66. Another Sabbath, Another Law

Deuteronomy 23:24-25, 1 Samuel 21:1-6, Matthew 12:1-8, Luke 6:1-5, & Mark 2:23-28

Key verse: Then Jesus said to them, "The Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath.” 

Luke 6:5

What an incredible situation!  Here are these religious leaders, in all of their pomp and piety, telling the law giver Himself, that, once again, He is breaking the rules.  The situation seems preposterous on the face of it, but there you have it; humans, telling God how He should behave. 

What were they doing wrong this time?  Well, the disciples probably thought that they were just taking a few grains of wheat or barley to stave off hunger until they reached their destination.  After all, in Deuteronomy, God instructs the people, "If you enter your neighbor’s grain field, you may pick kernels with your hands, but you must not put a sickle to his standing grain.”  (Deut.  23:25)  That's all the disciples were doing.  They were cutting through the field and plucking some grain to munch as they walked.  There was no harm being done as far as they were concerned.  

In the Pharisee's eyes, however, they were harvesting.  Harvesting is work.  Work is not allowed on the Sabbath.  Thus, Jesus' disciples were breaking the law and in the process, giving the Pharisees another opportunity to criticize.  Probably one of the main reasons that the Pharisees loved the law so much was that it gave them the ability to determine who was good and who was bad, based on externals.  How fortunate that the Lord looks at the heart. 

Jesus, however, does not pull rank or justify the actions of His disciples, and maybe Himself.  Instead, once again, He points out human inconsistency, by reminding them of their great ancestor David, who ate the bread set out for the priests, in a desperate situation.  And, in fact, was even helped to do so by the priest, Abiathar, Himself. 

It's so easy to get caught up in rules.  The law was originally intended to help us understand God; to learn what He approves of and what He doesn't.  It was never meant, however, to be used as a weapon, an opportunity to play "gotcha,” and find fault with as many people as possible.  Too often, when we become religious, this is what we reduce our worship to, a list of dos and don'ts.  When we do this, what we miss is "GRACE!” 

It was grace that compelled God, "the law” giver, to let us in on the rules in the first place.  Not so that He could condemn us, but so that we could understand how to please Him.  In this story of David, Jesus tries to help His critics see grace and show grace in return.  The disciples were not flaunting the fact that they were breaking the law as an act of rebellion.  No, they were nibbling a bit of grain.  They had no basket in hand and they weren't staying in one place to make sure that each stalk was plucked clean.  The religious leaders were being frivolous and Jesus knew it.  For Him, there was no need to correct or apologize. 

This doesn't mean that we can ignore God's law.  Jesus Himself said, "I did not come to abolish the law, but fulfill it.”  (Matthew 5:17) He does, however, call us to a life of grace and understanding toward others.  We are not the judge.  We are not God.  We are fellow travelers with imperfect people.  We need grace and understanding from them as much as they need it from us.  May we live a life of grace toward others today. 

Hymn: "Marvelous Grace”