The Sabbath

One sabbath he was going through the grainfields; and as they made their way his disciples began to pluck heads of grain. The Pharisees said to him, “Look, why are they doing what is not lawful on the sabbath?” And he said to them, “Have you never read what David did when he and his companions were hungry and in need of food? He entered the house of God, when Abiathar was high priest, and ate the bread of the Presence, which it is not lawful for any but the priests to eat, and he gave some to his companions.” Then he said to them, “The sabbath was made for humankind, and not humankind for the sabbath; so the Son of Man is lord even of the sabbath.”
Again he entered the synagogue, and a man was there who had a withered hand. They watched him to see whether he would cure him on the sabbath, so that they might accuse him. And he said to the man who had the withered hand, “Come forward.” Then he said to them, “Is it lawful to do good or to do harm on the sabbath, to save life or to kill?” But they were silent. He looked around at them with anger; he was grieved at their hardness of heart and said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” He stretched it out, and his hand was restored. The Pharisees went out and immediately conspired with the Herodians against him, how to destroy him. (Mark 2:23-3:6; NRSV)
So first off, I just want to say that the Pharisees are jerks, but that is obvious and everyone hammers on the Pharisees. I will note that they are not very different from some church goers today. But I’m sure no one has ever had something happen at church that they didn’t agree with or think was “scriptural” so they waited for the next time something like that happened so they could complain to their friends, or the elders or whatever. I’m not trying to be negative, I’m just saying the Pharisees are more normal than we realize. However, that isn’t the point to all this. The Pharisees were hung up on the minutia of the law – the oral lobe (yes, I just wanted to say lobe) of the law – meaning that it wasn’t the God given law of the Torah but the man added law of the Talmud. What Jesus is after is that they have completely misconstrued the meaning of the Sabbath (rest) and have created so many do’s and don’ts that instead of providing relief the Sabbath is now bringing complication and even pain. I wonder, what have we turned into a “sacred cow” which God never intended? Lord, help us worship in spirit and in truth.