Friday of the Fifteenth Week in Ordinary Time
In today’s gospel passage, Matthew 12: 1-8, Jesus and his disciples are walking through a field of grain on the Sabbath, and the disciples start picking grain and eating it because they are hungry. The Pharisees see this and condemn this action as a violation of the Sabbath. Jesus justifies this action ultimately by claiming his authority as the Son of Man who is Lord of the Sabbath. So as God Incarnate and the Lord of the Sabbath, Jesus has the authority to determine what is a violation of the law. The parallel passage in Mark 2: 23-28 clarifies further what this means.
Here Jesus explains that “the sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath.” I believe that this phrase, though applied to the law of the sabbath, gives us insight into what God intends by the commandments that He gives us. These are intended as a guide to help us to live a fully human life. The commandments are an instruction manual for living as a human being. And since the heart of all of the commandments is the commandments to love God with all our hearts, minds and strength and to love our neighbors as ourselves, the commandments are intended by God to teach us how to love. By seeing how God loves to the end, even to death on the cross, we will see then how best to keep the commandments.
Reflection by Fr. Aquinas Keusenkothen, OSB
Posted in Articles for Ordinary Time, Daily Reflections