Old Testament: 1 Samuel 21 & 22
Poetry: Psalm 68
New Testament: Galatians 2
In the beginning of our reading today, we have a strange interaction. If you want to remind yourself, 1 Samuel 21:1-6 is the focus. David is running from Saul, so he goes to the priest, tells him his companions are hungry, and asks if he can have any bread. The priest responds by offering the consecrated, holy bread. David and his companions eat and they are on their way.
The strangeness comes to play because
David lies about what he is doing,
David realizes that his interactions with the priests led to their deaths,
and David, nor his men are supposed to eat the bread.
Time would fail us in trying to understand if David was justified in lying to the priest about his true intention; that is, not to do Saul’s bidding but to run from him.
David wants to make up for the slaughter of the priest, both by housing the survivor and no doubt by desiring to build the temple after he becomes king. (He had many reasons to desire to build the temple.)
The strange part I want to examine with you is that David and his buddies weren’t supposed to eat the bread. The Bread of the Presence, or the showbread, is commanded to be placed in the temple regularly.(Exodus 25:30) While there are different theories on *why* God commanded there to be bread, the name “bread of the presence” or “presence bread” indicates that it was meant to be set in the presence of God always, to remind the priests that God’s presence is in this place, and God is the one with whom we should wish to dine. Leviticus 24:5-9 describe the use of the bread; it was to be a covenant of the people forever and to be eaten by Aaron and his sons. Yet the priest does not ask David (who he knows is not a priest) if he was a priest, but simply if he was clean. David, who we know has lied before this point, may not have known, but answers in the affirmative.
Did David sin? Should he be punished for this?
A good question.
Why did Jesus use this story to justify “working” on the Sabbath?
A *better* question.
In all three synoptic gospels (Matthew 12:1-8, Mark 2:23-28, Luke 6:1-5), Jesus and his disciples are going through fields of grain and picking the heads and eating it. The Pharisees declare this is too much work; things like picking up your mattress, lighting a fire, walking more than a set amount, all considered too much work, based on the Torah and later tradition.
What does Jesus say in response? Yes, my disciples eat grain, but David ate the consecrated bread. And yet, though you would call him unlawful, that is not what God saw.
See, Jesus says, “the Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath”. (Mark 2:27)
“The Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath.” (Luke 6:5)
“Something greater than the temple is here.” (Matthew 12:6)
What do we do with that? Let me give a few quick thoughts.
The Bible is a strange book. We’ve talked about how it is more complex than we give it credit for, it is also strange. This does not mean there is no application, but you might need to think for a bit to see what God is saying.
What God is saying through the story of Christ referencing David and his companions becomes clearer we we recognize that we can’t pull stories out of their context. First, Jesus is saying that the laws that were intended to give a nation of slaves rest and worth beyond what they produce were being used by the religious elite to control them. (“The Sabbath was made for man.”) We can only know this by knowing that the pharisees were trying to determine the lawfulness or unlawfulness of any and every action. But more importantly than the cultural context, the written context shapes what we should see in this story: Jesus goes on in every version of this story to heal a man on the Sabbath, a man with a withered hand. It’s pretty clear that “working” on the Sabbath, doing the good things God places in front of us, healing the sick and saving the dying, is not work that takes a back seat, but is the very thing God might be calling us to do.
Finally, Jesus is Lord, even of the Sabbath. Jesus changes everything. As his follower and apprentice, his interpretation of the Bible is the one I want to use, and his way of living out the commands of God, even if that changes them, is the way I want to live. If Jesus says that doing good is lawful, then I will do good on every day, whether or not it is my Sabbath.
May you eat the bread of the covenant in the presence of the Lord.
-Jake Ballard
Reflection Questions
- The Lies of Abraham, Jacob, and David : Abraham lied about Sarah, Jacob lied about Esau, and David lied about his mission. Why do you think the Bible records the lies and failures of the patriarchs? One of the Ten Commandments is “thou shalt not bear false witness”, the Hebraic equivalent of lying; does the Bible condone it here and prohibit it elsewhere?
- Finding Your Sabbath: Saturday is probably not your day of worship, and you might even work on a Sunday. But do you have a Sabbath? Do you take a day away from the hurry of life, from the bustle of doing, completing, competing, overcoming, achieving, and instead find solace in simply being? The Sabbath, the work-and-rest pattern of life, was given by God to man, because humans are worth more than what they produce and what they achieve. How would you like to live out the gift of Sabbath? Pick a day and let it be a day of rest.
- Lord of the Sabbath: Jesus as Lord lived out the commands of God, but also would change them; he made foods clean and abolished the need for sacrifices as much as he kept kosher and celebrated Passover. Jesus is greater than the temple and than the Sabbath. Have you honored the Lord of the Sabbath by both resting when you need to rest and working when he calls you to work? Have you honored the Lord of your life by living the life he showed you and empowered you to live?
If you would like to know more about rest and about the elimination of hurry and are in your 20s and 30s, consider attending the Young Adult Getaway, June 9-12, in Sevierville, TN. Get more information at http://www.yagetaway.com
Seek Grow Love 