Mark 2:23-3:6 It happened that one Sabbath day he was taking a walk through the cornfields, and his disciples began to make a path by plucking ears of corn. And the Pharisees said to him, ‘Look, why are they doing something on the Sabbath day that is forbidden?’ And he replied, ‘Have you never read what David did in his time of need when he and his followers were hungry— how he went into the house of God when Abiathar was high priest, and ate the loaves of the offering which only the priests are allowed to eat, and how he also gave some to the men with him?’ And he said to them, ‘The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath; so the Son of man is master even of the Sabbath.’ Another time he went into the synagogue, and there was a man present whose hand was withered. And they were watching him to see if he would cure him on the Sabbath day, hoping for something to charge him with. He said to the man with the withered hand, ‘Get up and stand in the middle!’ Then he said to them, ‘Is it permitted on the Sabbath day to do good, or to do evil; to save life, or to kill?’ But they said nothing. Then he looked angrily round at them, grieved to find them so obstinate, and said to the man, ‘Stretch out your hand.’ He stretched it out and his hand was restored. The Pharisees went out and began at once to plot with the Herodians against him, discussing how to destroy him. -- The New Jerusalem Bible. 1995, c1985. Doubleday: Garden City, N.Y.
A Study Whether Peter got some of this wrong and Mark transcribed it accurately, or Mark was filling in some blank spaces in Peter's story, there are two controversial parts to these two "controversy stories:" Abimelech was priest when David received shewbread for himself (and maybe his men), not Abiathar; and there is no evidence of "Herodians" as a religious or secular party akin to the Pharisaic sect, but perhaps a designation for those who wanted the return of Herod to replace the hated Pilate.
Matthew and Luke omit the famous "Sabbath was made for man..." saying while remaining almost in complete synchrony with the remainder of Mark's telling. It is certainly a snappy saying, but, in reality, it is unlike Jesus, who was fairly keen on observing the Law. Even though the sabbath was generally lightly treated -- except for those who outright rejected it -- many teachers of the day supported the sentiments of the quote attributed to Jesus. On the other hand, Matthew and Luke were not in the rush that Mark seems to be to get the opponents worked up to start plotting Jesus' death.
The sabbath healing of the withered hand is likewise considered a stretch by many scholars. It could hardly have qualified for "work." Jesus' double-barrelled question about good/evil and save/take life went unanswered. Perhaps the whole scene is a rhetorical device Mark used to make the point that Jesus was not bound by the Law, but acted on the Father's command and behalf. It could also have been an ambiguous poke in the eye toward the opponents.
A Reflection I vividly remember our south Alabama parish priest thundering the decalogue during Morning Prayer (every Sunday except the first, of course). "Remember the Sabbath day, that thou keep it holy; six days shalt thou labor, but on the seventh thou shalt rest." As an inquisitive youngster, it seemed odd to me that we kept it holy by going to church, but then my father would mow the lawn on Sunday afternoon. All the stores were closed except the drug store, whose pharmacy was closed but the soda fountain was open. My parents couldn't buy liquor or beer, but they could drink it. Those guys playing golf sure looked like they were working, too.
Five-year-olds asking "why" questions are certainly pesky. Perhaps it would be easier to live according to what we preach, or preach according to the way we live? That's situational ethics or relativism, though, isn't it? So why haven't we stoned anyone lately?
Now here's one for you: I watch Orthodox Jews work up a sweat walking to Temple on Saturday morning. They won't drive, because that's "work." Six days shalt thou labor but on the seventh...? Is there an eleventh commandment hidden somewhere that says, "Thou shalt ignore the laws of physics and common sense when applying the previous ten commandments."? Walking on the side of the road wearing a suit and a prayer shawl on a hot 94-degree summer's morning isn't being a show-off, is it?
Five-year-olds ask pesky questions. Brother Martin of Erfurt got in a lot of trouble for asking pesky questions. For that matter, so did Jesus: "Is it permitted on the Sabbath day to do good, or to do evil; to save life, or to kill?"
If the King James version of the Bible is inerrant, is the red-letter version or the one without red letters the one that has erred? Jesus could certainly have spoken 17th century English if he had wanted, but how did those around him understand it? Pesky, pesky.
But boil down the Hebrew Scripture into the background for Jesus. You'll find that the Jews had gotten it every way but right, and God's last, best shot was to send Himself into the world to rescue us. Boil down the New Testament and you'll find Jesus' simple rules about loving God and each other. Then start adding back in the other parts. Pretty soon you'll find that you've added too much or too little, and that when the whole thing is back together again, it's a pretty wild assortment. It's a delight to study and ponder and wonder over, considering God and Jesus and the Holy Spirit and watching them work in spite of men.
