Week 2 of Ordinary Time, Tuesday – 21st January 2020 — Gospel: Mark 2,23-28
Tunnel vision
The Pharisees protested against the disciples of Jesus for breaking the Sabbath law. They spotted a violation and expressed no concern for the well-being of these hungry men. Their first judgments and first impressions manifest their tunnel vision. In fact they fail to recognize the Messiah in their midst. David had the right to claim exception to the ritual law and here we have the Son of Man, who was greater than David. However, Sabbath offered no governing principles to guide life but contained merely rules and regulations. These rules and regulations were not themselves of divine origin but human. When the law becomes the focus and when human traditions are given the divine mandate, then the true spirit of the law is ignored. Thus we are reminded through Jesus, the Son of Man, that human individuals and their true needs are more important than rules. In giving explanations about the Sabbath law, Jesus shifted the focus of the Pharisees to human needs rather than mere observance of religious law.
