Bishop Barron writes that in declaring himself “Lord of the Sabbath,” it is hard for us today to understand how breathtaking this claim would be for a first-century Jew to make. Yahweh alone could be assigned the title “Lord of the Sabbath,” so what is Jesus implying? He is claiming that he is above their rituals, even perhaps the defining practice of pious Jews, because he is the Lord. Thus, the rules must be placed in subordination to the Kingdom of God, the Kingdom that the Lord Jesus is ushering in, even here and now. Jesus longs for us to move beyond the idea of sacrifice, this feeling that we feel obligated to give up things to be perceived as religious. The Lord wants us to lead with a heart full of mercy by being involved with other peoples tangled up lives. He wants us to be so focused on others that the word sacrifice drops out of our vocabulary so that all we know is the passion to love others as he loves us.