Gospel Mark
2:23-28
As Jesus
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.”
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Reflection:
What
would be your stand if you are made to choose between the observance of the law
or the lawful need of our fellowman? Jesus gives us a clear choice, for Him
it’s always the primary need of our fellowmen. As exemplified by His mention of
David who violated the Sabbath to address their need to satisfy their hunger.
Rules and
laws are created to create order and to prevent chaos. But there are times that
it’s disregarded for a much higher and noble purpose. If the welfare of our
fellowmen is at stake their interest
must come first. This is what we must always follow and we must also not
create rules to serve our own selfish ends.
For
example in a family setting, parents would normally have rules for their
children to follow. However, we must always be amenable to bend these rules no
matter how stringent. We do this if there is a valid need or reason. And when
we want to show that we love our children more than the implementation of our
house rules.