Gospel Reading for Sunday of Proper 4: Year B
“Then he said to them, “The Sabbath was made for humankind, and not humankind for the Sabbath; so the Son of Man is lord even of the Sabbath.” (Mark 2:27)
Today’s Gospel lesson seems to be all about rules and laws. For the most part, rules and laws are made by communities or a nation in order for us to live together in harmony and in safety. Therefore rules should be followed and obeyed. But like the Sabbath law provided to us by God, as Jesus points out, they come to us with the understanding that we are to use reason in observing them.
In today’s Gospel reading, Jesus uses reason to support the need for us to eat, even when some community-made law might say otherwise. Then he ends it with one of the laws that God gave us, to have a Sabbath time. This is a law we did not create, it was given to us by God. But even it, comes under the scrutiny our God-given reasoning. Richard Hooker, (17th century Anglican priest) says that God gifted us with scripture, tradition, and reason. Scripture has its laws and our Church Tradition has its rules or rubrics, but our reasoning is personal for each of us making sense through our understanding of the love of our Lord Jesus Christ. And with it comes mercy tempered with love.
As best we can we should have our Sabbath time together. This is what God wants of us.
Please keep up your thoughts and prayers and hopes for Ukraine and Russia, Israel and Palestine, and our schools including St. Augustine in Raleigh, North Carolina.
As we listen to what the Spirit of God is saying to us, let us live to love and serve, and to teach others to love and serve, while pondering anew what the Almighty can do. John
Let us pray:
Dear Lord Jesus as you yourself set the example of attending to the Sabbath, so be in our hearts today in order that we too of this day may remember the blessed gift from God to have our communal rest, and remind ourselves that this is what God wants of us, and for us. Help us to be renewed each week through coming together in your most Holy Name we pray: Amen.
onewhoponders 