About Mark: Here are two stories referring to the Sabbath, the seventh day of the Jewish week. Their Ideas of the Sabbath were based on the seventh "day" in the story of creation when God is said to have rested from his creative work. The Jews had turned it into a day of virtual inactivity, surrounded by hundreds of nitpicking laws. The festive day had been turned into a funeral, and the Jews were offended that Jesus did not follow their ideas.
But Jewish theology also accepted that even on God's seventh day - the "day" of their present era - God still worked, sustaining and redeeming his creation. Because God still sustained and redeemed his creation on the seventh day, Jesus argued that he could still work to sustain and heal (John 5:16-17). The law about the Sabbath in the 10 commandments, like all God's laws, was made for the benefit of people. People were not made for the benefit of the laws.
The Herodians appear at Mark 3:6, a political force siding with the dynasty of Herods that wielded power during the period covered by the New Testament. A major project in the background of the Gospel's story is the ongoing renovation of Jerusalem's temple. This was a cooperative venture between the Herods’ political interests and the Jewish religious leadership including the priests, scribes and Pharisees. Raising money for the huge cost had turned the temple into a business enterprise, which Jesus opposed.
Jesus' disregard for the temple and the Sabbath laws was a major threat to the religious power base and could not be tolerated. In all the Gospels this controversy over the Sabbath triggers the determination of the Jewish leadership to eliminate Jesus.
Bible: Mark 2:23-3:6, Pronouncement about the Sabbath
23 One sabbath he was going through the grainfields; and as they made their way his disciples began to pluck heads of grain. 24 The Pharisees said to him, "Look, why are they doing what isnot lawful on the sabbath?" 25 And he said to them, "Have you never read what David did when he and his companions were hungry and in need of food? 26 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." 27 Then he said to them, "The sabbath was made for humankind, and not humankind for the sabbath; 28 so the Son of Man is lord even of the sabbath."
The Man With a Withered Hand
1 Again he entered the synagogue, and a man was there who had a withered hand. 2 They watched him to see whether he would cure him on the sabbath, so that they might accuse him. 3 And he said to the man who had the withered hand, "Come forward." 4 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. 5 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. 6 The Pharisees went out and immediately conspired with the Herodians against him, how to destroy him.
Comment: FUNERAL THINKING
JESUS answers the challenge of the Pharisees by referring to the Old Testament. This was his common approach to religious questions. What does the Scripture teach? Here Jesus cites King David, considered the greatest of Israel's kings. In fact, the Messiah was called "the son of David" because he would again give Israel the kind of spiritual leadership that, despite his faults, David provided. The strength of David's relationship with God is seen in the Book of Psalms, many of which emerged from David's own life experience.
JESUS answers the challenge of the Pharisees by referring to the Old Testament. This was his common approach to religious questions. What does the Scripture teach? Here Jesus cites King David, considered the greatest of Israel's kings. In fact, the Messiah was called "the son of David" because he would again give Israel the kind of spiritual leadership that, despite his faults, David provided. The strength of David's relationship with God is seen in the Book of Psalms, many of which emerged from David's own life experience.
Jesus applies the incident about David to show that the Pharisees’ rigidity conflicted with the Scriptural example. Placing the law above the people, rather than to serve them, was wrong in Jesus' eyes.
The Son of Man is Lord ….
The "Son of Man" phrase in 2:28, like the "Son of Man" phrase in 2:10, is again probably Mark's commentary on the incident, rather than part of Jesus' own words, as it appears here. It justified the Christians' use of the first day of the week (Sunday) rather than the seventh for their celebrations. They felt free to do what was best in pursuit of their mission - just as David did.
The "Son of Man" phrase in 2:28, like the "Son of Man" phrase in 2:10, is again probably Mark's commentary on the incident, rather than part of Jesus' own words, as it appears here. It justified the Christians' use of the first day of the week (Sunday) rather than the seventh for their celebrations. They felt free to do what was best in pursuit of their mission - just as David did.
Discipleship today: Christianity is not a lot of rules and regulations. If some of his followers think like that, Jesus certainly did not. Having the Scriptures as the basis of Christian faith gives us sure grounds for discussing what God intends for us. Being a Christian involves a commitment to Jesus and to the Scriptures. Truth sets free, as these two incidents show.
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