Day 14: Jesus and Living out God's Principles (Mark 2:23-3:6)
Today’s Passage Mark 2:23-3:6
We are surrounded by rules. We have them in our family. We have them in society. We have them in church.
Consider. When you want to make sure you really live out a principle, you often set a routine. You may even make a rule for yourself.
In society we have laws. When those rules were first put in place, the principles from which they flowed were well understood. At times nuanced interpretations were needed from their authors.
As I was reading these verses in Mark, I originally thought I would divide them into two separate reflections. Then I realized they are about how people process a rule from God.
If you’ve not read Jesus’ story before, then you are no doubt noticing that Jesus healing on the Sabbath is a big issue for the religious people.
The Sabbath is a big deal. Honoring the Sabbath is to honor God. It is more than a rule. It is a commandment.
The Sabbath has long been a big deal.
When I was growing up, most stores were closed on Sunday. In fact, some states had “blue laws” which prohibited the sale of certain products like alcohol, on Sunday.
Today, we’ve swung far the other way. It is news when a store is closed not just on Sunday, but on Thanksgiving or Christmas. In our world today, all 365 days of the year are days to work.
The intention to honor God, to not work on Sunday and so reap all the benefits of a day of resting with God, is a very good intention. God does command it.
Yet a rule that is enforced in isolation, enforced to the limit, and enforced to hold power, begins to look like tyranny.
In the first section, objections are made against the disciples rubbing their hands together (that is the work) to have some sustenance. You and I might think this ludicrous because it is a small amount of work. Jesus takes on the objections not by the “degree to which” they have broken the law, but whether or not they have really broken the Sabbath. His point is they have not.
In the next section, Jesus’ work will be more than rubbing His hands together. Jesus will use His power to regenerate a human’s hand. Again, Jesus appeals to the principle by asking the question, “Is it lawful on the Sabbath to do good or to do harm, to save life or to kill?” Consider, Jesus, who has the power to heal. If He does not, He is in one way not doing the good His Father calls him to do.
I am not justifying ignoring the Sabbath. Too many people violate this commandment. Nor in my remarks I am encouraging that we rationalize away God’s Laws. That is another entire reflection.
Rather, I am suggesting we notice the growing conflict. It is intense. In verse 3:2 they were lying in wait in order to accuse Him. In verse 3:5 Jesus looked out upon them in anger. In verse 3:6 they leave plotting on how to destroy Him.
The conflict between Jesus and His opponents will often be most intense when he heals on the Sabbath. Jesus is challenging their power. Their power flows from their position as the keepers of all the rules.
When those holding power collide with principle, something has to give.