (Eph 1:7–10). He is the mediator of the new covenant (Heb 9:15) which he has sealed with his own blood (Luke 22:20), and in him we find true rest from our labors and burdens (Matt 11:28–29). We might even say, truly, that in his very person Jesus Christ is our sabbath .
Today, as we prepare for the weekly celebration of Sunday, the Lord’s Day, let us reflect on what it means for Jesus to be lord of the sabbath. And let us ask for the grace to enter more and more into his rest (cf. Hebrews 4), the rest of his victory over sin and death.