We have left Matthew’s Gospel, and now the Daily Office has moved into the Gospel according to Mark. Some scholars have described Mark’s Gospel as a long prelude to the Passion narrative. In Mark’s Gospel, we see the Pharisees always trying to trap Jesus, and what’s more, plotting to have him killed. Today’s reading, from the second chapter, is one of those moments:
One Sabbath he was going through the cornfields; and as they made their way his disciples began to pluck heads of grain. The Pharisees said to him, “Look, why are they doing what is not lawful on the Sabbath?” And he said to them, “Have you never read what David did when he and his companions were hungry and in need of food? He entered the house of God, when Abiathar was high priest, and ate the bread of the Presence, which it is not lawful for any but the priests to eat, and he gave some to his companions.” Then he said to them, “The Sabbath was made for humankind, and not humankind for the Sabbath; so the Son of Man is lord even of the Sabbath.”
The Pharisees were in the habit of placing man made law ahead of the true purpose of God’s Law. The purpose of the Sabbath law was to set aside time to honor and to worship God; to set aside a time for prayer. The Pharisees, however, lost sight of that purpose and made the Sabbath a time for following rules. The Pharisees would ask questions like: “How much can you work on the Sabbath?” “What happens if your ox falls in a ditch, can you pull the ox out?” In did not take long before they lost sight of what the Sabbath was truly about, setting aside time for God.
One Sabbath he was going through the cornfields; and as they made their way his disciples began to pluck heads of grain. The Pharisees said to him, “Look, why are they doing what is not lawful on the Sabbath?” And he said to them, “Have you never read what David did when he and his companions were hungry and in need of food? He entered the house of God, when Abiathar was high priest, and ate the bread of the Presence, which it is not lawful for any but the priests to eat, and he gave some to his companions.” Then he said to them, “The Sabbath was made for humankind, and not humankind for the Sabbath; so the Son of Man is lord even of the Sabbath.”
The Pharisees were in the habit of placing man made law ahead of the true purpose of God’s Law. The purpose of the Sabbath law was to set aside time to honor and to worship God; to set aside a time for prayer. The Pharisees, however, lost sight of that purpose and made the Sabbath a time for following rules. The Pharisees would ask questions like: “How much can you work on the Sabbath?” “What happens if your ox falls in a ditch, can you pull the ox out?” In did not take long before they lost sight of what the Sabbath was truly about, setting aside time for God.
To be sure, rules are needed. However, at times we lose focus on what is really important. We can be like the Pharisees too when we allow our human made church practices and rules ahead of honoring and worshipping God through prayer as a faith community.
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