Greetings friend,
This is Mark Gladman,
Also known as Brother Frederick James,
Your friendly neighbourhood monk in dogs.
Welcome to our time today of Lectio Divina,
Continuing to reflect on the questions Jesus asked.
As we begin,
Take a nice slow breath in.
Undoubt.
Allow yourself to settle into stillness.
Let yourself become present here and now.
And as you rest in this moment,
Remember that the spiritual life isn't just about collecting information about God.
But about learning to see with the heart of God.
As today,
We sit with a question Jesus asks in the middle of religious criticism.
In Mark chapter two.
The Pharisees noticed Jesus' disciples plucking heads of grain on the Sabbath because they're hungry.
And immediately.
Criticism arises.
Rules are being broken.
Boundaries are being crossed.
And Jesus responds by referring to a story from scripture.
Have you never read what David did?
When he and his companions were hungry and in need.
Now at first,
It seems like an unusual response.
After all,
The Pharisees had certainly read the story.
They knew the scriptures deeply,
But didn't know it.
Jesus is pointing towards something deeper than just being familiar with the text.
It's possible to know scripture and still miss the heart of God.
This is actually one of the recurring tensions throughout the Gospels.
The religious leaders often know the law,
The traditions and the sacred writings,
But again and again.
Jesus reveals that knowledge without compassion can become spiritually shallow.
Because reading scripture.
.
.
Isn't memorizing words and knowing the stories,
It's about perceiving wisdom.
Now the Pharisees read the law primarily through the lens of restriction and control,
But Jesus is reading the text through the lens of mercy,
Through human need and the deeper purposes of God.
This question matters because all of us interpret life through some kind of lens.
We can approach faith as rule-keeping,
Performance,
And certainty.
We can approach it as transformation into love and sometimes without realizing it.
We settle for a shallow religion.
A religion that's more concerned with appearing correct.
Than becoming compassionate.
One that's more focused on technicalities.
Rather than tenderness of heart.
That's more invested in.
Preserving systems than healing people.
But Jesus consistently moves beneath the surface.
He reminds people that the Sabbath was made for humanity,
Not humanity for the Sabbath.
In other words,
Spiritual practice exists to bring life,
Freedom and wholeness.
Not oppression,
And certainly not fear.
And maybe this question asks us to reflect not only on how we read scripture,
But how we read everything.
How do we interpret people?
Do we leave room for mercy?
Do we see human complexity?
Do we allow compassion to deepen our understanding?
Contemplative spirituality invites us beyond surface-level seeing.
It calls us into wisdom.
Rather than information.
And wisdom slower.
It's more spacious,
Less reactive,
More attentive to the movement of love beneath appearances.
And maybe that's what Jesus is doing here.
He's teaching people to read with awakened hearts,
Not to abandon scripture,
But enter into it.
Deeply.
The goal of the spiritual life.
Isn't just to become more religious,
It's to become more alive.
Alive to the presence and compassion of God.
So as we move into the reading,
Notice the tension in the passage,
Notice the contrast between rigid interpretation and living wisdom,
And listen for the deeper invitation beneath the words,
Have you ever read what David did?
Mark chapter 2 verses 23 to 28.
One Sabbath,
Jesus was going through the grain fields.
And as they made their way,
His disciples began to pluck heads of grain.
The Pharisee said to him,
Look.
Why are they doing what is not lawful on the Sabbath?
And he said to them,
Have you never read what David did when he and his companions were hungry and in need of food?
He entered the house of God when Abiathar was high priest,
And ate the bread of the Presence,
Which it is not lawful for any but the priests to eat.
And he gave some to his companions.
Then he said to them,
The Sabbath was made for humankind.
Not humankind for the Sabbath.
So the Son of Man is Lord even.
Of the Sabbath.
One Sabbath,
Jesus was going through the grain fields,
And as they made their way,
His disciples began to pluck heads of grain.
The Pharisee said to him,
Look.
Why are they doing what is not lawful on the suburb?
And he said to them,
Have you never read what David did when he and his companions were hungry and in need of food?
He entered the house of God when Abiathar was high priest,
And ate the bread of the Presence,
Which it is not lawful for any but the priests to eat.
And he gave some to his companions.
But then he said to them,
The Sabbath was made for humankind.
Not humankind for the Sabbath.
So the Son of Man is Lord even.
Of the Sabbath.
One Sabbath,
Jesus was going through the grain fields,
And as they made their way,
His disciples began to pluck heads of grain.
The Pharisee said to him,
Look.
Why are they doing what is not lawful on the Sabbath?
And he said to them,
Have you never read what David did when he and his companions were hungry and in need of food?
He entered the house of God when Abiathar was high priest,
And ate the bread of the Presence,
Which it is not lawful for any but the priests to eat.
And he gave some to his companions.
Then he said to them,
The Sabbath was made for humankind.
Not humankind for the Sabbath.
So the Son of Man is Lord even.
Of the Sabbath.
As we bring our time together today to a close,
I invite you to join me in prayer.
Jesus,
Teacher of Living Wisdom.
You continually lead us beneath the surface of religion and into the deeper way of love.
You know how easily we cling to appearances,
To certainty,
To rules that help us feel safe and in control,
Yet you continue to invite us into compassion.
Teach us to read with awakened hearts.
Teach us to approach scripture not as a weapon,
But as a doorway into mercy and transformation.
Teach us to seek wisdom.
Rather than superiority.
Where our faith has become shallow,
Deepen it.
Where we have become rigid,
Soften us.
Where we've prioritised correctness over love,
Reshape our vision.
May your spirit form within us a spacious and compassionate heart.
A heart able to recognise human need.
A heart willing to choose mercy,
A heart alive to the deeper movement of grace.
May we learn slowly and humbly to read life itself through the eyes of Christ.
And may the grace,
Peace and love we discover as we open our eyes.
Be with us and remain with us,
Today and always.
Amen.
Until next time,
Friends.
God's grace and peace.
Be with you.
Bye for now.
