START WITH SCRIPTURE:
Mark 2:23-3:6
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OBSERVE:
Jesus does not avoid controversy or confrontation.
The Pharisees are looking for ammunition against this wandering preacher, and they are picky. When the disciples walk through the grain fields plucking and eating the grain, the Pharisees accuse them of violating laws against labor on the Sabbath day.
It must be clear that eating grain from someone else’s wheat fields was permissible according to Old Testament laws about gleaning (see Leviticus 23:22). The poor and the foreigner were permitted to take just enough for their own needs. The disciples were not stealing.
But the Pharisees are trying to pin charges of sacrilege on the disciples — and therefore against Jesus.
Jesus answers by citing a Scriptural precedent, which he knows better than they. He cites the account of David, when he was on the run from the murderous King Saul (see 1 Samuel 22 & 23):
He said to them, “Did you never read what David did, when he had need, and was hungry—he, and those who were with him? How he entered into God’s house when Abiathar was high priest, and ate the show bread, which is not lawful to eat except for the priests, and gave also to those who were with him?”
Citing David and Abiathar is clever — after Saul’s disastrous campaign against the Philistines, David became king, and Abiathar became high priest. And of course David became famous as the greatest king of Israel and Judah, by which all other kings would be judged. In fact, from his dynasty the Messiah himself was to come! How could the Pharisees be critical of this breach of the law? This too was part of Scripture that the Pharisees accepted as authoritative.
And Jesus makes it clear from this example that the law was given not as a list of rules and regulations, but to benefit God’s people:
He said to them, “The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath.”
Jesus then takes his dispute with the Pharisees to another level. He says:
Therefore the Son of Man is lord even of the Sabbath.
He has already established that he is the Son of Man, when he healed a paralytic in Capernaum. He had told the man that his sins were forgiven, and the Pharisees were scandalized, asking how he could arrogate to himself God’s authority to forgive sins. So Jesus had said:
“But that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins”—he said to the paralytic—“I tell you, arise, take up your mat, and go to your house” (Mark 2:10-11).
Jesus clearly understands that the title Son of Man is Messianic, as per Daniel 7:13. He is making no secret of his identity, and his authority even over the law of Moses!
But that’s not all. On this same Sabbath day, he enters a synagogue as was his custom. When he sees a man with a withered hand, the Pharisees are watching very closely. So, just as a rabbi might do when teaching his students, Jesus asks a question:
Is it lawful on the Sabbath day to do good, or to do harm? To save a life, or to kill?
But the Pharisees appear to be speechless. Mark actually describes the emotions of Jesus in this passage:
When he had looked around at them with anger, being grieved at the hardening of their hearts, he said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” He stretched it out, and his hand was restored as healthy as the other.
His anger is evoked because of their lack of compassion. When it is in his power to heal, Jesus does so.
He has also illustrated his earlier point that:
The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath.
Jesus sees that the Sabbath is exactly the right time to do good, and to save a life. If it is in fact a holy day, what better time to deliver this poor man from his infirmity?
But the Pharisees cannot see beyond their own limited interpretation of the law. They are so intent on destroying Jesus that they go out:
and immediately conspired with the Herodians against him, how they might destroy him.
This is significant because the Pharisees and Herodians were bitter rivals. The Pharisees believed in the establishment of God’s kingdom by obeying the Mosaic laws, and prayed for the coming of the Messiah who would overcome the Roman oppressors and usher in the end of the age. The Herodians, on the other hand, were secularized accommodators, allied with King Herod, who was allied with the Romans. Their “religion” was naked, manipulative power, and their highest value was wealth and influence. The collusion of Pharisees and Herodians was an unlikely alliance. Their mutual fear of Jesus made strange bedfellows.
APPLY:
What is the proper Christian approach to the law of Moses? This is a far more controversial question than one might think.
As with so many other issues in Christian doctrine, there are wildly opposite views. Some argue that the law of God is still in effect, even though we aren’t saved by the observation of the law. They would say that a Christian nation should strictly adhere to laws concerning adultery, theft, etc., that prescribe very harsh punishments. This is sometimes exemplified by some so-called “Dominion” theologians.
Others argue that all of the law has been abrogated, citing Paul’s criticism of the works of the law. Therefore, they argue none of the laws of Moses are in effect any longer, only the law of love. This is sometimes exemplified by the term “situation ethics” based on moral subjectivism.
