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said unto them, The Sabbath was made for man and not man for the
Sabbath. Therefore the Son of Man is Lord also of the Sabbath.”
If excessive hunger excused David for violating even the holiness
of the sanctuary, and made his act guiltless, how much more excusable
was the simple act of the disciples in plucking the grain and eating it
upon the Sabbath day. Jesus would teach his disciples and his enemies
that the service of God was first of all; and, if fatigue and hunger
attended the work, it was right to satisfy the wants of humanity, even
upon the Sabbath day. That holy institution was not given to interfere
with the needs of our being, bringing pain, and discomfort, instead
of blessings. “The Sabbath was made for man,” to give him rest and
peace, and remind him of the work of his Creator, not to be a grievous
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burden.
The work done in the temple upon the Sabbath was in harmony
with the law; yet the same labor, if employed in ordinary business,
would be a violation of it. The act of plucking and eating the grain to
sustain the bodily strength, to be used in the service of God, was right
and lawful. Jesus then crowned his argument by declaring himself
the “Lord of the Sabbath,”—One above all question and above all law.
This Infinite Judge acquits the disciples from blame, appealing to the
very statutes they are accused of violating.
But Jesus did not let the matter drop without administering a rebuke
to his enemies. He declared that in their blindness they had mistaken
the object of the Sabbath. Said he: “But if ye had known what this
meaneth, I will have mercy, and not sacrifice, ye would not have
condemned the guiltless.” He then contrasted their many heartless rites
with the truthful integrity, and tender love that should characterize the
true worshipers of God: “For I desired mercy, and not sacrifice; and
the knowledge of God more than burnt-offerings. But they like men
have transgressed the covenant; there have they dealt treacherously
against me.”
Jesus was reared among this people, so marked with bigotry and
prejudice; and he therefore knew that in healing upon the Sabbath
day, he would be regarded as a transgressor of the law. He was aware
that the Pharisees would seize upon such acts with great indignation,
and thereby seek to influence the people against him. He knew that
they would use these works of mercy as strong arguments to affect the
minds of the masses, who had all their lives been bound by the Jewish
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