(Audio)
“See, your disciples are doing what is unlawful to do on the sabbath.”
The Pharisees get caught up in the minutia and miss the bigger picture. They do this because they want to be respected and to be seen as the ultimate authorities on the law. They want to discredit the increasing popularity of Jesus by criticizing the apparent misconduct of his disciples. If he were really a great teacher wouldn't his disciples be perfectly compliant with every jot and tittle?
He said to the them, “Have you not read what David did
when he and his companions were hungry,
The precepts prohibited those who were not priests from eating the bread of offering were not so absolute that David and his companions were made to go hungry. The sacred bread could be given to the one anointed by the LORD and his companions even though they were not priests. The bread of sacrifice could be given for the preservation of the flesh, "for the preservation of man is a sacrifice acceptable to God" (Saint Jerome).
Jesus is someone greater than David. He was to receive and kingship that would never be taken away and a reign without end. As the Pharisees persecute him it is even more appropriate that he and his disciples satisfy their hunger to give them strength for that mission.
Unlike David, Jesus is not only a King but also a great high priest (see Hebrews 8:1), and his disciples are made priests in union with him. He is the one who can distribute not only the bread of the fields but also the bread of heaven. Because the service of all holy things is ultimately a service of he himself, nothing done truly for his sake can be blameworthy.
Or have you not read in the law that on the sabbath
the priests serving in the temple violate the sabbath
and are innocent?
I say to you, something greater than the temple is here.
Exceptions to the Sabbath already existed. But the Pharisees missed the purpose behind these exceptions. They failed to see that the Sabbath itself was designed for man (see Mark 2:27), to give him rest. They failed to see that the rules were designed to create a world open to mercy, rather than judgment.
If you knew what this meant, I desire mercy, not sacrifice,
you would not have condemned these innocent men.
Back to us, then. We are hungry and stand in need of mercy. Let us not get distracted in asserting our superiority and righteousness. Let us trust in Jesus to bring us the promise of Sabbath rest, and to satisfy our deepest hunger. Let us not become dominated by the letter, and realize instead that the spirit of the law is entirely rooted in grace and mercy. When we follow Jesus there is a real sense in which "all things are lawful" (see First Corinthians 10:23). But this is only the case when we are not merely following the letter but when, by the Spirit, we follow Jesus into the mission field of the world.
If we have been guilty of condemning others, of not rising to the level of the Spirit ourselves, we can avail ourselves of mercy, just as did Hezekiah. After all, according to Jesus, mercy is the whole point.
I have heard your prayer and seen your tears.
I will heal you: in three days you shall go up to the LORD’s temple;
I will add fifteen years to your life.
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