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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.’ Again He entered the synagogue, and a man was there who had a withered hand. They watched Him to see whether He would cure him on the sabbath, so that they might accuse Him. And He said to the man who had the withered hand, ‘Come forward.’ Then He said to them, ‘Is it lawful to do good or to do harm on the sabbath, to save life or to kill?’ But they were silent. He looked around at them with anger; He was grieved at their hardness of heart and said to the man, ‘Stretch out your hand.’ He stretched it out, and his hand was restored. The Pharisees went out and immediately conspired with the Herodians against Him, how to destroy Him. (Mark 2:23-3:6)
Good day dear Friend! I pray the blessings of the Lord Jesus Christ be with you this day. I thank the Lord you are starting your work week with a devotional time. May this be a time of renewal and refreshing, recharging and redirecting.
As Nellie and I have shared with some of you, during our entire time in Israel we never felt unsafe. People were friendly, helpful, and welcoming. The only time we experienced a minor incident was on the Sabat or Sabbath. Our tour bus was traveling near the Orthodox Jew part of Jerusalem and little Jewish boys were throwing trash cans and filled trash bags onto the road. When they saw our bus the slide an aluminum barricade in front of us. We stopped, professor Jack Beck got down to remove it and older youths came to help him shaking their heads as if to say, "These kids!" The boys were holding to their teaching which we read above, of the sacredness of the Sabbath. To drive a vehicle on the Sabbath is contrary to their beliefs; and in my opinion, they were "working" by lifting and throwing cans and bags onto the street. Jesus encountered this on this day.
The first part of the passage deals with hunger. What do you do when you're hungry? What do you do when you're hungry and there's no food easily available? The day was the Sabbath and the Disciples were hungry. The only food around was the heads of grain in the fields near where they were walking. To pluck these heads was considered work. And work was in violation of the Sabbath observation. Jesus reminds them of their history, when King David and his men were hungry; they ate sacred bread in the house of God, which was a violation of the Law. The big question: Do you go hungry or do you feed yourself on the Sabbath? Jesus' response was telling: The sabbath was made for humankind, and not the other way around. The day was set aside as a holy day of rest, and God understands when we "violate" such to avoid hunger.
The second part deals with healing on the Sabbath, which is also considered work. And, dear one, keep in mind these religious men of Jesus' day spent their entire lives defining and redefining what it mean to work. As an example, the law said that to dot an i was considered work. And the defining list went on and on. Jesus sees the need in a man who is in the house of God. He has a crippled hand; and the religious men watch Jesus carefully because they knew He was a man of wonders, who had performed miracles of healing and they wanted to see if they could become eyewitnesses to such an act. They were not disappointed. Jesus begins the healing by asking a question: "Is it lawful to do good or do harm on the sabbath, to save life or to kill?" Notice they kept silent. This angered Jesus. They knew the answer but did not want to fall into any trap with Jesus. Jesus is grieved at the hardness of heart in these so-called religious men and says to the man to stretch out his hand and as he did, it was restored. The religious men ran out of the house of God to conspire with followers of Herod to make plans on how to destroy Jesus.
You may be saying, no such things exist nowadays! Wrong. Some places of worship still abide by laws of dress. If a man comes in with a cap or hat and does not remove it during worship, some churches may ask them to remove it from their heads. If a woman comes in with what some might consider inappropriate dress, they might ask the woman to leave. And it wasn't that long ago, men had to wear suits with ties, and women had to wear dresses. Thank God, most places have changed. Most. Not all. Would you turn a person away from a possible life-changing experience because of the way they were dressed? Would you deny someone an eternity with God because they did not know, or did not have, the "appropriate" attire?
PRAYER: Heavenly Father, have mercy on us when we or those around us act like the "religious men" of this passage. Help us to do what is best and right for You and Yours when it comes to situations like those mentioned above. Forgive us when we silently judge or criticize; free us for joyful obedience to life-giving and life-affirming decisions. This we pray in Christ Jesus' strong name, amen.
Have a great and blessed day in the Lord! Do the right thing today and all days!
Eradio Valverde
