Letter of the Law

Today is all about today…the Sabbath. The day that we come together to worship God. The issue that arises is that Jesus seems to be doing things differently on the Sabbath than what had be come to be expected.

As we know God took the Seventh Day and rested from creation and then in the 10 Commandments God declares that we remember the Sabbath Day and keep it holy. But much like our civil laws today and those written for companies and organizations, there was a lot of debate and discussion as to what it meant to rest on the Sabbath and how exactly it was kept holy.

So as Rabbi’s and scholars of the day discussed what that all entailed they came up with laws within the law that dictated what could and could not be done on that day. So you could only travel a certain distance on the Sabbath and you couldn’t do work on the Sabbath. Which also meant that you couldn’t heal on that day. Cooking is also considered work so any meals had to be prepared before sundown on the eve of the Sabbath. In fact there were, at some point, around 39 categories of work that was prohibited. You were PERMITTED to travel a certain distance on the Sabbath and most importantly you were allowed to help save a person’s life on the Sabbath.

It’s easy to look back and point out the faults and troubles in the past, but I believe Christians have been equally guilty of making rules on top of rules about Sabbath and other things as well. Whether it was a sin for not going to church or excluding people from coming to church because of what they were wearing or not wearing, or how they looked, or any other reason. We’ve held tightly onto things like forgiveness instead of giving it to those who need it the most.

With all of these extra rules in place it must have been really hard to try to do things on the Sabbath that didn’t break one of 39 categories of laws. But Jesus isn’t just accidentally breaking one of the laws, he is outright going out of his way to break some rules. He and his disciples pick grain which is work. And let’s not even get into whether or not they were stealing the grain from the owner or not.

But I do wonder if this was just a casual grazing and the disciples ate it because it was there like a bowl of nuts sitting out on a table at home or the complimentary salsa and chips at the local Mexican restaurant that I just can’t stop eating. Or if it was that they were starving because they hadn’t eaten for a long time and eating grains off the husk was better than no food at all. Either way it was officially illegal, but Jesus seems to say that feeding hungry disciples is no different than what David did and no one seems to take issue with David’s actions these days. Feeding hungry disciples isn’t a bad thing even if it required a little work to do it.

Then Jesus again seems to pick a fight about the Sabbath, only this time not about work but about healing. Jesus can tell that they know he’s there and they are there and they all can see this man with a withered hand is there. The question on everyone’s mind is whether Jesus is going to do something about it and in this Sabbath breaking fight picking that Jesus is doing today, he dives head first and tells the man to stretch out his hand.

Now the debate that is raised by Jesus but isn’t actually discussed here is whether the healing of the man’s withered hand, is life-saving or not. On the literal letter of the law the answer is clearly: NO. The man’s withered hand, in all likelihood, would not result in a shorter life expectancy. So that means that the Pharisees were right and Jesus was breaking the law, which is why they were filled with fury and started looking into actions to take against him. Jesus was not saving this man’s actual bodily life in that moment.

But what does it mean to save a life? How do we truly measure what is life-saving or not? Could a random conversation we have with a stranger that lifts up his mood be the catalyst that prevents him from making choices that could have ruined his life? Couldn’t a conversation between one teen and another spark an unlikely friendship that would result in a life-changing or saving event for one or both teens? Have you ever heard someone tell you or someone you know that the thing that was said or done changed or saved their life? Now that is not a literal life-saving event of their physical bodies in that moment, but it did save them.

I believe Jesus is challenging the literal interpretation of the laws both for the Pharisees and for us today to help us shape and frame what it means to offer healing to the world. I know that we feed people weekly at the church through our Outreach lunches. We also feed people with our Thanksgiving and Christmas food boxes and we try to help people who come to the church hungry by offering them food that we have. It’s not about worrying about the right way to do it but about caring for the person who is in need.

Why should anyone go hungry who doesn’t have to go hungry? If we have food and the money to do it so let’s feed people. If we have the means to heal people then let’s do it. Jesus picks these fights to help everyone, ourselves included to get over the literal interpretation of things and find ways to feed and heal poeple. To show people that God loves and cares for them. That people don’t have to wait for the right day or time or for everything to almost literally end before God comes in to their lives either directly or thought us. Jesus came and saved us from ourselves. He saved us even when we didn’t know we needed saving. He didn’t ask permission and he didn’t care about what the laws might say about it. Jesus came so that we might have life and have it abundantly. So that everyone would have abundant lives.

Let’s assist in that. Let’s be his hands and voice to those who have been oppressed for too long by things that have told them no, and instead show them the same life-transforming power of the Gospel that we have received. The Son of Man is the Lord of the Sabbath and of everything else in this life and in the life to come. Give thanks for the ways that Jesus changed our lives, ignoring the rules that might have otherwise said no, and pray that the same Gospel message of YES to life and love and forgiveness is heard far and wide to those who need to hear it. Those who are hungry and those who need to be healed, those who could use a word of grace by the God who will do anything to show that grace to all of us who need to hear it this day and each day of our lives. Amen.