Jesus Remembered: Christianity in the Making, vol. 1

THE MISSION OF JESUS
§14.4
the discussion of Jesus and the law will, I hope, become clear as we proceed. For
convenience I will begin by following the sequence provided by Mark. 104
a. The Sabbath
The Jesus tradition retains at least two vivid episodes in which Jesus or his disci-
ples were criticized for failure to observe the Sabbath by plucking grain on the
Sabbath (Mark 2.23-28 pars.) and healing a man with a withered hand on the
Sabbath (Mark 3.1-5 pars.). 105
Matt. 12.1-8 Mark 2.23-28 Luke 6.1-5
1 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.
2 When the Pharisees saw it,
they said to him, 'Look, your
disciples are doing what is not
lawful to do on the sabbath'.
3 He said to them, 'Have
you not read what David
did when he and his companions
were hungry?
4 How he entered the
house of God
and ate the
bread of the Presence, which it
was not lawful for him or his
companions to eat, but only for
the priests. 5 Or have you not
read in the law that on the
sabbath the priests in the temple
break the sabbath and yet are
guiltless? 6 I tell you,
something greater than the
temple is here. 7 But if you had
known what this means, "I
desire mercy and not sacrifice",
you would not have condemned
the guiltless.
8 For the Son of Man is lord of
the sabbath'.
23 One sabbath he was going
through the grainfields; and as
they made their way
his disciples began to
pluck heads of grain.
24 The Pharisees
said to him, 'Look, why
are they doing what is not
lawful on the sabbath?'
25 And he said to them, 'Have
you never read what David
did when he and his companions
were hungry and in need of
food? 26 How he entered the
house of God, when Abiathar
was high priest, and ate the
bread of the Presence, which it
is not lawful for any but the
priests to eat, and he gave some
to his companions'.
27 Then he said to them, 'The
sabbath was made for man, and
not man for the sabbath; 28 so
the Son of Man is lord even of
the sabbath'.
1 One sabbath while Jesus was
going through the grainfields,
his disciples plucked some
heads of grain, rubbed them in
their hands, and ate them.
2 But some of the Pharisees
said, 'Why
are you doing what is not
lawful on the sabbath?'
3 Jesus answered them, 'Have
you not read this, what David
did when he and his companions
were hungry?
4 That he entered the
house of God and took
and ate the
bread of the Presence, which it
is not lawful for any but only
the priests to eat, and gave some
to his companions?'
5 Then he said to them,
'The Son of Man is lord of the
sabbath'.
104.1 will delay discussion of Jesus' attitude to the Temple (whose rites, of course, were
entirely based on the Torah) till later (§§15.3a, d and 17.3).
105. Luke recalls two other or variant episodes (Luke 13.10-17 and 14.1-6), and the
memory of criticisms made of Jesus for failure to observe the Sabbath is retained in John 5 and 9.
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