Lord of the Sabbath - Matt 12:1-8; Mark 2:23-28; Luke 6:1-5

A lot of the Savior’s work is done on the Sabbath, which I guess makes sense if you think about it. The next Sabbath mentioned is when “Jesus went on the Sabbath day through the corn, and his disciples were an hungered, and began to pluck the ears of corn, and to eat.” Luke also mentions that the disciples, “did eat, rubbing them in their hands.” The IM points out the important part “The law of Moses permitted a person walking through a filed to pick some grain by hand as long as he did not take this privilege too far by using a sickle to harvest what was not his.” So when the Pharisees condemn the Savior for allowing his disciples to pick corn on the Sabbath asking, “why do they on the Sabbath day that which is not lawful?” The Pharisees are wrong, the Mosiac law makes allowance for this activity to a certain extent. JTC sheds more light on this, saying, “There was no element of theft in what they did, for the Mosaic law provide that in passing through another’s vineyard or corn field one might pluck grapes of corn to relieve hunger; but it was forbidden to use a sickle in the field, or to carry away any of the grapes in a vessel.” It might sound like theft or something obscure to us, but it made sense at the time and was lawful.

The Pharisees came to Jesus and asked, “Behold, why do they on the Sabbath day that which is not lawful?” Jesus answers saying, “have ye never read what David did, when he had need, and was an hungered, he, and they that were with him? How he went into the house of God in the days of Abiathar the high priest, and did eat the showbread, which is not lawful to eat but for the priests, and gave also to them which were with him? Couple of points here that I think are interesting, first is that Jesus references the scriptures when teaching them the true gospel. The second point is that the way this is written makes it sound like David had complete disrespect for the temple and temple ordinances and rules and just went into the temple and ate the sacred bread because he was hungry. This doesn’t make a good case for what Jesus is defending, it’s like Jesus is countering with “yeah but remember when David desecrated the temple and stole it’s sacred items simply because he was hungry?” That doesn’t make any sense, but JTC spells it out for us a little bit more clearly for our day, saying, “Jesus defended the disciples by citing a precedent applicable to the case, and of much great import. The instance was that of David, who with a small company of men had asked bread of the priest Ahimelech; for they were hungry and in haste. The priest had none but consecrated bread, the loaves of showbread which were placed in the sanctuary at intervals, and which none but the priests were allowed to eat. In view of the condition of urgent need the priest had given the showbread to the hungry men.” So we learn that David didn’t disrespect the temple, in fact, he did the opposite by asking for help from the priest, and the priest, the steward over the temple, was the one who made the decision to let them eat the showbread. I’m really glad that there was this further explanation because I was really confused as to why Jesus would reference this episode in defending his disciples.

He also gives another example of extenuating circumstances on the Sabbath saying, “Or have ye not read in the law, how that on the Sabbath days the priests in the temple profane the Sabbath, and are blameless?” Again, seems like a poor defense against the accusations of the Pharisees. JTC clears this up too, saying, “Jesus also reminded the critical Pharisees that the priests in the temple regularly did much work on the Sabbath in the slaughtering of sacrificial victims and in altar service generally, yet were held blameless because of the higher requirements of worship which rendered such labor necessary.” It’s like working in the nursery, I’ve worked in the nursery for the last 4 years and I love it but it can be exhausting, especially on fast Sunday. But the work is necessary, and someone has to do it, so I don’t feel like I’m breaking the Sabbath is I’m exhausted after running a successful and happy nursery for an hour and 45 minutes.

The next several verses don’t really flow together, but the IM gives us the JST which says, “Wherefore the Sabbath was given unto man for a day of rest; and also that man should glorify God, and not that man should not eat; for the Son of man made the Sabbath day, therefore the Son of man is Lord also of the Sabbath.” I do like Mark’s rendition, “The Sabbath was made for man, and not man for the Sabbath.” The IM quotes President James E. Faust as teaching that at the time of Christ, the Pharisees had taken the law of the Sabbath to the extreme, saying, “in that day the technicalities of Sabbath day observance outweighed the ‘weightier matters of the law,’ such as faith, charity, and the gifts of the Spirit… Where is the line as to what is acceptable and unacceptable on the Sabbath? Within the guidelines, each of us must answer this question for ourselves. While these guidelines are contained in the scriptures and in the words of the modern prophets, they must also be written in our hearts and governed by our conscience… What is worthy or unworthy on the Sabbath day will have to be judged by each of us by trying to be honest with the Lord.”