Sympathy for the Pharisees
Jesus healed a man on the Sabbath and told him to take his bed and walk. That must have been against the Sabbath customs, because the local Pharisees milked the guy to find out who’d told him to walk around carrying a bed, and then went after Jesus when the guy talked.
In a way, though, I see the Pharisees’ point. The usual tactic for undermining a social norm is to nibble around the edges. Pick some kind of sympathetic case and attack the norm on the margins, all the while claiming to be a supporter of the core norm. Then, once the norm is reset, nibble again. Doubtless a number of the Pharisees thought that Jesus was a typical subversive.
What they missed was that Jesus was not a subverter of the Sabbath norm. He was the maker of it. He could authoritatively state that “man was not made for the Sabbath, but the Sabbath for man,” because he had made both.
Authority is the only way to change norms without subverting them.
Vader
February 22, 2016
Brilliant.
Bruce Charlton
February 23, 2016
This seems to emphasize we need to be careful to draw the correct conclusions (which are usually given by the overall nature of Christianity based on things like the love of God) from parables – and not to take them too narrowly to mean something like the opposite.
So, presumably, the ‘message’ was – yes, the laws about observing the Sabbath are important; but the spirit of the law trumps the letter of the law – therefore there will be situations where the highest principles rightly overcome the specific implementation of specific laws.
Of course this can be abused – but all laws can be abused. What prevents abuse is not slavish adherence to the letter, which soon leads to evil – but a deep appreciation of the spirit.
Neither 100 percent adherence to the laws, nor the rejection of the need for laws is correct or Good; the truth lies as a higher level.
Generally this works by mercy tempering justice – teach the laws (and the generalities) but wisely allow exceptions for good reason.
Wisdom is thus indispensable in human affairs (and wisdom is the property of individual persons – not voting committees)