6:1 One Sabbath Jesus was going through the grainfields, and his disciples began to pick some heads of grain, rub them in their hands and eat the kernels. 2 Some of the Pharisees asked, “Why are you doing what is unlawful on the Sabbath?”
3 Jesus answered them, “Have you never read what David did when he and his companions were hungry? 4 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.” 5 Then Jesus said to them, “The Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath.”
6 On another Sabbath he went into the synagogue and was teaching, and a man was there whose right hand was shriveled. 7 The Pharisees and the teachers of the law were looking for a reason to accuse Jesus, so they watched him closely to see if he would heal on the Sabbath. 8 But Jesus knew what they were thinking and said to the man with the shriveled hand, “Get up and stand in front of everyone.” So he got up and stood there.
9 Then Jesus said to them, “I ask you, which is lawful on the Sabbath: to do good or to do evil, to save life or to destroy it?”
10 He looked around at them all, and then said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.”He did so, and his hand was completely restored. 11 But the Pharisees and the teachers of the law were furious and began to discuss with one another what they might do to Jesus.
(Luke 6:1-11 NIV)
I don’t know if this happens to you. It happens to me way too often.
I’m running errands.
Maybe Sarah gave me a grocery list, or maybe I’m working on a project and make a quick trip to the hardware store. There is this one thing I need to find and I can’t find it anywhere. I wander all around the store looking for it. I can’t figure out where it could be. Finally, I’ll find someone who works at the store and ask if they can help me find the green curry paste Sarah wanted for dinner or the t25 Torx driver for fixing my bike.
Usually, not even moving, the store person will reach down, say, “Oh you mean this?” And hand me the curry paste or the fancy screwdriver.
The absolute worst is when I notice what I have been looking for right after (or even as) I ask the store employee for help. “Can you point me toward the … Oh, never mind. There it is.”
(I usually feel pretty dumb about it and whoever it is helping me is usually pretty gracious.)
I don’t understand how things like that can be right in front of my face and somehow I miss them.
I’m curious if this could be part of Luke’s issue with the Pharisees.
What they are looking for is right in front of their faces and somehow they find all kinds of ways to miss it.
Usually the Gospels present the Pharisees in negatives ways … almost like caricatures of opposition to Jesus and his message. I’ve always understood the Pharisees to be outrageous and infuriating opponents of Jesus, but lately I’m curious if we should understand them more as heartbreaking and tragic figures.
Maybe they function as warnings for us?
Maybe Pharisees are more complicated than we give them credit for?
O. Wesley Allen Jr, a preaching professor, writes:
The Pharisees have been misunderstood and maligned by the church at least since the Jerusalem Temple fell in the year 70 and the church found itself in direct competition with Pharisees (as opposed to the priests, Sadducees, or Essenes) as heirs to Israel’s traditions in a post-Temple age … While other Jewish sects claimed the people needed the priesthood and the temple to mediate between them and God, the Pharisees democratized (de•moc•ra• tized) religious experience.
Often described by Christian preachers as jot and tittles of rules and regulations of religious observance, the Pharisees offered … people modes and means of devotional practice that could be followed anywhere by anyone without direct oversight or mediation by religious leaders … This means that we can assume the challenges which the Gospel writers present them as having to Jesus’ actions are sincere concerns about the welfare of the people and the shared ritual practices available to them.
Preachers have also mischaracterized Jesus in these Sabbath controversies. We seem to forget that Jesus was a Jew. The conflicts between Jesus and religious leaders are not interfaith debates (Christian versus Jew), they are inner-faith arguments (Jews dialoging with Jews in a way often done in ancient Jewish circles).
Pharisees cared about their faith. They cared about their traditions. They cared about the people in their communities. They wanted people to be able to worship God, even when there weren’t things like priests and temples around.
What if who they were looking for was right in front of them and they were missing it?
Despite their constant opposition to Jesus … despite their antagonism Jesus stays engaged with them. He doesn’t write them off or ignore them. I have heard Bible scholars say Jesus actually had more in common with the Pharisees than he had in common with other religious movements within Judaism back then. Maybe, but they constantly seem so crossways with Jesus.
Maybe this is what makes them tragic and heartbreaking characters?
Of all the religious people back then, it seems like the Pharisees should have recognized Jesus for who he is. Luke’s Gospel goes to great lengths to teach us Jesus’ ministry is defined by faithful interpretation and application of scripture. Wasn’t that what the Pharisees wanted?
They had all these rules and practices that were supposed to help them know God and honor God. They devoted so much time to studying God’s law. They knew about obedience, worship, prayer and giving. They knew scripture. But it doesn’t seem to help them.
It doesn’t seem to spark much compassion when they see hungry and hurting people around them.
What if when those Pharisees saw the disciples eating grains of wheat their first response was – “Oh those guys must be really hungry to be eating a terrible snack like that … we know we aren’t supposed to prepare food on the sabbath … but there isn’t any law about sharing food we have already prepared with them … God calls us to have open hearts and open hands to the needy people in our community … lets share our Sabbath meal with them.”
Or what if instead of using the guy with the paralyzed hand as a trap for Jesus, they saw him as a person who was hurting and probably excluded from his community. Luke points out this man’s right hand was unusable. Right hands were really important back then … right hands were the public, doing things hand. Left hands were the … maybe, “sanitary hand” is the polite way to say it? Not being able to use a right hand would have been really hard … not only would it have been a physical handicap … it would have been a social handicap. When they saw this man’s life was going to be completely different after Jesus healed him, they don’t celebrate it … we don’t hear of much compassion. We hear that they are furious and they want to figure out what they can do to Jesus.
It’s kind of ironic. The sabbath is this good gift from God that is intended to give life and wholeness to God’s people. Jesus seems to be living into the true intention of the day … and here the Pharisees wind up plotting how they can stop God’s healing and life giving action in their midst.
Jesus teaches that when there is need, it is always a good time to show compassion.
It is never the wrong time to heal and help in God’s name.
Man, they missed it.
Jesus … God’s presence and being, right there… God’s character and heart was right there, in front of their faces, and they missed him.
Maybe that should give us that heart sinking feeling in our chest … a stomach dropping feeling. The Pharisees were building these structures and traditions to help them know and obey God … to help them maintain the tradition that helped their people live life with God for so long … and those structures weren’t working when they mattered most … they missed God’s life-giving presence in their midst.
Maybe instead of railing on the Pharisees, we need to recognize that more often than we would want to admit, we do something similar. Maybe the Pharisees can invite us to take a close look at ourselves … they can move us to examine our hearts and help us to notice when we have been so bent in on ourselves the traditions, structures, and rules we have built don’t move us toward compassion, and don’t help us to see and be part of what God is doing in our midst.
Man, they were so close, but they missed it.
Jesus is the “Lord of the Sabbath” and all the things the Sabbath is supposed to be about, life … freedom … wholeness … renewal … are happening in him.
He is right here … right in front of us … don’t miss him.
South Park Community Church 