The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath

Christ defends plucking of the ears of grain on the Sabbath, by Marten van Valckenborch © Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna

Source: Christian Art

Gospel of 18th January 2022 - Mark 2:23-28

One Sabbath day, Jesus happened to be taking a walk through the cornfields, and his disciples began to pick ears of corn as they went along. And the Pharisees said to him, 'Look, why are they doing something on the Sabbath day that is forbidden?' And he replied, 'Did you never read what David did in his time of need when he and his followers were hungry - how he went into the house of God when Abiathar was high priest, and ate the loaves of offering which only the priests are allowed to eat, and how he also gave some to the men with him?'

And he said to them, 'The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath; the Son of Man is master even of the Sabbath.'

Reflection on the Painting

In our Gospel reading today, Jesus speaks the words 'The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath'. The Sabbath was one of God's gifts to Israel. No other religion worshipped a god who said 'have a day off once a week'. It was God's way of telling His people that it was ok to rest, and in a way also to sample of God's eternal rest and Paradise.

Our painting by Marten van Valckenborch, titled 'Christ defends the plucking of the ears of grain on the Sabbath' illustrates our Gospel reading of today. We see Jesus at the top of the hill being confronted by the angry Pharisees, whose hand gestures show they are questioning Jesus. His disciples are shown walking up the hill behind Him - some with their hands stretching out to pick corn, the others with their hands to their mouths. Further in the distance we see farmers at work, reaping and threshing the grain.

The Pharisees, as defenders of the Law, had lost sight that the Sabbath day was a gift from God. They reduced the Sabbath to a strict law of God's commandment, not to be broken at any cost. The Pharisees had reduced people to be slave of the Sabbath so to speak, rather than it be a day where people would enjoy freedom and joy.

But nowadays the pendulum has swung too much the other way. God grants us Sunday rest and a day where we are invited to worship Him, but what do we do? We fill it with sports activities, shopping, parties, etc… I recently came across someone telling me we have become 'ABC Christians' - 'Anything But Church' Christians: living our faith outside the church and away from the Sunday obligation to attend Mass; just squeezing in Mass attendance or prayer when it suits us and nothing else is on…

LINKS

Today's story - https://christian.art/en/daily-gospel-reading/1057
Christian Art - www.christian.art