Saturday, March 19, 2005 Lenten Fast
Martyrs Chrysanthos, Daria, & Companions
Kellia: Deuteronomy 5:6-15 Epistle: 2 Timothy 2:1-10 Gospel: St. Mark 2:23-3:5
St. Mark 2:23-3:5, especially vs. 2:28: "Therefore the Son of Man is the Lord of the
Sabbath." To say, "I am Orthodox," is to express a primary concern for right doctrine, right practice, and right praise.
Hence, strict adherence to authentic Tradition would seem to be Orthodox. However, consider a strange twist in today's
reading. The Gospel passage describes two conflicts involving the Lord and strict Orthodox Jews of the Pharisees. In these
two encounters, it is Christ Who seems to be the One "bending" the rules.
Was the Lord Jesus more "easy going" and less Orthodox than His opponents, He the Law Giver? He established the
Commandment: "Keep the sabbath day to sanctify it, as the Lord thy God commanded thee. Six days thou shalt work, and
thou shalt do all thy works; but on the seventh day is the sabbath of the Lord thy God: thou shalt do in it no work...." (Deut.
5:12-14 LXX). Also, He it is Who asserts, "Think not that I Am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I Am not come
to destroy, but to fulfil....Whosoever therefore shall break one of these least commandments, and shall teach men so, he
shall be called the least in the kingdom of heaven" (Mt. 5:17-19). What is happening here? What is the Lord teaching us
about Orthodoxy?
The key to unlocking this twist will be found in the little phrase from St. Matthew's Gospel just quoted: "...to fulfil" (Mt.
5:17). The Lord seeks "to fulfil" the Law, not to break nor do away with the Law. As we examine this Gospel, let us
reconsider Orthodoxy as fulfilment. Both conflicts involve the Sabbath, the holy, seventh day on which God rested from "...all His work which He had done" in
creating the world (Gen. 2:2). In this quote from the Genesis account, notice what follows the statement about the Sabbath.
God not only "rested on the seventh day," but, in addition He "blessed the seventh day and sanctified it" (Gen 2:3). To
what purpose? For what? The Lord Jesus answers these questions in today's reading.
God blessed and sanctified the Sabbath "for man" (Mk. 2:27). The seventh day is a Divine gift to mankind, a rest from
labor and a day for giving thanks to the Lord. The Pharisees began well enough. Desiring to be orthodox in their practice
of Judaism, the Pharisees spelled out in measurable terms what constituted "rest" on the Sabbath. They even noted 39
categories of activity that would constitute work, and they asserted that any action which they could assign to any one of
these categories was a violation of the Sabbath (Deut. 5:12-15). Rest was converted from a Divine gift into a man-made
system of rules to be obeyed as from God. Orthodoxy as "fulfillment" was lost.
Notice: the Pharisees' third category of work was reaping, and so they could define the picking and eating of grain by the
Disciples as work (Mk. 2:23,24). The Lord, however, cited David's "violation" of the Law (vss. 25,26) to break open the
hard shell of legalism, and to return to the Sabbath His real purpose for the day, as a gift "for man." Men need material
food. The disciples were not violating the Law of rest. They were fulfilling the need of their bodies for food.
Finally, to establish the nature of true Orthodoxy, the Lord states clearly that He is the One Who defines what constitutes
work and He is the One Who determines the intention underlying the Sabbath Law: "...the Son of Man is also Lord of the
Sabbath" (vs. 28).
In the second conflict (vss. 3:1-5), the Lord Jesus again reveals Orthodoxy as fulfillment. A man needs healing. His loving
Creator will help a man on this day which He has given to mankind: "Stretch out your hand" (vs. 3:5), for "the Sabbath was
made for man" (vs. 2:27).
With my prayer I cry unto Thee, O Lord; it is time for Thy good pleasure. O God, in the multitude of Thy mercy hearken
unto me, in the truth of Thy salvation. (Ps. 68:16,17 LXX)