Understanding Mark 2:23-28: Breaking Sabbath Rules

Mark 2:23-28

As Jesus was passing through a field of grain on the sabbath, his disciples began to make a path while picking the heads of grain. At this the Pharisees said to him, “Look, why are they doing what is unlawful on the sabbath?” He (Jesus) said to them, “Have you never read what David did when he was in need and he and his companions were hungry? How he went into the house of God when Abiathar was high priest and ate the bread of offering that only the priest could lawfully eat, and shared it with his companions?” Then he said to them, “The sabbath was made for man, not man for the sabbath. That is why the Son of Man is lord even of the sabbath.”

         Fun Fact:

         The bread of life. 

         Did you know the word Bethlehem means bread? And where was Jesus born? Bethlehem. So, the bread of life was born in a city named bread. Huh.

         In Catholicism, and maybe other religions or branches of Christianity, there is a thing called “Lectio Divina”. It’s basically where you read the same passage three times, and each time you pull something new from it. 

         So, let’s say you read the passage above, and you first focus on the fact that Jesus was walking with his disciples. Disciples and apostles are different things. You might not realize that, I know I didn’t when I first started learning about Christianity. But a disciple is a “student”. Therefore, we are ALL disciples of Christ if we are trying to learn from him. (Rabbi, which Jesus was called, means ‘teacher’.) If you pay attention as you read the gospels, you’ll notice that a LOT of disciples changed their mind about following him. Some left in groups, some stayed. The apostles, the chosen ones, they were set apart from this general group, though they were ALSO disciples. Think of it like a priest is always (hopefully) learning, just like we, the parishioners are always learning (also, hopefully).

Back to the passage: the disciples here are picking grain. What do we use grain for? To make bread. So, the disciples, on a sabbath (Sunday to us, Saturday to Jewish people of this time) were LEARNING from Jesus on a day they weren’t supposed to be out learning from someone who wasn’t of the main religion running things. Big no-no for religious leaders who want to force control through their religion, I’d say. Or, maybe they were literally just hungry and wanting to make bread. I’m going with the deeper meaning, here. Follow me. 

         On a second run through, you might focus on the fact that Jesus calls out a figure from the Old Testament and basically says, “Hey, this guy you admire did the same thing. He fed his people when they were hungry and he didn’t care what the rules were. In fact he fed them (taught them) the things only the high priests were supposed to eat (know). So, you think that’s okay, but what I’m doing is wrong? Hypocrites.” (I totally paraphrased that.) 

         On the third round, the focus could be on that last bit. “The sabbath was made for man, not man for the sabbath. That is why the Son of Man is lord even of the sabbath.”  Sometimes, it’s okay to break the ‘rules’. This is where being super legalistic and scrupulous (thinking everything you say, do, or think is a mortal sin) comes in. If I see hungry people, and I don’t feed them because a church has a rule against feeding the hungry on a Sunday, am I doing the will of God or man? 

         When I put this all together, I think of how women (I’m a lady, btw) are told to be quiet and meek, humble and holy, and to shut up and listen. We should all shut up a listen, not just women. We should all be meek and humble. What would Jesus think about a woman who has grain, but doesn’t use it to make bread? What if she makes the bread but never feeds it to anyone? What if she is storing her bread for later, but the rats eat it and it goes to waste? What if she’s waiting to make her bread when she has children, but is barren? What if her bread could save her village, but men burn it without using it because they feel it’s the right way of doing God’s will?

         Men and women have different roles, and I find that to be very true. However, I often view religion, the organized kinds, as forcing God’s “will” on others which really just results in a bunch of people standing around pointing out, “Hey, you can’t feed those people! It’s not right! We don’t feed people on the sabbath! Let them go hungry!” 

         Sometimes we have to break the ‘rules’ to be fed or to feed. I don’t mean this in a “women should be priests” way, or that women should be loud and obnoxious. I’m just saying, that after reading this passage about 20 times, that’s the message that kept jumping out at me:

         “Am I scared to discuss my religious beliefs because I feel it’s right to be quiet, or do I keep my mouth shut because other people are telling me I should focus on other things? Do I point out the religious faults in others (to myself) to make myself feel holier than them? Am I living like the faultfinder, or like the almighty?” (Shameless insert of the title to my first novel, there, The Faultfinder and The Almighty.)

         So, my mission for you, disciple, is to read this passage three times and tell me what you find in it. Share your message with others today. Feed people, regardless of the rules. 

         -Amy