Reading 1
1 Cor 4:6b-15
Brothers and sisters:
Learn from myself and Apollos not to go beyond what is written,
so that none of you will be inflated with pride
in favor of one person over against another.
Who confers distinction upon you?
What do you possess that you have not received?
But if you have received it,
why are you boasting as if you did not receive it?
You are already satisfied; you have already grown rich;
you have become kings without us!
Indeed, I wish that you had become kings,
so that we also might become kings with you.
For as I see it, God has exhibited us Apostles as the last of all,
like people sentenced to death,
since we have become a spectacle to the world,
to angels and men alike.
We are fools on Christ's account, but you are wise in Christ;
we are weak, but you are strong;
you are held in honor, but we in disrepute.
To this very hour we go hungry and thirsty,
we are poorly clad and roughly treated,
we wander about homeless and we toil, working with our own hands.
When ridiculed, we bless; when persecuted, we endure;
when slandered, we respond gently.
We have become like the world's rubbish, the scum of all,
to this very moment.
I am writing you this not to shame you,
but to admonish you as my beloved children.
Even if you should have countless guides to Christ,
yet you do not have many fathers,
for I became your father in Christ Jesus through the Gospel.
Gospel
Lk 6:1-5
While Jesus was going through a field of grain on a sabbath,
his disciples were picking the heads of grain,
rubbing them in their hands, and eating them.
Some Pharisees said,
"Why are you doing what is unlawful on the sabbath?"
Jesus said to them in reply,
"Have you not read what David did
when he and those who were with him were hungry?
How he went into the house of God, took the bread of offering,
which only the priests could lawfully eat,
ate of it, and shared it with his companions?"
Then he said to them, "The Son of Man is lord of the sabbath."
Meditation: Luke 6:1-5
“Have you not read what David did?” (Luke 6:3)
Jesus and his disciples were cutting through a grain field on the Sabbath. Without even thinking about what they were doing, the disciples broke off stalks of grain, rubbed them between their hands, and popped the kernels into their mouths. They weren’t desperate and starving, nor were they trying to defy the religious leaders. But some Pharisees, eager to catch Jesus, were quick to pounce: “Why are you doing what is unlawful on the?sabbath?” (Luke 6:2).
The disciples’ “crime” here was not stealing. Jewish law permitted the poor to glean what was left over in anyone’s field. It even encouraged landowners to leave a portion for God’s little ones. Rather, the disciples were being blamed for ”threshing,” a kind of “work” not allowed on the sabbath.
Jesus hadn’t commanded this work, but he quickly came to his friends’ defense. He cited an example of a time when King David broke the Law because his soldiers were hungry and in need. Jesus knew that the disciples’ hearts were in the right place, even if they had made a mistake. He knew that David’s soldiers were not trying to commit sacrilege. And he knew that his opponents knew it as well. He knew they were just looking for something to discredit him, and they used this minor offense for ammunition.
While these Pharisees emphasized a strict, legalistic interpretation of the Law, Jesus focused on the people involved. He knew that the disciples were reverent enough to honor the sabbath, even if they had just committed a minor indiscretion. He knew that their hearts were in the right place. So he defended them.
Have you ever inadvertently “blown it” when it comes to following the Lord perfectly? Of course you have. We all have! How good it is to know that Jesus isn’t like these Pharisees, waiting to condemn you for every misdemeanor! How encouraging to know that he sees the good intentions in your heart and wants to help you make these intentions a reality! So don’t get down on yourself. Instead, turn to the Lord of the sabbath and ask him to keep working to purify your heart and mind!
“Thank you, Jesus, for your mercy and your help. By your Spirit, make me an agent of your peace, even in the midst of my own mistakes.”
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