THE WORD
Heb 6, 10-20 / Mk 2,23-28
As he was passing through a field of grain on the sabbath, his disciples began to make a path while picking the heads of grain. At this the Pharisees said to him, "Look, why are they doing what is unlawful on the sabbath?" He said to them, "Have you never read what David did when he was in need and he and his companions were hungry? How he went into the house of God when Abiathar was high priest and ate the bread of offering that only the priests could lawfully eat, and shared it with his companions?"Then he said to them, "The sabbath was made for man, not man for the sabbath. That is why the Son of Man is lord even of the sabbath."
IN OTHER WORDS
Let us put this biblical passage into context.
The same narrative reflected in the Gospel of Matthew has these words: "His disciples were hungry and began to pick some heads of grain and eat them" (12: 1 , NIV). Quoting the Bible to support their claim, the Pharisees then criticized the disciples for they had violated the Jewish Law of the Sabbath. In response, Jesus also quoted the Scripture: "Have you never read what David did when he was in need and he and his companions were hungry? How he went into the house of God when Abiathar was high priest and ate the bread of offering that only the priests could lawfully eat, and shared it with his companions?" After citing the Biblical passage, Jesus pointed out that the Sabbath was made for man and not man for the Sabbath.
"The sabbath was made for man, not man for the sabbath."
First, Jesus said this to put more emphasis on the importance and precedence of life over laws, because laws exist to protect the dignity and sanctity of human life. His disciples were hungry — and to ease that hunger, they must eat something.
Second, Jesus stressed that Sabbath was made for us to rest from unnecessary labor, to pause and rest from a week of hard work and sacrifices for our personal needs. Sabbath is an opportunity for us to commune with God.
May we follow Jesus' example of giving importance to our human dignity by observing the Sabbath Day as an opportunity to rest and give thanks to God for all the blessings we have received the entire week.
Do you honor the Lord in whatever you do? Do you make the Sabbath Day holy?
• Fr. Bernhard Abrazado, SVD (Calapan, or. Mindoro)
The Word in other words 2017
An annual project of Logos Publications, The WORD in Other Words Bible Diary contains daily scripture readings and reflections written by priest, brothers, and sisters of the three congregations founded by St. Arnold Janssen (the SVD, SSpS, and SSpSAP). It hopes to serve as a daily companion to readers who continually seek the correlation of the Word of God and human experience.
