I will ask you one thing: Is it lawful on the Sabbath to do good or to do evil, to save life or to destroy?

 

 Now it happened on the second Sabbath after the first that He went through the grainfields.  And His disciples plucked the heads of grain and ate them, rubbing them in their hands.  And some of the Pharisees said to them, "Why are you doing what it is not lawful to do on the Sabbath?"  But Jesus answering them said, "Have you not even read this, what David did when he was hungry, he and those who were with him:  how he went into the house of God, took and ate the showbread, and also gave some to those with him, which is not lawful for any but the priests to eat?"  And He said to them, "The Son of Man is also Lord of the Sabbath."

Now it happened on another Sabbath, also, that He entered the synagogue and taught.  And a man was there whose right hand was withered.  So the scribes and Pharisees watched Him closely, whether He would heal on the Sabbath, that they might find an accusation against Him.  But He knew their thoughts, and said to the man who had the withered hand, "Arise and stand here."  And he arose and stood.  Then Jesus said to them, "I will ask you one thing:  Is it lawful on the Sabbath to do good or to do evil, to save life or to destroy?"  And when He had looked around at them all, He said to the man, "Stretch out your hand."  And he did so, and his hand was restored as whole as the other.  But they were filled with rage, and discussed with one another what they might do to Jesus.

 

- Luke 6:1–11 

 

Yesterday we read that Jesus went out and saw a tax collector named Levi, sitting at the tax office.  And he said to him, "Follow Me."  So he left all, rose up, and followed Him.  Then Levi gave Him a great feast in his own house.  And there were a great number of tax collectors and others  who sat down with them.  And their scribes and the Pharisees complained against His disciples, saying, "Why do You eat and drink with tax collectors and sinners?"  Jesus answered and said to them, "Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick.  I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners, to repentance."  Then they said to Him, "Why do the disciples of John fast often and make prayers, and likewise those of the Pharisees, but Yours eat and drink?"  And He said to them, "Can you make the friends of the bridegroom fast while the bridegroom is with them?  But the days will come when the bridegroom will be taken away from them; then they will fast in those days."  Then He spoke a parable to them:  "No one puts a piece from a new garment on an old one; otherwise the new makes a tear, and also the piece that was taken out of the new does not match the old.  And no one puts new wine into old wineskins; or else the new wine will burst the wineskins and be spilled, and the wineskins will be ruined.  But new wine must be put into new wineskins, and both are preserved.  And no one, having drunk old wine, immediately desires new; for he says, 'The old is better.'"  

 

 Now it happened on the second Sabbath after the first that He went through the grainfields.  And His disciples plucked the heads of grain and ate them, rubbing them in their hands.  And some of the Pharisees said to them, "Why are you doing what it is not lawful to do on the Sabbath?"  But Jesus answering them said, "Have you not even read this, what David did when he was hungry, he and those who were with him:  how he went into the house of God, took and ate the showbread, and also gave some to those with him, which is not lawful for any but the priests to eat?"  And He said to them, "The Son of Man is also Lord of the Sabbath."  My study Bible comments in the phrase second Sabbath after the first.  It says that this term was used when a Jewish feast immediately followed the normal Sabbath, because a feast was also called a Sabbath.  According to St. Ambrose of Milan, my study Bible notes, the term "second Sabbath" fits as an image of the new covenant and the eternal resurrection:  the first Sabbath indicates the Law, while the second Sabbath indicates the gospel that follows it.  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 with him (1 Samuel 21:1-6). 

 

  Now it happened on another Sabbath, also, that He entered the synagogue and taught.  And a man was there whose right hand was withered.  So the scribes and Pharisees watched Him closely, whether He would heal on the Sabbath, that they might find an accusation against Him.  But He knew their thoughts, and said to the man who had the withered hand, "Arise and stand here."  And he arose and stood.  Then Jesus said to them, "I will ask you one thing:  Is it lawful on the Sabbath to do good or to do evil, to save life or to destroy?"  And when He had looked around at them all, He said to the man, "Stretch out your hand."  And he did so, and his hand was restored as whole as the other.  But they were filled with rage, and discussed with one another what they might do to Jesus.  My study Bible explains that according to certain traditions built up around the Law by the scribes and Pharisees, healing was considered to be work.  Therefore it wasn't permissible on the Sabbath.  These men believed that they served God by keeping this peripheral traditions zealously.  But their legalism made them insensitive to God's mercy.  