This is a tough issue to distill in just a few paragraphs, but here are just a few observations.
First, Jesus never critiques the law of Moses. In fact, he cites the law of Moses on many occasions. Where he takes issue with the Pharisees is with their interpretation of the law of Moses. He is impatient with their traditions, which means their very detailed instructions about just how to observe the Sabbath, or ritual laws of washing, etc.
For example, Jesus takes them to task for criticizing his disciples for not washing properly in Mark 7:6-13. He makes a clear differentiation between the commandments of God and the traditions that have been developed by men:
“For you set aside the commandment of God, and hold tightly to the tradition of men—the washing of pitchers and cups, and you do many other such things.” He said to them, “Full well do you reject the commandment of God, that you may keep your tradition” (Mark 7:8-9).
Second, Jesus illustrates the real purpose of the law:
The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath.
The law does not exist for its own sake, but for the sake of God’s people. In other words, the law is best summed up by the Great Commandment — Love the Lord your God, and love your neighbor as yourself (see Mark 12:30-33). The purpose of the law is not to put people in a straitjacket, but to empower them to become what God means for them to become.
Elsewhere Jesus is asked what must be done in order to inherit eternal life. Jesus answers by saying:
You know the commandments: ‘Do not murder,’ ‘Do not commit adultery,’ ‘Do not steal,’ ‘Do not give false testimony,’ ‘Do not defraud,’ ‘Honor your father and mother’” (Mark 10:19).
Notice that these are relational commandments, dealing with our relations with other human beings. The law is not given to create robots who perfectly perform their programmed functions. The law is given to men and women in order to enable them to properly love God and one another, and thus fulfill their eternal purpose.
The dietary laws of Moses existed for the purpose of shaping the identity of Israel as a people set apart. The ritual laws of sacrifice pointed toward the sacrifice of Jesus as the perfect lamb of God. Jesus fulfills those laws by his sinless life and his sacrificial death. Therefore he says:
Don’t think that I came to destroy the law or the prophets. I didn’t come to destroy, but to fulfill (Matthew 5:17).
This helps explain that the ceremonial and dietary laws are not required of Gentiles who are converted under the ministry of Peter, Paul and the other apostles.
But nowhere does Jesus ever abrogate the moral law. The moral law enables us to live together with justice and peace and, yes, love as we move toward the kingdom of God.
RESPOND:
Jesus simply and elegantly defines the purpose of the law in one short sentence:
The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath.
This is particularly relevant to the Sabbath laws. The Sabbath was to be a day of rest, for people and for their livestock. It was meant to be a compassionate benefit, not an onerous burden.
But the Pharisees had developed a system of traditions, known as the oral law (also known as Mishnah) to supplement the law given to Moses. According to some sources, there were as many as 613 such “laws” that hedged the Jewish people. Originally, these may have been intended as helpful interpretations and applications of the law, but they had become a burden.
And they became a source of tension between the humanitarian Jesus and the legalistic Pharisees. Jesus could see that God’s law would not forbid his hungry disciples from rubbing some grain between their hands and eating their kernels on the Sabbath. And he certainly could see that having the power to heal someone on the Sabbath was inherently consistent with the purpose of this day dedicated to God.
However, he was not suggesting that the Sabbath in and of itself was a bad thing. In fact, he himself observed the Sabbath. Jesus taught in the synagogue (Mark1:21; 6:2).
The Christian should not draw the wrong conclusion from this passage, that the law was inherently bad. A Sabbath day of rest and worship should be built into a person’s schedule. But we are to avoid rigid, indifferent legalism.
Here is my own personal confession. Sometimes when I attend church, I find that the paraments on the altar have not been changed. For example, Trinity Sunday is supposed to be white, and perhaps the red paraments from Pentecost have remained. Inwardly, I chafe a bit. I appreciate the liturgical year, with the different colors that differentiate the seasons — Advent, Christmas, Ordinary Time, Lent, Easter, Pentecost, and Ordinary Time again.
But I also chide myself a bit. The point is not the colors on the altar. The point is the presence of God in the heart of the believers. And I pray: Please, deliver me from Phariseeism!
Lord, remind me that you have given your law and your principles for our good, not to be a burden but a blessing. Your laws are holy and just and good when we are reminded that love is their foundation. Amen.
PHOTOS: "Lord of the Sabbath" uses the following photo as background: "Wheat" by Daniel Taylor is in the Public Domain.
SOAR Lectionary Bible Study 