He Must Increase

𝐉𝐀𝐍. 𝟐𝟎, 𝟐𝟎𝟐𝟔: 𝐒𝐄𝐂𝐎𝐍𝐃 𝐖𝐄𝐄𝐊 𝐈𝐍 𝐎𝐑𝐃𝐈𝐍𝐀𝐑𝐘 𝐓𝐈𝐌𝐄

𝐑𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐈: 𝟏 𝐒𝐚𝐦 𝟏𝟔:𝟏-𝟏𝟑

𝐑𝐞𝐬𝐩𝐨𝐧𝐬𝐨𝐫𝐢𝐚𝐥 𝐏𝐬𝐚𝐥𝐦: 𝐏𝐒𝐀 𝟖𝟗:𝟐𝟎-𝟐𝟐, 𝟐𝟕-𝟐𝟖 “𝐈 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐟𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝 𝐃𝐚𝐯𝐢𝐝, 𝐦𝐲 𝐬𝐞𝐫𝐯𝐚𝐧𝐭.”

𝐆𝐎𝐒𝐏𝐄𝐋: 𝐌𝐊 𝟐:𝟐𝟑-𝟐𝟖

𝐊𝐞𝐲 𝐕𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐞: “𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐒𝐨𝐧 𝐨𝐟 𝐌𝐚𝐧 𝐢𝐬 𝐋𝐨𝐫𝐝 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐧 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐒𝐚𝐛𝐛𝐚𝐭𝐡.” (𝐯.𝟐𝟖) 

         Today we are being presented with at least two imageries of human holiness which is normally defined as religiousness, piety, devoutness and or, godliness. And in the time of Jesus, the Scribes or the teachers of the law and the Pharisees were generally referred to by the people as pious and devout in the practice of their faith.

         It came to a point that these Scribes and Pharisees claimed to be the sole interpreter of the Mosaic law and in doing so they also expanded the religious edicts handed down by Moses into thousands of other rules and regulations that became a burden for the people rather than bring the people closer to God. Even worse was the fact that they lost sense of what was good and right.

         Such was the case in the observance of the Sabbath which was the issue in this Gospel passage. While 𝐃𝐞𝐮𝐭 𝟐𝟑:𝟐𝟓 allows anyone passing by a field to pick kernels with their hands but what was being disputed was that the disciples picked corn kernels on a Sabbath and any form of physical exertion is prohibited during the Sabbath.

         And Jesus countered by citing the story of David (𝟏 𝐒𝐚𝐦 𝟐𝟏:𝟏-𝟔) who took the sacred bread used as an offering at the Temple and which was lawful only for the priests to eat. But David took the consecrated bread so that he and his men could eat as they were on the run to escape from Saul.

         Jesus placed a cap to the discussion by saying: “𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐒𝐚𝐛𝐛𝐚𝐭𝐡 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐦𝐚𝐝𝐞 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐦𝐚𝐧, 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐦𝐚𝐧 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐒𝐚𝐛𝐛𝐚𝐭𝐡. 𝐒𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐒𝐨𝐧 𝐨𝐟 𝐌𝐚𝐧 𝐢𝐬 𝐋𝐨𝐫𝐝 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐧 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐒𝐚𝐛𝐛𝐚𝐭𝐡” (𝐯.𝟐𝟖). The point that Jesus wanted to make was that man was created even before the law on the Sabbath was written and this meant that man should not be enslaved by the rules and regulations governing the Sabbath.

         The Lord was right in saying 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐒𝐨𝐧 𝐨𝐟 𝐌𝐚𝐧 𝐢𝐬 𝐋𝐨𝐫𝐝 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐧 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐒𝐚𝐛𝐛𝐚𝐭𝐡” because Jesus knew where he was coming from but the Scribes he was talking to could not comprehend what he was saying. Either they were too proud to accept that the Son of Man from Nazareth was the Messiah that the Jews have been waiting for or it could be that they will have to give up certain privileges that they enjoyed if they were to accept that Jesus was the One who was sent down from heaven.

         What Jesus was trying to make the Pharisees understand was that as the incarnated Son of God, he was for all intents and purposes the Lord of the Sabbath thus giving him the authority and the right to decide what maybe permissible or forbidden.

         In other words, Jesus as the Lord of the Sabbath had the sovereign authority to interpret how the Sabbath was to be used and by that same authority can altogether rescind the law on the Sabbath since “𝐉𝐞𝐬𝐮𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐅𝐚𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐨𝐧𝐞” (𝐉𝐧 𝟏𝟎:𝟑𝟎).

          What Jesus wants to emphasize in this Gospel today was that the Sabbath or the day of rest was given for our own benefit such that we are expected to use this day of rest to refresh and renew us physically and spiritually.

