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.  

I desire mercy and not sacrifice

 

 At that time Jesus went through the grainfields on the Sabbath.  And His disciples were hungry, and began to pluck heads of grain and to eat.  And when the Pharisees saw it, they said to Him, "Look, Your disciples are doing what is not lawful to do on the Sabbath!"  But He said to them, "Have you not read what David did when he was hungry, he and those who were with him:  how he entered the house of God and ate the showbread which was not lawful for him to eat, nor for those who were with him, but only for the priests?  Or have you not read in the law that on the Sabbath the priests in the temple profane the Sabbath, and are blameless?  Yet I say to you that in this place there is One greater than the temple.  But if you had known what this means, 'I desire mercy and not sacrifice,' you would not have condemned the guiltless.  For the Son of Man is Lord even of the Sabbath."

Now when He had departed from there, He went into their synagogue.  And behold, there was a man who had a withered hand.  And they asked Him, saying, "Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath?" -- that they might accuse Him.  Then He said to them, "What man is there among you who has one sheep, and if it falls into a pit on the Sabbath, will not lay hold of it and lift it out?  Of how much more value then is a man than a sheep?  Therefore it is lawful to do good on the Sabbath."  Then He said to the man, "Stretch out your hand."  And he stretched it out, and it was restored as whole as the other.  Then the Pharisees went out and plotted against Him, how they might destroy Him.

 

- Matthew 12:1-14 

 

In yesterday's reading, Jesus said, "I thank You, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that You have hidden these things from the wise and prudent and have revealed them to babes.  Even so, Father, for so it seemed good in Your sight.  All things have been delivered to Me by My Father, and no one knows the Son except the Father. Nor does anyone know the Father except the Son, and the one to whom the Son wills to reveal Him.  Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.  Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.  For My yoke is easy and My burden is light."

 

  At that time Jesus went through the grainfields on the Sabbath.  And His disciples were hungry, and began to pluck heads of grain and to eat.  And when the Pharisees saw it, they said to Him, "Look, Your disciples are doing what is not lawful to do on the Sabbath!"  My study Bible explains that the Pharisees are rigid in their legalism.  While the Law allowed plucking a few heads of grain in a neighbor's field (Deuteronomy 23:25), they consider it "reaping" and therefore to be unlawful on the Sabbath.

But He said to them, "Have you not read what David did when he was hungry, he and those who were with him:  how he entered the house of God and ate the showbread which was not lawful for him to eat, nor for those who were with him, but only for the priests?  Or have you not read in the law that on the Sabbath the priests in the temple profane the Sabbath, and are blameless?"  Here Christ provides Old Testament examples of blameless "violations" of the Sabbath, and thereby demonstrates that the law is not absolute over human need or service to God, as my study Bible frames it.  As David and his men partook of the showbread (1 Samuel 21:4-6), it is a prefiguring of the Eucharist.  In the Old Testament the showbread was forbidden to anyone but the priests, but in Christ this heavenly bread is given to all the faithful.

"Yet I say to you that in this place there is One greater than the temple.  But if you had known what this means, 'I desire mercy and not sacrifice,' you would not have condemned the guiltless.  For the Son of Man is Lord even of the Sabbath."  My study Bible comments that Christ, as the Author of the Law, is Lord over all of it.  So therefore, as Lord, He teaches that mercy takes precedence over regulations, ordinances, and ritualistic observances.  

Now when He had departed from there, He went into their synagogue.  And behold, there was a man who had a withered hand.  And they asked Him, saying, "Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath?" -- that they might accuse Him.  Then He said to them, "What man is there among you who has one sheep, and if it falls into a pit on the Sabbath, will not lay hold of it and lift it out?  Of how much more value then is a man than a sheep?  Therefore it is lawful to do good on the Sabbath."  Then He said to the man, "Stretch out your hand."  And he stretched it out, and it was restored as whole as the other.  Then the Pharisees went out and plotted against Him, how they might destroy Him.  Here Christ puts into action the things He has just taught in His confrontation with the Pharisees.  In this case, He challenges their understanding of the rigidity of the Law by suggesting that the purpose of the Sabbath is to heal and make whole, to enrich and support human life.  Even to save an animal was considered lawful, so how much more value is there in healing a human being?  To do good therefore is not profaning the Sabbath, but lawful.  The Pharisees respond with indignance at this vivid open challenge to their authority.

