Guilt-Free Sabbath
What a hermeneutical bombshell Jesus tosses at the religious leaders! After being criticized for eating grain from the field on the Sabbath with his disciples, Jesus levies a defense that is both radical and history-altering in its implications. He takes it "up a notch" by moving the focus of the confrontation from merely plucking and eating grain on the Sabbath to priests carrying out their duties on the Sabbath.
The point is that if the Pharisees have a problem with doing any kind of effort on the Sabbath, then they have a problem with God, who institutionalized work for the priesthood on the Sabbath.
The implication of this text is not that it is acceptable to work on the Sabbath. Hebrews 4 tells us that people who become believers cease from their works as God did from his; that Christians are liberated from performance; that they do not attempt to earn God's favor because Christ did that for us.
I believe this text reflects this in its implications. Jesus and his disciples were hungry. They need sustenance. But the Pharisees were more concerned about legal observance than their hungry condition. Jesus being the "lord of the Sabbath" weighs in. "They are innocent," he is implying.
One final note: All believers are priests unto God. Maybe this passage could be viewed in terms of anticipating that reality?
Created 11 months ago
