While he was going through a field of grain on a sabbath, his disciples were picking the heads of grain, rubbing them in their hands, and eating them. 2 Some Pharisees said, “Why are you doing what is unlawful on the sabbath?” 3 Jesus said to them in reply, “Have you not read what David did when he and those [who were] with him were hungry? 4 [How] he went into the house of God, took the bread of offering, which only the priests could lawfully eat, ate of it, and shared it with his companions.” 5 Then he said to them, “The Son of Man is lord of the sabbath.” 6 On another sabbath he went into the synagogue and taught, and there was a man there whose right hand was withered. 7 The scribes and the Pharisees watched him closely to see if he would cure on the sabbath so that they might discover a reason to accuse him. 8 But he realized their intentions and said to the man with the withered hand, “Come up and stand before us.” And he rose and stood there. 9 Then Jesus said to them, “I ask you, is it lawful to do good on the sabbath rather than to do evil, to save life rather than to destroy it?” 10 Looking around at them all, he then said to him, “Stretch out your hand.” He did so and his hand was restored. 11 But they became enraged and discussed together what they might do to Jesus.
Jesus’ actions on the Sabbath became a focus of the Pharisees because the Creator rested on the seventh day (Gen 2:2-3) and when the Hebrews were freed from Egypt God commanded them to observe the Sabbath as a day of rest (Ex. 16:23). Work was forbidden on the Sabbath, so the Pharisees considered gathering heads of grain and rubbing them in their hands to be work, a transgression of the law (v. 1). Jesus responded with a reference to David and his men entering the house of God and taking the holy bread from the Priest and eating it which was forbidden (1 Sam. 21:2-7; vv. 3-4). David and his men ate the holy bread, which was a transgression of the law, but not on a Sabbath. The disciples ‘worked’ on the Sabbath, but the food was not forbidden. Working on the Sabbath was considered the more egregious sin. Jesus tells the Pharisees that the Sabbath is subordinate to him (v. 5). The OT can be quoted to show that the disciples were hungry so they were doing as the Law allowed; “When you go through your neighbor’s grainfield, you may pluck some of the ears with your hand, but do not put a sickle to your neighbor’s grain (Deut. 23:26).
From the Christian perspective, Jesus subordinated the Sabbath to himself and also subordinated the Sabbath to his followers. If the Sabbath is subordinate to Jesus, then the Law is also subordinate to Jesus. St Paul wrote, “That no one is justified before God by the law is clear, for “the one who is righteous by faith will live.” Christ ransomed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us, for it is written, “Cursed be everyone who hangs on a tree (Gal. 3:11,13).”
On another Sabbath Jesus was teaching in the Synagogue and a man with a withered hand was there. The Pharisees watched him to see if he would heal the man so they could accuse him again of violating the Sabbath rest. Jesus knew their intentions and told the man to come and stand before the congregation. Jesus asked the Pharisees, “Is it lawful to do good on the sabbath rather than to do evil, to save life rather than to destroy it (v. 9)?” The question uncovers the Pharisees’ true intention to kill Jesus. The true contest is evil vs. good, life vs. death. Jesus told the man to stretch out his hand and it was healed. Jesus did not touch the man so he could not be accused of ‘working.’ This infuriated the Pharisees who tried to figure out what to do with him. Jesus tried to show the Pharisees that compassion was more important than the Sabbath rules.
Heavenly Father, your
mercy endures forever. Enlighten our
minds and straighten our ways so that we do not continue to crucify your Son by
our sins and our lack of faith. Help us
to confess Jesus’ name with sincere hearts, and through the fire in us lit by
the Holy Spirit, may we fervently spread the Gospel in accordance with your
gifts. This we pray through Christ our
Lord. Amen!
Chiu, José Enrique Aguilar, et al. The Paulist Biblical Commentary. Paulist Press, 2018.
Brown, Raymond Edward, et al. The New Jerome Biblical Commentary. Upper Saddle River, NJ, United States, Prentice Hall, 1990.
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