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Hi everyone and welcome back to 
the podcast. 

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Today's reading at mass is Mark 
chapter 2 verses 23 to 28. 

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So we're continuing in the 
gospel of Mark and there's a 

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really interesting scene Here 
with Jesus and his disciples 

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doing something that offends the
pharaoh. 

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Seas. 
And there's a bit to talk about 

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here. 
So let's get into the text. 

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One Sabbath day. 
Jesus happened to be taking a 

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walk through the cornfields and 
his disciples began to pick ears

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of corn as they went along. 
And the Pharisees said to him. 

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Look, why are they doing 
something on the Sabbath day? 

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That is forbidden and he 
replied. 

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Did you never read what Jesus 
did in his time of need? 

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When he and his followers were 
hungry, how he went into the 

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house of God, when a Bea Arthur 
was high priest and eight loaves

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of Offering which only the 
priests were allowed to eat and 

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how he also gave some to the men
with him. 

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And he said to them the Sabbath 
was made for man, not man for 

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the Sabbath. 
The son of man is Master even of

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the Sabbath. 
So the setting here in verse 23,

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it says one Sabbath day so 
really this could be any time. 

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It doesn't necessarily happen 
straight after the previous 

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scene, most likely this isn't 
straight after the previous 

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scene. 
Because what you'll notice about

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the last three or four things 
we've looked at in Mark, last 

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three or four scenes, is that 
they all relate to food, so, it 

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could be. 
That Mark is grouping all these 

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incidents that relate to food 
together in one spot in his 

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gospel. 
Possibly armed. 

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It could be chronological, we 
don't know. 

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And it's the Sabbath day where 
this particular scene happens. 

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So for the Jews Sabbath day was 
Saturday. 

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So it's from Friday Sundown to 
Saturday Sundown and often I 

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know that when I often think of 
this story, I sort of just think

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of Jesus and his disciples 
walking slowly along having a 

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good time and it's just them 
hanging out as though it's a day

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of leisure. 
But actually, what's probably 

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going on here is as we know from
earlier in the gospel of Mark. 

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On the Sabbath. 
Jesus was very busy and there 

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were crowds following him. 
So probably there's a whole lot 

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of crowds following him. 
We know that the Pharisees at 

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least two there. 
So there's probably a whole lot 

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of people here in the cornfield 
with Jesus and his disciples and

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they're taking a walk through 
the cornfields. 

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And so he's in the Galilee area,
which is a agricultural area. 

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Has lots of crops, lots of open 
areas and his disciples begin to

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pick ears of corn as they go 
along. 

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Notice it's his disciples, not 
Jesus himself. 

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That's picking the corn and 
they're doing it because they're

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hungry. 
They need to eat something. 

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We know that from other places 
later in the gospel of Mark, the

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Jesus and his disciples were 
often. 

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So busy with the crowd. 
That they did get quite hungry. 

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They didn't have time to eat. 
We need to keep that in mind. 

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The disciples are not picking 
the grain just for fun. 

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They actually really hungry and 
they need some food and so 

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they're picking is of corn. 
So if you can try and imagine 

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what they're doing with it, use 
of corn, they pluck off the 

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heads of grain and then they rub
off the husks in their hand 

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which is like the outer covering
and so that leaves them with 

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this ripe raw wheat kernels. 
So they're eating wheat kernels,

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it's kind of big. 
The ancient equivalent of fast 

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food. 
You just walk along your grab an

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ear of corn. 
You take off some of the outer 

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layers and you've got raw corn 
kernels to eat on the go. 

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Now there's actually nothing 
wrong with doing this according 

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to Jewish law, you could 
actually go through anyone's 

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field and pick their corn. 
It's not actually a legal as 

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long as you don't use a special 
tool for reaping because then 

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you would get too much. 
So if you just pick taking what 

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you need, then in Jewish 
Society, that's actually fine. 

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And that's A good rule that we 
could learn from if you're just 

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getting some food for yourself 
or not, reaping a whole lot. 

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That's fine. 
That's actually specified in 

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Deuteronomy 23 verse 26. 
Here's what it says. 

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When you go through your 
neighbor's grain field, you may 

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pluck some of the ears with your
hand, but do not put a sickle to

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your neighbors grain. 
So that's actually a law that 

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the Jews were given about 1500 
BC in the book of Deuteronomy. 

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And They Carried that bore 
through to Jesus. 

