Luke 6
Often Christianity is called the Western religion or the European religion. These names indicate the regional or ethnic heritage of Christianity. But when Christianity was first brought to Europe, it was a Jewish religion because the apostles and many of their missionaries were Jews. And first Christians were also mostly Jewish people in various places in the Roman Empire.
One of the reasons why Christianity could overcome the ethnic barrier of the Jews was its universal message for humanity. This is why Christianity still spreads in the world. The authority of Christianity is not assigned or limited to a certain ethnic group. The authority does not belong to any man. Christ Jesus holds true authority. Christianity is a revealed religion by the Son of God himself. It is not a cultural heritage of a people.
The Pharisees held onto Jewish traditions of old. The Sabbath was holy for them because it has been their tradition for so long. But they were ignorant of the lord of the Sabbath. They had lost the true meaning and purpose of the Sabbath. It was only an unchangeable tradition and law. The Pharisees made the Sabbath their own while ignoring God who had set the Sabbath for them.
St Paul in his first letter to the Corinthians asks them who the lord of their faith is. He reminds the Corinthians that Christ gave faith and grace through the apostles as gifts. Faith is not a work of human effort. We cannot boast ourselves for anything genuine regarding faith because all of them are from the Lord, Christ Jesus. Although Christianity wears clothes of human cultures, these human heritages cannot replace Christ or faith. This is why St Paul admonishes the Corinthians to depend on Christ only, not on human wisdom or power.
Christians are constantly tested by the same temptation the Pharisees fell in. We are tempted to be our masters in matters of faith and morals. We are also tempted to hold on to certain human bonds such as race and language. But in every matter of faith, Christ is our Lord. We are “servants of Christ and stewards of God’s mysteries,” says St Paul. Indeed, “the Son of Man is lord of the Sabbath.”
