Just like those businesses, priests in the old testament were in the family business. God designated Moses brother Aaron and his sons as the priests that would serve God.
Ex 28:1 "Have Aaron your brother brought to you from among the Israelites, along with his sons Nadab and Abihu, Eleazar and Ithamar, so they may serve me as priests.
So this is the tradition that grew into law that the showbread in the tabernacle was Holy and as such could only be eaten by a priest.
So what is going on in the story that Jesus relates in our passage in Luke 6:1-5? David and his men were in need of food. The only food available was the showbread put before the Lord and was supposed to be only for the priests. But there was a real human need for food.
Here is Jesus first point. People are more important than ceremony. He is not saying people are more important than God. What is interesting about the story of David eating the showbread is that no where in the old testament is it commanded by God that the showbread could only be eaten by the priests. So this was a ceremonial law. A tradition that became more critical than the needs of the people.
This is a danger when religious leaders lose sight of what is truly important. Here is what Jesus points out as the most important commandments.
Mt 22:36 “Teacher, which is the great commandment in the law?”
37 Jesus said to him, “ ‘You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ 38 This is the first and great commandment. 39 And the second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’
Tomorrow we will wrap up this passage with our last two terms and the resolution of the conflict between the Pharisees and Jesus.
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