On the Sabbath he was going through the grainfields, and his disciples began to make their way, picking some heads of grain. The Pharisees said to him, “Look, why are they doing what is not lawful on the Sabbath?”
He said to them, “Have you never read what David and those who were with him did when he was in need and hungry — how he entered the house of God in the time of Abiathar the high priest and ate the bread of the Presence —which is not lawful for anyone to eat except the priests —and also gave some to his companions?” Then he told them, “The Sabbath was made for man and not man for the Sabbath. So then, the Son of Man is Lord even of the Sabbath.”
Jesus entered the synagogue again, and a man was there who had a shriveled hand. In order to accuse him, they were watching him closely to see whether he would heal him on the Sabbath. He told the man with the shriveled hand, “Stand before us.” Then he said to them, “Is it lawful to do good on the Sabbath or to do evil, to save life or to kill?” But they were silent. After looking around at them with anger, he was grieved at the hardness of their hearts and told the man, “Stretch out your hand.” So he stretched it out, and his hand was restored. Immediately the Pharisees went out and started plotting with the Herodians against him, how they might kill him.
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Notice Christ’s description of the Sabbath. And notice what he is intent to do on the Sabbath. How should that shape our understanding of rest and slowing down?
Each week, we will look at a different vice, a habit of character leading us away from the life God longs for us to live, and consider what small steps we can take to root out that habitual sin in our lives.
Gluttony fills us with lesser pleasures until we lose our appetite for God. This week, choose one thing you habitually over-consume and fast from it, letting the emptiness sharpen your hunger for the Lord himself.
Father God, would you remind me now of the ways in which I have sinned today through negligence, through weakness, or my own deliberate fault? I take a moment to confess my sins before you now. [Pause for Moment of Confession] God of grace, thank you that when I was lost, you found me and when I was ashamed you forgave me, nailing the accusations against me to the cross (Colossians 2:13–14). I receive your forgiveness now.
—Lectio 365
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