Week 18: Says Who?

This post is from a Guest Contributor, My Brother and Friend Lawrence Claiborne! 

Scripture: Matthew 12:1-8 NRSV 

At that time Jesus went through the grain-fields on the sabbath; his disciples were hungry, and they began to pluck heads of grain and to eat. When the Pharisees saw it, they said to him, “Look, your disciples are doing what is not lawful to do on the sabbath.” He said to them, “Have you not read what David did when he and his companions were hungry? He entered the house of God and ate the bread of the Presence, which it was not lawful for him or his companions to eat, but only for the priests. Or have you not read in the law that on the sabbath the priests in the temple break the sabbath and yet are guiltless? I tell you, something greater than the temple is here. But if you had known what this means, ‘I desire mercy and not sacrifice,’ you would not have condemned the guiltless. For the Son of Man is lord of the sabbath.”1 

Says Who? 

I don’t believe that I would get much of an argument out of anyone if I considered that we are living in some tough times. We have a President in the White House, who won the election off of the campaign slogan, “Make America Great Again.” This statement is problematic for many reasons. Primarily, by not defining which period of time America was great leaves a lot of room for individualistic interpretation. Quite frankly there were times in American History where America was a dream for some and a nightmare for others.  

Is our President referring to the period of time in the 15th century when Native Americans were slaughtered, raped and enslaved in mass numbers, nearly eradicating their culture and religious practices? Or is the President talking about in 1619 when the first ships landed in Jamestown, Va., with the first group of many groups of African bodies forced into bondage? The slave masters that taught an erroneous theology that slaves are to obey their masters in an attempt to free their souls but enslave their bodies. Or is the President talking about the America during the Civil War in which the country was divided between the North and the South? Or the America that need to create an organization that mixed Christianity and oppression and called it the Klu Klux Klan? Or the America that during the reconstruction period still left minorities without rights? Or the America that perpetuated segregation and the need for the Civil Rights Movement to birth a champion by the name of Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.? Or is it the America that started a War on Drugs that led to mass incarceration, which disproportionally impacting minorities? Or the America that is implicit in violence because it refuses to change policies around gun control? Such policies that would help to prevent shootings at places like schools and places of worship. Or the America that isn’t willing to reform policing procedures? Procedures that would help prevent the beating and shooting of minority bodies across America. 

Before you think I’m just on the attack there is beauty in the history of this country. What is evident is that those who are in power tend to interpret religion and laws in a way that oppresses people for their gain. I’ve come to encourage someone to look beyond the calloused hearts of people and look at the very heart of the God of both justice and mercy. Make sure you can answer this question in any situation and identify the difference between what people say and what God says. Turn to your neighbor and ask them, Says Who? 

Point- He knows what you need! 

Here we are again with a group of people telling another group what they can and can’t do. Notice how Jesus steps in the middle of it to provide proper perspective. Jesus knows what you need! I can imagine that the disciple’s stomachs were growling due to their hunger. You know how some people get when they’re hungry, they become HANGRY! Jesus is saying to His disciples and to us that if you receive my YES for your life, I will bless you when others want to condemn you! He is saying that my YES means you can have it, but with it comes naysayers! I’ve come by this way to encourage you while God takes you through your field (a place of resources) that you can eat and when your enemies can’t understand why you're eating let the word speak for you! He knows what you need! 

All leaders and future leaders understand this: You are responsible for the places you lead others through. Looking back at Matthew 4 it says, “Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil.”2 In other words, the wilderness may have all kinds of opposition but if the Spirit of the Living God is leading you than it is the Spirit’s responsibility to get you out! That’s why Jesus quotes scripture when he’s in the wilderness because he was in the Spirit's care. He had to use the language of the Spirit! Now Jesus is embodying that with His disciples, who are now under His care. In their hungry condition, He let them eat and He stood up for them. He knows what you need!  

Point- Go Low! 

