Read Mark 2:23-28 [Passage quoted in full at the end of the blog.]
Let me explain the reference to "Custard Christians," as it might be a bit of a puzzle. This is from another of my memories of my younger days. One speaker at a local conference was talking about the tendency to get worked up about small insignificant details in our Christian lives and fail to see the important things. He coined a phrase which I have never forgotten to describe people like this - "custard Christians" - because they are always pouring over trifles." I remember this caused some upset among some of the audience and one Christian brother was very annoyed at this remark. I have never forgotten it. These Pharisees were pouring over trifles. They had an obsession about keeping the Sabbath and it became very burdensome on so many people. Of course, the ten commandments had instructed the Jews to keep the Sabbath day as a special day and they were given a good reason for doing that.
Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days you shall labour, and do all your work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the Lord your God. On it you shall not do any work, you, or your son, or your daughter, your male servant, or your female servant, or your livestock, or the sojourner who is within your gates. For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested on the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy. [Exodus 20: 8-11 ESV]
This commandment is linked to the creation when God rested on the seventh day after He had finished creating the world and its inhabitants. Notice that it was designed as a much-needed day of rest and reflection. The Sabbath day was consecrated to God and was specially blessed by Him. The commandment specifies the cessation of all work. It does not say that no one was to eat on the Sabbath day. So what the disciples were doing on that occasion when they so upset the Pharisees was not breaking the law of Moses. They were merely plucking heads of grain and eating them to ward of their hunger. They were engaged in service for their Master and were entitled to eat. But the Pharisees were displeased. This shows how rigorous they were in implementing restrictions relating to the Sabbath Day.
Notice that Jesus response to the Pharisees can be summed up as follows in verse 27.
Then he said to them, “The Sabbath was made for people, not people for the Sabbath.
Mark 2:27 NET
The sect known as Pharisees were being governed by a set of unreasonable restrictions. They were making the Sabbath govern them and Jesus was saying that this commandment about keeping the Sabbath was intended to benefit the human race by providing a day for rest and also for spending time with God in worship. They were letting these restrictions dominate and govern their lives.
Jesus demonstrated a comprehensive knowledge of the Old Testament scriptures. He also displayed a deep insight into the way these Pharisees reasoned. He knew that they greatly admired their ancestor, King David. So to defeat their argument, Jesus refers to one incident in the life of King David when he was so hungry that he ate the bread of the Presence from the temple. There was nothing else to eat there and he was hungry. This was not the high point of David's spiritual journey. He was in a bad place spiritually. He was fleeing from Saul and was in a state of fear and panic. David also allowed his companions to eat this bread even though it was reserved for the priests. This silenced the Pharisees. They knew the incident well and they knew that their esteemed ancestor had, in fact, done what Jesus was claiming. This silenced them. Jesus made two very direct points in concluding this encounter with the nit-picking, hypocritical Pharisees. Firstly, Jesus was saying to them - you have got this the wrong way round. God introduced the Sabbath for the benefit of mankind. He did not create the human race simply to keep a set of regulations relating to the Sabbath. Secondly, he made a statement which would greatly offend the Pharisees. He referred to Himself as Son of Man which was a title used in Daniel's prophecy about the Messiah. He was claiming to be the Messiah and He stated that as the Messiah, the Son of Man, He was supreme and was greater than the Sabbath. He is Lord of all - and that includes the Sabbath. They have no moral right to question Him or to question His disciples.
There is no reference to any reaction from the Pharisees. We may assume that this would seriously challenge them and would be one of the reasons why they, as a group, were so hostile to Jesus. He was claiming to be the Messiah, Son of Man and Son of God. They did not realise that they were in the presence of the Son of God. They were more interested in keeping a set of paltry, petty regulations.
Has our Christian life become a series of do's and don'ts. Have we lost the thrill of knowing that we have been set free from our sins? Have we settled for a lifetime of following a set of rules in order to please God? In my student days working in the local council's parks' department, one worker on the squad referred to me as a 'dinnae.' I had no idea what he meant and I had to ask another worker to explain this to me. "You dinnae do this and you dinnae do that. You dinnae swear or smoke or drink." He went on to make a huge list of all the things I did not do. That was his assessment of my Christian life. No mention of love or faith or humility or any of the fruits of the Spirit. I trust that his assessment was only partly true but I have never forgotten it. Maybe we have become custard Christians - we spend our lives with all the negative things we should not do. We fail to see the importance of demonstrating our faith in action by our love for each other and for our fellow man or woman.
One Sabbath he was going through the grainfields, and as they made their way, his disciples began to pluck heads of grain. And the Pharisees were saying 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 was in need and was hungry, he and those who were with him: how he entered the house of God, in the time of Abiathar the high priest, and ate the bread of the Presence, which it is not lawful for any but the priests to eat, and also gave it to those who were with him?” And he said to them, “The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath. So the Son of Man is lord even of the Sabbath.” [Mark 2: 23-28 ESV]
[Photo by Pablo Merchán Montes on Unsplash. Ok, I know that the custard in not being poured over a trifle!]
“Custard Christians” … I won’t forget that one Robert!! Personally for me these simplistic illustrations actually help me in my Christian walk thru life as they paint a picture in my mind that I find very easy to remember.
I can certainly relate to your ‘dinnae’ experience, as I had similar expressions labelled on me during my working life. However, when I retired, I received some very uplifting comments relating to my integrity in the workplace from some of those that had got pleasure from making fun of my faith.
And then from Paul to Romans, Galatians, Colossians right down to today in Airdrie and Falkirk, for some people, nothing has changed! I have not heard from a Christian friend since I questioned his legalism on 'sabbath' observance on a Saturday!