Sabbath
One Sabbath Jesus was going through the grainfields, and as his disciples walked along, they began to pick some heads of grain. The Pharisees said to him, "Look, why are they doing what is unlawful on the Sabbath?" He answered, "Have you never read what David did when he and his companions were hungry and in need? In the days of Abiathar the high priest, he entered the house of God and ate the consecrated bread, which is lawful only for priests to eat. And he also gave some to his companions." Then 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." Another time he went into the synagogue, and a man with a shriveled hand was there. Some of them were looking for a reason to accuse Jesus, so they watched him closely to see if he would heal him on the Sabbath. Jesus said to the man with the shriveled hand, "Stand up in front of everyone." Then Jesus asked them, "Which is lawful on the Sabbath: to do good or to do evil, to save life or to kill?" But they remained silent. He looked around at them in anger and, deeply distressed at their stubborn hearts, said to the man, "Stretch out your hand." He stretched it out, and his hand was completely restored. Then the Pharisees went out and began to plot with the Herodians how they might kill Jesus. (Mark2:23-3:6) |
In comparison to other cultures and religions, the idea of a Sabbath rest day was unique to Judaism. It was a strange idea: Pause productivity, focus on your God and your family. (Ironically, today, with our levels of burnout and being "always available" through our devices, Sabbath is actually quite an appealing idea.)
For Jews, Sabbath became something that identified them and made them unique. Unfortunately, as time went on, people felt it necessary to begin defining what a good Sabbath looked like and so the lawgivers started making lists of do's and don'ts. The Mishnah, a compilation of laws derived from the Old Testament, listed 39 categories of prohibited activities on the Sabbath, with hundreds of additional rules expanding on them.
What was even more concerning was that compliance to these laws was used as a measure of faithfulness. It became a visible yardstick by which one could measure one's faithfulness and that of others.
The Pharisees pounced on Jesus and His disciples for taking a walk. Some of the disciples idly pulled at the ears of wheat as they passed. They rubbed the kernels they'd pulled off between their hands, freeing the kernels from the husks and blew the husks out of their hands, they then popped the kernels into their mouths and chewed on them as they walked. They weren't stealing or having a meal. They were probably remembering something they did as children. (I have similar memories of picking up a piece of sugar cane next to the road on the way to holidays in Durban and chewing it as we drove.)
The Pharisees turn this into a major transgression. Jesus reminds them that:
- their greatest king, David, once took holy bread off the altar to feed his companions.
In other words - there are always exceptions where one priority overrides another. - the Sabbath was made to help us, not to enslave us.
- the Sabbath is meant for us to see God clearly and worship Him more faithfully
Sadly, the Pharisees don't get it. They can't see God at work - even when they're at the synagogue. It's bizarre, they don't wonder about or doubt His
ability to heal - they just want to see if He'll break
their rules about the Sabbath in order to do it! (Biblical law, not just the Mishnah, allowed rescuing an animal from a pit on the Sabbath. How much more would it allow healing a person?)
It's so tragic. They can't see beautiful irony. The man has been struggling for years with his disability and on the "day of rest" he is given rest from his disability. To not heal him would be a tragic neglect. But they can't see it.
This causes them to hate Jesus even more. He won't fit into their rules. The Sabbath had become about their rules instead of being about being with God and family and shaking off the rat race.
Sadly, today we've gone in the opposite direction. We are no longer confined by Sabbath rules, but we have also lost sight of its purpose.