Matthew 12.1-8

Now we enter into a series of controversies. Jesus is preparing and training his disciples for what carrying his ministry consists of. And one of those things is that you will be faced with controversy. He doesn't want them to go looking for controversy, but he does want them to stand up for what is right. What we are going to do today is read the whole passage at once, then walk through it with three simple steps.

¹ At that time Jesus went through the grainfields on the Sabbath. His disciples were hungry and began to pick some heads of grain and eat them. ² When the Pharisees saw this, they said to him, “Look! Your disciples are doing what is unlawful on the Sabbath.”
 ³ He answered, “Haven’t you read what David did when he and his companions were hungry? ⁴ He entered the house of God, and he and his companions ate the consecrated bread—which was not lawful for them to do, but only for the priests.⁵ Or haven’t you read in the Law that on the Sabbath the priests in the temple desecrate the day and yet are innocent? ⁶ I tell you that one greater than the temple is here. ⁷ If you had known what these words mean, ‘I desire mercy, not sacrifice,’ you would not have condemned the innocent. ⁸ For the Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath.”


So what does all of this really mean? Let's walk through it one step at a time. 


¹ At that time Jesus went through the grainfields on the Sabbath. His disciples were hungry and began to pick some heads of grain and eat them. ² When the Pharisees saw this, they said to him, “Look! Your disciples are doing what is unlawful on the Sabbath.”


What is going on here is that Jesus and his disciples did nothing that was wrong according to the written law of Genesis through Deuteronomy. But during this period in between the Old and New Testament, the Jewish Rabbis had added thousands upon thousands of Oral traditions on top of the Old Testament Law. The Law says to rest on the sabbath, but the Jewish leaders added tons of laws saying what rest actually looks like. They said you couldn't walk a certain distance on the sabbath, that was work. They said you couldn't throw something a certain height in the air, that was work. And they even said you couldn't pick heads of grain in a field and eat it, that was work too. So the disciples and Jesus were breaking the Oral Traditions that the Rabbis made up, not the actual Old Testament Law. Yet, Jesus references a story about David in which he did break the actual law, and it was ok. Here we go:


 ³ He answered, “Haven’t you read what David did when he and his companions were hungry? ⁴ He entered the house of God, and he and his companions ate the consecrated bread—which was not lawful for them to do, but only for the priests.⁵ Or haven’t you read in the Law that on the Sabbath the priests in the temple desecrate the day and yet are innocent? 


Jesus began his response with the very, in your face, remark to the Pharisees. He said, "Haven't you read...". This is like me saying, "don't ya know!!!" And he then he referenced an instance when David and his companions were hungry and they ate the consecrated bread. This was actually unlawful. This WAS against the Old Testament Law. Yet, because they were in need, the need of people overruled the ritual laws. This is what Jesus says in the next section.


⁶ I tell you that one greater than the temple is here. ⁷ If you had known what these words mean, ‘I desire mercy, not sacrifice,’ you would not have condemned the innocent. ⁸ For the Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath.”


He quotes a passage that we have already seen once in Matthew 9, the calling of Matthew to discipleship. Jesus defends himself eating with sinners and tax-collectors by quoting Hosea 6.6. This is the story about Hosea, a holy man, commanded by God to marry Gomer, a prostitute. The image is that Hosea was a faithful husband to an unfaithful wife, just like God is a faithful God to an unfaithful Israel. Yet no matter how many times Israel was unfaithful to God, he didn't not require sacrifice, he showed them mercy. Jesus is referencing the same story. He is saying that the needs of people, they overrule ritual rules. 


This is Jesus' main point. His ministry is focused on meeting the needs of people, even when it conflicts with ritual activities. The heart of Jesus is to care for the needs of people, not to have a great sunday morning worship service, or awesome outreach event. He cares about the people who are hurting, the downtrodden, the outsiders. This is the heart of carrying out the ministry of Jesus. Meeting the needs of people. 


So here is my question to you today. 


Is the ministry you are involved in meeting the needs of people? If it isn't, then you are not taking part in carrying out the ministry of Jesus.