Mark 2:25-26

Mark 2:25-26

[25] And  he  said  unto them,  Have ye never  read  what  David  did,  when  he had  need,  and  was an hungred,  he,  and  they that were with  him?  [26] How  he went  into  the house  of God  in the days  of Abiathar  the high priest,  and  did eat  the shewbread,  which  not  lawful  to eat  the priests,  and  gave  also  with  him? 

What does Mark 2:25-26 Mean?

Contextual Meaning

The incident Jesus referred to is in 1 Samuel 21:1-6. Mark was the only evangelist to mention that Abiathar was the high priest then. This seemingly contradicts the Old Testament since Ahimelech, the father or Abiathar, was the high priest then according to the writer of1Samuel. The best solution to this problem seems to be that Jesus referred to Abiathar because he was the better-known priest during David"s reign. The phrase "in the time of" or "in the days of" probably means "during the lifetime of" rather than "during the high priesthood of." [1]
Jesus" point was this. David technically broke the ritual law by eating bread that only the priests were to eat. Nevertheless he could do so because David was on the Lord"s service. As such, he could do things other Israelites, not on the Lord"s service, could not do. Furthermore the offense was a matter of religious ritual, not a moral violation of the law, as the Pharisees were implying. Another example of violating the letter of the law to observe its spirit is King Hezekiah"s granting the Israelites who were unclean permission to eat the Passover ( 2 Chronicles 30:18-20). God did not object to that either. Another explanation of David"s action is that God permitted it because of the urgency of his situation and that Jesus was claiming that His mission was equally urgent. [2]
The Pharisees failed in two respects. First, they did not distinguish which laws were more important. Serving the Lord is more important than resting, and man is more important than the Sabbath.
"Human need is a higher law than religious ritual." [3]
Second, they did not recognize Jesus as the anointed Servant of the Lord that the Old Testament predicted would come, the Son of David. Mark did not mention, as Matthew did, that Jesus pointed out that one greater than the temple had come ( Matthew 12:6). Mark"s emphasis was not on Jesus as the King as much as it was on Jesus as the Lord"s anointed Servant. As God"s anointed Servant, Jesus had the right to provide for His disciples" physical needs even though that meant violating a tradition governing ritual worship.