From: Luke 6:1-5
The Law of the Sabbath
[1] On a Sabbath, while He (Jesus) was going through the grainfields, His
disciples plucked and ate some ears of grain, rubbing them in their hands.
[2] But some of the Pharisees said, "Why are You doing what is not lawful to
do on the Sabbath?" [3] And Jesus answered, "Have you not read what David
did when he was hungry, he and those who were with him: [4] how he entered
the house of God, and took and ate the bread of the Presence, which it is
not lawful for any but the priests to eat, and also gave it to those with
him?" [5] And he said to them, "The Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath."
Commentary:
1-5. Accused by the Pharisees of breaking the Sabbath, Jesus explains the
correct way of understanding the Sabbath rest, using an example from the Old
Testament. And, by stating that He is "Lord of the Sabbath" He is openly
revealing that He is God Himself, for it was God who gave this precept to
the people of Israel. For more on this, see the notes on Matthew 12:2 and
12:3-8.
[The notes on Matthew 12:2 and 12:3-8 states:
2. "The Sabbath": this was the day the Jews set aside for worshipping God.
God Himself, the originator of the Sabbath (Genesis 2:3), ordered the Jewish
people to avoid certain kinds of work on this day (Exodus 20:8-11; 21:13;
Deuteronomy 5:14) to leave them free to give more time to God. As time went
by, the rabbis complicated this divine precept: by Jesus' time they had
extended to 39 the list of kinds of forbidden work.
The Pharisees accuse Jesus' disciples of breaking the Sabbath. In the
casuistry of the scribes and the Pharisees, plucking ears of corn was the
same as harvesting, and crushing them was the same as milling-types of
agricultural work forbidden on the Sabbath.
3-8. Jesus rebuts the Pharisees' accusation by four arguments-the example of
David, that of the priests, a correct understanding of the mercy of God and
Jesus' own authority over the Sabbath.
The first example which was quite familiar to the people, who were used to
listening to the Bible being read, comes from 1 Samuel 21:2-7:
David, in flight from the jealousy of King Saul, asks the priest of the
shrine of Nob for food for his men; the priest gave them the only bread he
had, the holy bread of the Presence; this was the twelve loaves which were
placed each week on the golden altar of the sanctuary as a perpetual
offering from the twelve tribes of Israel (Leviticus 24:5-9). The second
example refers to the priestly ministry to perform the liturgy, priests had
to do a number of things on the Sabbath but did not thereby break the law of
Sabbath rest (cf. Numbers 28:9).]
Source: "The Navarre Bible: Text and Commentaries". Biblical text
taken from the Revised Standard Version and New Vulgate. Commentaries
made by members of the Faculty of Theology of the University of
Navarre, Spain. Published by Four Courts Press, Kill Lane, Blackrock,
Co. Dublin, Ireland.