Luke 6:4-5. "'[H]ow [David] entered the house of God, and took an ate the bread of the Presence, which it is not lawful for any but the priests to eat, and also gave it to those with him?' And he said to them, 'The Son of man is Lord of the sabbath.'" Jesus is reminding the Pharisees, who were complaining that the apostles were picking and eating grain on the Sabbath, that David himself once commandeered the bread of Presence to feed himself and his men.

There is so much to think about in this! First, remembering back to David taking the bread of Presence, I think of what a good analogy that is for the Eucharist. David and his men were preparing for battle, they needed sustenance to continue the fight. It was not a battle that David sought, in fact at this point he was trying to run from it, but it was one that he could not avoid, so he had to fight and fight well. What better food to prepare him for this battle than the bread of Presence, representing the presence of God among his people? Now fast forward to this passage of Luke. Jesus has not yet instituted the Eucharist, but He knows He will. The apostles are preparing for battle, even if they don't realize that yet. They need sustenance, and they unlawfully pick and eat grain. Once Jesus does institute the Eucharist, the apostles can remember back to this moment and Jesus' words each time they partake of it, and each time they offer it to His flock. This is the Bread of Life; this is our food for the journey; this is what gives us sustenance for the battle that we have not sought, but in which we must be engaged. We must partake of this food at least once a week, on the very day the apostles did, on the seventh day, our day of rest. The combination of rest and sustenance prepares and strengthens us for battle.

Next, I am struck by how, while Jesus did not come to abolish the law, He very clearly established himself as its arbiter. It was unlawful to pick a grain on the Sabbath, just as it was unlawful for David to consume the bread of Presence. In both cases, however, the rightful (even if as yet unacknowledged) king overrode the law. David alludes to himself as the king when he is questioned, and Jesus says very clearly that He is the Lord of the Sabbath. Why do we have laws? To keep right order. Who created order? God did, so if God or His rightful representative says a rule can and should be broken in an individual case, how could anyone argue? God, who created and established order, is telling us the correct way that order plays out in this circumstance. The law is His, only He knows the true application of it in each circumstance. Keep in mind, though, that the law is different from the truth. There are certain teachings that we may not understand, but that are rooted in truth, and therefore can never be broken. This is not because God is limited in any way, but because God is truth, and cannot deny Himself. It might seem confusing, but it is not all that difficult to distinguish law from truth. For example, David was not denying what the bread of Presence was when he ate it unlawfully, he was saying that the law should not apply in this circumstance. He was breaking the law, not denying the truth. We cannot deny that the Eucharist is the Body and Blood of Christ, that would be a denial of truth, but the Church can make exceptions for how and when it is received in cases where are the greater good is served, such as by the sick without a full participation in Mass.

I am a stickler for the law, so I am going to take this reading to heart, and try to remember that sometimes the greater good is served by not strictly adhering to the law. That was a hard lesson for the Pharisees, and it is a hard lesson for me, as well. (I got into this a bit before in Is It Sometimes OK to Mislead?) I also have to be careful to discern when it is God who is saying the law should be disregarded in a given circumstance, and not simply my judgment of what would be best in the situation. Reference to Scripture and Church teaching is essential here, God speaks to us there, as well as in prayer.