Mark 2:25-28

Passage

Jesus answered the challenge of the Pharisees by summarizing a story from 1 Samuel 21:1-6.  One day, as David was fleeing from Saul, he and his men were hungry.  So David went into the holy place and ate bread that was not supposed to be eaten by anyone except the priests.  Furthermore, David also shared that bread with his fighting men.  After finishing the story about David, Jesus then tells the Pharisees that the Sabbath was meant to oppress mankind.  Rather, mankind is to be assisted by the Sabbath.

Thoughts for Today

First Thought:

David uses a story out of the Hebrew Scriptures to support both His teaching and how He is allowing His disciples to go about their business.  Once more we find Jesus in a wrestle with human tradition; again Jesus finds the answer in Scripture.  God’s Word is a holy instrument, capable of guiding us through this life.

Why is it important to know scripture?  How does your ability to use scripture correlate to your familiarity with scripture? 

Second Thought:

The story that Jesus picks is an interesting story.  Technically, David is breaking the Law.  Leviticus 24:9 tells us that the bread that David ate was supposed to go to support the priests of the temple, not kings and soldiers.  Yet, we find no condemnation of David in scripture.  In fact, since Jesus uses this story as a test case, we can even say that we find Jesus supporting David’s action.  This does not mean that we have permission to break or ignore the law.  Only God can sort out what was truly in David’s heart.  What Jesus is saying here is that if God can deal with King David breaking a Law, so can God deal with a few regular people going against a human tradition.  It is not God’s Law that said you can’t take wheat from a field on the Sabbath; it was the tradition of the rabbis that made such a claim.  Thus, Jesus is telling the Pharisees that they are getting worked up over nothing – a rule that humans made, not God.

Why is it always important to remember the difference between human tradition and God’s Law?  Do we have a tendency to blur the line that separates those two things?  What examples can you think of that people accept as “God’s Law” but they are really just “human tradition?”

Third Thought:

Jesus makes a clear point.  The Sabbath is made for mankind.  We are not to be oppressed by the Sabbath; we are to be assisted by it!  Think back to the context.  Jesus is making disciples on the Sabbath.  The Sabbath was a time for Jesus to teach and train His disciples.  The specialness of the day helped the disciples focus on the specialness of the event.  As they were going about the discipleship process, His disciples gleaned from a field.  This was permitted by the Law in Deuteronomy 23:24-25.  Suddenly, the Pharisees want to subject the disciples and interfere with the discipleship process.  The Pharisees are trying to use a manmade law to interfere with the work of the Lord.  Now we understand why Jesus makes this point.  Laws are not supposed to interfere with God’s work; they are to assist God’s work.  When we get that backwards, we are usually wrong.

Why do people use legalism to get their way?  Why do people use legalism to stop productive work that they don’t agree with?  Why do we as human beings have such a love affair with legalism and right-and-wrong?  What is actually our ultimate authority?

Passage for Tomorrow: Mark 3:1-3