Word to the Wise
Tuesday, January 17, 2012 - Tuesday in the 1st Week in Ordinary Time
[1 Sam 1:9-20 and Mark 1:21-28,378]The sabbath was made for man, not man for the sabbath. That is why the Son of Man is lord even of the sabbath.
There are times when one might sympathize with folks like the Pharisees! They are put in the position of being the "bad guys" often in the gospels. Their protests at Jesus' conduct and teaching seem petty and spiteful, but there was a solid history to their strict observance. They came into being as a protest against the deterioration of Jewish identity and faith during the time of the revolution against Greek cultural influence and leadership which is recounted in the books of the Maccabees. The observance of the sabbath was considered one of the most important of the 613 precepts of the law. It is enshrined in the third of the ten commandments! On the occasion recounted in today's gospel scripture, the larger meaning of their protest might be: Is nothing sacred?
Jesus' response to them is to place the observance in a larger or at least different context. The human person is greater than any cultic observance, no matter how important that particular observance might be. This does not mean the observance is of no value and should be discarded or ignored. The fact that Jesus healed in the synagogue on a sabbath shows that he was indeed at the synagogue on the sabbath! Of course, there was also the claim to be "lord of the sabbath," which hinted at his true identity, which, in the Gospel of Mark will be known only after his death and resurrection.
In the creation story in Genesis, both the creation of the human person in the image and likeness of God as well as the sabbath are recounted. Both human dignity and sabbath come from God. But a sabbath makes no sense is there is no one to observe it! There can be no adoration is there is no one to adore God. The great Old Testament prophets point out that the observance of the sabbath by those who attack human dignity is blasphemy. Jesus creates a greater context for understanding the requirements of the sabbath. The answer to the question, "Is nothing sacred?" is "Yes, the human person, made in the image and likeness of God is sacred!" It is this human person who must render true worship! AMEN