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.” (Mk 2:23-28)
Competition among people is pretty fierce.
From the time we are very young, we do all that we can to assert control. We want to be the ones in charge. We loathe when someone else calls the shots.
Many times, in order to assert our control, we make up all sorts of rules by which others must abide.
Sometimes, the rules take over and we even forget what they were all about.
In today’s Gospel, Jesus was being confronted by some of the Pharisees. They were the ones who wanted to be in control of the situation and, around Jesus, they found that they were fast losing control. So they went to Jesus complaining that His disciples are “breaking the rules”.
Jesus reminded them about the sabbath. He told them that the sabbath was made for man and that He was the Lord even of the sabbath.
He asserted Himself and would end up paying dearly for it.
But He was not wrong.
Jesus is Lord. He is the one who is in charge. He is the one to whom we look for guidance.
At least, He is supposed to be.
FAITH ACTION: Time for a “reality check”. Is Jesus in charge of your life or are you trying to assert your own control?