Lectio
“Thus, to be receptive to the highest truth, and to live therein, a man must be without before and after, untrammeled by all his acts or by any images he ever perceived, empty and free, receiving the divine gift in the eternal Now, and bearing it back unhindered in the light of the same with praise and thanksgiving in our Lord Jesus Christ.”
— Meister Eckhart, The Complete Mystical Works
Meditatio
One Sunday evening, my daughter and I were watching The Chosen, a series that dramatizes the life of Christ, which we try to do together each week. In this particular episode, on the Sabbath, Jesus healed a man with a crippled hand in the temple and His disciples ate grains from a field. Both incidents caused controversy amongst the Pharisees who questioned Jesus, citing God’s laws surrounding what is permissible and impermissible on the Sabbath.
In the field, Jesus responds to the Pharisees, citing Scripture, and concludes by saying, “Sabbath was made for man, not man for the sabbath.”
Moved by the Spirit in the moment, I paused the show, turned to my daughter, and asked, “What do you think that means, ‘sabbath was made for man, not man for the sabbath’?”
Her response, which amazed me in both its wisdom and simplicity, was, “Well, I guess it’s like a gift. Like, if someone knits you a sweater and gives it to you, the sweater belongs to you. You don’t belong to the sweater.”
I was left teary-eyed and speechless as I contemplated the depth and the truth of this statement about God’s generosity from out of the mouth of this still innocent but wise beyond her years young girl. I told her how proud I was of her and that I loved her, and unpaused the show so we could finish the episode cuddled up together on the couch.
Maybe that’s what Jesus was trying to get the Pharisees to see, too. The Sabbath was never a debt to be repaid, a law to be followed, or something to be guarded — it was a gift, before we had done anything to deserve it, given simply because God is generous and because He loves us, just like I love my own child. And the moment we start treating it as something we owe, we’ve already misunderstood it; we’ve turned belonging into obligation, love into ledger.
But when we receive, empty-handed, without earning, without keeping score, what He offers — which is His very Self — we find ourselves simply resting in what has been given. We find ourselves resting in Him, curled up in His arms receiving the love we could have never earned or even known to ask for because it was always His to give and ours simply to receive.
Oratio
By Your Hands
in Your arms
held in silence
receiving all
that You have to give
which is You
which is love
which is everything
I ever wanted
everything I never wanted
everything I never knew I needed
which is You
which is love
given as a gift
made just for me
knit together
by Your very hands
Contemplatio
Somewhere along the way, rest became something to justify. But the Sabbath was never a wage — it was a gift, offered freely, long before you had done anything at all. Let that be enough for you today. Sit in the stillness, and let Him hold what is already given.
Related Scripture
“I know that there is nothing better for them than to be happy and enjoy themselves as long as they live; moreover, it is God’s gift that all should eat and drink and take pleasure in all their toil.”
— Ecclesiastes 3:12-13, NRSVCE
For Further Reading
If you enjoyed this post, you may also like The Voice That Fills Empty Nets: Gregory of Nyssa and the Astonishment of Grace, which explores how grace often arrives as something unearned and unexpected, rather than something achieved through effort.
Robert Van Valkenburgh
Grappling With Divinity.
Wrestling With God.
Returning To Love.
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