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Day you can pick corn, just 
don't use a sickle to get it. 

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Verse 24, the Pharisees said to 
Jesus, so we know that there's 

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Pharisees, at least following 
Jesus in the crowd, and they're 

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considered to be the teachers of
the, for the common Jewish, man.

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They interpret the law because 
most people couldn't read or 

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write. 
So the Pharisees were the ones 

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that helped them understand the 
law. 

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Keep in mind the Pharisees, the 
often presented as the evil 

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ones, as though they want to 
keep people from God, that's 

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actually not their intention as 
Bible scholars. 

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We need to keep in mind. 
The Pharisees want people to 

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come to, God, they are concerned
with Holiness, and they want the

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Jews to be. 
Holy, they take their job, very 

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seriously. 
They want to help people be 

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close to God. 
And to do that, they put in 

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place this quite complex system 
that they believed would help 

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the Jews. 
Achieve Holiness, that's their 

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goal to help the Jews. 
Achieve Holiness, the Sadducees 

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possibly a little different, it 
seems the Sadducees probably 

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more concerned with wealth and 
manipulating things, but the 

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Pharisees seemed legitimately 
concerned with doing the right 

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thing in God's eyes. 
So when they get offended by 

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Jesus, they're actually quite 
offended to them. 

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Jesus is breaking the laws that 
God has put in place. 

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And so they notice here that 
Jesus disciples are breaking one

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of their Sabbath laws and the 
using the opportunity to accuse 

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Jesus. 
So they say, why are they doing 

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something on the Sabbath day? 
That is forbidden. 

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Now, are they doing anything 
illegal here? 

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We need to unpack this a bit. 
So the Old Testament stipulates 

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that a do cannot do work on the 
Sabbath. 

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That's in Exodus. 34 verse 21. 
That's the law Jews cannot do 

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any kind of manual work on the 
Sabbath day that applies to all 

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Jews. 
But what counts as work is the 

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question. 
So the Pharisees wanting to help

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the Jews, understand what counts
as work. 

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And what doesn't they'd come up 
with a really complex 

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categories? 
Really elaborate system of what 

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counts as work and what doesn't 
because they want to help the 

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Jews. 
Make sure that they don't break 

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this law. 
And as part of their categories 

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that they come up with the 
Pharisees said, yes, picking 

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corn is considered to be reaping
and you can't reap On the 

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Sabbath. 
So that's the categories that I 

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had come up with and that was 
the law for the Jews at the time

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because they had to follow the 
law of the Pharisees. 

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Now, interestingly, Jesus 
doesn't confirm or deny, that 

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Jesus doesn't enter into a 
discussion about the categories 

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of what counts as work. 
And what doesn't he actually is 

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a, he's going to address it on a
deeper level. 

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So it could, well, be that the 
Pharisees a right about this 

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that picking corn counts as 
reaping. 

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Jesus doesn't rule that out 
later in the gospels. 

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Jesus actually says, the 
Pharisees do have authority to 

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make laws, It's just sometimes. 
We'll talk about that when we 

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get there, but Jesus on the 
whole of firms that the 

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Pharisees can they do have 
legitimate Authority and here? 

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Jesus doesn't confirm or deny 
whether they're right But he 

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doesn't gauge the issue on a 
deeper level. 

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He talks, he refers to this 
thing. 

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That happened to David. 
So in verse 25, year Jesus says,

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did you never read what David 
did in his time of need? 

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When he, and his followers were 
hungry. 

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So the Pharisees would have been
familiar with this story. 

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It's from 1 Samuel. 21 verse 2 
to 7 the Pharisees know, their 

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Old Testament, very well 
whenever Jesus is challenged or 

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he's dealing with some 
opponents. 

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He almost always Appeals to 
Common Ground in the scriptures.

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So when he's talking to the 
Sadducees, he only courts from 

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books that the Sadducees except 
when he's dealing with the 

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Pharisees, he always goes back 
to the old testament which the 

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Pharisees did accept in order to
make his point. 

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He wants to prove his point from
the scriptures. 

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And he is this, he is Jesus 
summary of the story. 

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David went into the house of 
God, when a Bea Arthur was high 

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priest and ate the loaves of 
offering, which only the priests

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are allowed to eat, and he also 
gave some to the men with him 

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and that's a reasonable summary 
of the David story. 

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So, in 1, Samuel 21 David's on 
the run him, and his men are 

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being pursued and they're 
getting hungry. 

