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.”
Panginoon ng Sabat
Marcos 2:23-28
23Nangyari nga, isang araw ng Sabat, nang dumaan si Jesus sa triguhan ay kasama ang kaniyang mga alagad. Habang naglalakad sila, namigtal ng uhay ng mga trigo ang mga alagad. 24Kaya nga, ang mga Fariseo ay nagsabi sa kaniya: Narito, bakit ginagawa nila sa araw ng Sabat ang hindi ayon sa kautusan?
25Sumagot si Jesus: Hindi ba ninyo nabasa kung ano ang ginawa ni David at ng kaniyang mga kasama nang sila ay nangailangan at nagutom? 26Nang si Abiatar ang pinunong-saserdote, pumasok si David sa bahay ng Diyos at kinain ang tinapay na itinalaga sa Diyos na hindi dapat kainin. Ang mga saserdote lamang ang may karapatang kumain niyaon, ngunit kinain iyon ni David. Binigyan pa niya ang mga kasama niya. Hindi ba ninyo nabasa ito?
27Sinabi ni Jesus sa kanila: Ang araw ng Sabat ay ginawa para sa tao at hindi ang tao para sa araw ng Sabat. 28Kaya nga, ako na Anak ng Tao ay Panginoon din ng araw ng Sabat.
1 comment:
The Hebrew sabbat is connected with the root “SBT” which means to cease or to rest. Among ancient Mediterranean peoples, there was a day different from the rest of the days because it was special to the divinities. People ceased their normal activities on this “taboo” day. But in Israel, God’s rest after creation is the theological basis for man’s rest at the end of the week (Gn 2:1-3). Another reason is historical: The sabbath is a day of rest for the Israelites, their animals and their slaves, because the Israelites, who themselves were once slaves in Egypt, should have compassion on those forced to labor (Dt 5:12-15).
To fence in and protect the sacredness of the sabbath rest, the rabbis enumerated 39 types of work which were prohibited on this day, the third of which was reaping. Picking the heads of grain was considered reaping, and this violation is pointed out by the Pharisees to Jesus.
While prohibitions abounded, exceptions were also admitted, like the Temple duties (Mt 12:5), the unloosing of cattle (Lk 13:15), and other actions in which life was at stake. There were even rabbis who would agree with Jesus that “the sabbath was made for man, not man for the sabbath.” Here Jesus objects to the strict Pharisaic interpretation, the mere material observance of the sabbath that admits no exception. He interprets the law in humanitarian terms, according to human needs, as God would have it. God established the seventh day as a period of joy and refreshment. Pope John Paul II interprets the sacredness of the sabbath: “The divine rest of the seventh day does not allude to an inactive God, but emphasizes the fullness of what has been accomplished. It speaks, as it were, of God’s lingering before the ‘very good’ work (Gn 1:31) which his hand has wrought, in order to cast upon it a gaze full of joyous delight” (Dies Domini, n 11).
SOURCE: “365 Days with the Lord 2010,” ST PAULS, 7708 St. Paul Rd., SAV, Makati City (Phils.); Tel.: 895-9701; Fax 895-7328; E-mail: books@stpauls.ph; Website: http://www.stpauls.ph
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