Jesus’ response to the Pharisees is very pointed. People with legal backgrounds understand the word precedence. This is a tool that allows you to point to a similar situation to draw parallels. It doesn't have to be identical, but it must have similar components. Remember the Pharisees are plotting and collecting evidence against Jesus. Thus Jesus responds to both the surface and the deeper parts of their condemnation of His disciples. Jesus begins to grab a piece of Religious History and explain both the story of David and the Bread of the Presence and the Priests on the Sabbath. What Jesus knows is that he is operating within a 1st Century honor and shame context. He knows that by mentioning David that the Pharisees would listen intently because of the honor that David receives in this context. Jesus also knows that by mentioning the priests that the Pharisees would see them in a favorable space. Jesus is so masterful at setting up this argument and grabbing their attention that He now knows that He can bombard them with the truth. What Jesus is modeling is that even when we as believers are right we must be willing to humble ourselves, go low, and trust in God’s word! It’s not about allowing our ego or positions take over; it is about being able to correctly address the situation with humility. Jesus is the one who is “greater than the temple” not us! We are connected to Him, but we are not He!  

What Jesus could have said is that you are honoring David and the Priests, yet you do not honor me! What Jesus could have said is that I am both a King and a Priest simultaneously! I am regal because of my connection to God! I am priestly because I will become the High Priest in the order of Melchizedek! But Jesus just chose to say that there is “one greater than the temple”! Just like Jesus we must go low! 

Point- Mercy is the new model 

Sabbath establishes order, yet Sabbath is still under the authority of God, who is the Prime Mover. In other words, natural order can bend to the will of God because of its position and place in God's creation. Another way to explain it is that the Sabbath at times is subject to revision. 1st century Jews were aware that when they sinned natural order said that they must offer a sacrifice. Jesus is attached to the Prime Mover and decides to update this order. Ephesians 2:8 says that, “for by grace you have been saved through faith, and this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God”, thus sin must bend to natural order.3 Rather than offering “SACRIFICES” over and over again Jesus becomes the “ULTIMATE SACRIFICE” once and for all. That's why mercy pleads our case, we we're wrong and we did do it but Jesus declares that where I am there is liberty! 

Jesus says in verse 7, “I desire mercy and not sacrifice”, you would not have condemned the guiltless.4 Nelson Mandela says that, “resentment is like drinking poison and then hoping it will kill your enemies.”5 Lewis B. Smedes says, “to forgive is to set a prisoner free and discover that the prisoner was you.”6 Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. says, “forgiveness is not an occasional act, it is a constant attitude.”7 Isabelle Holland says that, “as long as you don’t forgive, who and whatever it is will occupy a rent-free space in your mind.”8 Gandhi says, “the weak can never forgive. Forgiveness is the attribute of the strong.”9 Jesus says, “Father forgive them for they do not know what they are doing.”10  

I can imagine Jesus speaking to those who were present, those in antiquity and those in the future. To those who perpetuated the slaughter of Native Americans, “Father forgive them for they do not know what they are doing.”11 To those who enslaved African people, “Father forgive them for they do not know what they are doing.”12 To those who fought to maintain the oppressive institution of slavery in the South, “Father forgive them for they do not know what they are doing.”13 To those who misused Religion as a means to oppress and harm, “Father forgive them for they do not know what they are doing.”14 For those who perpetuated segregation, “Father forgive them for they do not know what they are doing.”15 For the people who helped in the efforts of mass incarceration, “Father forgive them for they do not know what they are doing.”16 For the people that attacked schools and religious spaces, “Father forgive them for they do not know what they are doing.”17 For the people who attacked minority bodies while in uniforms, “Father forgive them for they do not know what they are doing.”18  Because through it all Jesus is the one who will stand on the side of the oppressed and marginalized. Jesus is the one who is present to provide judgment, which gives us the space to reconcile and heal. We can’t forgive? SAYS WHO? We can’t show mercy? SAYS WHO? We can’t receive forgiveness? SAYS WHO? We can’t receive mercy? SAYS WHO?  

Contact Information:

Lawrence Claiborne

lawrence.claiborne@gmail.com