At that time Jesus went through the grainfields on the Sabbath. His disciples were hungry and began to pick some heads of grain and eat them. When the Pharisees saw this, they said to him, “Look! Your disciples are doing what is unlawful on the Sabbath.”
He answered, “Haven’t you read what David did when he and his companions were hungry? He entered the house of God, and he and his companions ate the consecrated bread—which was not lawful for them to do, but only for the priests. Or haven’t you read in the Law that the priests on Sabbath duty in the temple desecrate the Sabbath and yet are innocent? I tell you that something greater than the temple is here. If you had known what these words mean, ‘I desire mercy, not sacrifice,’ you would not have condemned the innocent. For the Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath.”
Going on from that place, he went into their synagogue, and a man with a shriveled hand was there. Looking for a reason to bring charges against Jesus, they asked him, “Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath?”
He said to them, “If any of you has a sheep and it falls into a pit on the Sabbath, will you not take hold of it and lift it out? How much more valuable is a person than a sheep! Therefore it is lawful to do good on the Sabbath.”
Then he said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” So he stretched it out and it was completely restored, just as sound as the other. But the Pharisees went out and plotted how they might kill Jesus.
What’s God’s view of the Sabbath…really? No football? No beach? No mall?
The answer is found in the verse quoted by Jesus. Hosea 6:6 says…”For I desire mercy, not sacrifice, and acknowledgment of God rather than burnt offerings”.
And the Lord’s commentary? …”if you had known what these words mean…”
The two historical accounts that Jesus raised are both connected with the temple. Both David and the priests “got a pass” because their technical violation of the Sabbath was somehow connected with the temple.
The clue is in the connection…
Then, Jesus says (referring to himself) “something greater than the temple is now here”.
”if I only knew what these words mean…”
If I was a betting man I’d say the meaning is clear: God is content with anything we do on the Sabbath as long as it is connected with Christ “for the Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath.”
It is not possible for an activity to be connected with Christ and also be prohibited. That applies seven days a week. Unfortunately, we prefer to connect our activities to our traditions. It removes all the guess work. If Leo Berreth said it…or Dave Hustad said it…it must be right. Right?
Maybe…
When we take this to heart we may begin to see activities that don’t always harmonize with our tradition. I’ll bet it concerned David…but he stepped out in faith anyway.
My advice? Look for the connection. If we can’t find it…perhaps we should take a pass.
Live boldly out there today…
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