Gospel 16 July, 2021: Matthew 12: 1-8 by Florence D’Costa

Gospel, Matthew 12:1-81 At that time Jesus went through the cornfields one Sabbath day. His disciples were hungry and began to pick ears of corn and eat them. 2 The Pharisees noticed it and said to him, ‘Look, your disciples are doing something that is forbidden on the Sabbath.’ 3 But he said to them, ‘Have you not read what David did when he and his followers were hungry- 4 how he went into the house of God and they ate the loaves of the offering although neither he nor his followers were permitted to eat them, but only the priests?5 Or again, have you not read in the Law that on the Sabbath day the Temple priests break the Sabbath without committing any fault? 6 Now here, I tell you, is something greater than the Temple.7 And if you had understood the meaning of the words: Mercy is what pleases me, not sacrifice, you would not have condemned the blameless. 8 For the Son of man is master of the Sabbath.

My Reflection : Pharisees (plural noun)a member of an ancient Jewish sect, distinguished by strict observance of the traditional and written law, and commonly held to have pretensions to superior sanctity.I can imagine what a difficult time Jesus had with the Pharisees and Scribes. Yet he was God, Divine and Man. We lose our patience and our cool when we are wronged and sometimes, we think that we know everything. Jesus is the Son of the Living God. so he was God and yet he did not strut about with his head held high and use his Divine power to knock the Pharisees off their feet. Instead he patiently reminded them :1. Of how David and his followers entering the house of God and eating the loaves of the offering when they were hungry when of course they were not permitted. 2. Of how the Temple priests break the Sabbath without committing any fault. 3. Jesus then reveals to them that He is greater than the Temple but I am sure that they did not comprehend. 4. He further mentions that Mercy pleases him and not Sacrifice and he protects his disciples by saying that they were blameless, meaning innocent.5. In the Old Testament prophets are referred to as the Son of Man and so he was telling the Pharisees that He was Special and he further added that He was the Master of the Sabbath. All this was new for the Pharisees and they were rigid people who had no mercy in their hearts and they burdened the people with hundreds of unnecessary laws. We can see from this that Jesus Christ came to the earth to relieve the people from the laws that were burdening them. He came to bring Mercy and I think common sense. If a person is hungry, what would they do. They would eat and if they had to pluck corn and eat, they would do so and that is what the disciples did. So, I seriously feel that the Pharisees lacked common sense and Mercy.

SO JESUS IS TEACHING US TO BE MERCIFUL AND TO HAVE COMMON SENSE. TO TREAT PEOPLE KINDLY AND TO DO GOOD TO THE HUNGRY AND THE NEEDY. TO BE MERCIFUL TO THOSE IN NEED. AFTER ALL, THEY WERE NOT DOING ANYTHING WRONG, THEY WERE ONLY PLUCKING CORN TO EAT. i WOULD LIKE TO ADD HERE THAT IF I WAS ONE OF JESUS’ DISCIPLES, I WOULD HAVE FAINTED BECAUSE OF HUNGER AND JESUS WOULD HAVE HAD TO REVIVE ME. LOL!