Is it lawful on the Sabbath to do good or to do evil, to save life or to kill?

 

 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 

 

Yesterday we read 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 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?"  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."   The grainfields are likely fields of corn, and the disciples pluck the corn to eat because they are in need and hungry.  The showbread was a particular bread kept on a special table in the temple that was meant for the priests to eat.  When Saul was seeking to kill David, David fled to the priest and he and his men were allowed to eat of the holy bread (see 1 Samuel 21:1-6).  St. Ambrose comments on a similar passage in Luke that under the new covenant, the food which was at one time not lawful for anyone but the priests to eat is now freely given to all by the Lord of the Sabbath.  David prefigured this when he gave the showbread to those who were with him.  That the Sabbath was made for man is an essential understanding of Mark's Gospel.  It is an affirmation of the previous readings in which it has been repeatedly affirmed that Christ's ministry in the world is one of healing; the Sabbath, therefore, is set aside for man for rest and therefore healing.  This is one more underscoring of the nature of God as compassionate and loving to humankind.

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.  The scribes and Pharisees had built up certain traditions around the Law, and in this viewpoint, healing was considered work -- and so not permissible on the Sabbath.  My study Bible comments that they believed they served God by zealously keeping these peripheral traditions, but this legalism made them insensitive to God's mercy.

 

 Jesus' statement, "The Sabbath was made for man, and not man for the Sabbath," is unique to Mark's Gospel.  From what we have read so far in these first chapters in Mark, we could say that it is central to the understanding of Christ and His mission.  If we compare the examples of the scribes and Pharisees' arguments counter to Christ's ministry, we can see the difference in the approach.  Jesus is emphasizing healing on all levels, whether that be the casting out of demons, or the possibilities of repentance, even the remission of sin for those whose ailments are somehow connected (see the healing of the paralytic, in this reading), or touching what was unclean in order to heal and therefore cleanse a leper (in this reading).  Christ's presence transforms an understanding of sin because He makes it possible to be set free from its influence through His power and Person.  Therefore, He says, "The Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath."  He who has come to us incarnate as full human being is also fully divine, and He is here to correct and to heal -- all of which is a mission of mercy to humankind.  Therefore through Him we understand that we are loved by God, and that the Sabbath is given to us because we need it -- we are to heal through rest.  On the other hand, it is the demons who make slaves of human beings who toil and suffer and are destroyed under their influence.  We need to understand our God as a God of love, and that all that is given to us is given through compassion.  We might compare the demonic influence we see in the Gospels -- say, in those instances of demon possession such as that of the man who called himself Legion (Mark 5:1-20), or particularly in the temptations of Satan to Christ (Luke 4:1-13) -- to the process of addiction.  We're tempted by things that sound good, but that turn out to be a trap, giving us pain and toil as the outcome.  On the other hand, the discipline of God (discipline as in disciple which really means "learner" in the Greek) asks us to change and to grow.  It might not sound like our own plan, or what we really want, or promise the moon.  It will ask us for work and a willingness to give up certain ways or things we might be attached to, but similarly to treatment by a physician, it will ultimately work out that we are better off for it.  We become healed from something, and freed from something.  This is the process of repentance, and it is the way or road of Christ, as in, "I am the way, the truth, and the life" (John 14:6).  It is our Physician who gives us rest because we need it, our Physician who fills us up with good things, our Physician who gives us healing prescriptions and exercises so that we grow and become truly healed on all levels, and we become whole, more fully attaining the image and likeness of God in whose image we were made.  This is what it is to be set aright, put in proper order, and we follow Him -- as did His disciples -- in order to grow in His way.  Through Christ, we are pulled out of what is imperfect, sinful, harmful to us, that which is toxic (to use a modern term).  In a modern world, we are all tempted to see life simply on the surface, not to look past dazzling images that pull us in to sell us something (a way of life, a political slogan, something we can purchase), to think that God is absent or doesn't care, to sin because we see all kinds of other people indulging in sinful behavior such as selfishness or greed, or terrible lusts, exploiting others, bullying, and so on.  But God knows, and our Lord has also put a piece of God in us, so that we are capable of finding Him and His way; that is the gift of the Holy Spirit whom Christ said "will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all things that I said to you" (John 14:26).  Let us look at the life Christ offers us, and know that He is our Physician, the One who taught that the Sabbath was made for man, giving us compassion and love and mercy in what He offers us.  Jesus confronts the Pharisees with this important question that is a guidepost for us:  "Is it lawful on the Sabbath to do good or to do evil, to save life or to kill?"  Let us not be tempted by the world that seeks to enslave, but freed by the One who loves us -- whose work in us is good and seeks to save our lives.