Matthew 12:1-8, Jesus Is Lord of the Sabbath

1 At that time Jesus went through the grainfields on the Sabbath. His disciples were hungry, and they began to pluck heads of grain and to eat. 2 But when the Pharisees saw it, they said to him, “Look, your disciples are doing what is not lawful to do on the Sabbath.”3 He said to them, “Have you not read what David did when he was hungry, and those who were with him:4 how he entered the house of God and ate the bread of the Presence, which it was not lawful for him to eat nor for those who were with him, but only for the priests? 5 Or have you not read in the Law how on the Sabbath the priests in the temple profane the Sabbath and are guiltless? 6 I tell you, something greater than the temple is here. 7 And if you had known what this means, ‘I desire mercy, and not sacrifice,’ you would not have condemned the guiltless. 8 For the Son of Man is lord of the Sabbath.”

Comments

Who really has the authority to interpret the Sabbath and its meaning? Jesus declares it is he and not the Pharisees. The presenting issue is the disciples plucking grain to eat. The law allows for this activity in Deuteronomy; however, in the Mishnah the Pharisees compiled 39 areas of work that are forbidden on the Sabbath. They are thinking of the section that forbids the various labor processes that lead to the making of bread. But the disciples were not making bread; they were eating raw grain.

Jesus is greater than the temple where God met with his people as they sacrificed to him. Jesus hints that he will replace the temple. He will give the people mercy by being a sacrifice for them. He does not abrogate the law but claims the right to interpret it as lord of the Sabbath.

Prayer

O God, whose nature is ever to have mercy and to forgive, receive our humble petitions; and though we be tied and bound with the chain of our sins, yet let the pitifulness of thy great mercy loose us; for the honor of Jesus Christ, our Mediator and Advocate.

Church of England, Book of Common Prayer