Intro
Hi. I’m Conrad. What is a catch? The Process of the Catch.
[[[ NFL Catches ]]]
Scripture
Jesus was going through the grain fields on a Sabbath, and his disciples began to pick some heads of wheat as they made their way. So the Pharisees said to him, “Look, why are they doing what is against the law on the Sabbath?” He said to them, “Have you never read what David did when he was in need and he and his companions were hungry— how he entered the house of God when Abiathar was high priest and ate the sacred bread, which is against the law for any but the priests to eat, and also gave it to his companions?” Then he said to them, “The Sabbath was made for people, not people for the Sabbath. For this reason the Son of Man is lord even of the Sabbath.”
Prayer
Study
Verse 23–24
Jesus was going through the grain fields on a Sabbath, and his disciples began to pick some heads of wheat as they made their way. So the Pharisees said to him, “Look, why are they doing what is against the law on the Sabbath?”
This story appears in all 3 gospels, and if you read Matthew you’ll read that the disciples were hungry, and if you read Luke you’ll see that they picked the grain and rolled it in their hands and ate it. This would be similar to walking by a Blackberry or Raspberry bush and pulling off a piece of fruit to eat.
But here comes the flock of Chads to accuse Jesus of breaking the law. We’ve hit the second-to-last in a series of escalating confrontations between Jesus and the Pharisees. And this time things go a step further. Previously they didn’t like what Jesus was doing. He was upsetting the apple cart so-to-speak. First He claimed the power of God to forgive. Then He associated with the unsavoury, the hated, the reviled! Then He pay no mind to the pious, holy tradition of fasting. Now… now… His disciples are caught, red-handed… picking grain!
[[[ Airplane – Surely You Can’t Be Serious ]]]
This was not against the law:
Deut 23:25 — When you go into the ripe grain fields of your neighbor you may pluck off the kernels with your hand, but you must not use a sickle on your neighbor’s ripe grain.
We saw this is our study of Ruth. Explain the reaping/harvesting process and how God’s law took care of the people.
But Conrad you oblivious over-looker of obvious observations, I hear you say… the Pharisees didn’t claim it was always illegal. The operative word in that passage was “ON THE SABBATH”!
Correct you are! And it’s important to fully understand just how important the Sabbath was to the Jewish community. This was one of two ways that the Jewish nation was defined and set apart from the wider culture. This was one of two things that made them unique. The other was circumcision… and if you want around showing that off in public you’d end up in jail.
So this was their way of showing the world they were different, set apart, Holy, and chosen by God.
Noteworthy as well is that the Sabbath command is the longest of the 10 commandments, and the day itself is blessed, set apart, and holy. It was a big deal.
[[[ The Office – Is it a big deal Kevin? ]]]
With that out of the way, let’s take a look at the passage upon which the Pharisees are basing this assertion.
Exodus 34:21 — On six days you may labor, but on the seventh day you must rest; even at the time of plowing and of harvest you are to rest.
Wait… hold up… just a second… are the Pharisees here trying to say Jesus’ disciples are… harvesting?
Wait a second… are we sure we’re being serious about this?
[[[ Community – Serious Jeff ]]]
Yes, this is true.
Remember the extended Sabbath laws we talked about last week? This is where those come into play. Here are a couple examples of Sabbath rules
Writing/erasing/tearing letters
Writing, drawing, erasing, even tearing through letters on a package are avoided. Pens, pencils, erasers, etc., thus fall under the category of Muktzah.
How to approach it: Put away pencils, markers, pens, etc., so you won’t come to use them. Any packages or bottle caps that are to be used on Shabbat should be pre-opened (or carefully opened on Shabbat), so as not to tear through any letters.
Toilet Paper
Things that are attached – through glue, sewing, or even perforation – cannot be unattached for a purpose on Shabbat. This would involve taking something in one form and carefully dividing it up into another for some use, thus creating something anew. Paper towels also fall into this category.
How to approach it: Pre-tear toilet paper before Shabbat, or use tissues. For paper towels, pre-tear what you might need, or use paper napkins.
Reminds me of NFL rules about catching. They take something simple and turn it into something complicated and burdensome.
NFL Catching Rules 1. secures control of the ball in his hands or arms prior to the ball touching the ground; and 2. touches the ground inbounds with both feet or with any part of his body other than his hands; and 3. after (1) and (2) have been fulfilled, performs any act common to the game (e.g., tuck the ball away, extend it forward, take an additional step, turn upfield, or avoid or ward off an opponent), or he maintains control of the ball long enough to do so.
I mean… a catch is a catch. Everyone knows it when they see it. This isn’t rocket surgery. Why do we seem to work so hard to make things needlessly complicated?
Verse 25–26
He said to them, “Have you never read what David did when he was in need and he and his companions were hungry—how he entered the house of God when Abiathar was high priest and ate the sacred bread, which is against the law for any but the priests to eat, and also gave it to his companions?”
This is a reference to 1 Samuel 21:1–6, let’s take a look at that before proceeding….
1 Samuel 21:1–6 (NLT) — David went to the town of Nob to see Ahimelech the priest….
Time for a quick trip to [[[ Tangent Town ]]]
Why did Jesus say Abiathar was the High Priest when the book of 1 Samuel says that Ahimelech was the high priest?
Maybe a quick consult with the other two Gospels will clear this up!
Mat 12:4 — He said to them, “Haven’t you read what David did when he and his companions were hungry— 4 how he entered the house of God and ate the sacred bread, which was against the law for him or his companions to eat, but only for the priests?
