Our Hero

There is a show on television called "Heroes".  If you have watched it you might begin to wonder where are the heroes in the show, who are the villians.  If you watch any type of TV show or movies these days this is a problem, trying to tell the good guys from the bad.

At the time that the incidents took place in the Bible passage we are looking at Luke 6:1-5, the Jewish people viewed King David as a hero.  David was the second King of Israel, wrote many of the Psalms, the slayer of Goliath and favored by God.   David was far from perfect having also committed adultery and murder.  These shortcomings of David were overlooked, as people viewed him as a hero larger than life.  It was not considered appropraite to ever say anything disparaging about David.

So here is the response of Jesus to the accusation of the Pharisees:

Luke 6:3 But Jesus answering them said, “Have you not even read this, what David did when he was hungry, he and those who were with him: 4 how he went into the house of God, took and ate the showbread, and also gave some to those with him, which is not lawful for any but the priests to eat?”

Jesus just made 2 points.   Asked them if they had read about David.  This would have been an insult to the Pharisees who claimed intimate knowledge and understanding of the Old Testament.  And brought up an incident where David their hero did something that was unlawful. 

Tomorrow we will say why it was unlawful.  As we look at how the Showbread played a role in the worship practices of Israel.