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 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 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 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 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."  The Orthodox Study Bible describes the term second Sabbath after the first as indicating a Jewish feast which immediately followed the normal Sabbath, because a feast was also known as a Sabbath.  It says that, according to St. Ambrose, the term "second Sabbath" serves as an image of the new covenant and the eternal resurrection:  the first Sabbath is an indication of the Law, while the second Sabbath indicates the gospel that follows it.  Under the new covenant, that 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.  This was prefigured by David when he gave the showbread . . . to those with him.

 

 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 comments that, according to certain traditions that the scribes and Pharisees had built up around the Law, healing was considered work, and so therefore was not permissible on the Sabbath.  These men believed that they served God in zealously keeping such peripheral traditions, but their legalism made them insensitive to God's mercy.  Such zealotry is clear to see in their rage; they are eager to find what they might do to Jesus for healing on the Sabbath, but apparently the man's restored hand is of less significance.  

 

 When the second part of today's reading opens, we notice that the scribes and Pharisees are already watching Christ closely, whether He would heal on the Sabbath, that they might find an accusation against Him.  So the text lets us know that they are already trying to find an accusation against Christ at this point.  In one sense, it teaches us that when we go looking for something in particular, we might usually be able to find it.  But, they're not looking at the much bigger picture that is truly here.  They are missing the most important moment in the spiritual history of Israel and of the world, that the long-awaited Messiah is in their presence.  We might say, they are missing the presence of the kingdom of God in their midst, even though in Christ's healing of this man -- and His assorted other miracles He's already performed -- it is there in plain sight.  Of course, the much bigger picture they miss is the presence of God, of holiness and divinity at work before them.  What that teaches us now, today, is that we also need to be certain that our own center is not on a point of legalism or simply particular litmus tests; if our focus is not on God, then we are truly missing the bigger picture.  For it is only there in which we have a chance to see and to learn the things that are beyond what we already know and understand.  For God is always beyond our limits and expectations.  God is not defined strictly by our attention, except in the sense that we limit ourselves thereby to a lesser reality.  Just as Jesus has recently given us the parable of the wineskins (see yesterday's reading, above), so we need to be at least prepared to expand, for God is not limitable by us.  In their accusatory behavior, these religious authorities are limiting themselves, and in so doing, they limit so much more as well, for they are supposed to be the shepherds of the people.  There is a parable here for us about our own lives, and it has remained true for all the time that has passed between Christ's Incarnation and ourselves today, and that is Christ's emphasis on our own watchfulness and preparedness, our mindfulness of the things we are supposed to be about (Revelation 16:15).  We can very easily fall into the same type of trap, and miss the forest for the trees.  As He said of the Pharisees and scribes, they "strain out a gnat and swallow a camel" (Matthew 23:24).  They are truly "blind guides," as He said in the same verse.  Let us keep His commands and remain among His faithful and wise servants (Matthew 24:45-51).