St. Mark 2:23-3:6

Dec. 6, 2021

23And it came to pass, that he went through the corn fields on the sabbath day; and his disciples began, as they went, to pluck the ears of corn.

24And the Pharisees said unto him, Behold, why do they on the sabbath day that which is not lawful?

25And he said unto them, Have ye never read what David did, when he had need, and was an hungred, he, and they that were with him?

26How he went into the house of God in the days of Abiathar the high priest, and did eat the shewbread, which is not lawful to eat but for the priests, and gave also to them which were with him?

27And he said unto them, The sabbath was made for man, and not man for the sabbath:

28Therefore the Son of man is Lord also of the sabbath.

Chapter 3

And he entered again into the synagogue; and there was a man there which had a withered hand.

2And they watched him, whether he would heal him on the sabbath day; that they might accuse him.

3And he saith unto the man which had the withered hand, Stand forth.

4And he saith unto them, Is it lawful to do good on the sabbath days, or to do evil? to save life, or to kill? But they held their peace.

5And when he had looked round about on them with anger, being grieved for the hardness of their hearts, he saith unto the man, Stretch forth thine hand. And he stretched it out: and his hand was restored whole as the other.

6And the Pharisees went forth, and straightway took counsel with the Herodians against him, how they might destroy him.

This Baby in the manger, unable yet to open His eyes, owns the world and all that is in it. The tiny fist wrapped round His mother’s little finger is the same fist that will eventually be nailed to a cross. All knowledge is already with Him.

Looking back, Jesus knows that at one time in the Jews early days that the sabbath had been set aside to make war (2Macc 2:41) and that David ate of the bread set aside for the priests.

Looking forward, Jesus is telling us that we don’t come under condemnation if we work on Sunday – love thy neighbor; do unto others as you would have them do unto you; the story of the beaten man left to die in the road and how one can’t become ‘unclean’ when helping a person at need, even if it’s on the sabbath.

The Baby, the Man, the Resurrected – these are all one man. Emmanuel – God with us.