Eat Like Those in Flight

July 20, 2007

Friday of the Fifteenth Week in Ordinary Time

[The lamb] shall be slaughtered during the evening twilight. They shall take some of its blood and apply it to the two doorposts and the lintel of every house in which they partake of the lamb. That same night they shall eat its roasted flesh with unleavened bread and bitter herbs. Exodus 12:7

Something greater than the temple is here. Matthew 12:6

Piety

How shall I make a return to the LORD
for all the good he has done for me?
The cup of salvation I will take up,
and I will call upon the name of the LORD. Psalm 123

Study

http://www.usccb.org/nab/072007.shtml

Travelers’ eating is a common thread connecting the Hebrew Bible story today of Passover and the Good News.

As the Hebrews participated in the Passover ritual – consuming the unblemished lamb – they are instructed to eat like travelers on a journey: with their belt on, sandals on their feet, their staff in hand and eating fast while awaiting the coming of the Lord.

In preparing the ritual, innocent blood of the lamb which is sacrificed is painted on the posts and cross beam (lintel) over the door frame – vertical and horizontal beams that call up images of the vertical and horizontal beams of the cross.

Not only does participating in the new ritual set them apart, but the blood on the cross beam and post of the door differentiates a Hebrew household from an Egyptian one…indicating where the male child should be protected and saved. Here the God of the Hebrew Bible demands sacrifice but ultimately shows mercy.

The disciple’s actions in the Good News also set them apart and indicate another change that Jesus introduces. This time they are set apart from the law and the Pharisees. The disciples are accused of working -- reaping wheat -- on the Sabbath. Jesus makes the point that this is just use of work.

During the confrontation, Jesus brings up the story of David’s army eating the bread in the temple when they were hungry. Although the story is not about a violation of the Sabbath rest; its pertinence to this dispute is that a violation of the law was permissible because of David's men being without food. Mercy for those who are hungry is the preferential option to just blindly following the law if people around you are in need.

Jesus argues that the law itself requires work that breaks the Sabbath rest, because of the higher duty of temple service or action. As the notes to the N.A.B. translation tell us, “If temple duties outweigh the Sabbath law, how much more does the presence of Jesus, with his proclamation of the kingdom (something greater than the temple), justify the conduct of his disciples.”

Side by side, the stories show how Jesus takes a new view on the law. The Passover story puts a primacy on the sacrifice and the journey ahead. The Good News confrontation puts the primacy on service and action rather than piety which may be blind to the needs of the people be they hungry like David soldiers or Jesus’ disciples.

We start with two very different stories about travelers eating but end with the revelation about how the demands of the law under Jesus has shifted since the time of the Exodus from Egypt. That shift is from sacrifice to mercy.

Travelers’ eating may be a common thread in both stories, but in reality, we are being led to a different conclusion. Rather than focusing on the sacrifice of the Exodus story of Passover, we can now focus on the mercy God has shown on the Hebrews in captivity. They experience this mercy when God visits the land. In Matthew’s Gospel, those who travel with Jesus and hunger are satisfied because they can – thankfully – break the old law. Jesus expands the law of mercy over the law of temple sacrifice.

For those who obey, Jesus is their reward.

Action

How ready and able are we to follow the instructions which God has issued?

Will we be like the Hebrews and follow the letter of the law and focus on the sacrifice?

Or will we be like the Pharisees and follow the letter of the law while ignoring those hungry around us?

Or, are we ready to be disciples and accept the rewards God has placed before us as we journey with Jesus.

Last Sunday, God placed a man who was beaten by robbers in front of a Levite, a priest and a Samaritan. What does God place before us? Is he offering a land of milk and honey or a land with sharper demands?

Will you accept what God has to offer to you?