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. When the Pharisees saw it, they said to him, “Look, your disciples are doing what is not lawful to do on the sabbath.” He said to them, “Have you not read what David did when he and his companions were hungry? He entered the house of God and ate the bread of the Presence, which it was not lawful for him or his companions to eat, but only for the priests. Or have you not read in the law that on the sabbath the priests in the temple break the sabbath and yet are guiltless? I tell you, something greater than the temple is here. But if you had known what this means, ‘I desire mercy and not sacrifice,’ you would not have condemned the guiltless. For the Son of Man is lord of the sabbath.”
(Matthew 12:1-8 NRSV)
In the context of Matthew’s audience, Jesus’ disciples’ violation of the Sabbath is fruitful ground for interpretation. I will be primarily looking at this text from a first century Jewish context, focusing on the five perspectives Jesus uses to justify the actions of the disciples. I have classified these perspectives as; the Davidic precedent, the priestly precedent, Jesus’ comparison to the temple, the reference to Hosea, and the “Lord of the Sabbath” statement. I will also focus on how the story relates to the tone and themes of the rest of Matthew’s gospel. Finally, I will discuss the parallel text in the synoptic gospels and the significance of the difference between those passages.
