Matthew 12:1–8 (ESV)
Jesus Is Lord of the Sabbath
12 At that time Jesus went through the grainfields on the Sabbath. His disciples were hungry, and they began to pluck heads of grain and to eat. 2 But when the Pharisees saw it, they said to him,
“Look, your disciples are doing what is not lawful to do on the Sabbath.” 3 He said to them, “Have you not read what David did when he was hungry, and those who were with him: 4 how
he entered the house of God and ate the bread of the Presence, which it was not lawful for him to eat nor for those who were with him, but only for the priests? 5 Or have you not read in the Law how on the Sabbath the priests
in the temple profane the Sabbath and are guiltless? 6 I tell you, something greater than the temple is here. 7 And if you had known what this means, ‘I desire mercy, and not sacrifice,’
you would not have condemned the guiltless. 8 For the Son of Man is lord of the Sabbath.”
God’s purpose in giving
the Sabbath law was to provide physical rest for His people. But those in Jesus’ day who tried to follow all the Sabbath regulations imposed by the Pharisees found that the law had become a heavy burden, a yoke on their necks. We keep the Sabbath Day
holy when “we do not despise preaching and His Word, but hold it sacred and gladly hear and learn it” (SC, p xxxv). Jesus offers true rest, the yoke of the Gospel (11:29–30).
I pray: Loving Savior, keep me from quibbling about trivial things and from neglecting Your Word. Amen.[1]