Faith is nothing without action

https://biblehub.com/niv/mark/2.htm

Mk2: 23-28

The Lord of the Sabbath

One of the most sublime aspects of Lectio Divina, in my experience, is undoubtedly the challenge of understanding subtle and downright difficult meanings in the Bible. Like appreciating classical music, it is once the search for meaning becomes an intellectual exercise that I find fulfilment in my daily life, feeling that God is with me. The more challenging, the more I feel His presence.

In this extract, Jesus is questioned on the Sabbath by the Pharisees, who challenge him on why His disciples are not fasting, thus breaking the Law. Jesus refers them to Scripture, specifically to a passage where David eats the food of the high priesthood and gives some to his companions (see 1 Samuel 21:1-7 for the relevant passage).

What Jesus says to conclude is intriguing: "The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath." Just what does He mean by this? It is this question that stayed with me throughout my day, thus carrying Him with me too.

This example of antimetabole - the reversal of words in the second clause to change the meaning of the first - is striking. Jesus is saying that the holy day of the week is for our benefit. In simple terms, it is not us that benefit the holy day. Therefore, if we need to eat, we should. We sustain the Sabbath by worship, it does not sustain us by existing alone, like a Church that is never visited.

Finally, note the action involved. Jesus' disciples are actively picking at the grain. David took action by going into the temple. Human beings observe His Grace not by lying down and dying, but by being active. It echoes Pope Francis urging us to experience "the smell of the sheep", that our faith is nothing if we are not active in it. Piously attending Church each Sabbath day is not enough, we are only true disciples of God if we act.