biblicalliteracy

Selected Text: 1 Samuel 21:1-6

From this text onward, David, the once captain of the king’s army, will flee from King Saul because of the many death threats upon David. He begins his flight with no sword, no food, and visits(along with his servants with him) the High Priest Ahimelech. To help him on his journey, Ahimelech gives to David the only sword available in the House, the great sword of Goliath, and the only bread he had, that is, the shewbread that was in the temple - holy bread meant for the priests. While this incident seems minor, Saul will take it seriously when he hears of this by killing Ahimelech. In addition to this tragedy, this incident spurs a conversation between Jesus and the Pharisees in Matthew 12:1-8. After the Pharisees criticize His disciples for plucking and eating grain on the Sabbath (any work is forbidden on holy days), Jesus responds:

“Have ye not read what David did, when he was an hungered…; how he entered into the house of God, and did eat of the shewbread, which was not lawful for him to eat… but only for the priests?”The exchange causes one to wonder whether David sinned in eating the holy bread and whether Ahimelech sinned in giving David the bread. If so, was Jesus condoning an action against the law of God? Surely the Christ wouldn’t do such a thing. Jesus said of the Law: “Whosoever therefore shall break one of these commandments, and shall teach men so, he shall be called the least in the kingdom of heaven…” (Matthew 5:19). It’s clear that for Jesus it was not unlawful for David to eat the shewbread, just as it was not unlawful for His disciples to eat on the Sabbath. Rather, Jesus was criticizing the Pharisee’s hypocrisy, which would have certainly condoned David’s actions (no true Jew would not) but could not grant these common men to break their interpretation of the Law. Jesus continues: “I say unto you, That in this place is one greater than the temple. But if ye had known what this meaneth, I will have mercy, and not sacrifice [Hosea 6:6], ye would not have condemned the guiltless. For the Son of man is Lord even of the sabbath day.”

In fact, the Law of Moses only explicitly forbids foreigners from eating the shewbread, to keep it holy (see Leviticus 20:22;24:5-9). Certainly the bread was established for the priests. They had no land, and they relied on offerings from the people for their food. But as Jesus explains, the what is greater than sacrifice is obedience. Ahimelech the priest could not know that he and all his family would suffer for his generosity (Saul murdered eighty-five priest and their families that day, 1 Samuel 22:18,19). The priest didn’t even know David was running from Saul, but his last work was that of kindness. He did not let tradition or legalism hold him from doing good to another, even the chosen of God.

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