Today’s reading is taken from Luke 6: 1 – 5 and is the story of Jesus apostles rubbing grain in their hands on the Sabbath for food. Another Examiner has already written an excellent article, in two parts on St. Matthew’s version of this event. It is strongly recommended that you read this article. He does an excellent job and gives an excellent source to back up what he says, The Jewish Encyclopedia in its article "Sabbath."

I wish to take off from this point to ask the questions, "Did Jesus teach something different than the Rabbis?" Second, "What motivates the Rabbis in their opposition to Jesus on this issue?" The Jewish Encyclopedia article mentions a work called the Mekilta de-Rabbi Ishmael of which I happen to have the three volume copy.

First, Did Jesus teach something different than the Rabbis? Rabbi Jonathan Ben Joseph says in Tractate Yoma 85a: "It was intended that man should live by the Law, and not die through it." The next section Yoma 85b says: "It is Dedicated to you; The Sabbath is committed to your hands, not you to its hands.

It is important to notice that when Jesus says, "The Sabbath is made for the Son of Man, Ben Adam, not Ben Adam for the Sabbath," Ben Adam does not refer to the Ben Adam of the Book of Daniel, but to every human being. Likewise, when God gives Ben Adam the authority to forgive sins, it refers, not to the Ben Adam of Daniel, but to every human being. The Psalms repeatedly refer to Ben Adam as every human being.

Rabbi Jonathan Ben Joseph is a second century Rabbi. That means he lived a generation or two after Jesus. Jesus comes first, but it is not likely that Rabbi Jonathan Ben Joseph would be quoting Jesus. The animosity between the Christian and Jewish camps was too great by the second century. It is far more likely that both were quoting some common source. Tractate Peah states:

One must not reduce the due of the poor that wander from place to place… If he stays, give him the support to stay. If he stays for Shabbat, give him 3 meals.

The Jewish Encyclopedia article makes the interesting interpretation that the essence of Jesus argument from Hosea 6:6 is that the Rabbis were violating this rule, forcing Jesus and his followers to pluck Peah on Sabbath. As such, according to Rabbinic rules, the apostles were not in violation of Sabbath laws. This means, No, Jesus was not teaching anything different than the Rabbis. In fact, in some cases they were teaching the same thing, in some cases, virtually word for word.

In Matthew’s version of this account Jesus was teaching something different. He claimed to be something greater. In Luke’s version which we are reading today, and in the original, Mark’s version, this is absent. We do have the discussion of the showbread, but the thing presented as greater than Sabbath is not Jesus, but human life. The quotes above make clear that the Rabbi’s were in agreement on this issue.

That means, what is the point at issue?

Please click here for part two.