HAVEN'T YOU READ?

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In Christ, Mark

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The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.

At that time Jesus went through the grainfields on the Sabbath. His disciples were hungry and began to pick some heads of grain and eat them. When the Pharisees saw this, they said to Him, “Look! Your disciples are doing what is unlawful on the Sabbath.”

He answered, “Haven’t you read what David did when he and his companions were hungry? He entered the house of God, and he and his companions ate the consecrated bread—which was not lawful for them to do, but only for the priests. Or haven’t you read in the Law that the priests on Sabbath duty in the temple desecrate the Sabbath and yet are innocent? I tell you that something greater than the temple is here. If you had known what these words mean, ‘I desire mercy, not sacrifice,’ you would not have condemned the innocent. For the Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath.”

Matthew 12:1-8

One Sabbath Jesus was going through the grain fields, and as His disciples walked along, they began to pick some heads of grain. The Pharisees said to Him, “Look, why are they doing what is unlawful on the Sabbath?”

He answered, “Have you never read what David did when he and his companions were hungry and in need? In the days of Abiathar the high priest, he entered the house of God and ate the consecrated bread, which is lawful only for priests to eat. And he also gave some to his companions.”

Then He said to them, “The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath. So the Son of Man is Lord even of the Sabbath.”

Mark 2:23-28

One Sabbath Jesus was going through the grain fields, and His disciples began to pick some heads of grain, rub them in their hands and eat the kernels. Some of the Pharisees asked, “Why are you doing what is unlawful on the Sabbath?”

Jesus answered them, “Have you never read what David did when he and his companions were hungry? He entered the house of God, and taking the consecrated bread, he ate what is lawful only for priests to eat. And he also gave some to his companions.” Then Jesus said to them, “The Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath.”

Luke 6:1-5

This ends this reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

Our knowledge and wisdom in life is based fully on how often we read and remember the word of God. Indeed, Jesus Himself quoted Old Testament scripture from the law (Deuteronomy) when He said this:

“Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.” Deut. 8:3

You can’t make the truth about the critical nature of God’s word any clearer than this and yet so many people choose to not read the scriptures as a part of their daily discipline. And even those who do, sometimes only choose to absorb and embrace the part of the Bible that agree with them.

Perhaps that was part of the problem with the Pharisees who were a pain in Jesus’ ministry side from the onset of His work. Instead of accepting Jesus’ teaching and testimony with minds willing to accept that Jesus was indeed who He said He was and doing the work God sent Him to do, the Jewish religious leaders tried to first discredit and then eliminate Jesus from Jewish society. We find one such instance in today’s scripture passages from the Gospels of Matthew, Mark, and Luke:

At that time Jesus went through the grain fields on the Sabbath. His disciples were hungry and began to pick some heads of grain and eat them. When the Pharisees saw this, they said to Him, “Look! Your disciples are doing what is unlawful on the Sabbath.”

He answered, “Haven’t you read what David did when he and his companions were hungry? He entered the house of God, and he and his companions ate the consecrated bread—which was not lawful for them to do, but only for the priests. Or haven’t you read in the Law that the priests on Sabbath duty in the temple desecrate the Sabbath and yet are innocent? I tell you that something greater than the temple is here. If you had known what these words mean, ‘I desire mercy, not sacrifice,’ you would not have condemned the innocent. For the Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath.”  Matthew 12:1-8

One Sabbath Jesus was going through the grain fields, and as His disciples walked along, they began to pick some heads of grain. The Pharisees said to Him, “Look, why are they doing what is unlawful on the Sabbath?”

He answered, “Have you never read what David did when he and his companions were hungry and in need? In the days of Abiathar the high priest, he entered the house of God and ate the consecrated bread, which is lawful only for priests to eat. And he also gave some to his companions.”

Then He said to them, “The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath. So the Son of Man is Lord even of the Sabbath.”  Mark 2:23-28

One Sabbath Jesus was going through the grain fields, and His disciples began to pick some heads of grain, rub them in their hands and eat the kernels. Some of the Pharisees asked, “Why are you doing what is unlawful on the Sabbath?”

Jesus answered them, “Have you never read what David did when he and his companions were hungry? He entered the house of God, and taking the consecrated bread, he ate what is lawful only for priests to eat. And he also gave some to his companions.” Then Jesus said to them, “The Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath.”  Luke 6:1-5

In this scene, we know the events take place on the Sabbath, a day that God Himself commanded His people to keep holy (Exodus 20:8). We don’t know the exact location except Jesus and His disciples were walking through the grain fields and had grown hungry. And so the scriptures tell us the disciples picked up some heads of grain, rubbed them in their hands, and ate the kernels.

As this took place, the word of God makes it clear that the Pharisees were in the vicinity and keeping a close eye on what Jesus and His men were doing. And as soon as they saw Jesus’ followers eating the grain, they challenged Jesus saying:

“Look! Your disciples are doing what is unlawful on the Sabbath.”

Jesus had to be growing weary of the antics of the Jewish religious authorities who liked to place their own twist on what God had commanded and then judge and accuse others according to their code. In this case, God never said that people could not eat on the Sabbath and Jesus reminded the Pharisees of a time in the scriptures when their own beloved David had done the same thing:

“Have you never read what David did when he and his companions were hungry and in need? In the days of Abiathar the high priest, he entered the house of God and ate the consecrated bread, which is lawful only for priests to eat. And he also gave some to his companions.”

The Pharisees revered and loved David but the truth of the matter was that he had also broken the same code they were calling Jesus and His disciples out for. Jesus challenged the Pharisees to read their own history, a history they were supposed to be well versed in. If they had, then they would have seen the hypocritical nature of their accusations.

But Jesus had more to say than just this. He maximized the moment while on the offensive with the Pharisees back on their heels and let them know again about the authority He carried, saying:

I tell you that something greater than the temple is here. If you had known what these words mean, ‘I desire mercy, not sacrifice,’ you would not have condemned the innocent. For the Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath.”

The Pharisees were acting as if they were the authorities on the Sabbath but Jesus let them know they were all subordinate to Him, the Lord of the Sabbath. The Jewish leaders did not recognize Jesus for who He was because they acted as if they had never read the word of God which foretold of His coming and the power that would be bestowed on Him. Perhaps if they had, they would have spared themselves the embarrassment of being personally called out and counseled by Jesus.

Question: How many of us today are like the Pharisees?

Too many I am afraid. We think we know the scriptures when we don’t because we haven’t read them. As a result, we tend to speak with an authority we don’t really have and find ourselves more than a little humiliated and red-faced when we get challenged by someone who does know the word of God. It’s a place none of us should ever put ourselves in.

So how can we keep this from happening, from becoming modern day Pharisees?

Go back to Jesus’ quote from Deuteronomy:

“Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.” Deut. 8:3

If you really want to live for the Lord, then feast every day on His word and you will be spiritually healthy and mature, so much so that when you speak, it will always be truth, not because you are speaking on your own accord but rather serving as a spokesperson for the Lord Himself, reinforcing anything you say with the scriptures.

It worked for Jesus and it will work for us as well.

Give it a try and you’ll see.

Amen.

In Christ,

Mark

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