tell me where to find you
when i lose my way
Well, I’m out of clever ideas for how to present today’s scripture. So why don’t we just engage in some serious Bible study? This is always a good idea. Especially since this passage is so often put through the wringer of shoddy interpretation.
This passage is often described as a battle of interpretation. The Pharisees are depicted as sticklers, while Jesus is portrayed as a compassionate interpreter of the higher ideals behind the Law, such as hunger and health. Now there’s a kernel of truth in all this, but not much more. Who among us doesn’t like to imagine Jesus as the sympathetic advocate for the down and out? And don’t we all hope there’s some shred of humanity behind the rules that govern our fate?
But, while this explanation may sound good, in the end, it only makes everything worse. In this scheme, Jesus is nothing more than a taskmaster, and there’s no room for consideration of our human condition! Like Van Morrison sings in “Wonderful Remark,” portraying Jesus as the exemplar of a higher moral order turns out to be is a whole lot of something that don’t mean nothing. AND once you realize it, whoever doled out that lousy advice is gone.
That flimsy exegesis makes Jesus into an advocate for nothing more than a law that’s higher and harder than the one the Pharisees championed! Jesus is no LORD of the sabbath in this scheme! He’s just another Moses. Only more demanding…
So, if Jesus isn’t advocating for a higher ideal, then what is he doing?
Well, the truth is, the answer isn’t all that baffling. In fact, it’s a whole lot more simple than that common but misguided interpretation we just dealt with. Jesus himself explains what’s going on with only one statement and one question.
First, Jesus says he’s the Lord of the sabbath! Jesus makes clear he’s not the keeper of rules about the sabbath, or anything else for that matter. Instead, he’s Lord. Lord of the sabbath, and the rest of it, too!
If you want to understand what that means, you don’t have to search far. In the next episode, Jesus demonstrates what it means to be Lord.
On another sabbath, Jesus entered the synagogue and taught, as was his custom. The Pharisees and scribes are there, too. Only they’re there to see if they can find a charge against Jesus. There’s also a man whose right hand is withered.
Now, Jesus knows full well of the designs against him. Nonetheless, he asks the man with the withered hand to come forward. Then Jesus poses a question, and a simple one, too. “What is lawful to do on the sabbath, good or harm, save life or destroy it?”
Answering his own question, Jesus goes ahead and heals the poor guy!
What’s really at stake, enacts Jesus, isn’t what you can’t do, it’s what God CAN! And the thing about sabbath laws, or any other kind for that matter, is that they’re all about what we CAN’T do.
With that, you’re at the wellspring of all good theology! That chasm between God and us. Which turns out to be the divide Jesus, God in the flesh, has come to bridge!
And this bridge of his, it’s a one-way path. From God to us.
…The Pharisees have a noble cause, the Law. And God’s Law, no less! The thing about the Law, though, is it has a limited function. It’s for here and now.
Paul compares the Law to a disciplinarian (Gal. 3:24). But you might think of a good officer. The job of an officer isn’t to create an ideal society. In fact, an officer can’t do that. What a good officer can do, though, is keep bad behavior in check. Which is a vital function in our world, such as it is.
The problem at the heart of that common but unhelpful interpretation of today’s scripture is the same problem the particular Pharisees in today’s scripture have with Jesus, the misguided notion that we can do more with the Law than it promises!
The Law, good as it is, is not ultimate! It can’t extended beyond the here and now! It’s only for life on this side of heaven. Not the other way. And trying to make it do so will only lead you away from the blessed rest of the sabbath!
Even when he shows up in the flesh…
As the Lord of the sabbath, Jesus delivers what the Law hopes for, everything the sabbath promises! And every other promise hidden behind the rest of the holy Laws, too!
In Jesus, it’s not a matter of what you can’t do, but what God can!
Which brings us to you, dear schoolchild of God. In Jesus, you’ve been given everything the blessed rest of the sabbath! Until that great Last Day, though, you live in this world. So long as that’s a fact, the Law has a role. And a very good one, too. Especially for your neighbor. Ultimately, though, the Law doesn’t have an ultimate function. It can’t cross that chasm between us and God. But Jesus, he CAN! He does. And he comes to do so FOR you!
Hopefully, that leaves you breathing a sigh of relief this sabbath! Because, of course, the other option is to be filled with fury.
Pro-tip here, though, when you’re in the presence of The ultimate, the Alpha and Omega, all there is to do is, like the man in today’s scripture, reach out to Jesus! And in that little act, you’ll discover, for yourself, what it means that Jesus is Lord. Lord of the sabbath and the rest of it, too!
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