Hi everyone and welcome back to the podcast.
Today's reading at mass is Mark chapter 2 verses 23 to 28.
So we're continuing in the gospel of Mark and there's a
really interesting scene Here with Jesus and his disciples
doing something that offends the pharaoh.
Seas. And there's a bit to talk about
here. So let's get into the text.
One Sabbath day. Jesus happened to be taking a
walk through the cornfields and his disciples began to pick ears
of corn as they went along. And the Pharisees said to him.
Look, why are they doing something on the Sabbath day?
That is forbidden and he replied.
Did you never read what Jesus did in his time of need?
When he and his followers were hungry, how he went into the
house of God, when a Bea Arthur was high priest and eight loaves
of Offering which only the priests were 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. The son of man is Master even of
the Sabbath. So the setting here in verse 23,
it says one Sabbath day so really this could be any time.
It doesn't necessarily happen straight after the previous
scene, most likely this isn't straight after the previous
scene. Because what you'll notice about
the last three or four things we've looked at in Mark, last
three or four scenes, is that they all relate to food, so, it
could be. That Mark is grouping all these
incidents that relate to food together in one spot in his
gospel. Possibly armed.
It could be chronological, we don't know.
And it's the Sabbath day where this particular scene happens.
So for the Jews Sabbath day was Saturday.
So it's from Friday Sundown to Saturday Sundown and often I
know that when I often think of this story, I sort of just think
of Jesus and his disciples walking slowly along having a
good time and it's just them hanging out as though it's a day
of leisure. But actually, what's probably
going on here is as we know from earlier in the gospel of Mark.
On the Sabbath. Jesus was very busy and there
were crowds following him. So probably there's a whole lot
of crowds following him. We know that the Pharisees at
least two there. So there's probably a whole lot
of people here in the cornfield with Jesus and his disciples and
they're taking a walk through the cornfields.
And so he's in the Galilee area, which is a agricultural area.
Has lots of crops, lots of open areas and his disciples begin to
pick ears of corn as they go along.
Notice it's his disciples, not Jesus himself.
That's picking the corn and they're doing it because they're
hungry. They need to eat something.
We know that from other places later in the gospel of Mark, the
Jesus and his disciples were often.
So busy with the crowd. That they did get quite hungry.
They didn't have time to eat. We need to keep that in mind.
The disciples are not picking the grain just for fun.
They actually really hungry and they need some food and so
they're picking is of corn. So if you can try and imagine
what they're doing with it, use of corn, they pluck off the
heads of grain and then they rub off the husks in their hand
which is like the outer covering and so that leaves them with
this ripe raw wheat kernels. So they're eating wheat kernels,
it's kind of big. The ancient equivalent of fast
food. You just walk along your grab an
ear of corn. You take off some of the outer
layers and you've got raw corn kernels to eat on the go.
Now there's actually nothing wrong with doing this according
to Jewish law, you could actually go through anyone's
field and pick their corn. It's not actually a legal as
long as you don't use a special tool for reaping because then
you would get too much. So if you just pick taking what
you need, then in Jewish Society, that's actually fine.
And that's A good rule that we could learn from if you're just
getting some food for yourself or not, reaping a whole lot.
That's fine. That's actually specified in
Deuteronomy 23 verse 26. Here's what it says.
When you go through your neighbor's grain field, you may
pluck some of the ears with your hand, but do not put a sickle to
your neighbors grain. So that's actually a law that
the Jews were given about 1500 BC in the book of Deuteronomy.
And They Carried that bore through to Jesus.
Day you can pick corn, just don't use a sickle to get it.
Verse 24, the Pharisees said to Jesus, so we know that there's
Pharisees, at least following Jesus in the crowd, and they're
considered to be the teachers of the, for the common Jewish, man.
They interpret the law because most people couldn't read or
write. So the Pharisees were the ones
that helped them understand the law.
Keep in mind the Pharisees, the often presented as the evil
ones, as though they want to keep people from God, that's
actually not their intention as Bible scholars.
