Scripture Daily

Context No. 1602 of 4322 · Matthew

Context · Reflection

Matthew 12:1-8: in context

1At that time, Jesus went on the Sabbath day through the grain fields. His disciples were hungry and began to pluck heads of grain and to eat. 2But the Pharisees, when they saw it, said to him, “Behold, your disciples do what is not lawful to do on the Sabbath.” 3But he said to them, “Haven’t you read what David did when he was hungry, and those who were with him: 4how he entered into God’s house and ate the show bread, which was not lawful for him to eat, nor for those who were with him, but only for the priests? 5Or have you not read in the law that on the Sabbath day the priests in the temple profane the Sabbath and are guiltless? 6But I tell you that one greater than the temple is here. 7But if you had known what this means, ‘I desire mercy, and not sacrifice,’ you wouldn’t have condemned the guiltless. 8For the Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath.”

On the Sabbath, Jesus' disciples, being hungry, pluck heads of grain and eat as they walk through the fields. The Pharisees object that this is unlawful on the Sabbath. Jesus answers with examples: David ate the consecrated bread when he was hungry, and the priests work in the temple on the Sabbath and are guiltless. Something greater than the temple is here, he says. And then the heart of it: 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.

The key to Jesus' answer is the line he quotes from the prophet: I desire mercy, and not sacrifice. The Pharisees had condemned hungry men for a minor breach of their Sabbath rules, valuing rigid ritual observance over the plain human need in front of them. And Jesus tells them that if they had understood God's own priority, mercy over sacrifice, compassion over rigid rule-keeping, they would not have condemned the guiltless. God prizes mercy above ritual precision; and a religion so focused on its rules that it condemns the innocent and ignores human need has missed what God actually wants. This is a recurring failure of religious people, and a searching warning. It is possible to become so devoted to the rules, the correct observance, the ritual details, that we lose sight of mercy, and even use our rules to condemn people God does not condemn. The Pharisees were not wicked in intent; they were zealous for the Sabbath. But their zeal for the rule made them harsh toward hungry men, condemning the guiltless in the name of religious precision. Jesus corrects them with God's own priority: mercy, not sacrifice. Where our rules and our compassion seem to conflict, it is usually our understanding of the rules, not God's heart of mercy, that needs correcting. God desires mercy, and a religion that keeps its rules meticulously while growing harsh and condemning toward people has forgotten what God most wants. To learn what I desire mercy, and not sacrifice means is to stop condemning the guiltless in the name of our rules, and to let compassion, which God prizes above ritual, have its place.

Am I so devoted to rules and correct observance that I grow harsh and condemning toward people, even the guiltless, in the name of religious precision, and do I need to learn what God prizes above ritual, that he desires mercy and not sacrifice?

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