Luke 6:4 — Jesus answered them, “Haven’t you read what David did when he and his companions were hungry— 4 how he entered the house of God, took and ate the sacred bread, which is not lawful for any to eat but the priests alone, and gave it to his companions?”
Nope…. that didn’t help… so what was the issue here? Was Jesus simply confused?
If you read 1 & 2 Samuel and 1 Chronicles, you’ll read that
Achitub > Ahimelech > Abiathar (1 Sam 22:20) Achitub > Zadok, Abiathar > Ahimelech (2 Sam 8:17; 1 Chr 18:16) Abiathar > Ahimelech (1 Chr 24:6)
There are a great many theories that seek to explain this, but I will share the the two I find most compelling:
The Family Name Theory: Achitub > Ahimelech > Abiathar > Ahimelech
The Shared Name Theory: Ahimelech & Abiathar had multiple names. We see this with Moses’ father (Ex 2:18, 3:1) Jotham’s father (1 Ch 3:12; 2 Kgs 15:7, 15:32; Mat 1:9)
[[[ Ren & Stimpy – Get On With It! ]]]
So then, while we’re on the offramp from Tangent Town, the outstanding question is this: even assuming there is not a genealogical error in the Old Testament, why would Jesus cite the wrong high priest in the story of David?
If you hold to the Shared Name theory, there is no problem here. Jesus is simply using another accepted name for the same guy.
If you hold to the Family Name theory, Jesus was likely just using Abiathar in the same way that we use chapter and verse today. As a way of narrowing down where in the written account this story can be referenced. We see Jesus do a similar thing with Moses in Mark 12:25–26.
And the fact that the Pharisees did not point out the error would only provide additional evidence that they saw no issue with Jesus’ historical statement.
[[[ Regularly Scheduled Program ]]]
But the real question is this: why – when He was confronted about a Sabbath issue – would Jesus reply with a story about David taking consecrated bread from the temple? This doesn’t seem to be related to the Sabbath in any way… right? Let’s pop that in our pocket for a minute, and we’ll come back to it.
Verses 27–28
Then he said to them, “The Sabbath was made for people, not people for the Sabbath. For this reason the Son of Man is lord even of the Sabbath.”
Here’s where Jesus attacks the heart of the issue. Just like last week the Pharisees are attacking Jesus about the law. Not the uppercase-L LAW OF GOD, but the lowercase-l law of the Pharisees.
Jesus cares not for the laws set up by the Pharisees. They are of no concern to Him, which is why he side-steps the idea that the disciples – by picking heads of grain – were breaking the Sabbath law against harvesting. Jesus’ only concern is the Law of God. And so we need to ask ourselves what is the purpose of the LAW??
I believe the Law has two purposes.
The first is to demonstrate the overwhelming holiness of God. God lays out chapter upon chapter of rules, regulations, measurements, and case law. Then He sums it up like this:
Leviticus 19:2 — Speak to the whole congregation of the Israelites and tell them, ‘You must be holy because I, the Lord your God, am holy.’
And by demonstrating God’s perfect holiness, he also shines a spotlight on our utter fallenness. God knows we cannot reach that standard, He just wants us to know it, too. He wants us to appreciate what is coming down the pike so that we can accept His gracious offer to bridge the gap between his standard and our ability.
The second purpose of the law is to protect and care for us! Let’s go back to Genesis to see how this Sabbath rule started out:
Genesis 2:3 — God blessed the seventh day and made it holy because on it he ceased all the work that he had been doing in creation.
God rested. Why? Was God tired? Had God exhausted himself? Long day at the office and now he just wants to binge some Cobra Kai on Netflix?
No! God’s energy in inexhaustible! He rested because he had completed his work. Us! Humankind was the pinnacle of creation. And then He rested to enjoy the fruits of his labour. Likewise he tells us to take a day to rest and enjoy the fruits of our own labour.
God’s laws were an absolute revolution compared to the world around them. So much of what we take for granted as “civilized society” today are based on the law given to us by the God of Israel. They made provision for the poor, the widow, the orphan, and — YES — they even sought to provide relief from a week of labour to enjoy God and the good gifts He has given us.
This brings us back to the story of David taking the consecrated bread from the temple. Let pop that out of our pockets and ask the obvious question again. What does it have to do with the Sabbath laws that Jesus and His disciples are accused of breaking?
David took the bread because he and his compatriots were starving and out of supplies. This was a matter of priority. It would have been wrong to allow people made in the image of God to starve for the sake of ceremony.
Likewise, God created a day of rest for those made in His glorious image to relax and enjoy themselves, their families, their friends, and their God. The Sabbath — like the rest of the law — is a gift.
God’s Law is not like the NFL’s rules on catching a football. An inscrutable and arbitrary mess that leaves you frustrated and confused more often than not. Rather, God’s Law is like the [[[ gutter rails ]]] in a bowling alley. They are designed to keep you focused and on the path to success.
Like when your parents told you to not touch the top of the stove, or to keep the fork out of the wall outlet, or to stop riding the laundry basket down the stairs… these rules were not there to curtail your freedom, they exist to preserve your life.
Conclusion
Let’s close our service this morning with the same verse that we opened it with.
Psalm 19:7–8 — The law of the Lord is perfect
and preserves one’s life.
The rules set down by the Lord are reliable
and impart wisdom to the inexperienced.
The Lord’s precepts are fair
and make one joyful.
The Lord’s commands are pure
and give insight for life.