We need to keep in mind. The Pharisees want people to
come to, God, they are concerned with Holiness, and they want the
Jews to be. Holy, they take their job, very
seriously. They want to help people be
close to God. And to do that, they put in
place this quite complex system that they believed would help
the Jews. Achieve Holiness, that's their
goal to help the Jews. Achieve Holiness, the Sadducees
possibly a little different, it seems the Sadducees probably
more concerned with wealth and manipulating things, but the
Pharisees seemed legitimately concerned with doing the right
thing in God's eyes. So when they get offended by
Jesus, they're actually quite offended to them.
Jesus is breaking the laws that God has put in place.
And so they notice here that Jesus disciples are breaking one
of their Sabbath laws and the using the opportunity to accuse
Jesus. So they say, why are they doing
something on the Sabbath day? That is forbidden.
Now, are they doing anything illegal here?
We need to unpack this a bit. So the Old Testament stipulates
that a do cannot do work on the Sabbath.
That's in Exodus. 34 verse 21. That's the law Jews cannot do
any kind of manual work on the Sabbath day that applies to all
Jews. But what counts as work is the
question. So the Pharisees wanting to help
the Jews, understand what counts as work.
And what doesn't they'd come up with a really complex
categories? Really elaborate system of what
counts as work and what doesn't because they want to help the
Jews. Make sure that they don't break
this law. And as part of their categories
that they come up with the Pharisees said, yes, picking
corn is considered to be reaping and you can't reap On the
Sabbath. So that's the categories that I
had come up with and that was the law for the Jews at the time
because they had to follow the law of the Pharisees.
Now, interestingly, Jesus doesn't confirm or deny, that
Jesus doesn't enter into a discussion about the categories
of what counts as work. And what doesn't he actually is
a, he's going to address it on a deeper level.
So it could, well, be that the Pharisees a right about this
that picking corn counts as reaping.
Jesus doesn't rule that out later in the gospels.
Jesus actually says, the Pharisees do have authority to
make laws, It's just sometimes. We'll talk about that when we
get there, but Jesus on the whole of firms that the
Pharisees can they do have legitimate Authority and here?
Jesus doesn't confirm or deny whether they're right But he
doesn't gauge the issue on a deeper level.
He talks, he refers to this thing.
That happened to David. So in verse 25, year Jesus says,
did you never read what David did in his time of need?
When he, and his followers were hungry.
So the Pharisees would have been familiar with this story.
It's from 1 Samuel. 21 verse 2 to 7 the Pharisees know, their
Old Testament, very well whenever Jesus is challenged or
he's dealing with some opponents.
He almost always Appeals to Common Ground in the scriptures.
So when he's talking to the Sadducees, he only courts from
books that the Sadducees except when he's dealing with the
Pharisees, he always goes back to the old testament which the
Pharisees did accept in order to make his point.
He wants to prove his point from the scriptures.
And he is this, he is Jesus summary of the story.
David went into the house of God, when a Bea Arthur was high
priest and ate the loaves of offering, which only the priests
are allowed to eat, and he also gave some to the men with him
and that's a reasonable summary of the David story.
So, in 1, Samuel 21 David's on the run him, and his men are
being pursued and they're getting hungry.
So they stopped at the holy tent.
And there's the priests in there, but he explains the
situation, to the priest, and the high priest.
A Bea Arthur agrees to let David and his men, eat some of the
Holy bread because they're legitimately hungry.
You'll see, you can probably hear already.
There's a very close parallel here to the situation with Jesus
and his disciples. So what what point is Jesus
trying to make you by bringing out the story of David in the
Jewish mind. David is considered to be a holy
man. In fact, he's the chosen one of
God and all the Jews venerate him.
So, in the Jewish mind, it's like David can't do the wrong
thing almost. But think about what David does
in this story from 1 Samuel, 21. David takes holy bread that only
priests could eat from in the whole intent and the priest
actually gives it to him the priest.
Allows him to eat it. So David eats the bread because
he's hungry. Even though only priest is
supposed to eat it, he then give some to The Men Who were with
him because they are hungry as well.
