Matthew 12:1-8

At that time Jesus went through the grainfields on the Sabbath. And His disciples were hungry, and began to pluck heads of grain and to eat. ² And when the Pharisees saw it, they said to Him, “Look, Your disciples are doing what is not lawful to do on the Sabbath!” ³ But He said to them, “Have you not read what David did when he was hungry, he and those who were with him: ⁴ how 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? ⁵ Or have you not read in the law that on the Sabbath the priests in the temple profane the Sabbath, and are blameless? ⁶ Yet I say to you that in this place there is One greater than the temple. ⁷ But 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 even of the Sabbath.”

Commentary

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

Now as the disciples were traveling with Jesus on the Sabbath they passed through a grain field and being hungry they began to pluck and eat some of the grain, something under the law of God that was perfectly alright right for anyone to do, as long as they did not seek to reap some of the harvest by sickle for themselves, for that then would only be stealing, and not taking what was only needed for one’s sustenance (see Deut.23:25). And yet the Pharisees in observing the disciples doing so only take strong offense at them for doing so, because they were doing so on the Sabbath. A day which God commanded Israel to rest from their labors. And so, what was a most innocent act by the disciples in seeking to quell their own hunger, will only become in the Pharisees eyes a “violation” of the law. And so, in the Pharisees we see not only the error that “legalism” brings to one’s own judgment, but also the cruelty and hardness of heart to one’s own person.

Something that is not unique to them, but infects all who seek to obey God through the doctrines and commandments of men. Therefore, when the Pharisees observe Jesus’ disciples doing so they only become very animated and cry out to the Lord, saying: “Look, Your disciples are doing what is not lawful to do on the Sabbath!” Now as we will see by the Lord’s rebuke of their persons their understanding of the Sabbath was not only wrong, it was utterly cruel and unjust for them to condemn the disciples for doing what was lawful for them to do.

Vs. 3-8 ³ But He said to them, “Have you not read what David did when he was hungry, he and those who were with him: ⁴ how 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? ⁵ Or have you not read in the law that on the Sabbath the priests in the temple profane the Sabbath, and are blameless? ⁶ Yet I say to you that in this place there is One greater than the temple. ⁷ But 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 even of the Sabbath.”

Now in rebuking the Pharisees the Lord Jesus cites two incidences where the Sabbath is profaned and yet in both instances the parties remain guiltless in the sight of God. The first is the time when David fleeing from Saul’s trying to kill him came to Ahimelech the priest who was then overseeing the house of God in the land of Nob, and so according to the words of David he will give him and the men with him the old showbread that was on display which was lawful only for the priests to eat (see 1 Sam. 21:1-6). In that incidence David had little choice if any but to request Ahimelech give him the showbread to eat. For he did not have any time to take any supplies with him when he fled from Saul. Therefore, David had little if any recourse other than to request that Ahimelech grant him the old showbread. Now the showbread itself was twelve loaves of bread placed on the showbread table as a remembrance before God of the twelve tribes of Israel, that God not only watches over the twelve tribes of Israel, but He also provides for them. Therefore David (the Lord’s anointed but then rejected and persecuted king of Israel) eating the showbread in his desperate time of need shows us how God interprets His Sabbath and law, which is not always according to the strict letter of it, as the Pharisees always do, but when necessary in accord with the circumstances surrounding its application.

Now the next example the Lord Jesus cites to the Pharisees is how the priests on the Sabbath, profane the Sabbath and are blameless. Now they “profane” it in it that when they are offering God’s commanded sacrifices and doing all of the rituals and work that God commands that they do as His priests, they are working on the Sabbath and yet in working on the Sabbath the Lord Jesus says they rightly remain guiltless in the sight of God because their work is being done in the service of God. Therefore, the Lord Jesus says that if in the service of the Temple of God the priests work on the Sabbath and rightly remain guiltless, how much more should the Lord Jesus Christ’s own disciples remain guiltless when in their following Him they pluck a few heads of grain to eat on the Sabbath when they are hungry. For as the Lord Jesus Christ says of Himself there is One here who is greater then the Temple! Who not only justifies us, but also sanctifies us His disciples in every generation for His work, whether this is being done on the Sabbath or not. Therefore, in following the Lord Jesus Christ and serving Him, Sabbath regulations should never be used against us, just as they should never have been used against the disciples. Therefore, the Lord Jesus Christ rebukes the Pharisees and says to them, “But 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 even of the Sabbath.” ^{Vs. 7-8}

Now in stating as much in verse seven the Lord Jesus is recalling Hosea 6:6-8 and the principal that God is not so much interested in the personal “sacrifices” that we make for Him, but rather that we live by and exemplify the Character of God which is to do justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with our God. Something that the Pharisees in all their religious pride and zeal totally lost sight of. Therefore, the Lord Jesus says of them if they had understood this they would not have condemned the guiltless, “For the Son of Man is Lord even of the Sabbath.” Jesus Christ’s Lordship then extends even to their beloved Sabbath, and if He allows His disciples to eat or drink on it then no one can call them in to question (or now us as to how we chose to "observe" it or not), because we are not bound to it, nor the Old Covenant any longer, but the New Covenant which the Lord Jesus Christ enacted by His own broken body and shed blood. Therefore as the Apostle Paul tells us all, "So let no one judge you in food or in drink, or regarding a festival or a new moon or sabbaths, 17 which are a shadow of things to come, but the substance is of Christ." Col. 2:16-17 Therefore beloved brethren do not become entangled with those who want to put you under various Old Covenant Sabbath and or food restrictions and regulations but live joyfully and freely In Christ!

Scripture Quotations 
The New King James Version. (1982). Nashville: Thomas Nelson.