EXPLORE THE TEXT
We should avoid judging others based on their adherence to a religious tradition or practice.
1 At that time Jesus passed through the grainfields on the Sabbath.
His disciples were hungry and began to pick and eat some heads of grain.
2 When the Pharisees saw this, they said to him,
“See, your disciples are doing what is not lawful to do on the Sabbath.”
Share what is known about the Sabbath in Scripture.
Summarize this content from page 109 of the PSG to offer more explanation:
“‘Sabbath’ comes from the Hebrew word shabbat,
meaning ceasing, rest, or inactivity,
and is based on God’s rest in Genesis 2:3.
God commanded to the Israelite people to observe a day of Sabbath rest (Ex. 20:9-11).
Sabbath rest was a centerpiece in Judaism.
But over time, religious leaders moved away from God’s intention for the Sabbath.
They took great effort to make up the definitions of what could and couldn’t be done on the Sabbath day.
For example, these leaders established rules that regulated how far a person could travel on the Sabbath.
According to their tradition, one could travel around 3,000 feet, slightly more than a half mile.
Jesus and His disciples obviously ignored those man-made traditions as they passed through the grainfields.”
Read the “Did You Know?” feature on page 109 of the PSG.
Highlight the lengths Jewish religious leaders went to “protect” the Mosaic law.
According to the law, the disciples were permitted to pick some grain in the fields and eat it.
The Pharisees’ problem was rooted in their own interpretations and tradition,
not anything God actually intended for the law.
Suggest important traditions believers still observe today
briefly discuss the origins of those traditions.
Traditions that don’t come directly from Scripture aren’t necessarily bad.
We just have to be careful about letting our human traditions take priority
over what God has clearly revealed in His Word.
And we have to make sure that we don’t use our own standards to judge the righteousness or sinfulness of others.