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So they stopped at the holy 
tent. 

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And there's the priests in 
there, but he explains the 

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situation, to the priest, and 
the high priest. 

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A Bea Arthur agrees to let David
and his men, eat some of the 

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Holy bread because they're 
legitimately hungry. 

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You'll see, you can probably 
hear already. 

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There's a very close parallel 
here to the situation with Jesus

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and his disciples. 
So what what point is Jesus 

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trying to make you by bringing 
out the story of David in the 

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Jewish mind. 
David is considered to be a holy

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man. 
In fact, he's the chosen one of 

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God and all the Jews venerate 
him. 

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So, in the Jewish mind, it's 
like David can't do the wrong 

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thing almost. 
But think about what David does 

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in this story from 1 Samuel, 21.
David takes holy bread that only

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priests could eat from in the 
whole intent and the priest 

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actually gives it to him the 
priest. 

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Allows him to eat it. 
So David eats the bread because 

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he's hungry. 
Even though only priest is 

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supposed to eat it, he then give
some to The Men Who were with 

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him because they are hungry as 
well. 

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And probably this Jesus doesn't 
say this, but if we look at the 

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text, this story of David 
probably occurred on the Sabbath

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as well because the holy bread 
was usually only available on 

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the Sabbath and that's in 
Leviticus 20 for that specified.

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So if David's story happened on 
the Sabbath that adds a whole 

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lot of weight to what Jesus is 
about to say, So here's Jesus 

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point, if David being the 
chosen, one of God could do all 

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of this with the Holy 
consecrated bread because him 

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and his men were hungry and 
needed food. 

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If that was acceptable for 
David, surely it's acceptable 

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for another Jewish teacher to 
take ordinary fruit. 

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It's not even consecrated for, 
it's just normal Grain on the 

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Sabbath day so that his 
followers do not go hungry. 

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That's probably the basic Point.
Jesus is making if David could 

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Consecrated bread on the Sabbath
and that's okay. 

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Well, surely, my man can take 
normal bread on the Sabbath and 

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that should be okay. 
But some Scholars think there's 

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a deeper comparison. 
Jesus is making year, so this is

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another possible way of looking 
at Jesus Point elsewhere in the 

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gospels. 
Jesus says, things like behold 

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one greater than David is here. 
So Jesus later says, I'm greater

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than David so if he has that 
view in mind here too. 

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He could be saying something 
like this. 

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David was allowed to do this. 
I'm greater than David so I can 

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do it too. 
So in this case, if that's the 

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right interpretation, Jesus is 
saying that his disciples who 

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are involved in his Messianic 
Mission, a granted, a kind of a 

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Priestly dispensation from the 
Sabbath laws, just, as David's 

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men were, granted, a 
dispensation by the high priest 

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in the 1, Samuel 21. 
So, that's an interesting 

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comparison. 
Maybe Jesus is saying that his 

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disciples have a dispensation 
just like how David's men were 

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dismissed from for. 
In the law, on that day, by the 

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high priest. 
So, two possible interpretations

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here in the literal sense, Jesus
could be saying, well, if David 

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took the consecrated bread and 
that's okay. 

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Well, then I should be able to 
take non consecrated bread for 

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my disciples and that should be 
fine or he could mean I'm 

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greater than David. 
So if David can do it, I can do 

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it. 
One of those two is probably 

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right. now, he then goes on to 
make another Point verse 27, 

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which is, in fact, the deeper 
Point here wants to get to He 

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says the Sabbath was made for 
man, not man for the Sabbath now

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when date when God originally 
gave that law in Exodus that was

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reasonably. 
Clear. 

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Everyone knew the Sabbath was 
for man. 

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The Sabbath is supposed to be 
about resting from work and the 

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whole point of it is to enjoy 
Covenant relationship with God. 

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That was the point of God giving
the Sabbath law. 

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Everyone knew that at the time, 
but over 1500 years as the 

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Pharisees, and the other Jewish 
leaders became. 

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So concerned with fulfilling the
Sabbath law, and ensuring that 

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it's done, and that no one 
breaks it, they kind of become 

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Servants of the Sabbath. 
They'd sort of ended up making 

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the Sabbath a burden that people
had to bear. 

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Rather than the other way 
around, where the Sabbath serves

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the people. 
So it's unfortunate but that's 

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just sort of how it happened 
over time. 

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People were so serious about 
fulfilling the Sabbath law that 

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it became more of a burden than 
a rest time. 