Today's readings take us to a concept known in the Orthodox Church as economia (οἰκονομία in Greek).  Economia is the practice of the approach to the resolution of a problem by the practice of mercy.  If something looks neither black or white, one must address the problem through mercy.  Economia comes from the root word  οἰκος (ecos) meaning "house."  Clearly this "ecos" is the root for many words we know, such as economy or ecology.  But in this case it evolves through οἰκονόμος (economos) meaning "steward" -- a favorite subject of Jesus for characters in His parables. A steward or economos is a household manager, so to speak, someone in charge of running an estate, managing the households, the crops, the goods, and so forth.  So economia is really a concept that speaks of good and proper management.  It defines the approach to canon law in the Orthodox church, but truly it is meant as a general sense of how to rule on problems, be they on a personal or community level.  But these Pharisees and scribes, in their zeal (as my study Bible explains) are all about the letter of the law; or rather, in this case, of the traditions built up around the law.  This is sometimes referred to as clericalism, where only enshrined opinion is acceptable.  The question of good stewardship is always an important one in the Church because it clearly was an important consideration for Christ to begin with.  What kind of Church was He establishing?  How did He want His Church to be governed?  How did He want His followers to resolve problems, and how did He want the leaders of His Church to govern?  At the heart of this is economia, what it means, essentially (at least etymologically!) to be good stewards.  In today's reading, Jesus' action take us to this place of economia.  What does it mean to make righteous choices, to judge with righteous judgment?  These questions are at the heart of what it means to choose to live the gospel in the world.  Note that Jesus never attacks the Law at all, but He argues from within the Law and within the tradition.  He argues from experience, and from the case of David and the showbread, the practice of mercy when something was necessary and for the greater good.  This practice of economia, especially how in Christ's ministry it is all framed around healing in today's reading, opens up questions about the heart, our capacity for discernment, seeking where God would lead us in all circumstances, and of course the practice of seeking to live God's love.  Sometimes the practice of mercy would ask us to teach or give correction.  Sometimes mercy would tell us to be quiet when a person has had enough.  Sometimes it's to feed a hungry one and bend the rules to do so.  Sometimes it's to give even a cup of cold water (Matthew 10:42).  In all cases, it seeks the better way, the good part (Luke 10:42).  Rules and laws are important; they're built up over time for reasons that are important, that help to govern, to build good structure and communities.  But economia is about their practice and how we approach them.  Economia would teach us not to forget that the Lord is the author of the Law; its purpose is to build righteous communities in service to God who is love, for the life of the world.  When Jesus says that "the Son of Man is also Lord of the Sabbath," He's reminding us all that God became man out of compassion, to know us, and thereby He is the Lord of the Sabbath.  In Mark's Gospel, Jesus says, "The Sabbath was made for man, and not man for the Sabbath" (Mark 2:27).  The Son of Man becomes human and experiences fully human life; He knows us all, He knows our lives, He knows our suffering and struggles, and it is He who will judge.  Jesus asks, "Is it lawful on the Sabbath to do good or to do evil, to save life or to destroy?"  Note that Jesus does not banish all evil and suffering from the world, but asks us to consider His question, and what we do.  On a popular Orthodox blog, by Father Stephen Freeman (Glory to God for All Things), Fr. Freeman wrote a comment about suffering.  He said, "Rather than banishing suffering (which we cannot do), we should concern ourselves with being the kind of people and the kind of community that can help people bear their suffering."  To help others bear their suffering is a good example of righteousness, right-relatedness.  This is the righteousness of economia, and it is the way that Christ lived His ministry to teach us how to live as well.