The Pharisees should have felt blessed to
have Jesus in their presence, and yet, they often were offended by his deeds. In the gospel story for today, their offense stems
from their strict interpretation of the commandment to keep holy the Sabbath. Their interpretation was in part based on the
connection of the Sabbath with God’s rest after the six days of creation (Ex
20:11).
For the ancient Hebrew, God’s resting served
as an example for human resting and for protesting the servitude of work and
the worship of money (Ex 31:17, 23:12). The Sabbath also served as a reminder
of Israel’s liberation from bondage (Dt 5:15).
This significance motivated the Pharisees to insist that the commandment
to keep holy the Sabbath prohibited work of any kind, including the picking of
grain from the field.
Clearly, Jesus understood the historical and
religious significance of the Sabbath, and he faithfully followed the commandments
of God. But, he strongly disagreed with the Pharisees’ interpretation of how this
particular commandment should be applied. For this reason, they took offense at
his allowing the disciples to pick grain on the Sabbath.
Jesus responds to their offense with an
authentic interpretation of the commandment when he says, “The Sabbath was made
for man, not man for the Sabbath.” Jesus declares with all authority that the
Sabbath is for doing good rather than harm, for saving life rather than killing
(Mk 3:4). In other words, Jesus responds
with a compassionate focus on authentic good deeds, not blind adherence to ritualistic
behavior.
Jesus will say to the Pharisees more than
once, “You are more interested in doing religion than in doing justice. You are more interested in miracles than in
caring for the poor, the vulnerable, the outcast, the sick, and the
marginalized. You are more interested in
religious ritual and celebration than in loving sacrifice for others. You substitute following religious rules for
doing God’s will. No wonder the message
of Jesus offended the Pharisees of his day.
The message that Jesus preached so long ago remains
to this day a call to follow him, to live a certain kind of life, to be a
certain kind of person. The decision to
follow Christ is a decision to be a person who is loving, kind, patient,
understanding, merciful and just towards others, especially the poor and vulnerable
members of society. As St Paul puts it,
the Christian way of life is life in the Spirit. The Spirit of God helps us be the kind of
person we are called to be.
This is what motivates Jesus to say to his
disciples, “Blessed is the one who is not offended by me” (Mt 11:6). The actions of Jesus are an invitation to
follow him, not a reason to be offended. Following him is a blessing that leads to
eternal life. We are indeed blessed that
God so loved us that he became one of us in the person of Jesus Christ. We are blessed that Jesus is like us in every
way, as St. Paul says—in failure and success, in sorrow and in joy, in doubt
and in faith—in all ways except sin.
Jesus came to show us who the Father is and how we can get to his
home. This is the good news that Jesus
preached so long ago. And, we are truly blessed
to hear his message once again.