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Went by Jesus saying the man the
Sabbath was made for man, not 

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man for the Sabbath, that's not 
a new teaching. 

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This, the Jews knew that it's 
just that they kind of forgotten

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it by the time of Jesus. 
So he is reminding them of the 

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original point of the Sabbath. 
so what's Jesus saying here in a

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nutshell, he's saying Jews can 
still fulfill their basic needs 

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on the Sabbath, otherwise that 
actually contradicts the whole 

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point of the Sabbath which is to
rest in Covenant relationship 

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with God. 
It's pretty hard to rest in a 

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relationship with God if you 
can't meet your basic needs on 

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that day. 
So Jesus teaching here, is that 

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Jews can still fulfill their 
basic needs on the Sabbath? 

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Notice the whole point here is 
about Hunger, okay? 

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If Jesus disciples have been 
going through the field and just

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picking the grain just for fun, 
then they would be breaking the 

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Sabbath law and it would not be 
acceptable. 

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No question about it. 
But because they're doing it 

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because they're genuinely hungry
hungry, and they genuinely need 

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food. 
They're trying to meet a human 

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need. 
Then Jesus says, that's the kind

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of thing that is acceptable on 
the Sabbath. 

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We need to keep that in mind. 
It's about hunger and a human 

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need. 
The last thing here, which is 

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probably the most important 
thing in verse 28. 

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Jesus says, the son of man is 
Master even of the Sabbath or 

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another translation is Lord even
of the Sabbath. 

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Remember what a son of man? 
Mean it's a term that in the 

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time of Jesus is used for the 
Messiah. 

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So Jesus often claims to be the 
son of man and in doing that, 

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he's claiming to be the Messiah.
So when Jesus says, the son of 

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man is Master even of the 
Sabbath. 

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It's this is a new teaching. 
The Jews did not realize this 

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about the Messiah. 
Jesus is not abrogating Sabbath 

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laws here. 
He's not saying I Now command 

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that the Sabbath no longer 
applies, he does not say that. 

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What he is saying is the Messiah
has power even to interpret how 

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the Sabbath should be observed. 
So the Messiah has power to 

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authoritatively interpret how 
the Sabbath should be observed. 

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So the Messiah has genuine 
authority to make and interpret 

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laws which is actually a greater
Authority. 

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Even even the Pharisees had 
because the Pharisees believed 

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they can't change the Sabbath 
law. 

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And Jesus here is basically 
saying the Messiah can make 

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authoritative interpretations of
the law, which is kind of a 

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00:16:18,908 --> 00:16:22,400
continuation of of the 
authority, the Pharisees had, 

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00:16:22,500 --> 00:16:24,600
but it's even slightly greater 
than that. 

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So this is new the Jews at the 
time, did not realize that the 

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00:16:30,700 --> 00:16:33,600
Messiah would have the power 
even to interpret the Sabbath 

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law. 
There's another element here, 

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possibly, which some Scholars 
have detected, which is that 

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since God instituted the 
Sabbath, God was the one who 

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gave the Sabbath law by Jesus 
saying that he has power over 

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the Sabbath. 
He could be implying or it could

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be hinting at his own Divinity. 
So there's another element there

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but on the basic level Jesus is 
saying the Messiah has power to 

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interpret the Sabbath laws. 
This kind of thinking is really 

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important when we get to the 
gospel of Matthew and The Sermon

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on the Mount. 
Remember Jesus says, I have not 

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00:17:12,300 --> 00:17:14,500
come to abolish the law, but to 
fulfill it. 

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00:17:14,500 --> 00:17:18,200
So in other words, the Messiah 
has the power to give the 

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00:17:18,200 --> 00:17:22,599
authoritative interpretation of 
the true meaning of the law and 

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00:17:22,599 --> 00:17:24,500
is doing the same here with the 
Sabbath. 

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So that's the text. 
I hope you found that useful 

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00:17:28,900 --> 00:17:32,300
when we look at the background 
in terms of what David did and 

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00:17:32,300 --> 00:17:35,800
what the Jewish law was about, 
what you could do on the Sabbath

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and what Jesus is saying about 
the messiah's role in 

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00:17:39,400 --> 00:17:43,100
interpreting the Sabbath, What 
is the Catholic Church? 