And the real beauty is that God gave us these great minds to use in considering all that He has done (or is reputed to have done). How can we err in asking about what men have done in God's name, to determine if it is of God?
Mark 2:13-22 He went out again to the shore of the lake; and all the people came to him, and he taught them. As he was walking along he saw Levi the son of Alphaeus sitting at the tax office, and he said to him, ‘Follow me.’ And he got up and followed him. When Jesus was at dinner in his house, a number of tax collectors and sinners were also sitting at table with Jesus and his disciples; for there were many of them among his followers. When the scribes of the Pharisee party saw him eating with sinners and tax collectors, they said to his disciples, ‘Why does he eat with tax collectors and sinners?’ When Jesus heard this he said to them, ‘It is not the healthy who need the doctor, but the sick. I came to call not the upright, but sinners.’ John’s disciples and the Pharisees were keeping a fast, when some people came to him and said to him, ‘Why is it that John’s disciples and the disciples of the Pharisees fast, but your disciples do not?’ Jesus replied, ‘Surely the bridegroom’s attendants cannot fast while the bridegroom is still with them? As long as they have the bridegroom with them, they cannot fast. But the time will come when the bridegroom is taken away from them, and then, on that day, they will fast. No one sews a piece of unshrunken cloth on an old cloak; otherwise, the patch pulls away from it, the new from the old, and the tear gets worse. And nobody puts new wine into old wineskins; otherwise, the wine will burst the skins, and the wine is lost and the skins too. No! New wine into fresh skins!’ -- The New Jerusalem Bible. 1995, c1985. Doubleday: Garden City, N.Y.
A Study Long before computer experts dreamed up "file compression technology," there was John Mark the gospel writer!
In these few lines, Mark manages to have Jesus
collect one of the apostles,
convey a principle of ministry which we value today, and
illuminate the single most significant milepost in God's relationship with humans.
First Levi, later to be re-named Matthew, the apostle, is called.
Second, Jesus explains why he emphasizes his ministry (and why we should, too) to those who seem outside the law. We have all heard (and perhaps used) the expression "preaching to the choir" or "preaching to the saved." Both of these phrases indicate that there is breath being wasted in preaching to those already inside the sheepgate, those who are already members of the flock. We should be expending our efforts on bringing the message to sinners and sinners to Jesus. As usual, this particular set of Pharisaic hangers-on, the scribes, just didn't get it. They were paying so much attention to the speck in someone else's eye that they couldn't perceive the log in their own, as He would put it so well later on.
Finally, in the latter half of this brief passage, Jesus forcefully -- albeit through simile -- disabuses those inquiring after his disciples' failure to keep a fast being observed by the "holy" among them. Paraphrasing his metaphor, he has told those questioners that after he has left them on the earth, then it will be appropriate to fast. Now for those present, however, is a time of great celebration, for Emmanuel has finally come.
A Reflection Early heretics (the docetists) who claimed that Jesus was divine, but never human, can't pass the "food test." Jesus was always about food, both physical and spiritual. He made sure that people were fed; frequently after healing someone he would ensure that they were given something to eat. It was at a meal that he instituted Eucharist.
And while these particular scribes needed the salvation Jesus brought to the non-Pharisee Jews (the "sinners," as the scribes called them[!]) and the tax-collectors like Levi, Jesus' attention was focused for that moment on those who needed him for sins more frequent than the scribes' hypocrisy, if not as pernicious. It's almost as if he were saying, "You righteous ones need me too, but I'm working on this bunch of sinners right now. I'll come back to you, later." Max Sutton, on being asked why he robbed so many banks, replied, "That's where the money is."
And those with whom Jesus was eating passed Jesus' test: they recognized that they were sinners, and freely admitted it -- and they believed in Jesus, to boot. He was sealing them into himself by eating with them.
Scholars think that the fast that John Baptist's followers and the Pharisees were keeping was some extra act of devotion -- carried out very dramatically in public so that others could see that they were fasting -- that was not required by the Jewish custom of the day. Jesus' pointed response to their needling questions emphasized that the fast was not a required one -- for Jesus kept the ritual law unless making a point -- and was a seed planted for them to remember: that he was going to be with them only for a short time, during which they should rejoice, and be joyful.
Of course, the very best news is that he's still with us, still waiting there at the table for us to come and sit with him.
