436.doc

436.doc

Scripture: Lectionary 436: Colossians 1:21-23. Psalm 54:3-4.6.8. Luke 6:1-5:

Standing firm in our faith is a constant message from St. Paul in his letters and we find it in today’s selection from Colossians. Isaiah had such a message that Paul may have assimilated from his rabbinic training. The Gospel he preaches is what enables us to stand firm in our belief in the Good News Jesus has given us. We already have been reconciled to God by our baptism into the life of Christ, now we are to endure with a deepening of our faith. Paul tells us we are holy to the Lord and we are free—a theme that will also be apparent in our Gospel for today where Jesus frees us from literalism and fundamentalism in understanding the Torah (Law) and the Prophets and Writings. Paul again reminds us that hope is a part of our life and this is based on the fidelity of God to all of the promises made to us through the Scriptures. Paul and Jesus prompt us to sustain our faith with the anchor of hope.

In reading the passage from Luke today we have an example of how Jesus frees his disciples and us from scruples and unreasonable attention to ritual details that take us away from the spirit behind these texts. As the “Son of Man” (an eschatological title here) Jesus is Lord of the Sabbath and the rules pertaining to it. He is not breaking the Sabbath nor are his apostles in picking the grain. Had not David even taken the sacred bread of the House of God and given it to his soldiers who needed nourishment? Jesus is fulfilling the Sabbath by maintaining the spirit of that day of rest and worship. He gives life to the letter of the law.

Two titles are present in the Synoptics that help us to relate to Jesus: the Son of God and the Son of Man. These make up the Good News started by Mark and then handed on also in Matthew and Luke. Today the emphasis is on the Son of Man which has multiple meanings but here it is in the light of God’s purpose in giving us the Sabbath. We pay attention to these titles for they give us insight into who the Son of God and Son of Man is in the preaching of the apostles and especially that of the Synoptic Gospels. Through the titles we are sensitive to the living voice of Jesus and are sustained in our faith by that voice.

Jesus is for us the holy Bread of Life. He is thus able to identify with his messianic forerunner, David, who knew that the sacred bread was permitted to be eaten by his men. We can easily see in this scene an oblique reference to the Eucharist which is the nourishment all of Jesus’ disciples need. Amen.