Luke 6:1-5

Colossians 1:21-23

Psalm 54:3-4, 6 and 8

Luke 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.”

Opening Prayer: Lord God, you have invited me to share in your divine life. Only in union with your Son and filled with your Spirit can I attain this life. Thank you for the gift of the Eucharist, which sustains me on my journey to you.

Encountering the Word of God

1. The Lord of the Sabbath: In Galilee, Jesus establishes who he is subtly through his words and actions. In Nazareth, he presented himself as the Messiah who inaugurates the Great Jubilee of God’s mercy. In these first chapters dealing with his public ministry in Galilee, Jesus has been called the Holy One of God and the Son of God. Simon Peter, the fisherman, called him “master” at first, but came to believe in him and called him “Lord.” Jesus has also referred to himself as the divine bridegroom. In today’s Gospel, Jesus refers to himself as both “the Son of Man” and the “Lord of the Sabbath.” These are all invitations to us to enter into the mystery of Jesus’ identity and Person. Only God is Lord of the Sabbath. Only the true Son of Man has both divine and human characteristics. The Lord of the Sabbath is the one who brings the original Sabbath to its fulfillment. The Sabbath was the sign of God’s covenant with creation and humanity. It was an invitation to rest from the labors of the week and enjoy God’s presence in worship and family. It became a remembrance of God’s deliverance. It was transformed by Christ into the memorial of his passion, death, and resurrection. It is now a day that looks forward in the Spirit to the glorious consummation of all things and our eternal rest with God the Father in heaven.

2. The New Priests: In his dispute with the Pharisees, Jesus challenges them to look beyond the narrow letter of the Law and their burdensome human traditions and to embrace the new life that he brings. Jesus compares himself to David and his disciples to David’s companions. He refers to an episode in the Old Testament, when King Saul was seeking to destroy David, and when Ahimelech, the priest of Nob, gave the Bread of the Presence to David and his men to eat. Among the people of Nob, there was also a servant of King Saul, Doeg the Edomite. He was the chief of Saul’s shepherds. Doeg acted as a spy and told Saul where David was and who helped him. Saul then killed Ahimelech, Ahimelech’s family, over 80 priests of the Lord, and the men, women, children, and animals in the priestly city of Nob. What Jesus hints at is that the Pharisees were acting like the wicked spy Doeg and were trying to trap Jesus and his disciples. Jesus is telling them that their religious authority over Israel is ending and a new priesthood, gathered around the new David, is beginning. Just as David and his men were not guilty because they ate the Bread of the Presence that only the priests could eat, so also Jesus and his disciples are not guilty because they picked heads of grain, rubbed them, and ate them on the Sabbath. Jesus is Lord of the Sabbath, and his disciples will soon replace the Pharisees as the religious authorities over Israel.

3. A Deacon of the Gospel: In his Letter to the Colossians, Paul refers to himself as a “minister (diakonos: deacon) of the Gospel.” He moves from the big picture of God’s creation of the world and reconciliation of all things in Christ to the Christian community in Colossae. To drive home the transformation that Christ has brought about in their lives, he employs the strongest possible language: “you who once were alienated and hostile in mind because of evil deeds” (see Hamm, Philippians, Colossians, Philemon, 180). They have been brought from lives of sin in a sinful Gentile culture to a life of holiness through reconciliation in Christ’s body. “They have been made holy by their baptism, and God’s purpose is to bring that holiness to perfection. The goal of being presented to God fully perfected requires a Christian response to God’s initiatives of creation and redemption, celebrated in verses 15-20 applied to the Colossians in verses 21-22” (Hamm, Philippians, Colossians, Philemon, 181). Paul and Epaphras have been “deacons” of the Gospel and seek to share in the Church’s mission of preaching the Gospel to the entire world, to all human beings everywhere.

Conversing with Christ: Lord Jesus, lead me to imitate you and truly share in your life. I am a member of the New People of God and need to bring the Gospel to others so that they can fully live as members of God’s People.

Living the Word of God: How do I live the Sabbath rest on the Lord’s Day? What can I do better to make it a time of worship, prayer, family, charity, and service?