David Bahn – Reflections

What do you tolerate? Where do you draw the line? It matters.

Matthew 12:1-8

At that time Jesus went through the grainfields on the Sabbath. His disciples were hungry, and they began to pluck heads of grain and to eat. ²But when the Pharisees saw it, they said to him, “Look, your disciples are doing what is not lawful to do on the Sabbath.” ³He said to them,  “Have you not read what David did when he was hungry, and those who were with him: ⁴how he entered the house of God and ate the bread of the Presence, which it was not lawful for him to eat nor for those who were with him, but only for the priests? ⁵Or have you not read in the Law how on the Sabbath the priests in the temple profane the Sabbath and are guiltless? ⁶I tell you, something greater than the temple is here. ⁷And if you had known what this means, ‘I desire mercy, and not sacrifice,’ you would not have condemned the guiltless. ⁸For the Son of Man is lord of the Sabbath.”

As far as the Pharisees were concerned Jesus was not drawing the line clearly enough – or at least not where they wanted him to draw the line. He didn’t require adherence of his disciples to the Old Testament laws and especially the rabbinical interpretations and additions to those laws. He regularly broke the Sabbath laws in the estimation of the Pharisees. He was criticized for his lack of respect for the traditions of the Jews of his day. They wanted Jesus to conform to their understanding of proper religion and righteousness. And he did not.

Jesus refused to align himself with the traditions of the Pharisees because they were deeply wrong. He quoted Isaiah 29:13 in reference to them, saying,

“‘This people honors me with their lips,
but their heart is far from me;
⁹in vain do they worship me,
teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.’” (Matthew 15:5-9 ESV)

The line we must draw in regard to righteousness starts in the heart and shows outwardly in how we act toward God and neighbor. It’s no good to say we love God and hate our neighbor. It’s no good to mask an unbelieving heart with religious activity. God wants all of us – heart, mind, soul and body. We who want to honor God must do so with our lips and our lives. The line of obedience, godliness and faith runs through the center of our hearts and moves us toward others with Christ’s love.