The Pharisees do not seem to understand that the intent of the Law is every bit as important as the minute and precise following of its details.  These details include their own proscriptions and secondary commentaries on the Law, the product of their endless debates about the commands in the Law.  Jesus will comment regarding their hypocrisy in chapter 15, by quoting from Isaiah:  "These people draw near to Me with their mouth, and honor Me with their lips, but their heart is far from Me.  And in vain they worship Me, teaching as doctrines the commandments of men" (from Isaiah 29:13).  He will elaborate specifically regarding their blindness to greater matters and their detailed practices in the whole of Matthew 23.  But today's reading illustrates for us with a memorable example their clear blindness to the greater priorities of the Law.  They don't care about healing, as if it were irrelevant to consider in the context of the aim of the Law.  They care for the observance of details, and their own interpretation of the Law.  In a commentary on Genesis, Fr. Stephen De Young points out in his podcast (found here) that God's priorities which we can read in the story of creation are to take chaos and emptiness ("The earth was without form and void," Genesis 1:2), and to set everything in proper order and fill it with life.  God then gives a similar mission to Adam and Eve, and to humankind by extension.  Jesus demonstrates this principle by healing the man with the withered hand, and therefore shows His own "God-likeness," but the Pharisees are blind to it.  They don't understand the aims of God from the Scriptures because they are so focused on their own particular legalisms, and so Christ's behavior simply makes them incensed.  Jesus sets things in order by prioritizing healing and doing good on the Sabbath, and returns life to the man with the withered hand.  But, as He says in Matthew 23, these men "pay tithe of mint and anise and cummin, and have neglected the weightier matters of the law: justice and mercy and faith" (Matthew 23:23).  What they cannot recognize is the true action of Christ, and how it is reflective of the actions of God in the Scriptures which they hold dear, and in which they are the experts.  They are focused too much on legalism, and "cannot see the forest for the trees," so to speak.  As the Gospels tell us, their hearts are hardened in this sense, and Christ's compassion, in defense of life, is only reckoned to them as a challenge to their authority.  It's not the only time in the Gospels in which a healing goes unvalued and undesired.  After Christ's healing of the Gergesene demoniacs, the people there also begged Him to leave them.  In today's reading, Jesus quotes from Isaiah's prophecy:  "I desire mercy and not sacrifice."   This is not a statement against sacrifices, but rather one that clearly gives priorities; for without mercy, sacrifice or hospitality is meaningless.  Let us consider the things that remain the purview and priority of God, as witnessed throughout the Scriptures:  putting things into "right order" and right relationship (or righteousness), and filling with life (creation).  For these are the hallmarks of God and God's work.  Christ's compassion always works on behalf of these priorities.  Let us endeavor to embrace the same. 

 

 

 

 

 

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 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

In yesterday's reading, Jesus first saw a tax collector named Levi (who is known to us as Matthew the Evangelist).  With the simple words from Christ, "Follow Me," Matthew left all, rose up, and followed Him, Luke tells us.  Levi (Matthew) then gave a great feast at his house, for Jesus and other followers, including many tax collectors and others.  Pharisees and their scribes complained against Jesus, asking Him, "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 asked Jesus why the disciples of John the Baptist fast often and make prayers, like those of the Pharisees -- and those of Jesus eat and drink?  Jesus said, "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 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 points out that the correct observance of the Sabbath-rest is a major point of controversy between the Pharisees and Jesus.  To call Himself the Son of Man becomes a more illumined name for us here:  it's again a sort of "hiding in plain sight" of His identity.  Here, Jesus makes a closer claim for His divine identity, both God and man.  He refers the Pharisees to an episode in the history of the life of King David, in which he and his men were famished, and the priest allowed them to eat the showbread (see 1 Samuel 21:6).

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.   I think it's important that we note the Gospel tells us this is a deliberate act by Jesus, a response to the thoughts of those who wish to find an accusation against Him.

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:  "According to the scribes and Pharisees, healing was considered work and was not permissible on the Sabbath.  They believed they served God by being zealous for traditions they had built up around the Law, and they saw Jesus as a lawbreaker.  Their dedication to rigid legalism made them insensitive to God's priorities."  Jesus' priorities are clear in His pointed question here:  "Is it lawful on the Sabbath to do good or to do evil, to save life or to destroy?"  It's once again playing on the emphasis introduced in yesterday's reading, on healing and restoration as part of God's salvation, and an essential understanding of the purposes of God's reaching out to humanity to save in mercy and everlasting love.

What's also clear from this reading is how our own priorities can get in the way of God's grace, God's reaching out toward us with God's message of intention and of love.  We can set up all kinds of rules and traditions - even those based on what we consider truly good, revelations of God's mercy - but when their observance gets in the way of God's true intention and love, then we must think again, reconsider, the real meaning behind "repent" (in the Greek, the word for repent literally means "change of mind").  But again, we look to the Hebrew Scriptures, especially the Psalms, and find over and over again reminders of God's steadfast love, God's pull to mercy.  Always, the option is to draw us into relationship, to call us back.  In the Gospels, we read of many acts of love that trump all other considerations, all other "good" rules, such as this one.  In the Greek, the word "economia" sets out the "rule" for the areas where we don't really know how to apply a principle or tradition.  It refers back to God's great "economia" - the plan for salvation, and the "rule" is to err on the side of mercy in applying any sort of understanding where things are fuzzy.  So if we look at today's readings in the light of our daily lives, we may think about ways in which they apply to ourselves.  Is there a rule one follows -- all in good intention, and made in the best of faith -- which can become a kind of slavish obligation in and of itself?  Let us remember that God is love, and it really doesn't matter on what personal level this may apply to us.  God's mercy and love trump everything; all must work together for the good, and thereby we can read again Jesus' question asking about doing good on the Sabbath.  In all circumstances, we can remember the question Jesus poses:  Is it lawful to do good or do evil, to save life (or soul) or destroy?  It's the "letter of the law" that can get in the way of our acceptance of its true spirit.  In what way does God's love call you forward into healing? into restoration?  into God's good? into God's rest?