:: in.a.mirror.dimly ::

Continuing my meditations on the Gospel of Mark…

Jesus was the kind of Messiah who healed the sick, forgave sins, welcomed sinners, and brought a time of celebration. Each of these stirred up questions among the religion scholars who, in their latest challenge with the help of John’s disciples, wanted to know why Jesus’ disciples did not fast. It seems they didn’t want to target Jesus directly, but aimed to catch his disciples. Jesus didn’t back down.

In fact, Jesus stretched their theology by explaining what it’s like when God is among them: a celebration. Acts such as fasting are good in their place, but when God is doing new things, it’s not appropriate to cling to the old ways, even if they have their place in the future. Jesus is interested in their reactions to the work of God among them, not their preservation of certain traditions. The new wine of God expands upon the deeper goals of scripture—bringing God’s people into greater intimacy with their creator.

When the Pharisees questioned Jesus about his disciples eating grain on the Sabbath, implying that Jesus and his group were possibly violating the Sabbath by traveling as well, they seem to have finally caught Jesus in the act of breaking the law, thus calling his credibility into question. Jesus challenged their narrow reading of the law, pointing them to the Sabbath’s principles of restoration and goodness for humanity.

Jesus points to the Sabbath as a day of benefit, not a day for the kind of stickling the religion scholars generally participated in. He is telling them to give their straining for holiness a rest, to enjoy the benefits of the Sabbath, and to show mercy to others. In fact, it seems that Jesus’ disciples were gleaning from the edges of the fields, a practice reserved for the poor and one that may tell us they needed to glean on the Sabbath or go hungry.

If they were in fact gleaning, then Jesus is also pushing the Pharisees toward greater mercy to the poor and needy who may need to “violate” the strict observance of the Sabbath in order to eat. It is a day for good, and allowing people to feed themselves is a very good thing. Their notion of God as a strict dictator of rules crumbles with the teaching of Jesus about the mercy of God and the higher law of love.

Isn’t it ironic that the rules the Pharisees made changed how they related to others? In the case of gleaning on the Sabbath, they put limitations on the poor that simply didn’t apply to themselves. It was easy for those with a full pantry to place limitations on the poor without realizing their full implications.

This comes up again in chapter three where they told Jesus he can’t heal on the Sabbath. Throughout these stories Jesus is challenging them to seek justice and mercy first rather than a strict interpretation of scripture and practice of traditions. May we learn to remain humble, merciful, and loving as we interpret the scriptures and apply them to ourselves and among others.