The Son of Man is also Lord of the Sabbath

Now it happened that He went through the grainfields on the Sabbath; and as they went His disciples began to pluck the heads of grain. And the Pharisees said to Him, "Look, why do they do what is not lawful on the Sabbath?" But He said to them, "Have you never read what David did when he was in need and hungry, he and those with him: how he went into the house of God in the days of Abiathar the high priest, and ate the showbread, which is not lawful to eat except for the priests, and also gave some to those who were with him?" And He said to them, "The Sabbath was made for man, and not man for the Sabbath. Therefore the Son of Man is also Lord of the Sabbath."

And He entered the synagogue again, and a man who was there had a withered hand. So they watched Him closely, whether He would heal him on the Sabbath, so that they might accuse Him. And He said to the man who had the withered hand, "Step forward." Then He said to them, "Is it lawful on the Sabbath to do good or to do evil, to save life or to kill?" But they kept silent. And when He had looked around at them with anger, being grieved by the hardness of their hearts, He said to the man, "Stretch out your hand." And he stretched it out, and his hand was restored as whole as the other. Then the Pharisees went out and immediately potted with the Herodians against Him, how they might destroy Him.

- Mark 2:23-3:6

In yesterday's reading, we read of Jesus' call to Matthew, or Levi, a tax collector, to "Follow Him." Jesus was criticized for eating, at Matthew's house, with tax collectors and sinners. But He said that He has come not to call the righteous, but sinners, to repentance. Later Jesus and His followers are criticized for not fasting, when the disciples of both John the Baptist and the Pharisees were fasting. Jesus said, "Can the friends of the bridegroom fast while the bridegroom is with them?" After He is taken away, He said, they will fast. He likened His ministry, and those to whom He ministers, to cloth and to wine. No one puts an unshrunk piece of cloth on an old garment, He said. Nor do they put new wine into old wineskins, or else the skins will burst, losing both the wine and the wineskins. "But new wine must be put into new wineskins."

Now it happened that He went through the grainfields on the Sabbath; and as they went His disciples began to pluck the heads of grain. And the Pharisees said to Him, "Look, why do they do what is not lawful on the Sabbath?" It's the Sabbath, the day of rest, and what they are doing is considered to be work. Mark's Gospel has already introduced us to contradictions between Jesus' ministry, and a certain way of looking at religious practice (see yesterday's reading, and also Tuesday's - the healing of the paralytic). Here is another conflict over the following of religious rules.

But He said to them, "Have you never read what David did when he was in need and hungry, he and those with him: how he went into the house of God in the days of Abiathar the high priest, and ate the showbread, which is not lawful to eat except for the priests, and also gave some to those who were with him?" This is a story of King David, to which Jesus refers, in the Scriptures. His men were in the midst of a campaign; they were hungry with nothing to eat. So the father of the high priest, Ahimelech, gave them the holy bread intended for priests only. It's important to note that while Jesus refers to His ministry as "new wine" that needs "new wineskins," His is also a fulfillment of the Scriptures. There is no dispute about the value of Jewish spiritual heritage.

And He said to them, "The Sabbath was made for man, and not man for the Sabbath. Therefore the Son of Man is also Lord of the Sabbath." Here is this mysterious term again, the Son of Man, which Jesus also used at the time He healed the paralytic. It is, first of all, a term from Scripture, used to refer to a messianic figure in the Book of Daniel, one who will judge. My study bible tells me that there is a similar saying in rabbinical literature: "The Sabbath has been given unto you; you have not been given unto the Sabbath." But in both instances, the healing of the paralytic, and today's, Jesus seems to reveal and emphasize the idea of God's reaching to man: both as incarnate human being with divine properties (the Son of Man), and in the practice of love and mercy he reveals in both instances. Jesus puts it into practice, with authority. As my study bible says, "Only God can say He is Lord of the Sabbath."

And He entered the synagogue again, and a man who was there had a withered hand. So they watched Him closely, whether He would heal him on the Sabbath, so that they might accuse Him. So, by this time, they are watching Him for His violation of the ways in which the rules are practiced. The emphasis is on the upset of the "old wine", if you will, and not on the opening of hearts to the way that Jesus has already pointed out in an example from Scripture.

And He said to the man who had the withered hand, "Step forward." Then He said to them, "Is it lawful on the Sabbath to do good or to do evil, to save life or to kill?" Here are the stark terms that are on offer: is the law for good or evil? Is it to save life or to kill? What is it that they watch Him for, to catch Him in what activities, exactly?

But they kept silent. And when He had looked around at them with anger, being grieved by the hardness of their hearts . . . It's important for us to understand the position of the Pharisees here, and what it is to have a "hardened heart." They can't open their hearts, their understanding, to what He is talking about. They are guarding their positions as authorities in the practice of the Law, He is upsetting their way of thinking -- and they don't want to open up to what He is offering and teaching, even though it is in fulfillment of Scripture and the intention of the Law. My study bible says that they are motivated by zeal for the rigid performance of rabbinic tradition - for them the outward performance is more important than doing good. Jesus is motivated by compassion; while not denying Sabbath traditions, he teaches that it is more important to do good than maintain strict observance of Sabbath rest. The two perspectives, it notes, are incompatible. We observe here Jesus' clear grievance on behalf of the man who needs healing -- and by inference, all who needs God's love and healing, and the compassion without which the world is bleak indeed, even in a place for worship.

. . . He said to the man, "Stretch out your hand." And he stretched it out, and his hand was restored as whole as the other. Then the Pharisees went out and immediately potted with the Herodians against Him, how they might destroy Him. The Herodians are the party of Herod, and they are in fact enemies of the Pharisees. But in opposing Jesus, the two traditional enemies come together (as did Pilate and Herod at Jesus' crucifixion in Luke's Gospel). The implication here is the depth of the "hardness of their hearts." They will go so far to resist Jesus as to plot together with their enemies against Him. My study bible puts it this way: "In their anger and self-deception, the Pharisees believe that in order to serve God, they must collaborate with their enemies, the Herodians, to murder the One who is the true Servant of God."

What we take from today's text is the understanding of just how far down a bad road we might be prepared to go when we feel no repentance, when we don't open up our hearts to an understanding that just might be better than ours. Here, the Pharisees clearly commit all kinds of error, because they don't open up to that "new wine" that needs new wineskins. They wish to restrict the power of love and mercy, make it fit into an old formula that doesn't really accommodate the revelation of God into the world. Jesus is here for a purpose, to reveal God, to meet humanity through God's love for us, a mutual meeting. But God, it implies, can't work in a heart that is hardened. Once we make up our minds, it takes an about-face, the repentance of a willingness to change our minds -- or to have a "change of heart" -- in order to find ourselves in a place of grace. So what will it be? We have a choice in life. We can follow our formulas or we can think about the good, and perhaps find a better way. Sometimes we are called to open our eyes to something good and new -- even when we think we know the old is good, and our positions in life, and even those of the society, will teach us so. But God calls us forward in His love and mercy, and we have to respond. We all have these weaknesses, but the story of God in this Gospel is that we are called out of them, to healing. Only a hardness of heart might stand in the way of the expansive nature of the new wine, the expanding understanding of God's love and mercy to which we are all called.