Mark 2: 23 And He passed through the grainfields on the Sabbath, and His disciples began to go along, picking the ears of grain. 24 And the Pharisees said to Him, Look! Why are they doing on the Sabbath what is not lawful?
I believe that the Lord Jesus purposely led His followers into the grainfields on the Sabbath. He certainly knew that it was a Sabbath day. As a rule, He should not have made a decision to pass through the grainfields on the Sabbath, for that was a breaking of the regulation concerning the keeping of the Sabbath. Nevertheless, He, as the Shepherd, led all of His followers, His sheep, into the grainfields, and those fields became their pasture. Verse 23 says that "His disciples began to make their way, picking the ears of grain." Here we see that the disciples were eating the fresh ears of grain. Through this kind of eating they were satisfied. In verse 24 "the Pharisees said to Him, Look! Why are they doing on the Sabbath what is not lawful?" The Sabbath was for the Jews to remember God as the Creator (Gen. 2:2), to keep the sign of God's covenant with them (Ezek. 20:12), and to remember God's redemption of them (Deut. 5:15). Hence, to profane the Sabbath was a serious matter in the eyes of the religious Pharisees. To them it was not lawful, not scriptural, for the Lord's disciples to pick ears of grain on the Sabbath. As we shall see, the Pharisees did not have adequate knowledge of the Scriptures. According to their meager knowledge, they cared for the ritual of keeping the Sabbath, not for the hunger of the people. What folly to observe a vain ritual! (c) Living Stream Ministry.
Bible verses are taken from the Recovery Version of the Bible and Words of Ministry from Witness Lee, Life-study of Mark, pp. 89-90. Both are published by Living Stream Ministry, Anaheim, CA. Please visit us at www.emanna.com. Send comments to: [email protected].
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