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 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 the, "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; 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."   Jesus gives to the accusing Pharisees an example of a blameless violation of the Sabbath:  when David and his men were given the showbread to eat, which under the law was meant for the priests only (1 Samuel 21:1-6).  In this case, because of the human need of David and his men, a way was found to feed them the food intended for the priests.  But here Jesus uses the term Son of Man, reminding us that He is incarnate Son.  That is, He is at once the Word and He is a human being; therefore the common thread of Christ's life is His divine compassion for the needs of human beings.  That the Sabbath was made for man is an expression of God's compassion for human beings; it implies that the holiness of the Sabbath is not simply a way to honor God, but that God's holy day is also God's way to show compassion on human beings and for human needs, including the need for rest and spiritual nourishment in our communion with God.

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 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.  My study Bible comments that according to certain traditions that the scribes and Pharisees had built up around the Law, healing was considered work, and therefore was not permissible on the Sabbath.  It says that they believed that they served God by zealously keeping these peripheral traditions, but this legalism made them insensitive to God's mercy.  The Herodians are supporters of the dynasty of Herod the Great, which rules for Rome; Herod Antipas, son of Herod the Great, is tetrarch (popularly called "king") of the region of Galilee.

Let us look closer at this comment in my study Bible, that the Pharisees believed they were serving God by zealously keeping peripheral traditions (that is, traditions built up around the law, not the specific law as given by Moses), but their legalism made them insensitive to God's mercy.  Certainly the Pharisees are not alone in this behavior;  I would suggest that it is a common human error that has been with us in many forms, in the Church and outside the Church as well.  But what is important here is something which we have commented on through the past few readings, and that is Christ's expressions of compassion.  Christ the Son is Incarnate in our world in order to express God in the world -- He is love in action, the manifestation of God with us (Matthew 1:23).   We should be reminded once again that Jesus said to His disciples at the Last Supper, "If you had known Me, you would have known My Father also; and from now on you know Him and have seen Him" (John 14:7).  Jesus reveals God to us through His human life.  And so far in Mark's Gospel, what we have seen of Christ's "works" indicates that God is compassion; God is love (John 1:48).  As the human expression of God for us, Jesus expresses compassion when He heals, just as He calls for compassion -- and cites a Biblical reference of compassion in mentioning the story of David and the showbread -- when He and the disciples are accused of violating the Sabbath law.  In healing the man with the withered hand, He makes a direct challenge to the Pharisees who make the accusations of violation of the law:  "Is it lawful on the Sabbath to do good or to do evil, to save life or to kill?"  Jesus reveals God to us, and at the same time reveals the intent of the Law in the character of its true Source and Giver.  If the Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath, then it is fitting that the Sabbath was made for man.  In this sense, the Sabbath Law is seen as yet another extension of God's compassion to human beings, the God who heals and gives us rest and spiritual nourishment for our needs.  It is only in Mark's Gospel that we find Jesus' remarkable statement,  "The Sabbath was made for man, and not man for the Sabbath."   It is a statement which implies for us that which will be explicit in Christ's voluntary Crucifixion for the world's salvation:  that God acts out of love for us.  Jesus will fully "self-empty" by giving up His life for the life of the world ("I am the living bread which came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever; and the bread that I shall give is My flesh, which I shall give for the life of the world" - John 6:51).  With this statement that the Sabbath was made for man, Jesus implies that God's creation is for the sake of His creation, and that God does not act or express anything that could be called selfish.  In both instances of worship:  the Jewish Sabbath of the Old Covenant and also its fulfillment in the Christian Eucharist of the New Covenant, it is God's love for us which is expressed, God's nourishment for God's creation.  It teaches us that in every act of God -- in creation and in all the ways we are spiritually directed through God's work in the world -- it is God's compassion and love that are being expressed.  And so it is in Christ's ministry, where it is God's love that is expressed in each act and teaching.  While there is an important lesson to be learned about "legalism" here, perhaps the greater lesson is that we are taught that we must seek to be "like God" especially in our expressions of love for God.  In the Church, the notion of what is called economia in Greek fills this role of compassion.  That is, we know our faith and belief and the traditions of worship, but the principle of mercy must also be there for every exception and question, and we must root ourselves in this understanding of God that is given to us through the gospel of Christ.    The purpose of the Physician is to heal (see yesterday's reading, above; also Isaiah 6:10 as quoted in Matthew 13:15, Acts 28:27), for this is how He forms our understanding of the compassion of salvation in the hospital of His Church.