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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 was there who 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 plotted with the Herodians against Him, how they might destroy Him.
- Mark 2:23-3:6
In yesterday's reading, we were told that Jesus went out again by the sea; and all the multitude came to Him, and He taught them. As He passed by, He saw Levi the son of Alphaeus sitting at the tax office. And He said to him, "Follow Me." So he arose and followed Him. Now it happened, as He was dining in Levi's house, that many tax collectors and sinners also sat together with Jesus and His disciples; for there were many, and they followed Him. And when the scribes and Pharisees saw Him eating with the the tax collectors and sinners, they said to His disciples, "How is it that He eats and drinks with tax collectors and sinners?" When Jesus heard it, He said to them, "Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners, to repentance." The disciples of John and of the Pharisees were fasting. Then they came and said to Him, "Why do the disciples of John and of the Pharisees fast, but Your disciples do not fast?" And Jesus said to them, "Can the friends of the bridegroom fast while the bridegroom is with them? As long as they have the bridegroom with them they cannot fast. But the days will come when the bridegroom will be taken away from them, and then they will fast in those days. No one sews a piece of unshrunk cloth on an old garment; or else the new piece pulls away from the old, and the tear is made worse. And no one puts new wine into old wineskins; or else the new wine bursts the wineskins, the wine is spilled, and the wineskins are ruined. 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?" My study bible tells us that "this is not lawful because it was considered work, a violation of the Sabbath rest. 'Pharisaism' is a very real danger for all. Rules for religious practice are not bad in themselves, but when adherence to those rules triumphs over mercy and human need, the practice leads people away from God, not toward Him." Not to experience the love and mercy of God is to be turned away from God; my study bible's note puts it succinctly and helpfully. This is the gospel message. It's important for us to correlate healing, restoration, wholeness, with the actions of God.
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?" A note tells us that "Abiathar was appointed high priest during David's reign (1 Sam. 23:6-11). His father, Ahimelech, provided David and his men, who were starving, with holy bread intended for priests only (1 Sam. 21:1-6)."
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." My study bible tells us that there is a similar saying to this which is found in rabbinical literature: "The Sabbath has been given unto you; you have not been given unto the Sabbath." But, it adds, "Jesus puts what He teaches into practice, interpreting the Law with authority. Only God can say He is Lord of the Sabbath."
And He entered the synagogue again, and a man was there who 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. A note says, "Jesus is motivated by compassion. He does not deny Sabbath traditions, but teaches that it is more important to do good on the Sabbath than to maintain the strict observance of Sabbath rest. The religious leaders are motivated by zeal for the rigid performance of rabbinic tradition; for them outward performance is more important than doing good. The two perspective are incompatible."
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 plotted with the Herodians against Him, how they might destroy Him. In the Greek, the "hardness" of their hearts is something like a callus; what it implies is that they've grown insensitive, unable to feel or to perceive correctly. It's a kind of blindness. Jesus' grief is the fullness of feeling, and the anger here, it is implied in the text, is caused by grief. In this picture it is Christ who is in fact the more fully "human" because divine, and therefore, in fact, more fully aware. He's sensible to the true picture of the reality around himself. My study bible tells us here that "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."
Blindness and hardness of heart are correlated in this picture here, a kind of insensitivity, an insensibility to the human reality around themselves on the part of the Pharisees. They're so immured in their place of authority and position, they fail to see what is around themselves, fail to perceive the suffering they cause, fail to perceive what righteousness is in these situations. Jesus tellingly gives an example from the Scriptures which the Pharisees know as experts: that David and his men ate the showbread when they were starving. "Rules" weren't kept to the extent that people were harmed by them, to the extent that a good that could be done was not done. And maybe there we can see the fullness of Jesus' ministry. As a human being, He's a splendid example of what we all should be. It takes this man who is both divine and human to let us know what it could be like if we were fully ourselves as human beings, with all faculties working as they should be, all feelings truly in place, all perception really true! It's Christ who comes into our world showing us what it is to be a fully restored and wholly "human" human being. When we are bound by anything that keeps us from being the persons we can be, like the Pharisees in this story -- even if it is something which is meant to be for the good -- then we are blinded to our true selves, our capabilities, to our senses. We fail to perceive. They're like mummies entombed in something, incapable of perceiving as they must in order to be truly righteous human beings, and righteousness is the purpose of the Law. In the language, we take a look at what Jesus does to heal the hand of this man in the synagogue on the Sabbath. The word "restore" is correctly translated. But if we take apart this word translated as "restore," what we find reminds us of other healings we've read about in the Gospel of Mark. This word is rooted in one that means "in one's place" as in a proper seating arrangement. So this man is taken to his proper place, left standing in the right place, so to speak, ready to take his rightful place in life to do whatever it is that is his true work. The same is true of Peter's mother-in-law in our earlier reading, and so can it be said of the paralytic: all of these people are restored to their places, whole enough to do whatever it is they need to do in life, upright in their proper positions. The word used for Peter's mother-in-law and for the paralytic is "arise" as if wakening from sleep, but for this man with the withered hand to be restored to his place is similar. It's the Son of Man who teaches us therefore what it is to be a full human being, to take our places as we must in His ministry, and at the same time to fully feel and to perceive. To know what righteousness is becomes a part of His saving mission to us. The rules cannot tell us everything. To be able to be properly grieved, and appropriately angry, to act to heal and to restore -- these are the things His ministry is teaching us. And He is Lord of the Sabbath; He is the center-point of all things, the place around which we turn in order to be healed in all ways. A relationship to Him is to help us to discernment, to true understanding, true perception: both of our proper sentiments and values, and to our righteousness in perceiving what makes for healing. As we move through Jesus' ministry, we'll find many surprising turns we don't expect. His answers are not our answers. Even to this day, His response to injustice committed against Himself is a hard one for us to understand and apply. Like He said in yesterday's reading, we need new wineskins to contain and carry the harvest He offers to us. But it is in relationship to Him that we learn and grow to be the human beings we can be, to feel what we must feel, to learn what we must learn, to perceive as He'd have us perceive, and to heal His way. There will always be something new to learn.
