NOTES for Mar 2:23-28
The law and rules are only the starting point for any creative work. Let us compare them to scales: every pupil must practise scales day after day for many years in order to learn to play Bach. The Pharisees' objections then become as absurd as it would be to object to a brilliant performance of Bach.
Yes, unlike the Lord, we are still pupils. We must therefore practise our scales. But even a first-year pupil already tries to play simple studies, understanding that scales are not an end in themselves and that practising them serves a higher purpose.
So it must be with all our rituals. This is what the words “the Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath” really mean. One can often see a different, loose interpretation of these words, leading to a “philosophical” attitude towards fasts and rules of prayer. We must be very sure that we play our scales well before we allow ourselves that.