Staying out of the ditches - reflex on Luke 6:1-5

What’s with the Pharisees? Haven’t they learned by now thatthey can’t win an argument with this wandering rabbi, Jesus of Nazareth? Still,they continue to challenge him and to demand that he explain himself.

In this short Gospel, we see the preoccupation of the Phariseeswith the observation of the many rules (over 600!) that had been formulated toinsure that the Ten Commandment given to Moses could be followed meticulously.Some of these Pharisees pose a question, trying (of course) to catch him in abreach of the rules: “Why are you doing what is unlawful on the Sabbath?”

What the disciples were doing was not morally wrong, but itwas against one of the elaborate rules about how to “keep holy the Sabbath.”There were forty categories of activities that were defined as work, which wasforbidden on the Sabbath. These many rules placed a heavy burden on a day thatGod intended to be full of joyful worship, rest, delight, and recreation.

Jesus “calls them out” for seemingly forgetting their own history:“Have you not read what David did?” Of course they knew this story well; but ratherthan engage in a complicated argument about the absurdity of the rule in thisinstance or even of the many rules in general, Jesus uses the story to pointout that the rules are not even the supreme thing – since human rules/laws arethe work of human reason for the common good, when the observance of a law isharmful to the community, that law can be dispensed.

This truth was lost in the many rules surrounding the MosaicLaw. Jesus is reminding them of the correct understanding of “Sabbath rest” andindirectly pointing to their own lack of virtue - Pharisees saw themselves asthe most pious of Jews, following each rule meticulously and then paradingtheir “virtue” before others, which is no virtue at all.

Having addressed their question, Jesus then changes theplaying field by stating a startling truth: “The Son of Man is lord of the Sabbath.”As it was God Himself who gave this precept to the Chosen People, Jesus isrevealing his identity as God Himself. While this certainly alarmed and angeredthe Pharisees, they seemed to have no argument to counter that claim.

Wherever there are spiritual rules, there will be a tendency toward a kind of “Pharisaism” that thinks meticulous observance of the rules equals true holiness. The rules are to be obeyed, but our “obedience” can easily become a kind of “Checklist of Goodness” on the one hand, or a “Badge of Pride” on the other. Following the rules does not automatically make us "good." Following the rules meticulously does not give us a reason for pride.

In reality, the rules are more like guardrails to keep us on the right road and out of the ditches.

God intends for us to travel this road in freedom, filledwith the joy that comes from trusting that He Himself will provide all we needto reach our final destination: the very Heart of God.