Matthew 12:1-8: a reflection

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.”

Jesus' disciples, hungry, pluck heads of grain to eat as they walk through the fields on the Sabbath, and the Pharisees object that this breaks the Sabbath law. Jesus answers by recalling how David ate the consecrated bread when in need, and how the priests work on the Sabbath in the temple, and then quotes the prophet: I desire mercy, and not sacrifice. Had they understood this, he says, they would not have condemned the guiltless. Mercy, not rigid rule-keeping, is what God most desires.

Notice the principle Jesus lifts up against the Pharisees' legalism: I desire mercy, and not sacrifice. The Pharisees were so focused on the letter of the Sabbath rule that they would condemn hungry men for plucking grain, missing the mercy at the heart of God's law. Jesus corrects them: God desires mercy, not a rule-keeping that has lost sight of compassion. The Sabbath was made for people's good, and the Son of Man is Lord of it; mercy, not rigid legalism, is what God values.

That correction is one we can need, for we too can slip into a legalism that values rules over mercy. We can become so focused on keeping the letter of a rule that we lose sight of the compassion the rule was meant to serve, ready even to condemn others for the sake of our rule-keeping. But God desires mercy, not sacrifice; compassion, not a cold rule-keeping that has lost its heart. Do not let your religion harden into a legalism that values rules over mercy and forgets compassion. Learn what Jesus says God desires: mercy. Let mercy, not rigid rule-keeping, govern how you treat others, remembering that God values compassion over a scrupulous keeping of the letter that has lost sight of the heart.

Lord Jesus, when the Pharisees condemned your hungry disciples for plucking grain on the Sabbath, you answered that God desires mercy, and not sacrifice, and that had they understood this they would not have condemned the guiltless. Correct my own tendency toward legalism. I too can slip into valuing rules over mercy, becoming so focused on keeping the letter of a rule that I lose sight of the compassion the rule was meant to serve, ready even to condemn others for the sake of my rule-keeping. But you desire mercy, not sacrifice; compassion, not a cold rule-keeping that has lost its heart. Keep my faith from hardening into a legalism that values rules over mercy and forgets compassion. Teach me what you say God desires: mercy. Let mercy, not rigid rule-keeping, govern how I treat others, remembering that you value compassion over a scrupulous keeping of the letter that has lost sight of the heart. Give me a merciful heart, Lord, like your own.