Readings: Exodus 11:10-12-14; Psalm 116; Matthew 12:1-8
The Book of Exodus provides a set of rules for the celebration of Passover; the Gospel of Matthew shows how to adapt the law to meet circumstances. Significant, the fact that Exodus gives the festive origins of Passover as the people’s joyful celebration. It celebrated life. This is the background for Jesus: he does not share the Pharisees’ rules about “working” on the Sabbath. Whatever affirms life is in tune with the purpose of the Sabbath. The Pharisees emphasised what was forbidden, not the purpose, that gives liberation and life. His hungry disciples, plucking heads of grain, were not stealing. The grain was g unfenced because farmers were encouraged to leave some grain on the edge for the poor. Jesus did not reject the sabbath; he was always careful to observe people’s customs. His objections, in fact, were based on Scripture and what King David did. He did not endorse the Pharisees’ strict interpretation of Law. If God “wants mercy, not sacrifice”, the Sabbath celebration affirms life; it does not fence people in. The purpose of the Sabbath is to celebrate life. Like David, people are more important than the temple. The disciples could act as they did with clear consciences. Because Jesus interpreted the Sabbath so freely, The church concluded he was “Lord of the Sabbath.” Maybe Jesus surprised His disciples by calling himself “something greater than the Temple.” They could not imagine anything greater than the magnificent Temple in Jerusalem, considered one of the wonders of the world, the focal point of God’s presence to his people. We’re not surprised: Jesus is greater than the Temple because he is the new focus of God’s presence the Living God present no longer in a building but in a person, his Son Jesus, whose other name is Emmanuel, God with us. As the new Temple, Jesus is also Lord of the Sabbath, Lord of the church, Lord of our lives. Willingly, we submit to his word; his priorities become our priorities. He declares that feeding the hungry is a priority over any narrow understanding of the Law. His hungry disciples are entitled to pick corn to satisfy their hunger, even on the Sabbath. Jesus’ word, and his whole life, helps us to discern what is really important from what is less important. Blessings, Fr. Brian