“And he said to them, The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath. So the Son of Man is lord even of the Sabbath.’” (Mark 2:28)
Jesus proclaimed that the Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath. With these words He indicated that He had come to do away with man made religious rules and enable people to follow Him by faith in spirit and with love. Such a pronouncement was guaranteed to bring Jesus into conflict with the religious rulers of the Jews. They resented the fact that He presumed to have authority to interpret the Law. Who was He anyway? He was not a Pharisee or priest or rabbi.
But Jesus had such authority for He is God. The old religious system of law only served to remind people of their sin and guilt but never did anything to abolish them. This is because the Law was designed to lead people to God to seek His help and mercy. The new system, the New Covenant would do away with sin because it is rooted in the love and obedience of Jesus who would take away the guilt and punishment for sin forever. Forgiveness was the main reason why Jesus had died on the cross, the central aspect of His ministry. He came to provide us freedom from the bondage of the Law by fulfilling it in Himself.