“Jesus was going through the grain fields on a Sabbath, and his disciples picked some heads of wheat, rubbed them in their hands, and ate them. But some of the Pharisees said, “Why are you doing what is against the law on the Sabbath?” Jesus answered them, “Haven’t you read what David did when he and his companions were hungry— how he entered the house of God, took and ate the sacred bread, which is not lawful for any to eat but the priests alone, and gave it to his companions?” Then he said to them, “The Son of Man is lord of the Sabbath.”
(NET)
Moving on from the new way of life that was always promised and was now available through Jesus, we see the kind of authority on which this is all based.
Jesus’ disciples pick some heads of wheat, rubbed them in their hands, and ate them. Whilst this was lawful to do (Deuteronomy 23.25), the Pharisees interpreted this as working on the Sabbath and therefore as breaking the law.
Jesus responds with the example of David in 1 Samuel 21.1-9 and says, simply, that man’s survival is more important than law. He’s saying that His disciples, living this new life on offer through Him, are more important than law. Jesus’ authority is higher than the law. If you’re struggling to reach this conclusion from some disciples eating some heads of wheat…on a Sabbath then Jesus says just as much in v.5:
“The Son of Man is lord of the Sabbath.”
Could a liar have said this? Sure. Could a lunatic have said this? Sure.
Would a liar have purposely risked condemnation and death (Numbers 15.32-36) by the established ruling regime for breaking laws? No.
Would a lunatic have offered the perfect Scriptural precedent for this situation? No.
Within this trinity of options we are again left with the conclusion that Jesus is Lord, Lord of the Sabbath as He said.
Think about this today –
If Jesus is Lord of the Sabbath, Lord of all law, Lord of all, how should my life reflect that truth?
James Travis 