The Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath
Mat 12:1 About that time Jesus passed on the Sabbath through the wheatfields; and His disciples became hungry, and began to gather ears of wheat and eat them.
Mat 12:2 But the Pharisees saw it and said to Him, "Look! your disciples are doing what the Law forbids them to do on the Sabbath."
Mat 12:3 "Have you never read," He replied, "what David did when he and his men were hungry?
Mat 12:4 how he entered the House of God and ate the Presented Loaves, which it was not lawful for him or his men to eat, nor for any except the priests?
Mat 12:5 And have you not read in the Law how on the Sabbath the priests in the Temple break the Sabbath without incurring guilt?
Mat 12:6 But I tell you that there is here that which is greater than the Temple.
Mat 12:7 And if you knew what this means, 'IT IS MERCY I DESIRE, NOT SACRIFICE', you would not have condemned those who are without guilt.
Mat 12:8 For the Son of Man is the Lord of the Sabbath."
Mat 12:9 Departing thence He went to their synagogue,
Mat 12:10 where there was a man with a shrivelled arm. And they questioned Him, "Is it right to cure people on the Sabbath?" Their intention was to bring a charge against Him.
Mat 12:11 "Which of you is there," He replied, "who, if he has but a single sheep and it falls into a hole on the Sabbath, will not lay hold of it and lift it out?
Mat 12:12 Is not a man, however, far superior to a sheep? Therefore it is right to do good on the Sabbath."
Mat 12:13 Then He said to the man, "Stretch out your arm." And he stretched it out, and it was restored quite sound like the other.
Mat 12:14 But the Pharisees after leaving the synagogue consulted together against Him, how they might destroy Him.
Introduction
Jesus was very popular in the first days of His ministry because of the miracles He did and the Teaching that He gave such as the Sermon on the Mount Ch 5 - 7. The Jewish Leadership did not like what He was doing and He fell from favour. They came to oppose Him at every turn. This was what eventually lead to His Crucifixion.
Here we see their Opposition in the following incidents, Picking ears of wheat and eating them on the Sabbath and Jesus healing the man with the Withered Hand on the Sabbath..
Leon Morris says, “ We should not think that the Controversy arose because Jesus was trying to relieve people of the mass of regulations [about the Sabbath.].. Rather, He held that they had the wrong idea of the Sabbath altogether. It was a Day for honouring God, which meant doing good; this works of healing were not simply allowed; they were obligatory. It was a Day for refreshing people, for meeting their need. For the Pharisees it was a day for keeping regulations thta expressed their desire to honour God.
Mat 12:1 About that time Jesus passed on the Sabbath through the wheatfields; and His disciples became hungry, and began to gather ears of wheat and eat them
Notes
This was the Sabbath day which meant a day of rest and worship. The Jews and especially the Pharisees were very strict in Sabbath observance. This was the most important thing about the sabbath. Matthew says the disciples were hungry. So they began to pluck some of the grain and to eat it. They were satisfying a genuine need and not deliberately breaking the Sabbath.
Mat 12:2 But the Pharisees saw it and said to Him, "Look! your disciples are doing what the Law forbids them to do on the Sabbath."
Notes:
But The Pharisees see this and complain to Jesus. Jesus was the Master and they were merely disciples so Jesus was responsible.
The Jews were so superstitious, concerning the observance of the Sabbath, that in their wars with Antiochus Epiphanes, and the Romans, they thought it a crime even to attempt to defend themselves on the Sabbath: when their enemies observed this, they deterred their operations to that day. It was through this, that Pompey was enabled to take Jerusalem.
Those who know not the spirit and design of the divine law are often superstitious to inhumanity, and indulgent to impiety. An intolerant and censorious spirit in religion is one of the greatest curses a man can well fall under.A.Clark
Mat 12:3 "Have you never read," He replied, "what David did when he and his men were hungry?
Mat 12:4 how he entered the House of God and ate the Presented Loaves, which it was not lawful for him or his men to eat, nor for any except the priests?
Notes:
"Have you never read," Shows them the Scripture which they had read but never perceived the true spirit of the Word of God.
Barnes Notes: To vindicate his disciples, he referred them to a similar case, recorded in the Old Testament, and therefore one with which they ought to have been acquainted. This was the case of David. The law commanded that twelve loaves of bread should be laid on the table in the holy place in the tabernacle, to remain a week, and then to be eaten by the “priests only.” Their place was then supplied by fresh “bread.” This was called the “showbread,” Lev_24:5-9. David, fleeing before Saul, weary and hungry, had come to Ahimelech the priest; had found only this bread; had asked it of him, and had eaten it contrary to the “letter” of the law, 1Sa_21:1-7. David, among the Jews, had high authority. This act had passed uncondemned. It proved that in “cases of necessity the laws did not bind a man” - a principle which all laws admit. So the “necessity” of the disciples justified them in doing on the Sabbath what would have been otherwise unlawful.
Mat 12:5 And have you not read in the Law how on the Sabbath the priests in the Temple break the Sabbath without incurring guilt?
Notes:
Break or Profane the Sabbath - He referred them to the conduct of the priests also. On the Sabbath days they were engaged, as well as on other days, in killing beasts for sacrifice, Num_28:9-10. Two lambs were killed on the Sabbath, in addition to the daily sacrifice. The priests must be engaged in killing them, and making fires to burn them in sacrifice, whereas to kindle a fire was expressly forbidden the Jews on the Sabbath, Exo_35:3. They did that which, for other persons to do, would have been “profaning” the Sabbath. Yet they were blameless. They did what was necessary and commanded. This was done in the very temple, too, the place of holiness, where the law should be most strictly observed.
Mat 12:6 But I tell you that there is here that which is greater than the Temple.
Notes
One greater than the temple - Here the Saviour refers to himself, and to his own dignity and power. “I have power over the laws; I can grant to my disciples a dispensation from those laws. An act which I command or permit them to do is therefore right.” This proves that he was divine. None but God can authorize people to do a thing contrary to the divine laws. He refers them again Mat_12:7 to a passage he had before quoted (See the notes at Mat_9:13), showing that God preferred acts of righteousness, rather than a precise observance of a ceremonial law.
Mark adds Mar_2:27 “the Sabbath was made for man, and not man for the Sabbath.”
Mat 12:7 And if you knew what this means, 'IT IS MERCY I DESIRE, NOT SACRIFICE', you would not have condemned those who are without guilt.
Notes
I will have mercy, etc. - See this explained, Mat_9:13.
There are four ways in which positive laws may cease to oblige.
First, by the natural law of necessity.
Secondly, by a particular law, which is superior.
Thirdly, by the law of charity and mercy.
Fourthly, by the dispensation and authority of the Lawgiver.
These cases are all exemplified from Mat_12:4-8. A.C.
Mat 12:8 For the Son of Man is the Lord of the Sabbath."
Notes
For the Son of man is Lord even of the Sabbath day - To crown all, Christ says that he was Lord of the Sabbath. He had a right to direct the manner of its observance - undoubted proof that He is divine.
READ “What day is the Sabbath, Saturday or Sunday? Do Christians have to observe the Sabbath day?
http://www.gotquestions.org/Saturday-Sunday.html
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