Luke 6:1-11
LORD of the Sabbath
1One Sabbath Jesus was going through the grainfields, and his disciples began to pick some heads of grain, rub them in their hands and eat the kernels. 2Some of the Pharisees asked, "Why are you doing what is unlawful on the Sabbath?"
3Jesus answered them, "Have you never read what David did when he and his companions were hungry? 4He entered the house of God, and taking the consecrated bread, he ate what is lawful only for priests to eat. And he also gave some to his companions." 5Then Jesus said to them, "The Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath."
6On another Sabbath he went into the synagogue and was teaching, and a man was there whose right hand was shriveled. 7The Pharisees and the teachers of the law were looking for a reason to accuse Jesus, so they watched him closely to see if he would heal on the Sabbath. 8But Jesus knew what they were thinking and said to the man with the shriveled hand, "Get up and stand in front of everyone." So he got up and stood there.
9Then Jesus said to them, "I ask you, which is lawful on the Sabbath: to do good or to do evil, to save life or to destroy it?"
10He looked around at them all, and then said to the man, "Stretch out your hand." He did so, and his hand was completely restored. 11But they were furious and began to discuss with one another what they might do to Jesus.
It was custom for the Jewish people to let hungry travelers pick grains of wheat and eat...Jesus and His disciples were walking through grain fields one Sabbath...Jesus and the disciples were shelling the grain and eating the kernels...
Some Pharisees were looking for reasons to accuse Jesus of something...They watched Him on the Sabbath, because of our Fourth Commandment of observing it (the Sabbath)...
Jesus quotes 1 Samuel 21:1-6 and tells them the story of when King David went into the House of God and ate consecrated bread...
David does not tell the truth, when the priest ask him, "Why are you alone"...David is running from King Saul, who is trying to kill him...David is looking for food...
In Israel objects were either common, consecrated, or banned...Common objects could be used by anybody...Sacred or consecrated were set aside for priests or for our LORD...Banned objects were totally dedicated for the LORD only and had to be destroyed after use...
The bread was consecrated called bread of the presence...The priests would lay the bread out in the place of worship as a way of thanking God for their daily bread...David was hungry and needed something to eat...David gets the consecrated bread and Jesus talks about this...
Maybe in the story of King David, Jesus is trying to teach us about religious ceremony and observances...Our moral duty might give way in many, if not all circumstances...So the priest giving the bread to David and the eating of the bread by David was alright...
Jesus then tells us about healing on the Sabbath...He tells us that is alright...He heals someone and the Sabbath to show it is alright to do good on the Sabbath...
We do not know peoples intentions as the priest who helped David, did not know David's...But the priest knew he was to serve God and be a good neighbor, which he was...He helped David...
So as we get tangled up in rituals, daily routines, everyday life, and traditions Jesus is teaching us that being morally duty to be good overrides tradition...God wants us to be merciful, over sacrifice...