Lord of the Sabbath

In Mark's gospel we have seen Jesus' authority and power revealed over evil powers, sickness and sin. In these two passages he is revealed as Lord of the Sabbath. Since he through Moses gave the Israelites the Sabbath he knows how to correctly interpret its implementation and even change or abolish it. Based on OT precedence, Jesus expounds the principle of "permissible law-breaking," and the fact that the Sabbath Day was intended by God to be the "servant" of the Israelites - not their taskmaster. To demonstrate that he was Lord of the Sabbath he compassionately healed the man with the withered hand on the Sabbath. This was proper Sabbath Day behavior - to bring healing to people. Jesus' Lordship over the Sabbath is a manifestation of his Lordship over all things.