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 Jess 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."  My study Bible comments on this passage 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 ate the showbread and also gave some to those who were with him.   

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.  In accordance with some traditions developed by the scribes and Pharisees and built up and around the Law, healing was considered to be work.  Therefore it was not permissible on the Sabbath.  My study Bible says that they believed they served God by zealously keeping these peripheral traditions, but their legalism made them insensitive to God's mercy.   The Herodians are those supporters of the rule of the family of Herod, which ruled for Rome.  In this case they would be specifically associated with the court of the tetrarch of Galilee, Herod Antipas.  

If we take a close look at some details of today's reading, we might notice some interesting things to consider.  First of all, there is this great declaration which appears only here in Mark's Gospel.  Jesus says, "The Sabbath was made for man, and not man for the Sabbath."  This gives us a deep personal glimpse at the intentions of God, for it is God who established the Sabbath and declared its observance by God's people (Genesis 2:2-3; Exodus 20:8-11).  Christ's characterization of the Sabbath as made for man, and not man for the Sabbath, sets a precedent and a tone for our understanding of God's work and creation -- and also of God's love and care.  Our is a gracious God who loves us; this singular statement by Jesus qualifies entirely our relationship to God.  We have an a priori understanding that God loves us.  It may be up to us to take steps toward God in order to realize that love for ourselves, but just like the father in the parable of the Prodigal Son, it is God who already runs to meet us from a great way off, and has compassion for us.  God's compassion is another way of understanding what it means that the Sabbath was made for man, and not man for the Sabbath.  Of course, we see this notion completely enforced through Christ's healing of the man with the withered hand in the synagogue under the glare of the Pharisees -- and in the detail we're told that Jesus looked around at them with anger, and was grieved by the hardness of their hearts.  My study Bible explains that righteous anger is a natural human emotion experienced in the face of sin.  It says that while there is certainly anger that is sinful (Matthew 5:22), there is also anger that is God-given and proper to humanity (Psalm 4:4).  Here, my study Bible says, Christ's anger is in response to people who profess God, but yet they have such hardness in their hearts they cannot rejoice in the healing of one of their brothers.  And there are a couple of smaller details we might not easily notice, but that tell us something if we look closely.  It might not seem of deep significance, but in the first part of the passage, the Pharisees object to the plucking of the heads of grain by the disciples as they glean the fields they're passing through.  This is sustenance, nourishment for them.  It is not work but a necessity for the good of a human being.  In the continuation of the theme, though the time spent in the synagogue and the challenge of the indignance of the Pharisees, what is it that Jesus heals for this man, after He has declared that the Sabbath was made for man?  He heals a withered hand, a hand that may also pluck heads of grain in order to feed and sustain a human being.  It may seem like a strange detail to notice, but we have to ask ourselves what Jesus does in restoring human beings to themselves.  He not only protects His disciples from scrutiny, and makes claims on behalf of the whole of mankind in terms of characterizing the Sabbath as made for man. He also -- in this immediate context of plucking the grain -- restores another to the capacity to gather and pluck should his need arise, to take in nourishment and sustain life.  So in varied facets of today's reading, we see God's compassion and its various expressions:  in the statement that the Sabbath was made for man, in the allowance for David to eat the showbread, in the aggrieved anger by Jesus on behalf of the man with the withered hand, and finally in defying the heartless Pharisees and incurring their retaliation by "doing good" on the Sabbath.  Christ's compassionate nature that we know comes full circle here, as He risks His own health and safety for the sake of saving and healing a human being.  This is the God that we know, the One who made the Sabbath for man, who restores us to wholeness, and goes all the way to save, even at great risk to Himself and the incurrence of His own suffering on our behalf.  Jesus, true author of the Law, introduces a question that defines God's law and intentions:  "Is it lawful on the Sabbath to do good or to do evil, to save life or to kill?"   We know that He came that we may have life and have it more abundantly (John 10:10).  This is expressed in all that He does, even in the details.  May we all model His integrity of intention and purpose in all that we do as we seek to follow Him.