‘As they made their way [through the cornfields] his disciples began to pluck heads of grain’ (Mark 2: 23) … walking through the fields in Farewell, near Lichfield (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)
Patrick Comerford
The 40-day season of Christmas continues until Candlemas or the Feast of the Presentation (2 February). This week began with the Second Sunday of Epiphany (Epiphany II), with readings that focussed on the Wedding at Cana, the third great Epiphany theme, alongside the Visit of the Magi and the Baptism of Christ.
Today is the Fourth Day of the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity. The calendar of the Church of England in Common Worship today remembers Saint Agnes (304), Child Martyr at Rome.
Before today begins, I am taking some quiet time this morning to give thanks, to reflect, to pray and to read in these ways:
1, today’s Gospel reading;
2, a short reflection;
3, a prayer from the USPG prayer diary;
4, the Collects and Post-Communion prayer of the day.
‘He entered the house of God … and ate the bread of the Presence’ (Mark 2: 26) … 12 loaves of bread in two rows of six (see Leviticus 24: 5-9) in a fresco in the 17th century Kupa Synagogue in Kazimierz in Kraków (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)
Mark 2: 23-28 (NRSVA):
23 One sabbath he was going through the cornfields; and as they made their way his disciples began to pluck heads of grain. 24 The Pharisees said to him, ‘Look, why are they doing what is not lawful on the sabbath?’ 25 And he said to them, ‘Have you never read what David did when he and his companions were hungry and in need of food? 26 He entered the house of God, when Abiathar was high priest, and ate the bread of the Presence, which it is not lawful for any but the priests to eat, and he gave some to his companions.’ 27 Then he said to them, ‘The sabbath was made for humankind, and not humankind for the sabbath; 28 so the Son of Man is lord even of the sabbath.’
‘As they made their way [through the cornfields] his disciples began to pluck heads of grain’ (Mark 2: 23) … grainfields near Cambridge (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)
Today’s Reflection:
In the Gospel reading at the Eucharist yesterday (Mark 2: 18-22), we heard a wedding feast being used to illustrate a debate about feasting and fasting. That debate about the detailed interpretation and application of faith and practice continues in today’s reading (Mark 2: 23-28) about eating and the Sabbath.
We saw yesterday how feasting and fasting, food and ascetism, are important themes in the three Abrahamic faith – Judaism, Christianity and Islam.
Today’s reading (Mark 2: 23-28) begins when Christ is bypassing the grainfields and the disciples make their way through the fields. The religious law of the day accepted that as long as they are plucking the heads of grain and not harvesting it, they are allowed to do this, and there is no question of any theft (see Deuteronomy 23: 24-25).
We have all done something like this in a field: picked fruit growing on hedges or on trees; or we have done something like this in the kitchen, pouring cereal into a bowl and snatching a few lumps before even sitting down to eat breakfast.
So, what concerns the Pharisees in this story is not theft. They are worried that the disciples are gleaning on the Sabbath, and they challenge Christ about this. They claim this behaviour ignores the command to observe the Sabbath and keep it holy (see Exodus 20: 8; Deuteronomy 5: 12). Perhaps they thought the disciples could have prepared food the previous day to take with them.
Jesus disagrees, not because he is trivialising the laws about the Sabbath, but because he sees the Sabbath in a different light. He turns to a story about David when he is fleeing Saul who is plotting to kill him (see I Samuel 21: 1-6). David takes consecrated bread that was supposed to be part of the 12 loaves reserved for the priests (see Leviticus 24: 5-9) and feeds it to his followers who are on the journey with him.
By meeting the needs of David’s hunger, the priest sustains the life of a weary traveller and contributes to David’s quest to fulfil his calling to be the king anointed to replace Saul (see I Samuel 16: 1-13).
Why, in this story, does Jesus identify the priest who assists David as Abiathar? The Old Testament account (I Samuel 16) names the priest as Ahimelech. Who is mistaken in this passage … Jesus? Saint Mark? An unknown and unidentifiable redactor?
There are details here that are not in the original story: David was not explicitly acting from hunger, and he does not enter the house of God to eat the bread of the presence.
I have read many attempts to reconcile this Gospel account and the story of David, most of them setting out with the premise that the ‘inerrancy’ and ‘infallibility’ of Scripture must be defended at all costs, without seeking to debate the literary genre found in this passage.
Instead, I understand in this reading that Christ is displaying a sense of irony and a sense of humour. In a perfect example of what lawyers know as he loaded question, he asks his protagonists: ‘Have you never read what David did … when Abiathar was high priest?’ (verses 25-26).
If they say no, they show they have not read this story; if they say yes, they show are not truly familiar with the details of the story.
Christ then offers a legal opinion derived from scripture itself. He argues that sometimes certain demands of the law are rightly set aside in favour of greater values or needs, especially when those needs involve someone else’s well-being, and this can bring God’s blessings.
With his subtle sense of humour, Jesus challenges us when we are too straight-faced and humourless, and puts our minor interpretations of petty values before the real needs of others, and their sense of fun and enjoyment of life.
‘As they made their way [through the cornfields] his disciples began to pluck heads of grain’ (Mark 2: 23) … walking through cornfields in Stoke Bruerne, Northamptonshire (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2024)
Today’s Prayers (Tuesday 21 January 2025):
The theme this week in ‘Pray With the World Church’, the Prayer Diary of the Anglican mission agency USPG (United Society Partners in the Gospel), is ‘Whom Shall I Send?’ This theme was introduced on Sunday with a Programme Update by Rachael Anderson, Senior Communications and Engagement Manager, USPG.
The USPG Prayer Diary today (Tuesday 21 January 2025) invites us to pray:
Lord, we pray for the young people who participated in the ‘Whom Shall I Send?’ training. Fill their hearts with your peace and wisdom as they strive to become peacemakers in times of conflict. Like Abraham and Sarah, may they welcome strangers and work for justice, guided by your love and grace.
The Collect:
Eternal God, shepherd of your sheep,
whose child Agnes was strengthened to bear witness
in her living and her dying
to the true love of her redeemer:
grant us the power to understand, with all your saints,
what is the breadth and length and height and depth
and to know the love that surpasses knowledge,
even Jesus Christ your Son our Lord,
who is alive and reigns with you,
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and for ever.
The Post-Communion Prayer:
Eternal God,
who gave us this holy meal
in which we have celebrated the glory of the cross
and the victory of your martyr Agnes:
by our communion with Christ
in his saving death and resurrection,
give us with all your saints the courage to conquer evil
and so to share the fruit of the tree of life;
through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Yesterday’s Reflection
Continued Tomorrow
‘As they made their way [through the cornfields] his disciples began to pluck heads of grain’ (Mark 2: 23) … summer fields in Chicheley, near Newport Pagnell (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)
Scripture quotations are from the New Revised Standard Version Bible: Anglicised Edition copyright © 1989, 1995 National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide. http://nrsvbibles.org
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