Picking a little grain on the Sabbath - Mark 2:23-24
The Pharisees challenged Jesus because his disciples picked some grain to eat on the
Sabbath. The issue was not stealing. Deut.23:25 allowed this kind of picking a little grain from someone else's field as long as you didn't try to harvest the crop. Similarly, harvesting a crop was forbidden on the Sabbath by Exodus 34:21. The legalism of the Pharisees went further than the Old Testament law and claimed that this picking of some grain was the same as a harvest violation of the Sabbath.
The Son of Man is Lord even of the Sabbath - Mark 2:25
Jesus responded by referring to David and intensified the dispute beyond anything the Pharisees imagined in their original question. David was the anointed king and as such was privileged to give the temple bread to his followers (1 Sam. 21:1-6). Jesus was the anointed Messianic King. The disciples of Messiah were allowed to eat this grain. Notice that in the parallel passage in Matt. 12:6, 7 the thought is added that "one greater than the temple is here". Jesus was greater than the temple and as this paragraph in 2:28 concludes,
The Son of Man is Lord even of the Sabbath. Jesus fulfilled all the shadows and types of the Old Testament. Jesus' healing on the Sabbath was a reaffirmation of the purpose of the Sabbath. It was intended for humanity's nurture and well-being not for its enslavement.
Abiathar - Mark 2:26
Mark mentioned Abiathar. It was actually Ahimelech, Abiathar's father, who was high priest at that time (1 Sam. 21:1). Abiathar became the far more famous of the two. It seems that Mark uses Abiathar's name as a way to identify the general period of history.
A withered hand - Mark 3:1
The narrative does not tell us any more about the man's situation than that he had a
withered hand. The important point is that it does not appear to be an immediate threat to his life. The Pharisees and everyone else would have agreed that a healing to save a life would have been allowed on the Sabbath. There was no such threat to life in this case and thus the Pharisees (3:6) interpreted the healing as a violation of the command to keep the Sabbath holy.
Accuse- Mark 3:2
The Greek word that is translated
accuse was often used in legal contexts. The Pharisees
watched him closely because they were trying to gather evidence and build a case against him.
Stand - 3:3-4
Jesus did not back down. Instead he took the initiative and made this Sabbath healing a very public issue. He told the man to
stand right in the middle where everyone could see him and challenged the entire crowd. The silence of his opponents was striking. Either they could not answer him, or more likely in light of verse 5 they chose not answer him.
Righteous anger - Mark 3:5
This story is also reported in Matt. 12:9-14 and Luke 6:6-11 but only Mark reported that Jesus responded with righteous
anger. See the note at 7:34 regarding Jesus' emotional life. The Pharisees had been silent when Jesus asked them a question. They were not there to learn or even to debate. They were willing to allow this man to continue suffering. They were there to gather evidence that would fit the conclusion that their hardened hearts had already reached.
Herodians - Mark 3:6
The
Herodians were Jewish supporters of King Herod and his family. They often favored compromises between their Judaism and the Hellenistic influences of their day. This often brought them into conflict with the Pharisees. The Pharisees thought such compromises with foreign influences were sinful. The amazing thing about this verse is that now the Herodians and the Pharisees
plot together to get rid of Jesus.
Related Resources
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0
International License.
