Saturday, September 3, 2016

Luke 6: 1-5

While Jesus was going through a field of grain on a sabbath,
his disciples were picking the heads of grain,
rubbing them in their hands, and eating them.
Some Pharisees said,
“Why are you doing what is unlawful on the sabbath?”
Jesus said to them in reply,
“Have you not read what David did
when he and those who were with him were hungry?
How he went into the house of God, took the bread of offering,
which only the priests could lawfully eat,
ate of it, and shared it with his companions?”
Then he said to them, “The Son of Man is lord of the sabbath.”

In the letter of the Law the Disciples were harvesting, threshing, and milling on the sabbath, work that was prohibited. The Pharisees concentrated on what could not be done on the sabbath instead of what the sabbath was created for. Man was not created for the sabbath. Sabbath was created for man. God gave us a day where we aren’t supposed to do anything other than rest and be with him. In the spirit of the Law the Disciples were doing exactly what the sabbath was made for – they were spending time with Jesus.

How do I spend the Lord’s Day? Do I spend it resting and spending time with God? Of course I meet my Sunday obligation but what about after? Sundays for me are usually the only day of the week that I get to catch up on things like yard work. It is my day to mow. By the letter of the Law I am as guilty as the Disciples. Yet mowing gives me time alone to think. Often that thought is Christ centered. I may be mowing but I am spending quality rest time with the Lord. In that way I am fulfilling the spirit of the Law just as the disciples did as they harvested, threshed, and milled wheat for a quick bite.