Matthew 12:1-8

Jesus took a walk one sabbath day through the cornfields. His disciples were hungry and began to pick ears of corn and eat them. The Pharisees noticed it and said to him, ‘Look, your disciples are doing something that is forbidden on the sabbath.’ But he said to them, ‘Have you not read what David did when he and his followers were hungry – how he went into the house of God and how they ate the loaves of offering which neither he nor his followers were allowed to eat, but which were for the priests alone? Or again, have you not read in the Law that on the sabbath day the Temple priests break the sabbath without being blamed for it? Now here, I tell you, is something greater than the Temple. And if you had understood the meaning of the words: What I want is mercy, not sacrifice, you would not have condemned the blameless. For the Son of Man is master of the sabbath.’

Jesus makes it clear here that he has a different understanding of what God wants, and a special authority for teaching it.

For the Jewish people following the Law as put down in the Torah was basic to their understanding of who they were as people and what God wanted of them. Following the Law no matter how hard was to do was extremely important.

For Jesus though, and for us and any who truly listen to God the Sabbath is secondary to human needs. The sabbath exists to allow people time to be with God and God wants our love, not our obedience. We are children of God not slaves. God is indeed greater than us, and living according to his desires for us will give us our best lives, but it is not just about blindly following rules.

We must be active participants in our relationship with God. Sometimes we must make exceptions to the rules when the welfare of ourselves or others demand it.

Jesus himself claims here mastership of the sabbath, and he is indeed greater than the Temple – he is the word made flesh, incarnate to help us understand what our relationship with God should really be.

Let us listen then. Follow his teachings, but always remember that what God wants is mercy not sacrifice. Love more than just obedience.