March 15                                                            Mark 2:23-3:6

Whoa.  What's up with these Pharisees?  Why are they being such jerks about what can and can't be done on the Sabbath?  Let me draw on my experiences with Judaism to help explain their behavior.

To say that the Sabbath is a big deal to religious Jews is a huge understatement.  Sunday is the holy day for Episcopalians, and it's earmarked as a day to attend services and laze around, but it's not a big deal if you choose to use your Sunday to run around and squeeze the most out of your weekend.

For religious Jews, the impetus to be quiet and reflective is enforced.  You cannot do any kind of work from sunset on Friday to sunset on Saturday.  Though I don't quite know how, the definition of "work" extends to a lot of things we'd call "leisure".  You can't drive or ride around in a car.  You can't answer the phone.  You can't even turn on a light switch.

A long time ago, I helped teach the Jewish equivalent of Sunday School.  The teacher I was assisting was very religious, and so after the exact minute of sunset, he forced the five year olds we were teaching to stop drawing, even grabbing crayons out of the kids' hands! 

It all seems so strange, but think about what that would be like, to have a day out of your week where you were unplugged from the internet and shut your phone off, disconnected from your friends and all your work and social world, and just sit in quiet contemplation.  A full day to think and be.  I think that sounds serene, actually, but only if it was a choice and not an imposition of law in a country of no religious freedom.

When the Pharisees were looking to destroy Jesus, they were already fed up with him.  They watched and waited until he broke that sacred law, violated the peace of the Sabbath, even though it was for a good and holy act of healing.  Only after that violation did they have real cause to seek his punishment, which they eagerly did.  But if you're upset by the Pharisees, remember: they were just the cops of the time, enforcing the laws and trying to keep the peace amongst an increasingly unruly bunch of Jesus' followers.

PK Louve