We should begin with Jesus’ haunting question – “Have you not read” which he asks twice (vss. 3 & 5). The question is also a double whammy for it exposes a reality that challenges us and not simply the Pharisees: Do you know your Bible? Are you aware of Jesus’ examples? Can you guess the book of the Bible that they come from? TAKE THE QUIZ & DON’T CHEAT! The answers are below.
1. Which book of the Bible narrates David and his men eating the bread of Presence?
2. Which book of the Bible speaks of the rules governing the bread of Presence?
3. Which book speaks of the priest performing work “on the Sabbath”?
4. Which prophetic book is Jesus quoting when he quotes, “I desire mercy, not sacrifice”?
ANSWERS: 1. 1 Samuel 21:1-6; 2. Leviticus 24:5-9; 3. Numbers 28:9-10; 4. Hosea 6:6
To be able to love and converse like Jesus you must know your Bible well (in this passage alone he quotes from the three main sections of the Hebrew Scriptures (Torah [law], Ketuvim [writings], Nevi’im [prophets]. And Jesus had no special knowledge – he was a human being just like you and me. He had to learn it. And friends, I want you to purge one thought out of your head right now that the Old Testament is somehow graceless and devoid of mercy. Every merciful act of Jesus, every challenge of grace to the Pharisees, Jesus supports by quoting from the Old Testament. If you read carefully like Jesus, you must read everything, because everything can be read as gospel, everything becomes good news.
Jesus first uses a story from 1 Samuel 21:1-6, which does not concern the Sabbath directly. It’s about David and his men eating bread from the temple that Scripture (Leviticus 24:5-9) expressly forbids them to eat. The bread was specified by God as only being for the priests yet David and his men violated this direct commandment when they ate the bread of Presence, which was a thank offering placed in the temple. Of course, David had already violated the law by entering this part of the temple not to mention that David lied to Ahimelech that he was on a secret mission commissioned by Saul. So why would Jesus use a law-breaking story from Scripture to challenge Scripture? He read the Bible carefully . . .
Jesus connected with David’s story because of the awareness of human need and frailty in the present. We hear in both vs. 1 and vs. 3 that both the disciples as well as David and his men “were hungry”. By placing human need front and center Jesus reorients not simply how we read but what we read. Focusing on need will lead you to Bible passages that you had not thought to use or apply but that speak with new authority.
The second Scriptural argument that Jesus uses comes from Numbers 28:9-10. It’s a more relevant yet obscure reference. Here, Jesus points out that the priests technically perform work, “[O]n the Sabbath,” but are considered innocent. So Jesus is using an idea implicit within that text that temple service – the liberating work and healing practice of forgiveness, takes precedence over Sabbath observance. So, Jesus and his followers, like the priest, represent a group who are not bound by such legalistic readings because they too are about the work of God. Jesus reads this passage in light of a new day dawning in which everyone assumes a priestly role because he is Lord of the Sabbath. So don’t use Scripture to correct him.
So Jesus is reading Scripture and keeping human need front and center. You’ve got to love Matthew as a narrator. These guys were first rate artists so you need to always pay attention to the nuances. He wants to clue us into the real problem with the Pharisee’s reading of Scripture: they don’t know where to “look”, they don’t know how to see. In vss. 2 and 10 Matthew wants us to notice where to “look” or “behold.”
Look at vs. 2: “When the Pharisees saw it they said to him, “Look!” What is the “this”? Where are we to “Look!”? The “this” refers to the supposed offense. The Pharisees see the conduct of the disciples as a violation of the Scriptures clear command not to work on the Sabbath (Deut. 5:12-15; Exodus 20:8-11) – “plucking grain” was considered harvesting, a form of work clearly forbidden – connecting to one of thirty-nine classes of work prohibited in Exodus chs. 34 & 35. But, it could have said, “When the Pharisees saw the hungry disciples” or “the ones who were in need”. In vs. 10, though the NIV unfortunately doesn’t translate the word, but it also says “Look or behold a man was there who had a withered hand. And they asked Jesus, “How should we help him?” No, they asked, “Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath?” Matthew wants to clue us in that their way of reading Scripture didn’t see people only sin. It didn’t see opportunities to help but issues to debate. They could only see the offense. It’s as if Matthew is saying, Be wary of Bible readers who refuse to look at or behold people’s needs and rather focus only on Scripture. Be wary of those who read the Bible and ignore the hungry, avoid the hurting, who refuse to acknowledge a “need.” So we must read the Bible carefully like Jesus with need . . .
