Mark 2: 23 - 3: 6 (Common English Bible)
When we turn to the gospel of Mark, we’re reading in my opinion the most important book in the entire Bible. Mark’s gospel is where it all begins with Jesus. It was the first, earliest and most accurate gospel about Jesus. When I read this passage from Mark about the Sabbath laws, I remember the Blue laws we used to have. Now I’m not sure how strict the Blue laws were enforced in Indiana, but I do remember no stores were open in Salem on Sundays with one exception. It was a clothing store on the Salem Square owned and run by someone of the Jewish faith. Of course the Jewish people observe the Sabbath on Saturdays and not Sundays. And to be honest I can find nothing in the Bible that changed the original Sabbath day. Of course, it mentions in the New Testament the first Christians did observe the first day of the week (Sunday) as the day of Jesus’ resurrection, so they gathered to worship on that day. But the earliest Christians were Jews, so no doubt they still observed Saturday as the true Sabbath day. But how does the Sabbath influence us now as it did back in the time of Jesus? Did Jesus and his disciples violate the Sabbath?
There were two ways the disciples and Jesus broke Sabbath protocol. While walking through fields the disciples of Jesus pluck some heads of wheat. The gospels of Matthew and Luke say it was because they were hungry while Mark’s gospel doesn’t have those details.
To the Pharisees who saw this action, those disciples were reaping the field, something that is forbidden during the Sabbath. Whether the disciples were just passing the time plucking the heads of wheat or trying to get food for nourishment, it didn’t matter to the Pharisees. In their minds rules are meant to be kept. Now, it would be unfair to classify all Pharisees the same. Some were open-minded and fair. But the majority of Pharisees could be compared to Christians today associated with the so-called “Religious Right.” I call them the Religious WRONG.
Now Jesus viewed the Sabbath in a different way compared to his adversaries. For Jesus, the Sabbath must be enlivened and embodied so their experiences can be felt in a new way. The Sabbath rule we find in the Ten Commandments is about resting from work. But it’s more than the work we do to pay our bills and keep a roof over our heads. It’s about resting from things that keep us from God. Or it is a day to encourage us to live selfishly? We should be very oriented toward God on that day. And that can be in a variety of ways.
Jesus challenges the Pharisees and tells them, “The Sabbath was created for humans, humans were not created for the Sabbath. This is why the Human One is Lord even over the Sabbath.”
The story now turns from the rural fields to a synagogue. Now the Pharisees can watch Jesus with a closer eye. A trap is planned to discredit Jesus. Will Jesus heal a withered hand on the Sabbath?
Jesus realizes the Pharisees have made the gift of the Sabbath into a prison. But, Jesus calls their bluff and heals the man’s withered hand. Jesus rebukes the Pharisees and says, “Is it legal on the Sabbath to do good or to do evil, to save a life or to kill? The Pharisees were brainlocked and had nothing to say.
The purpose of the Sabbath is to help us to become the kind of people who resist doing harm and evil. The Sabbath is the remembrance day of rest that God gave us. When the Pharisees willingly choose to ignore the true nature of God, Jesus was both angry and deeply grieved for them. They are the ones who are trapped and it’s still hurting people.
In the Pharisees' world of rules, the only option Jesus had would be to ignore this man in need during the Sabbath and deny his own ability to help. Even though the Pharisees made exceptions for life-saving interventions for people near death, the suffering were left in pain.
Jesus compared the inaction of the Pharisees as causing harm and doing evil. The Lord of the Sabbath is telling us that our self-preservation or law-keeping cannot come at the cost of our neighbor, every neighbor, next door or even people we don’t know, living 5,000 miles away.
After all, when we gather for worship, we are meant to be orientated to God through a Sabbath setting with the Spirit that can make us more Christlike. The one called Jesus did fulfill the spirit of the Law and showed us its real purpose. Erring on the side of good might upset people, but it’s in obedience to the Lord of the Sabbath. It’s the Jesus way.
And are many Christians today like those worried Pharisees? Maybe they have reason to be. This Jesus was anything but safe. He was ready to stir up good trouble whenever the chance arose.
There is a piece of writing I would like to quote from Pastor Nibs Stroupe. He was the minister of an intercultural Presbyterian Church in Decatur, Georgia for 34 years. And I quote Pastor Stroupe:
“The difficult truth of the Cross is that we would rather kill Jesus than be transformed by his love. We prefer a dormant God, subject to our rites and rituals, than an active, category-busting God who is ever present in our lives. What field is Jesus walking through in our lives, plucking ears of corn from our sacred rituals? What are the essential categories of our lives that Jesus threatens?”
As we approach Christ’s table this morning, I invite you to ponder what can we do to be more like Jesus? The Lord of the Sabbath would ask no less.
AMEN
