Riffin’ on the Bewitching Hour

Jesus Is Lord of the Sabbath

6 One Sabbath Jesus was going through the grainfields, and his disciples began to pick some heads of grain, rub them in their hands and eat the kernels. 2 Some of the Pharisees asked, “Why are you doing what is unlawful on the Sabbath?”

3 Jesus answered them, “Have you never read what David did when he and his companions were hungry? 4 He entered the house of God, and taking the consecrated bread, he ate what is lawful only for priests to eat. And he also gave some to his companions.” 5 Then Jesus said to them, “The Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath.”

6 On another Sabbath he went into the synagogue and was teaching, and a man was there whose right hand was shriveled. 7 The Pharisees and the teachers of the law were looking for a reason to accuse Jesus, so they watched him closely to see if he would heal on the Sabbath. 8 But Jesus knew what they were thinking and said to the man with the shriveled hand, “Get up and stand in front of everyone.” So he got up and stood there.

9 Then Jesus said to them, “I ask you, which is lawful on the Sabbath: to do good or to do evil, to save life or to destroy it?”

10 He looked around at them all, and then said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” He did so, and his hand was completely restored.

To put it simply, normative behavior is a means, established, metaphorically, by way of covenant, often times by way of myth (even if based on historical account), in recognition of something that is persistently true moment in and moment out about the quality of action and the natural course it runs at the level of universe (towards effective communion with Source/transcendence…unwitting, random behavior across time grows disciplined and yields the cultivation of wisdom/living systems…) by which to bring about the total cessation of not only suffering, but of desire. It is to end society…it ends history without ending the march of history or time itself…it ends the totality of the life, mid-life…it is transcendence, and while it is within reach in each and every thing, a real experience of it is uncanny…to the point of psychologically imprinting one to the tune of feeling as if they have “left the world” (often times while remaining in a nondescript world-like setting…a mountain-top, an open plain, etc.) and legitimately entered heaven.

These are ways of thinking that betray the Western approach to Religion, to think that the place you meet God, and perhaps this is historically how its mostly ever been represented, meeting the Transcendent, is somewhere far, far away and perhaps even alien to us as a setting because we’ve yet to really manifest God like that in our world. Before a personal spiritual experience, most on their way tend to certainly believe as much, but those of us who routinely sing the accolades of history scoff it off as busyness. Certainly to pay deep attention to anything at all…is to realize that it’s brimming, clearly present and a bulk of the reason for each and every thing…God…

It is through the lens of the cessation of the determinisms of life, mid-life, the sense of falling into meaningful accord with the will of the cosmos, that we honor the Sabbath. In a nod to what is coming, we honor it…it is not to be associated with the onslaught of disciplines, as it has been culturally in the West where we do not conflate spirit with matter, and in some great disconnect with our own scriptural accounts, do not view the happenings of the social world as an elaborate spiritual ritual of sorts, every bit as superstitious and unfounded as it is scientifically grounded and practical, but instead the attainment of the Divine state by those formerly construed, conditionally-socially, as non-divine in a meaningful sense of it (albeit, their divine nature was always rubbing against this creating the personal pathway to maturity in life). You discipline yourself 6 days a week so as to slip into total mystical communion…which then entails a total surrender to the will of the cosmos, which is experienced, at times, as your own desire/will/needs.

Hence “the son of Man” is the “Lord of the Sabbath”; when the systems of life cease to operate, systems that are associated with civilization (not to imply that nature doesn’t have its own systems of the very same Source…life is about the development of individuals into the resonant image of the Maker and society/social living/the family unit has been but a tool of that) the voice box for universal will become, largely, desire. It is not, as illustrated in today’s example, at odds with social norms…you can take this to town on the Sabbath. It stands the test of analysis. Morality is a constant in this universe, even on Sorcerer-we’ve become rave gods-Sabbath day; we’re bound to righteousness totally, our agency can only come from a total surrender to God the Father, Oneness is both equality as well as devotion, subservience mostly just becomes dignity in the serving… we’re obligated to do what’s right at all moments. And as such, Jesus heals on the Sabbath, in addition to feeding a nomadic traveler on it. I don’t know that he’d make a habit of such things. Humans aren’t bound to habit the way normative patterns are. If we can’t deviate to address the acute suffering of those in front of us, one has to wonder whether those normative patterns are actually sustainable…

So yes! When the social systems shut down your desire must propel you, but also too it still needs to be checked against your value system, and it needs some social validation/support. If the angry mob is wrong, drop some hard truths on them in good faith that truth always wins. But also note that confusion is rampant, recurring, and that eventually Jesus was killed because he was willing to do as much. It’s safe to say that every time we do as much we must deter death in some cosmically awesome/left-handed way. Character counts.

Ride the lightning