Augustine defined “mercy” as taking another’s misery to heart. Jesus sets up mercy being a way of reading Scripture by quoting from one of his favorite books and passages, the prophet Hosea ch. 6:1-6, specifically, “I desire mercy not sacrifice.” He uses this passage to explain his associations with tax collectors and sinners, c.f. Matt. 9:13) and now declares that careful law observance and the sacrificial system must give way to the priority of God’s new work of public love and justice – that welcomes people, feeds them, liberates them, unbinds them, and heals them. Later Jesus will say the same thing when he says, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’38 This is the first and greatest commandment. 39 And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’40 All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.” (Matt. 22:37-40) We must stop trying to replace Jesus’ command to love with others words that we prefer like, “Reverence the Lord your God” or “Defend the Lord your God, or “Fight for the Lord your God.” We are to love and be merciful. Mercy as a reading strategy reminds us that the purpose of Scripture, the commands that apply, the reading that works, the words to be spoken, must be lovingly lovely to God, neighbor, and self, or not to be spoken at all.
Immediately after this confrontation over plucking the heads of grain, Jesus will encounter a man with a withered hand, and the Pharisees will watch him carefully to see what he will do — will Jesus break the Sabbath again!? Jesus responds with a question, “Suppose one of you has only one sheep and it falls into a pit on the sabbath; will you not lay hold of it and lift it out? How much more valuable is a human being than a sheep!” I believe that Jesus’ argument clues us into the significant difference between how he reads the Scriptures versus how the Pharisees read them. See, the Pharisees’ theology works from the abstract: Is Sabbath work forbidden in Scripture? Yes. Is plucking grain work? Yes. Is healing work? Yes. Then we have our conclusion—plucking grain and healing on the Sabbath are forbidden. Jesus’ reading of the Bible, however, involves the inherent value of the person (God is love + God made us = how to read): Here is a hungry group or a hurting person in front of me. What do they need? How can I help? Ah, but it’s the Sabbath. Let me now take this person’s unique situation to the Scriptures—and when we do that, we can see even more clearly that the Scriptures themselves address real human faces (e.g. the story of David; the story of the woman caught in adultery, John 8). They mercifully accommodate and address human need. And Jesus will argue that the Sabbath itself aims to serve people and NOT the other way around (in Mark and Luke Jesus will say this strongly, “The Sabbath was made for humankind and not humankind for the Sabbath)!
Reading the Bible like Jesus, acknowledging need, always with eye for mercy will always have us asking “Where is it written?”. But while that is often the first question we might ask it must never be the last question we answer because just reading the Bible does not make you a good Bible reader. The Pharisees did know where these passages came from. However, because they failed to read the Bible with the hungry, to study the Bible with people in need, to look with a God who desires mercy for those whom God has made, they would never have thought to go to these passages, would have never read them in this way. They could never truly embrace others with Scripture the way Jesus did but chose rather to weaponize and fight with Scripture.
After these two Sabbath encounters, Matthew will reflect on the Biblical controversy with Jesus and the Pharisees and, not surprisingly, quotes from the OT, Isaiah 42:1-4, which details the work of God’s anointed. It says, “He will not break a bruised reed or quench a smoldering wick . . .” Because the Pharisees see no human face when they read Scripture, they are quite willing to break reeds and snuff out wicks. Is it any wonder then why they missed the word of God with a human face in their midst? Is it any wonder that because Jesus does not read Scriptures like they do, vs. 14 says they wanted to literally “assassinate” him? Because their reading lacks mercy, they would rather hold their Bibles like sniper rifles than read their Bibles differently.
To think Christian is to read the Bible carefully like Jesus with a need for mercy. Here are some important questions:
1. Do I read my Bible carefully like Jesus? “Carefully” may be one of the more important words. The Bible is helpful and dangerous thing. Wield it with care; not “defensively,” “aggressively,” or “haphazardly.” And for those of you who have harmed by Scripture – don’t give it up. It was a critical tool in the healing and loving ministry of Jesus. You need simply to use it and know it well.
2. Do I read my Bible well aware of other’s needs? Do I read as a friend? When I think about the Bible others do I truly know them? Do I know divorced people when I seek to understand what the Bible says to them? Do I know immigrants? Do I care about them? To fully see a need you must truly know a person. You must know their name. If you don’t, don’t read to them.
3. When I read my Bible do others wince? Do others feel more broken, snuffed out, or unloved? Do the people I read for feel loved? If you don’t know – ask them.
4. Where do I sense the Spirit asking me to read my Bible carefully again?
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