One Sabbath Jesus was going through the grainfields, and as his disciples walked along, they began to pick some heads of grain. The Pharisees said to him, “Look, why are they doing what is unlawful on the Sabbath?”
He answered, “Have you never read what David did when he and his companions were hungry and in need? 26In the days of Abiathar the high priest, he entered the house of God and ate the consecrated bread, which is lawful only for priests to eat. And he also gave some to his companions.”
Then he said to them, “The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath. (Mark 2:23-27)
Jesus puts people first, regulations second. Human needs come first, traditions second. The kingdom of God comes first, and everything else second. In practical terms, that means leaders must sometimes violate “sacred” traditions and tear down barriers. Sometimes that takes great courage.
We should not break traditions for the sake of breaking them. Customs can have their place or benefits. Usually they come into place for good reasons. Yet when custom interferes with human need, riles need to be broken. Human need comes before custom and tradition.
Jesus could have used hundreds of examples to show the religious leaders of His day had exploited and spiritually enslaved the people, but He selected one of the most important ones, the law of the Sabbath. Perhaps He did so to so that people would examine other customs, rituals, and regulations by the same criteria.
Sound custom breaking goes back to Jesus’ definition of the first commandment, loving God with all of our heart, soul, and mind. He tied this to loving our neighbors as ourselves so tightly that it is practically the same commandment. How better can we show our love to God than by the way we treat people? A Mountain Mover uses love as the measure for breaking human customs to meet human needs.