Then Jesus asked them, 'Which is lawful on the Sabbath: to do good or to do evil, to save life or to kill?'
Mark 2:23-3:6
The Sabbath was a day set aside to rest and worship – a day when we are restored physically and spiritually and can focus on God. This day was intended to promote love of God and others.
In this reading, Jesus and his disciples are walking through the grainfield on Sunday. As they walked, they picked some of the grain. They were hungry and not selfishly indulging themselves. The Jewish law said that crops should not be harvested on the Sabbath. This law prevented the farmers from becoming too greedy and the laborers from being overworked. This law was never intended to mean that we cannot help ourselves or each other on the Sabbath. The Pharisees felt Jesus and his disciples had broken the law by harvesting the grain. The Sabbath law had become more important to the Pharisees than the purpose of the law.
Our society creates lots of rules. The rules are usually created with good intentions to protect ourselves and/or protect others. However, too often these rules are observed even when they are not appropriate for a situation. Before you insist on a rule, think about it. Make sure you understand the purpose of the rule. Make sure it is appropriate to the situation and is not more harmful than good. Is this God's rule or is this the rule of the Pharisees? Remember the example of the Pharisees that clearly had lost track of the purpose of God's law.
Kelly Richard
