My Walk Through the Book of Matthew by Annette Godtland

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

1At that time Jesus went through the grain fields on the Sabbath. And His disciples were hungry, and began to pluck heads of grain and to eat. 2And when the Pharisees saw it, they said to Him, "Look, Your disciples are doing what is not lawful to do on the Sabbath!"

3But He said to them, "Have you not read what David did when he was hungry, he and those who were with him: 4how he entered the house of God and ate the showbread which was not lawful for him to eat, nor for those who were with him, but only for the priests? 5Or have you not read in the law that on the Sabbath the priests in the temple profane the Sabbath, and are blameless? 6Yet I say to you that in this place there is One greater than the temple. 7But if you had known what this means, "I desire mercy and not sacrifice,' you would not have condemned the guiltless. 8For the Son of Man is Lord even of the Sabbath."

Remember the Sabbath and keep it holy, that is what God commanded. The Pharisees took that command and built so many laws around it that it wasn't even lawful to pluck heads of grain and eat them on the Sabbath. The Pharisees condemned the disciples for their actions. Jesus condemned their laws.

He showed them the irony of their laws by reminding them of when David and his army were hungry they ate the show bread which was not lawful for them to eat. But their needs were more important than the laws of the temple. God did not condemn David for what he did.

And what about the priests of the temple? It says that according to their laws, they profane the Sabbath on the Sabbath. I had to look up exactly what profane meant to help me understand what Jesus was saying here. My dictionary defines profane as blasphemous, non religious, secular, impure, outside the temple, not sacred. I believe Jesus is saying that the priests profane the Sabbath when they do not follow the laws of the Sabbath. Why are they blameless when they do not follow the laws of the Sabbath and yet others are condemned for the same thing?

But there is One greater than the temple. There is One whose laws override any laws of the temple. That One is God. The sacredness of the temple is as nothing compared to the sacredness of God. Jesus just said His yoke is easy and His burden is light. Keeping the Sabbath holy should not add a difficult yoke or heavy burden to your life. Rather, it should be the opposite. The Sabbath should give you rest. That is what God provided the Sabbath for.

This is the second time in the book of Matthew that Jesus quoted Hosea 6:6 with "I desire mercy and not sacrifice". He quoted this in Matthew 9:12-13 when the Pharisees condemned Jesus and His disciples for eating with tax collectors. Once again Jesus is condemning the Pharisees for their judgments. Show mercy to those who are doing no more than trying to meet their basic needs, in this case plucking heads of grain to eat because they are hungry. They are guiltless of any conflicts with the Sabbath. How do we know they are guiltless?

Keeping the Sabbath holy was not meant to be a sacrifice of possessions, time, or needs. Sure, we take the time on the Sabbath to worship and learn more about God. And often we give to God our possessions, our time, and maybe even lower the priorities of what we thought some of our needs were. But giving of these things shouldn't be viewed as a sacrifice. We do not give these things grudgingly but as a thank offering. Keeping the Sabbath holy is not meant to be a burden or a chain around our necks. Jesus desires mercy, not sacrifice. His yoke is easy and his burden is light. Jesus is Lord of all, including the Sabbath. His desires, His laws are the only ones we need to worry about meeting.