Lenten Reflection – The Pharisees: Who is Good Enough?

by Middle East and Europe | published on Feb 22, 2023

This reflection was written by Dr. Peter Makari, Global Relations Minister, Middle East and Europe, and originally shared as part of a Lenten devotional produced by Disciples Home Missions. Please access the full Lenten resource here.

Scripture: Luke 4:16-29

When he came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up, he went to the synagogue on the Sabbath day, as was his custom. He stood up to read, and the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was given to him. He unrolled the scroll and found the place where it was written:

“The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to bring good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to set free those who are oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.”

And he rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the attendant, and sat down. The eyes of all in the synagogue were fixed on him. Then he began to say to them, “Today this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.” All spoke well of him and were amazed at the gracious words that came from his mouth. They said, “Is this not Joseph’s son?” He said to them, “Doubtless you will quote to me this proverb, ‘Doctor, cure yourself!’ And you will say, ‘Do here also in your hometown the things that we have heard you did at Capernaum.’ “And he said, “Truly I tell you, no prophet is accepted in his hometown. But the truth is, there were many widows in Israel in the time of Elijah, when the heaven was shut up three years and six months and there was a severe famine over all the land, yet Elijah was sent to none of them except to a widow at Zarephath in Sidon. There were also many with a skin disease in Israel in the time of the prophet Elisha, and none of them was cleansed except Naaman the Syrian.” When they heard this, all in the synagogue were filled with rage. They got up, drove him out of the town, and led him to the brow of the hill on which their town was built, so that they might hurl him off the cliff.

It is a dramatic scene, another instance in which Jesus challenges the Pharisees and their strict interpretation of the law. As Jesus and the disciples pass through a field, the disciples pluck heads of grain, prompting the Pharisees to reprimand them, saying, “Why are they doing what is not lawful on the sabbath?” Jesus pivots the question from the letter of the law to its spirit, asking the Pharisees, “Have you never read what David did when he and his companions were hungry and need of food? He entered the house of God….”

Over the past 12 years, the Middle East has witnessed a dramatic increase in the number of refugees and forcibly displaced people, primarily as a result of the war in Syria. Since 2011, almost 13 million people, or more than half of the Syrian population, have been forced from their homes and communities due to impact of the fighting. Of those, 5.5 million are refugees in neighboring countries. Many of them left their homes with what they had on their backs and what they could carry as they sought safety and security for themselves and their families somewhere else, away from the dangers of war. A decade later, many still live in uncertainty about their future. They are hungry for food, and hungry to begin their lives again with some sense of stability and a future.

Uprooted Syrians are not the only ones to experience this uncertainty and hunger. In the last year, we have witnessed the devastation of Ukraine and the displacement of 16 million Ukrainians, about half of whom have remained in their country but away from home, and the other half have fled altogether, and are now refugees, mostly in Europe. There are 6 million Palestinian refugees who were forcibly displaced from their homes and dispossessed of their property decades ago. They live in a state of suspension and waiting, what Shahd Abusalama describes as “permanent temporality.” Among them are Palestinian Christians, proud to trace their heritage back to the first Christian community, still living today in same places where Jesus was born, preached, and was crucified and resurrected.

The United Nations High Commission for Refugees estimates that, before the Ukraine crisis, there were upwards of 90 million people worldwide forcibly displaced from their homes due to conflicts, violence, fear of persecution and human rights violations. That was the highest total since World War II, and had more than doubled in the previous decade. The Ukraine war has pushed the total above 100 million. For these Syrians, Ukrainians, Palestinians, and tens of millions more around the world, there is no sabbath, no chance to set aside a daily routine to rest and to worship. Even so, faith sustains many of them in their days, months, and years of uncertainty.

In the Middle East and Europe, where the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) and United Church of Christ accompany a number of partner churches and organizations through Global Ministries, we have witnessed and supported the responses of numerous partner responses to the needs of refugees fleeing various circumstances.

Partners such as the Middle East Council of Churches, the Fellowship of the middle East Evangelical [Protestant] Churches, the Forum for Development, Culture, and Dialogue (FDCD), the Reformed Church in Hungary, and Perichoresis of the Evangelical Church in Greece, to name a few, continue to provide bread and sustenance to refugees from throughout the region. Such response includes basic items like food, water, and accommodations, but also health needs, psycho-social support for these victims of trauma, childcare, language learning, and training in marketable skills.

And partners do not stop on the sabbath either. One Sunday morning, while visiting Perichoresis in Katerini, Greece, I was about to enter the church for worship. Just outside the church was a Syrian Muslim family who had heard about how the church helps refugees. We stopped and spoke with them. I translated the Arabic until the program’s translator could arrive and our Greek partners began to move into action. By the time church started, a plan was in place, the couple and their little daughter were visibly a bit more at ease. The family were attended to, with a promise of a commitment to help them further–on the sabbath.

It is as if our global partners have opened the house of God for those who are hungry and in need of food. They – and we – know that by making daily bread accessible when it is needed, we live out God’s law to love our neighbor.

Jesus taught that those who would inherit salvation are not those who would uphold a strict reading of the law, but those who understand the law as created for God’s people. When we feed the hungry and give drink to those who are thirsty; those who welcome the stranger; who clothe the naked; who take care of the sick; and who visit the imprisoned, for when we carry out those acts for the benefit of our neighbor, we serve God.

As we observe the season of Lent and move toward Christ’s Passion in Jerusalem, we might re-read Jesus’ retort to the Pharisees, “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…,” understanding it from the point of view of the marginalized and oppressed, so that we can see the hunger of the world and know that it does not allow a respite. We cannot responsibly adhere to a strict reading of one law, at the expense of the welfare of God’s people. Ultimately, “the Son of Man is lord even of the sabbath.” We live in that hope.

How does this reflection encourage you to walk with Jesus this week?
Identify a song, community landmark, or piece of art that speaks to you in a way similar to this reflection.
This week find time to spend with that song, place, or artwork.