Mark 2:27

For man (dia ton anqrwpon). Mark alone has this profound saying which subordinates the sabbath to man's real welfare (mankind, observe, generic article with anqrwpo, class from class). Man was not made for the sabbath as the rabbis seemed to think with all their petty rules about eating an egg laid on the sabbath or looking in the glass, et cetera. See 2Macc. 5:19 and Mechilta on Exodus 31:13 : "The sabbath is delivered unto you and ye are not delivered unto the sabbath." Christianity has had to fight this same battle about institutionalism. The church itself is for man, not man for the church.