Mt 12:1-8
1At that time Jesus was going through a field of grain on the sabbath. His disciples were hungry and began to pick the heads of grain and eat them. 2When the Pharisees saw this, they said to him, “See, your disciples are doing what is unlawful to do on the sabbath.” 3He said to them, “Have you not read what David did when he and his companions were hungry, 4how he went into the house of God and ate the bread of offering, which neither he nor his companions but only the priests could lawfully eat? 5Or have you not read in the law that on the sabbath the priests serving in the temple violate the sabbath and are innocent? 6I say to you, something greater than the temple is here. 7If you knew what this meant, ‘I desire mercy, not sacrifice,’ you would not have condemned these innocent men. 8For the Son of Man is Lord of the sabbath.”
WHAT DAVID DID: The Torah of Moses forbids the Israelites to do work on the sabbath so they can rest and celebrate the Lord’s work of creation (Ex 20:8-11) as well as the salvation he offered them when he freed them from the slavery of the Egyptians (Dt 5:12-15). In their zeal to safeguard the sabbath rest, the rabbis have come up with a list of 39 kinds of work prohibited on the sabbath. By the Pharisees’ reckoning, picking the heads of grain corresponds to “reaping,” which is one of these prohibited works.
In defense of the disciples, Jesus shows a new attitude toward the sabbath. It corresponds to “mercy” which the Lord really desires (v 7). Scripture itself bears witness to acts done by responsible persons who “violated” the sabbath rest, and yet were not made to account for it: David took the “holy bread” in the Lord’s sanctuary to satisfy the hunger of his followers (1 Sm 21:1-6), and priests were authorized to break the rest in order to perform their temple duties on the sabbath (Nm 28:9-10). “Mercy,” expressed in showing compassion toward those in need, is more pleasing to God than “sacrifice,” the burnt offering in the sanctuary or the temple, or a ritual behavior, including strict sabbath observance.