And probably this Jesus doesn't say this, but if we look at the
text, this story of David probably occurred on the Sabbath
as well because the holy bread was usually only available on
the Sabbath and that's in Leviticus 20 for that specified.
So if David's story happened on the Sabbath that adds a whole
lot of weight to what Jesus is about to say, So here's Jesus
point, if David being the chosen, one of God could do all
of this with the Holy consecrated bread because him
and his men were hungry and needed food.
If that was acceptable for David, surely it's acceptable
for another Jewish teacher to take ordinary fruit.
It's not even consecrated for, it's just normal Grain on the
Sabbath day so that his followers do not go hungry.
That's probably the basic Point. Jesus is making if David could
Consecrated bread on the Sabbath and that's okay.
Well, surely, my man can take normal bread on the Sabbath and
that should be okay. But some Scholars think there's
a deeper comparison. Jesus is making year, so this is
another possible way of looking at Jesus Point elsewhere in the
gospels. Jesus says, things like behold
one greater than David is here. So Jesus later says, I'm greater
than David so if he has that view in mind here too.
He could be saying something like this.
David was allowed to do this. I'm greater than David so I can
do it too. So in this case, if that's the
right interpretation, Jesus is saying that his disciples who
are involved in his Messianic Mission, a granted, a kind of a
Priestly dispensation from the Sabbath laws, just, as David's
men were, granted, a dispensation by the high priest
in the 1, Samuel 21. So, that's an interesting
comparison. Maybe Jesus is saying that his
disciples have a dispensation just like how David's men were
dismissed from for. In the law, on that day, by the
high priest. So, two possible interpretations
here in the literal sense, Jesus could be saying, well, if David
took the consecrated bread and that's okay.
Well, then I should be able to take non consecrated bread for
my disciples and that should be fine or he could mean I'm
greater than David. So if David can do it, I can do
it. One of those two is probably
right. now, he then goes on to make another Point verse 27,
which is, in fact, the deeper Point here wants to get to He
says the Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath now
when date when God originally gave that law in Exodus that was
reasonably. Clear.
Everyone knew the Sabbath was for man.
The Sabbath is supposed to be about resting from work and the
whole point of it is to enjoy Covenant relationship with God.
That was the point of God giving the Sabbath law.
Everyone knew that at the time, but over 1500 years as the
Pharisees, and the other Jewish leaders became.
So concerned with fulfilling the Sabbath law, and ensuring that
it's done, and that no one breaks it, they kind of become
Servants of the Sabbath. They'd sort of ended up making
the Sabbath a burden that people had to bear.
Rather than the other way around, where the Sabbath serves
the people. So it's unfortunate but that's
just sort of how it happened over time.
People were so serious about fulfilling the Sabbath law that
it became more of a burden than a rest time.
Went by Jesus saying the man the Sabbath was made for man, not
man for the Sabbath, that's not a new teaching.
This, the Jews knew that it's just that they kind of forgotten
it by the time of Jesus. So he is reminding them of the
original point of the Sabbath. so what's Jesus saying here in a
nutshell, he's saying Jews can still fulfill their basic needs
on the Sabbath, otherwise that actually contradicts the whole
point of the Sabbath which is to rest in Covenant relationship
with God. It's pretty hard to rest in a
relationship with God if you can't meet your basic needs on
that day. So Jesus teaching here, is that
Jews can still fulfill their basic needs on the Sabbath?
Notice the whole point here is about Hunger, okay?
If Jesus disciples have been going through the field and just
picking the grain just for fun, then they would be breaking the
Sabbath law and it would not be acceptable.
No question about it. But because they're doing it
because they're genuinely hungry hungry, and they genuinely need
food. They're trying to meet a human
need. Then Jesus says, that's the kind
of thing that is acceptable on the Sabbath.
We need to keep that in mind. It's about hunger and a human
need. The last thing here, which is
probably the most important thing in verse 28.
Jesus says, the son of man is Master even of the Sabbath or
another translation is Lord even of the Sabbath.
Remember what a son of man? Mean it's a term that in the
time of Jesus is used for the Messiah.