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00:17:43,100 --> 00:17:47,300
Teach in relation to this 
passage Mark 2 verse 23 to 28, 

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00:17:47,500 --> 00:17:51,000
there's a couple of really quite
interesting and clear paragraphs

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here about the Sabbath law. 
So, firstly in paragraph, five, 

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eight, one and 5/8 to, which is 
about Jesus relationship with 

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the Sabbath. 
The catechism says this the 

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Jewish people and their 
spiritual leaders view Jesus. 

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00:18:05,200 --> 00:18:08,800
As a rabbi, he often argued 
within the framework of 

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00:18:08,800 --> 00:18:10,700
rabbinical interpretation of the
law. 

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00:18:11,800 --> 00:18:14,800
But Jesus could not help, but 
offend the teachers of the law 

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00:18:15,100 --> 00:18:17,900
for he was not content to 
propose his interpretation 

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00:18:17,900 --> 00:18:20,900
alongside. 
There's but taught the people as

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00:18:20,900 --> 00:18:25,900
one who had Authority and not as
the scribes in presenting with 

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00:18:25,900 --> 00:18:29,500
Divine Authority, the definitive
interpretation of the law. 

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00:18:30,400 --> 00:18:33,900
Jesus found himself confronted 
by certain teachers of the law 

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00:18:34,100 --> 00:18:36,600
who did not accept his 
interpretation of the law 

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guaranteed, though, it was by 
Divine signs that accompanied 

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it, this was especially the case
with the Sabbath laws. 

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So, he recalls often with 
rabbinical arguments that the 

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00:18:48,400 --> 00:18:52,400
Sabbath rest is not violated by 
serving God and neighbor which 

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00:18:52,400 --> 00:18:56,600
his own healings did. 
So there is the Catholic 

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00:18:56,600 --> 00:19:01,700
Church's teaching about Jesus 
role in interpreting the law and

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00:19:01,700 --> 00:19:05,000
it mentions the Sabbath in 
particular and then later in 

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00:19:05,000 --> 00:19:08,600
paragraph, 2 173 that's in the 
section about the Ten 

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00:19:08,600 --> 00:19:10,900
Commandments. 
There's a discussion there about

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00:19:10,900 --> 00:19:15,200
what the Sabbath day means. 
Paragraph to 173. 

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00:19:15,200 --> 00:19:18,700
Serves the gospel reports. 
Many incidents when Jesus was 

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00:19:18,700 --> 00:19:23,500
accused of violating the Sabbath
law but Jesus never fails to 

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00:19:23,500 --> 00:19:25,300
respect the Holiness of this 
day. 

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00:19:25,600 --> 00:19:28,700
He gives this law. 
It's authentic and authoritative

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00:19:28,700 --> 00:19:31,700
interpretation. 
The Sabbath was made for man. 

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00:19:31,700 --> 00:19:35,700
Not man for the Sabbath with 
compassion Christ, declares the 

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00:19:35,700 --> 00:19:39,600
Sabbath for doing good rather 
than harm for saving life, 

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00:19:39,600 --> 00:19:43,200
rather than killing The Sabbath 
is the day of the Lord of 

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00:19:43,200 --> 00:19:47,500
mercies and a day to honor God. 
The son of man is Lord even of 

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the Sabbath. 
She can probably hear parts of 

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00:19:51,400 --> 00:19:53,200
Mark. 
Chapter 2 that we heard today 

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00:19:53,300 --> 00:19:57,100
being quoted in there? 
The Ten Commandments Jesus 

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00:19:57,400 --> 00:20:00,400
doesn't really dispute, most of 
the Ten Commandments though, the

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00:20:00,400 --> 00:20:02,400
Sabbath law comes up quite a 
lot. 

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00:20:02,400 --> 00:20:05,500
It's probably the one out of the
Ten Commandments that gets the 

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00:20:05,500 --> 00:20:09,800
most discussion in the gospels, 
because Jesus comes to give each

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00:20:09,800 --> 00:20:13,200
of the Ten Commandments their 
deepest and truest fulfillment. 

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00:20:13,500 --> 00:20:15,900
And when it comes to the 
Sabbath, he has a few things to 

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say, in particular, that the 
Jews weren't expecting about, 

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00:20:19,600 --> 00:20:23,300
what it means in the truest 
sense to fulfill the Sabbath 

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law, Okay, thanks for listening.
I hope you found that a useful 

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00:20:28,100 --> 00:20:31,800
exegesis of Mark chapter 2. 
Hopefully, we'll see you again 

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tomorrow.