Man does not live by bread alone, but he also can't live without it. And, since food is key to survival, it often can be the source of trouble. Consider this guy who ate some forbidden bread ...
"Now therefore, what do you have on hand? Give me five loaves of bread, or whatever can be found.' The priest answered David and said, 'There is no ordinary bread on hand, but there is consecrated bread; if only the young men have kept themselves from women.'" (1 Samuel 21:3-4)
David, future king of Israel, is fleeing as a fugitive from King Saul. Naturally, he and his men become hungry and look for food. With no drive-through fast-food options available, they stop by the temple and ask the local priest for bread. None is available other than sacred bread offered to God in the temple, which they are allowed to help themselves to. Now, this is a serious offense, and yet we do not read of any punitive measures taken by God against David and his men. But, this is not the end of the story. Fast forward to the time of Jesus' public ministry:
"At that time Jesus went through the grainfields on the Sabbath, and His disciples became hungry and began to pick the heads of grain and eat. But when the Pharisees saw this, they said to Him, 'Look, Your disciples do what is not lawful to do on a Sabbath.' But He said to them, 'Have you not read what David did when he became hungry, he and his companions, how he entered the house of God, and they ate the consecrated bread, which was not lawful for him to eat nor for those with him, but for the priests alone?'" (Matthew 12:1-4)
Jesus' point in using this history lesson from the life of David was simply this: "But if you had known what this means, 'I DESIRE COMPASSION, AND NOT A SACRIFICE,' you would not have condemned the innocent." (Matthew 12:7). David was not condemned for his actions because there was more in play than something procedural. The God who established and gave the procedures in ultimately a God of compassion, who desires compassion from His people.
I've encountered plenty of religious zealots who insist on meticulous religious procedures. Perhaps the ultimate are those who insist on rebaptism of those didn't get some part of their body wet in the baptism process!
Whenever procedure is emphatically insisted upon, compassion is almost always in short supply. Doing things the right way overrides meeting real needs, and we can be certain that the God of compassion is absent from such proceedings.
We are creatures of habit and routine, generally speaking. Amidst our routines this day, however, may we be sensitive to needs around us even as the God of all compassion is fully attentive.
Steve
© 2011, Steve Taylor
"Now therefore, what do you have on hand? Give me five loaves of bread, or whatever can be found.' The priest answered David and said, 'There is no ordinary bread on hand, but there is consecrated bread; if only the young men have kept themselves from women.'" (1 Samuel 21:3-4)
David, future king of Israel, is fleeing as a fugitive from King Saul. Naturally, he and his men become hungry and look for food. With no drive-through fast-food options available, they stop by the temple and ask the local priest for bread. None is available other than sacred bread offered to God in the temple, which they are allowed to help themselves to. Now, this is a serious offense, and yet we do not read of any punitive measures taken by God against David and his men. But, this is not the end of the story. Fast forward to the time of Jesus' public ministry:
"At that time Jesus went through the grainfields on the Sabbath, and His disciples became hungry and began to pick the heads of grain and eat. But when the Pharisees saw this, they said to Him, 'Look, Your disciples do what is not lawful to do on a Sabbath.' But He said to them, 'Have you not read what David did when he became hungry, he and his companions, how he entered the house of God, and they ate the consecrated bread, which was not lawful for him to eat nor for those with him, but for the priests alone?'" (Matthew 12:1-4)
Jesus' point in using this history lesson from the life of David was simply this: "But if you had known what this means, 'I DESIRE COMPASSION, AND NOT A SACRIFICE,' you would not have condemned the innocent." (Matthew 12:7). David was not condemned for his actions because there was more in play than something procedural. The God who established and gave the procedures in ultimately a God of compassion, who desires compassion from His people.
I've encountered plenty of religious zealots who insist on meticulous religious procedures. Perhaps the ultimate are those who insist on rebaptism of those didn't get some part of their body wet in the baptism process!
Whenever procedure is emphatically insisted upon, compassion is almost always in short supply. Doing things the right way overrides meeting real needs, and we can be certain that the God of compassion is absent from such proceedings.
We are creatures of habit and routine, generally speaking. Amidst our routines this day, however, may we be sensitive to needs around us even as the God of all compassion is fully attentive.
Steve
© 2011, Steve Taylor
posted by steve @ 9:09 AM
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