6: 1 – 11 As Jesus was walking through some grainfields one Sabbath day, his disciples broke off some of the heads of grain, rubbed off the husks with their hands and ate the grain. The Pharisees saw this and asked him, “Why are you breaking the law by harvesting grain on the Sabbath?” The issue for the Phairsees was not that they were harvesting the grain, but that they were doing it on the Sabbath.
Jesus replied, “Haven’t you read in the Scriptures what David did when he and his companions were hungry? He went into the house of God and broke the law by eating the sacred loaves of bread that only the priests can eat. He also gave some to his companions.” Jesus then added, “The Son of Man is Lord, even over the Sabbath.” Jesus was trying to make a point with the Phairsees, who saw everything in black and white: that there are exceptions, even to important religious practices. He used an example from the Old Testament that the Jewish leaders could understand. Jesus then added that he was the same Lord who instituted the Sabbath regulations and therefore, he had the authority to make an exception.
Jesus Heals on the Sabbath
The Pharisees followed Jesus around trying to catch him doing something they could use against him in order to sentence him to death. He challenged their strict beliefs, which made them uncomfortable, especially when others started to follow Jesus around, listening to what he had to say instead of listening to the Pharisees and following their strict religious beliefs. Several of Jesus’s encounters with the Pharisees and their questions happened on the Sabbath, a day that was set aside in the Old Testament by God as a day of rest and worship. The Sabbath is defined as the seventh day in the week.
In the 10 commandments that was passed down to Moses from God, it says, “Be careful to remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy as the Lord your God has commanded you. You are to labor six days and do all your work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the Lord your God. Do not do any work – you, your son or daughter, your male or female slave, your ox or donkey, any of your livestock, or the resident alien who lives within your city gates, so that your male and female slaves may rest as you do (Deuteronomy 12-14).”
Remembering the Sabbath day is to set it apart from the other days for a special purpose – remembering God. The emphasis is on a time of worship, reflection, praise, service and meditation, not remaining inactive and not doing anything. The Pharisees interpreted the wording to mean to cease everything and remain inactive. Jesus was teaching them the true meaning of the Sabbath.
On another Sabbath day, a man with a deformed right hand was in the synagogue while Jesus was teaching. As usual, the Pharisees and other religious teachers were there watching him closely. They looked at the man with the deformed hand and thought – if he heals the man’s hand, they could accuse him of working on the Sabbath and have him arrested.
Jesus knew their thoughts. He said to the man with the deformed hand, “Come and stand in front of everyone,” and the man came forward. This put a spotlight, not only on the man, but what the others in the synagogue were thinking, confronting their thoughts head on. Jesus then said to the Pharisees and other religious leaders, “I have a question for you. Does the law permit good deeds on the Sabbath, or is it a day for doing evil? Is this a day to save a life or destroy it?” This was a rhetorical question with an obvious answer. Everyone should agree that it was lawful to do good or save a life on the sabbath. Because healing was seen as an act of love and doing good, it would be wrong not to heal the man – even on the Sabbath.
He looked around the room at each person, one by one and then asked the man to hold out his hand. When the man held it out, it was restored! By stretching out his hand in obedience to Jesus’s command, the man’s fait restored his hand. The Pharisees realized they had been outsmarted again, were filled with rage and began to discuss what to do with him. They wanted to kill Jesus as he challenged them.
As I got to know Jesus through reading the gospels, I understood the conflict between Jesus and the religious leaders. Growing up, I had a strong desire to help others, which was not shared by those around me. The individuals I knew that had money and the ability to help looked down on others who they justified to be of a lower class than they were. I knew people who were very good at quoting the Bible and who went to church every Sunday. They even questioned my strong desire to help others. I had a very hard time in my mind, reconciling how someone could go to church, call themselves a Christian, and not have a desire to help others. This kept me as far away from the church as possible, and searching in other religions for a relationship with a God who loved others and wanted to lift them up.