These two periscopes are not chronological. They are put together because they both deal with the right use of Sabbath. 

Rest is important to God!

Weekly Sabbath, holidays, festivals add up to 70 days in the Jewish calendar where work is forbidden. It’s not for God’s sake. It’s for our sake. Humans got involved and messed things up. Coming out of Babylonian captivity the Jewish people wanted to make sure they didn’t break God’s law so they added lots of extra fences and it turned into legalism. 

Circumcision and keeping the Sabbath were the primary identifiers of the Jewish people. By the time Jesus comes along there were over 1,000 prohibitions attached to Sabbath and turned it into a burden instead of a joy. 

People were using Sabbath to judge each other’s holiness. 

Vs 1-5 The Pharisees had to have been spying on Jesus somehow. All they can think about is Jesus and are watching to see if he messes up. 

The issue wasn’t that the disciples were eating someone else’s wheat. The Torah (Deut 23:25) allows for travelers to eat what they need. Hospitality, compassion, and kindness is built into the law. The issue is that they did it on the Sabbath. 

Jesus defends them by OT precedence (1 Samuel 21) that elevates humanity above the rigid letter of the law. Human need always comes first in the heart of God. Secondly, Jesus elevates himself to the Lord of the Sabbath. Son of Man- is a very specific Messianic title that comes from Daniel 7. Jesus doesn’t use the power, dominion, and authority to heal and be kind and gentle rather than to ruthlessly rule. He uses it to heal, forgive sins, and correct our thinking about God. 

The Sabbath is the only part of the law that existed before the fall. The Sabbath is divine in origin. To claim to be Lord over the Sabbath told the audience that he is in charge of the things of God. 

The second pericope is lined up with the first to prove that Jesus is the Lord of the Sabbath. The people don’t doubt that Jesus has miraculous power. They are waiting on him to do the miraculous thing on the Sabbath so that they can accuse him. 

The fact that it is the man’s right hand was more than an inconvenience. Being left handed was a spiritual issue. It was unclean. The man with the withered had was perpetually unclean. He may have even been placed as a trap by the Pharisees. Jesus leaves neutrality out of it. He says there is only doing good or doing evil which included doing nothing. 

God does unmiraculous miracles all of the time that don’t have all of the fanfare. Instead of everyone falling down in awe and worship they start plotting to kill him. 

We need to hold scripture up as a mirror? Where is my heart so calloused that I am angry, bitter, and resentful about what God is doing? God loves humans way more than rituals and rigid interpretations. The law isn’t about keeping it strictly over the people it was meant to protect. 

Micah 6:8, 1 Sam 15:22, Isaiah 58:3-7

When your paradigm is rule and performance based two things will happen:

You will create loopholes for yourself. 

You will look down on and judge those whose performance is not just like yours. 

Annoya- senseless rage.