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1 At that time, Jesus passed through some grainfields. His disciples were hungry, and they were plucking heads of grain to eat them. 2 When the Pharisees saw this, they said to him, “Look! Your disciples are doing what is not permitted on the sabbath.” 3 He said to them, “Have you not read what David did when he and those with him were hungry? 4 They went into the shrine ate the show bread, which no one but the priests were allowed to eat. 5 Have you not read in the Law that on the sabbath the priests in the Temple break the sabbath and are blameless? 6 I say to you that something greater than the Temple is here. 7 If you had learned the meaning of, “I desire mercy, not sacrifice,” you would not have condemned these innocent men. 8 For the Son of Man is Lord of the sabbath.

9 He left there and went to their synagogue. 10 There was a man there with a withered hand. So that they might have something to accuse him with, they questioned him saying, “Is it permitted to heal on the sabbath?” 11 He said to them, “Who among you, if you had a sheep that fell into a pit on the sabbath, would not lift it out? 12 A person is worth much more than a sheep. So it is permitted to do good on the sabbath.” 13 Then he said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” He stretched it out, and the one hand became as healthy as the other. 14 The Pharisees left and took counsel with each other about how to destroy him.

Comments

When the Pharisees object to Jesus’ disciples plucking grain to eat on the sabbath, Jesus responds on two levels. First, he reminds them of the story of David and his followers eating the sacred bread at the Shrine of Nob in an emergency situation (1 Samuel 21), and that priests are not considered to break the sabbath when they minister at the Temple. He again quotes Hosea 6.6 (“I desire mercy, not sacrifice”), arguing that cultic rules have to be considered in light of the demands of the situation and human welfare. However, Jesus’ answer also has a provocative edge: referencing 1 Sam 21 implicitly compares Jesus to David, and citing the example of the Temple priests implicitly compares his disciples to priests. Jesus then makes the implicit explicit by claiming to be greater than the Temple (6) and to be “the Lord of the Sabbath” (8). Jesus is openly claiming to be the Messiah in a way that would have been shocking to the Pharisees. He then doubles down on his claims by going to a synagogue and healing a handicapped man on the grounds that anyone would work to save a sheep’s life on the sabbath, and people are worth more than sheep. This all is too much for the Pharisees, who begin planning on how to destroy this perceived blasphemer.