         Hence, the Sabbath is intended to bring out the good in every person and withholding mercy and kindness in relation to human need was not part of the objectives of the Sabbath. In fact, Jesus himself said in 𝐌𝐤 𝟑:𝟒 “𝐰𝐡𝐢𝐜𝐡 𝐢𝐬 𝐥𝐚𝐰𝐟𝐮𝐥 𝐨𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐒𝐚𝐛𝐛𝐚𝐭𝐡: 𝐭𝐨 𝐝𝐨 𝐠𝐨𝐨𝐝 𝐨𝐫 𝐭𝐨 𝐝𝐨 𝐞𝐯𝐢𝐥, 𝐭𝐨 𝐬𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐥𝐢𝐟𝐞 𝐨𝐫 𝐭𝐨 𝐤𝐢𝐥𝐥?”

         While religion or our belonging to a Church and or Community requires that we observe certain statutes or policies there is more to it because even our adherence to these rules and regulations do not a Christian make. Me and my spouse have  served as Servant Leaders of a Catholic charismatic community with districts or chapters worldwide and we have statutes and rules that guide us in our governance.

        But I also realized that strict adherence to such rules could at times stifle the spiritual growth of a person. In fact, dialogue, open communications that is rooted in love, care and concern for the welfare of one another is paramount when leading others to Christ especially when you hold a position of leadership in a church ministry or community.

        It is sad when disunity, division and strife break out within church or community ministries and apostolates and the culprit is merely the failure to sit down and dialogue with one another. When we cannot do this, it can only mean that we are thinking more highly of ourselves when what we ought to do is merely to humble ourselves and not think of ourselves more highly than we ought to (𝐏𝐡𝐢 𝟐:𝟑-𝟒; 𝐑𝐨𝐦 𝟏𝟐:𝟏-𝟖).            

        Humility is not thinking less of yourself, but it is thinking of yourself less. You might say that this is one and the same. It is not. To think less of yourself is to set aside your dignity and putting yourself in such a lowly position and this is the reason why there are many among us who could not for the love of God practice humility.

        But to think of yourself less means that we give priority to what the other person thinks, feels and says and in doing so we discover our true self by the love we have for the other person.   

         It simply means that love, mercy, kindness, forgiveness and, faithful and humble service to men are at the heart of religion and cannot be replaced by mere observance of rules and regulations. This will show that authentic Christianity lies in doing things rather than in not doing what is necessary because our hands are held bound by the Sabbath.

         The point of this Gospel is that the Sabbath which is a sacred observance and whatever may be found in it must be used to help our neighbors and such sacred things can only become sacred when they are used to benefit men. This was the case of Abiathar, the high priest at the Temple who gave David and his men the consecrated bread which became even more sacred because it was used to feed men who were in need.

         At the end of the day, it is love that should govern the observance of the Sabbath because not to help anyone who maybe in need because you are barred by rules and regulations concerning the Sabbath is plain ignorance of what religion represents. Holiness grows in response to God’s Word which means that those who have committed to follow Christ are sanctified through believing and obeying the Word of God.

         We have already been forgiven through the sacrificial death of Christ (𝐇𝐞𝐛 𝟕:𝟐𝟔-𝟐𝟕) but the daily application of God’s Word has a purifying effect on our minds and hearts. The Sacred Scriptures itself points out that God’s Word should motivate us to confess our sins because only the restoration of our relationship with Christ will guide us back to the right path.

         True and authentic religion rests in looking at people as more important than the rules and regulations that govern the Church and or Community to which we belong because the best way to worship God is to help our neighbors in need.

         We can say that Jesus has already rescinded the law by his death on the cross (𝐄𝐩𝐡 𝟐:𝟏𝟓). Jesus “𝐜𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐧 𝐜𝐨𝐝𝐞, 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐢𝐭𝐬 𝐫𝐞𝐠𝐮𝐥𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬, 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐚𝐠𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐬𝐭 𝐮𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐨𝐝 𝐨𝐩𝐩𝐨𝐬𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐮𝐬; 𝐡𝐞 𝐭𝐨𝐨𝐤 𝐢𝐭 𝐚𝐰𝐚𝐲, 𝐧𝐚𝐢𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐢𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐫𝐨𝐬𝐬” (𝐂𝐨𝐥 𝟐:𝟏𝟒). And “𝐛𝐲 𝐜𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐜𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐧𝐚𝐧𝐭 𝐧𝐞𝐰, 𝐡𝐞 𝐡𝐚𝐬 𝐦𝐚𝐝𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐟𝐢𝐫𝐬𝐭 𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐨𝐛𝐬𝐨𝐥𝐞𝐭𝐞” (𝐇𝐞𝐛. 𝟖:𝟏𝟑).        

         Thus, true piety rests not on laws but on mercy and love for others that is rooted in our love for Jesus! (𝘌𝘥 𝘔𝘢𝘭𝘢𝘺 – 𝘑𝘢𝘯. 20, 2026)