Now it happened on the second Sabbath after the first that He went through the grainfields. And His disciples plucked the heads of grain and ate them, rubbing them in their hands. And some of the Pharisees said to them, “Why are you doing what is not lawful to do on the Sabbath?” But Jesus answering them said, “Have you not even read this, what David did when he was hungry, he and those who were with him: how he went into the house of God, took and ate the showbread, and also gave some to those with him, which is not lawful for any but the priests to eat?” And He said to them, “The Son of Man is also Lord of the Sabbath” (Luke 6:1-5).
Plucking the heads of grain, rubbing them between their hands and eating them was not a violation of the Law. The Pharisees considered what Jesus and the disciples did to be work; they were reaping grain and threshing it. To reap on the Sabbath would’ve been to violate God’s Law: Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy. Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh is the Sabbath of the LORD your God. On it you shall do no work…[1] It is nit-picking to argue about whether or not plucking a few heads of grain while walking through the field is reaping and threshing. It isn’t. Jesus, by doing it, shows us that it isn’t what was meant by “working” on the Sabbath. It is evidence of the Pharisee’s elaborate framework of rules that they layered on top of God’s Law.
Over the years, the Pharisees had built an elaborate protective hedge around God’s Law.[2] By the time of Jesus, this hedge of protective, man-made regulations was well defined. In fact, the Pharisees considered these traditions of the elders to have been passed down orally from God, to Moses, to the elders of Israel, through the years to them.[3] These teachings would eventually be codified in the Talmud. The purpose was noble enough: to place a barrier between man and the Law, so he did not accidentally transgress it. For example, we are commanded not to take the name of the God in vain.[4] If we never say God’s name, it will be impossible to misuse it. Therefore, the Jews developed the practice of never saying God’s name, YHWH, even when reading the Scriptures. They instead substituted the word “Adonai”, which means Lord. The problem with this practice is two-fold: 1) It actually goes against what God wants us to do. In this example, God didn’t forbid man saying His name. He wants us to use His name properly; to call upon Him in every trouble, to pray, to praise, and give thanks. 2) The man-made regulation, which is supposed to protect us from transgressing the commandment actually causes us to break it. This happens when the Pharisees (and we) teach as commandments of God, the doctrines of men, and when we use the man-made regulation to give us the appearance of piety, while in reality, we are using it to replace the command God has given us. Jesus points out that this is what the Pharisees do when they use their own rules to get out of caring for their aged parents (honoring father and mother) by declaring the money they would have otherwise used to care for their parents as Corbin – a designated charitable gift to God.[5]
The example Jesus cites of David and his men eating the showbread tells us that parts of God’s ceremonial law can be broken to help someone in need. In other words, it is lawful to do good on the Sabbath, as will presently be shown. In David’s case, he and his men were hungry, and the only bread available was the showbread. 12 loaves of this bread were to sit on the altar each Sabbath to symbolize YHWH’s presence; it was against the law for anyone but the priests to eat. In order to save the lives of him and his men, however, David chose to eat that which was not lawful. Jesus addresses this when He tells the Pharisees to learn what it means, in the words of the prophet Hosea, that God desires mercy, not sacrifice.
People in Hosea’s day put a greater priority on offering sacrifices than on steadfast love of the heart. The Pharisees prioritized the details of the Sabbath law over mercy.[6]
Jesus further illustrates this point when He, preparing to heal the man with the withered hand, asks them: What man is there among you who has one sheep, and if it falls into a pit on the Sabbath, will not lay hold of it and lift it out? Of how much more value is a man than a sheep? Therefore it is lawful to do good on the Sabbath.[7]
To say that Jesus is the Lord of the Sabbath is to say that He has a special relationship to the Sabbath; He has the authority to decide what the rules are. Jesus also claimed that he was greater than the temple. The Pharisees, however,
…were not looking for anything greater than the temple, where God’s Law was preserved. They were amazed to hear anyone claim that something was greater than the repository of God’s Word. Christ not only refused to submit to their interpretation of the Law, but He declared that He was greater than it: “For the Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath (Mark 2:28).[8]
This is an authority only YHWH could rightly claim. The Pharisees understood what Jesus was saying about Himself, which is why they were filled with rage, and discussed with one another what they might do to Jesus,[9] who was claiming the divinity of YHWH for Himself.
Jesus is the word made flesh; He is God incarnate: He [God the Father] has delivered us from the power of darkness and conveyed us into the kingdom of the Son of His love, in whom we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins. He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. For it pleased the Father that in Him all the fullness should dwell, and by Him to reconcile all things to Himself, by Him, whether things on earth or things in heaven, having made peace through the blood of His cross. And you, who once were alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now He has reconciled in the body of His flesh through death, to present you holy, and blameless, and above reproach in His sight—if indeed you continue in the faith, grounded and steadfast, and are not moved away from the hope of the gospel which you heard, which was preached to every creature under heaven.[10]
[1] Exodus 20:8-10
[2] “Their Traditions.” n.d. Bible History Online. Accessed March 4, 2019. https://www.bible-history.com/pharisees/PHARISEESTradition.htm.
[3] ibid.
[4] Exodus 20:7
[5] Mark 7:10-12
[6] Engelbrecht, Edward A., ed. 2009. The Lutheran Study Bible. St. Louis, MO: Concordia Publishing House. Note on Matthew 12:7, found on p. 1604.
[7] Matthew 12:11-12
[8] Packer, J. J., and M. C. Tenney, eds. 1980. Illustrated Manners and Customs of the Bible. Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson Publishers. Laws and Statutes, section A. Dialogue with the Pharisees, p. 394.
[9] Luke 6:11
[10] Colossians 1:13-15, 19-23
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