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“The Disciples Pluck Grain”
by Gustave Doré, c. 1850s |
Readings for Friday of the Fifteenth Week in Ordinary Time [1]
Readings from the Jerusalem Bible [2]
Readings and Commentary: [3]
Reading 1: Isaiah 38:1-6, 21-22, 7-8
When Hezekiah was mortally ill,
the prophet Isaiah, son of Amoz, came and said to him:
“Thus says the Lord: Put your house in order,
for you are about to die; you shall not recover.”
Then Hezekiah turned his face to the wall and prayed to the Lord:
“O Lord, remember how faithfully and wholeheartedly
I conducted myself in your presence,
doing what was pleasing to you!”
And Hezekiah wept bitterly.
Then the word of the Lord came to Isaiah: “Go, tell Hezekiah:
Thus says the Lord, the God of your father David:
I have heard your prayer and seen your tears.
I will heal you: in three days you shall go up to the Lord’s temple;
I will add fifteen years to your life.
I will rescue you and this city from the hand of the king of Assyria;
I will be a shield to this city.”
Isaiah then ordered a poultice of figs to be taken
and applied to the boil, that he might recover.
Then Hezekiah asked,
“What is the sign that I shall go up to the temple of the Lord?”
Isaiah answered:
“This will be the sign for you from the Lord
that he will do what he has promised:
See, I will make the shadow cast by the sun
on the stairway to the terrace of Ahaz
go back the ten steps it has advanced.”
So the sun came back the ten steps it had advanced.
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Commentary on Is 38:1-6, 21-22, 7-8
The story of Hezekiah serves as an example of God’s care for those who are faithful (see also the account from 2 Kings 20:1-6). Here God extends the protection of the Jerusalem promised in Isaiah 37:35 to the king. Hezekiah is dying, his illness is not just physical but a great depression over what he believes will be his own humiliation.[4] He reaches out to the Lord in prayer and God hears his prayer, sees his faithfulness, and grants him an additional 15 years of life. (Since the death of Hezekiah is recorded in 687 BC, this must have been in 702 BC.)
CCC: Is 38 1502
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Responsorial Psalm: Isaiah 38:10, 11, 12abcd, 16
R. (see 17b) You saved my life, O Lord; I shall not die.
Once I said,
“In the noontime of life I must depart!
To the gates of the nether world I shall be consigned
for the rest of my years.”
R. You saved my life, O Lord; I shall not die.
I said, “I shall see the Lord no more
in the land of the living.
No longer shall I behold my fellow men
among those who dwell in the world.”
R. You saved my life, O Lord; I shall not die.
My dwelling, like a shepherd’s tent,
is struck down and borne away from me;
You have folded up my life, like a weaver
who severs the last thread.
R. You saved my life, O Lord; I shall not die.
Those live whom the Lord protects;
yours is the life of my spirit.
You have given me health and life.
R. You saved my life, O Lord; I shall not die.
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Commentary on Is 38:10, 11, 12abcd, 16
This selection is called the “Canticle of Hezekiah.” Hezekiah, emissary of Merodach-baladan, sings of his fatal illness (“To the gates of the nether world I shall be consigned for the rest of my years”), and offers his gratitude to the Lord for his miraculous cure.
CCC: Is 38 1502
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Gospel: Matthew 12:1-8
Jesus was going through a field of grain on the sabbath.
His disciples were hungry
and began to pick the heads of grain and eat them.
When the Pharisees saw this, they said to him,
“See, your disciples are doing what is unlawful to do on the sabbath.”
He said to the them, “Have you not read what David did
when he and his companions were hungry,
how he went into the house of God and ate the bread of offering,
which neither he nor his companions
but only the priests could lawfully eat?
Or have you not read in the law that on the sabbath
the priests serving in the temple violate the sabbath
and are innocent?
I say to you, something greater than the temple is here.
If you knew what this meant, I desire mercy, not sacrifice,
you would not have condemned these innocent men.
For the Son of Man is Lord of the sabbath.”
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Commentary on Mt 12:1-8
Following the comment by Jesus in Matthew 11:28-30 about asking those burdened by strict Pharisaic interpretation of the Law of Moses to come to him, we find a practical example as the Pharisees attack the disciples because they picked some grain to eat on the sabbath. In Pharisaic law, that act is considered work, and is forbidden on the Lord’s Day. Jesus reinterprets the law, citing the First Book of Samuel (1 Samuel 21:2-7) and Leviticus (Leviticus 24:8). The implication of his final statement in this passage is clear to us. “The ultimate justification for the disciples' violation of the sabbath rest is that Jesus, the Son of Man, has supreme authority over the law.” [5]
CCC: Mt 12:5 581, 582, 2173; Mt 12:6 586, 590; Mt 12:7 2100
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Reflection:
What is most important about what we believe? Is it our faith lived and practiced? Is it that we attend Mass each Sunday, as we are obligated to do (or daily if we can)? Is it that we scrupulously observe the rituals, fasts, and abstinence rules? In fact, some faith-based groups have put forward a challenge centered upon this Scripture passage asking: do we need the rules, laws, and precepts of our faith at all? In point of fact, many of those denominations calling themselves non-denominational Christian come out of this “sola scriptura (Bible only)” idea.
Their argument is that Jesus’ disciples were not confined to the religious rituals and laws of the Pharisees and chief priests of the temple. In fact, on many occasions, as in the passage given today, Jesus challenged these members of the Hebrew hierarchy on their practice of the Jewish faith. Even when he reached out to the poor and downtrodden, offering a lighter burden and an easier yoke, he was speaking at least in part about the strict regulations of the Pharisees.
As is generally the case, when one takes the Lord’s demands based on only one aspect of his teaching, we can justify almost any action in the name of being faithful to the Bible. The Church, in her wisdom, has looked for millennia at the whole of Christ’s teaching, understanding in the broader sense the Lord’s will for God’s people. This broad and foundational view, long studied and reflected upon, lets us see beyond the “face value” of such fragments of the Lord’s teaching.
When Jesus challenges the Pharisees, he first testifies (by example) that he has come to fulfill the Law and the Prophets. The Lord demonstrates that he has the authority to excuse his disciples because of the vital role they are playing in God’s plan, to be exempted, or dispensed from, the strict rules regarding “work” on the sabbath. He did not say that those rules regarding work were wrong, or that they should not be followed. He simply dispensed his disciples from this obligation, as one in authority in the Church may dispense one of the faithful from a specific obligation based upon need. He even cites the precedent of King David’s actions from 1 Samuel 21:2-7.
Jesus, in this instance, used this point of contention as a teaching moment. He is trying to point out to the Pharisees that what they had long hoped for, the coming of a Messiah, was realized in his own incarnation (“I say to you, something greater than the temple is here.”)
As in Jesus’ day, there were those who would argue this point, and lobby for an easier discipline, a more flexible set of rules governing the practice of the faith. We submit to you today that, as difficult as it is to adhere to the Precepts of the Faith, it is those very ideals that define us as Christian and Catholic.
Pax
[1] The picture used today is “The Disciples Pluck Grain” by Gustave Doré, c. 1850s.
[2] S.S. Commemoratio[3] The readings are taken from the New American Bible, with the exception of the psalm and its response which were developed by the International Committee for English in Liturgy (ICEL). This republication is not authorized by USCCB and is for private use only.
[4] Word Biblical Commentary, Isaiah 34-66, Volume 25 (Thomas Nelson, Inc. © 2005), 583.
[5] NAB Footnote on Matthew 12:1-8.
