Picking Grain on the Sabbath

Today's Reflections 

      

 

Picking Grain on the Sabbath

Mt 12:1-8

[On one occasion,] ¹Jesus was going through a field of grain on the sabbath. His disciples were hungry and began to pick the heads of grain and eat them. ²When the Pharisees saw this, they said to him, “See, your disciples are doing what is unlawful to do on the sabbath.” ³He said to them, “Have you not read what David did when he and his companions were hungry, ⁴how he went into the house of God and ate the bread of offering, which neither he nor his companions but only the priests could lawfully eat? ⁵Or have you not read in the law that on the sabbath the priests serving in the temple violate the sabbath and are innocent? ⁶I say to you, something greater than the temple is here. ⁷If you knew what this meant, ‘I desire mercy, not sacrifice,’ you would not have condemned these innocent men. ⁸For the Son of Man is Lord of the sabbath.”

WHAT IS UNLAWFUL TO DO ON THE SABBATH. Sabbath comes from the Hebrew SBT which means to cease or to rest. For Israel, it has two foundations. First is theological: Israel rests on the seventh day (also called Sabbath) because on it God rested from all the work he had undertaken in creation (cf Gn 2:3). Second is anthropomorphic: Israel must rest and must let the servants, the aliens, and even animals rest.

Circumcision, kosher laws on food, and the Sabbath rest distinguished the Jews in exile from other peoples. These gave the Jews their own identity and helped them survive as a people. On returning to their own land, they observed the Sabbath and the rabbis kept it sacred by making regulations that fenced the Sabbath rest from disrespect but later became laws unto themselves.

In defending his disciples against the Pharisees’ accusation, Jesus points to the primacy of genuine human need over laws and regulations. The Sabbath is meant to liberate people and promote their well-being, to be a day for people to rest, regain their strength, and enjoy the beauty and comfort of God’s creation. A very rigid application of the Sabbath laws burdens people. Jesus delights more over the “merciful” disposition of the heart.

Better days are coming!

They are called SATURDAY and SUNDAY!