Feed the People

Gospel: Luke 6: 1-5

The Pharisees criticize the disciples of Jesus for performing work on the Sabbath in order to eat by shelling the wheat husks and eating them.  Acts of work, of course, are forbidden on the Sabbath in the Law.  The reply of Jesus is a telling one.  He gives the example of David and his cohorts who ate the showbread reserved only for the priests, a violation of ceremonial law, but not a violation of the Sabbath commandment regarding work.  This response is telling.

Jesus is making a broader point on how feeding people is the greater priority of the Law than Sabbath laws or even ceremonial laws of the Temple.  The Sabbath is important, to be sure, but more important is the care of human beings who lack food and other basic necessities.  Ceremonial ritual is also important, but when human beings are starving and thirsty, lacking clothing and shelter, then the rituals of the sanctuary take a backseat to the needs of others.  

We take great pride in our ornate religious structures and elaborate liturgies - places we exclude many from having access to the food of heaven because of our own laws designed not to bring people closer to God but to create a state of superiority over others.  The showbread is not for us alone, but for all people who hunger.  The body of the Lord was given for all, the Lord Jesus fed all at the field of multiplication.  It is for us to imitate the Lord and to feed all who hunger.