Look, why are they doing what is unlawful on the Sabbath?

22 JANUARY (Mk 2,23-28)

It is sad for who professes himself an observer of the Law of God, to have a distorted, wrong, fake and totally false view of the revelation. Who says of observing the Law, who makes the profession of faithfulness to the Word of God, must recognize the true spirit; and the Word and the Law must be observed according to the spirit. Jesus will face this discourse of truth and wisdom when his disciples are accused of taking food with unclean, that is, unwashed hands. There is a big difference between tradition and Law.

Now when the Pharisees with some scribes who had come from Jerusalem gathered around him, they observed that some of his disciples ate their meals with unclean, that is, unwashed, hands. (For the Pharisees and, in fact, all Jews, do not eat without carefully washing their hands, keeping the tradition of the elders. And on coming from the marketplace they do not eat without purifying themselves. And there are many other things that they have traditionally observed, the purification of cups and jugs and kettles (and beds).) So the Pharisees and scribes questioned him, “Why do your disciples not follow the tradition of the elders 3 but instead eat a meal with unclean hands?” He responded, “Well did Isaiah prophesy about you hypocrites, as it is written: ‘This people honors me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me; In vain do they worship me, teaching as doctrines human precepts.’ You disregard God’s commandment but cling to human tradition.” He went on to say, “How well you have set aside the commandment of God in order to uphold your tradition! For Moses said, ‘Honor your father and your mother,’ and ‘Whoever curses father or mother shall die.’ Yet you say, ‘If a person says to father or mother, “Any support you might have had from me is qorban”‘ (meaning, dedicated to God), you allow him to do nothing more for his father or mother. You nullify the word of God in favor of your tradition that you have handed on. And you do many such things.”(Mk 7,1-13).

St. Paul resolves the issue by stating the difference between the letter and the spirit of the Law. The Law must be observed in capturing its spirit of truth, holiness, justice, charity, love, mercy, compassion, piety and perfect will of God contained in it.

Such confidence we have through Christ toward God. Not that of ourselves we are qualified to take credit for anything as coming from us; rather, our qualification comes from God, who has indeed qualified us as ministers of a new covenant, not of letter but of spirit; for the letter brings death, but the Spirit gives life. Now if the ministry of death, carved in letters on stone, was so glorious that the Israelites could not look intently at the face of Moses because of its glory that was going to fade, how much more will the ministry of the Spirit be glorious? For if the ministry of condemnation was glorious, the ministry of righteousness will abound much more in glory. Indeed, what was endowed with glory has come to have no glory in this respect because of the glory that surpasses it. For if what was going to fade was glorious, how much more will what endures be glorious. (2Cor 3,4-11).

Jesus must be extremely cautious in responding to the Pharisees. These have minds and hearts against Him. They see him as a destroyer of their traditions and their faith. Their cry of stoning and the death would have followed immediately. This is why he simply states what had happened in the Ancient Scripture. Charity towards the hungry had brought the priest to break the sacred law on the bread of the offering. It is always charity that must triumph before any hunger. Before a real need of a man it is always love that must have first place. Jesus also teaches this truth in the parable of the Good Samaritan. The priest and the Levite choose the temple and leave the man. Jesus says that the temple must be left and the man to be rescued be chosen, because he is in grave danger of life.

As he was passing through a field of grain on the Sabbath, his disciples began to make a path while picking the heads of grain. At this the Pharisees said to him, “Look, why are they doing what is unlawful on the Sabbath?” He said to them, “Have you never read what David did when he was in need and he and his companions were hungry? How he went into the house of God when Abiathar was high priest and ate the bread of offering that only the priests could lawfully eat, and shared it with his companions?” Then he said to them, “The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath. That is why the Son of Man is lord even of the Sabbath.”

Jesus is the true interpreter of the true Word of the Father, in the fullness of the Holy Spirit.

Virgin Mary, Mother of the Redemption, Angels and Saints give us the intelligence of the Word.