So Jesus often claims to be the son of man and in doing that,
he's claiming to be the Messiah. So when Jesus says, the son of
man is Master even of the Sabbath.
It's this is a new teaching. The Jews did not realize this
about the Messiah. Jesus is not abrogating Sabbath
laws here. He's not saying I Now command
that the Sabbath no longer applies, he does not say that.
What he is saying is the Messiah has power even to interpret how
the Sabbath should be observed. So the Messiah has power to
authoritatively interpret how the Sabbath should be observed.
So the Messiah has genuine authority to make and interpret
laws which is actually a greater Authority.
Even even the Pharisees had because the Pharisees believed
they can't change the Sabbath law.
And Jesus here is basically saying the Messiah can make
authoritative interpretations of the law, which is kind of a
continuation of of the authority, the Pharisees had,
but it's even slightly greater than that.
So this is new the Jews at the time, did not realize that the
Messiah would have the power even to interpret the Sabbath
law. There's another element here,
possibly, which some Scholars have detected, which is that
since God instituted the Sabbath, God was the one who
gave the Sabbath law by Jesus saying that he has power over
the Sabbath. He could be implying or it could
be hinting at his own Divinity. So there's another element there
but on the basic level Jesus is saying the Messiah has power to
interpret the Sabbath laws. This kind of thinking is really
important when we get to the gospel of Matthew and The Sermon
on the Mount. Remember Jesus says, I have not
come to abolish the law, but to fulfill it.
So in other words, the Messiah has the power to give the
authoritative interpretation of the true meaning of the law and
is doing the same here with the Sabbath.
So that's the text. I hope you found that useful
when we look at the background in terms of what David did and
what the Jewish law was about, what you could do on the Sabbath
and what Jesus is saying about the messiah's role in
interpreting the Sabbath, What is the Catholic Church?
Teach in relation to this passage Mark 2 verse 23 to 28,
there's a couple of really quite interesting and clear paragraphs
here about the Sabbath law. So, firstly in paragraph, five,
eight, one and 5/8 to, which is about Jesus relationship with
the Sabbath. The catechism says this the
Jewish people and their spiritual leaders view Jesus.
As a rabbi, he often argued within the framework of
rabbinical interpretation of the law.
But Jesus could not help, but offend the teachers of the law
for he was not content to propose his interpretation
alongside. There's but taught the people as
one who had Authority and not as the scribes in presenting with
Divine Authority, the definitive interpretation of the law.
Jesus found himself confronted by certain teachers of the law
who did not accept his interpretation of the law
guaranteed, though, it was by Divine signs that accompanied
it, this was especially the case with the Sabbath laws.
So, he recalls often with rabbinical arguments that the
Sabbath rest is not violated by serving God and neighbor which
his own healings did. So there is the Catholic
Church's teaching about Jesus role in interpreting the law and
it mentions the Sabbath in particular and then later in
paragraph, 2 173 that's in the section about the Ten
Commandments. There's a discussion there about
what the Sabbath day means. Paragraph to 173.
Serves the gospel reports. Many incidents when Jesus was
accused of violating the Sabbath law but Jesus never fails to
respect the Holiness of this day.
He gives this law. It's authentic and authoritative
interpretation. The Sabbath was made for man.
Not man for the Sabbath with compassion Christ, declares the
Sabbath for doing good rather than harm for saving life,
rather than killing The Sabbath is the day of the Lord of
mercies and a day to honor God. The son of man is Lord even of
the Sabbath. She can probably hear parts of
Mark. Chapter 2 that we heard today
being quoted in there? The Ten Commandments Jesus
doesn't really dispute, most of the Ten Commandments though, the
Sabbath law comes up quite a lot.
It's probably the one out of the Ten Commandments that gets the
most discussion in the gospels, because Jesus comes to give each
of the Ten Commandments their deepest and truest fulfillment.
And when it comes to the Sabbath, he has a few things to
say, in particular, that the Jews weren't expecting about,
what it means in the truest sense to fulfill the Sabbath
law, Okay, thanks for listening. I hope you found that a useful
exegesis of Mark chapter 2. Hopefully, we'll see you again
tomorrow.