NOTES for Mat 12:1-8

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¹At that time Jesus went on the sabbath day through the corn; and his disciples were an hungred, and began to pluck the ears of corn, and to eat.

²But when the Pharisees saw it, they said unto him, Behold, thy disciples do that which is not lawful to do upon the sabbath day.

³But he said unto them, Have ye not read what David did, when he was an hungred, and they that were with him;

⁴How he entered into the house of God, and did eat the shewbread, which was not lawful for him to eat, neither for them which were with him, but only for the priests?

⁵Or have ye not read in the law, how that on the sabbath days the priests in the temple profane the sabbath, and are blameless?

⁶But I say unto you, That in this place is one greater than the temple.

⁷But if ye had known what this meaneth, I will have mercy, and not sacrifice, ye would not have condemned the guiltless.

⁸For the Son of man is Lord even of the sabbath day.

Disputes about the Sabbath between Jesus and the Pharisees were constant—accusations of breaking it accompanied the Savior throughout His earthly ministry. Observing the Sabbath prohibitions would not seem to have been especially difficult—so why did He continually, and often pointedly, disregard them? One might, of course, explain everything by saying that Jesus Himself, like His followers, held a particular understanding of the norms and rules for observing the Sabbath rest, but was that the only issue?

If we turn to the Sabbath's original meaning, it becomes clear that this is a special, sacred time given to God and intended solely for communion with Him. All the rules and prohibitions are secondary; they are merely a means to the main purpose: that every seventh day should be spent not on ordinary, everyday affairs but in communion with God and in His presence. The strict treatment of those who violated the Sabbath rest was chiefly connected with the fact that an offender could easily disturb those around him—people who wanted to spend the day in peace and quiet but risked losing that opportunity because of neighbors who were too noisy or active. Yet as the Yahwistic, and later the Jewish, religious tradition developed, the prohibitions became ends in themselves, losing their supporting role and becoming almost the very purpose of the day. For many members of the Pharisaic brotherhood, the chief meaning of the Sabbath became not communion with God but observance of numerous prohibitions.

Jesus restores the Sabbath to its original meaning and enriches it with the new revelation He brought into the world. It is no accident that, in response to the Pharisees' accusations, He recalls the story of the consecrated bread that the high priest gave David even though he had no right to do so. There are situations in which an established order is broken. If the One who bears within Himself the fullness of the Kingdom has come into the world, then the Sabbath without Him loses all meaning. The situation has changed radically: it is now possible to spend the day not merely in communion with God but in communion with the Messiah in His Kingdom. To ignore this and behave as though nothing in the world had changed is to hollow out the Sabbath, leaving only its outward legalistic form. The Savior never tires of reminding His listeners of this so that the Sabbath may become for them not an observance of religious formalities but the beginning of the way into the Kingdom.

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For Mat 12:1-8

¹At that time Jesus went on the sabbath day through the corn; and his disciples were an hungred, and began to pluck the ears of corn, and to eat.

²But when the Pharisees saw it, they said unto him, Behold, thy disciples do that which is not lawful to do upon the sabbath day.

³But he said unto them, Have ye not read what David did, when he was an hungred, and they that were with him;

⁴How he entered into the house of God, and did eat the shewbread, which was not lawful for him to eat, neither for them which were with him, but only for the priests?

⁵Or have ye not read in the law, how that on the sabbath days the priests in the temple profane the sabbath, and are blameless?

⁶But I say unto you, That in this place is one greater than the temple.

⁷But if ye had known what this meaneth, I will have mercy, and not sacrifice, ye would not have condemned the guiltless.

⁸For the Son of man is Lord even of the sabbath day.

Sometimes one hears from very intelligent and educated people that ritual is a kind of injection of faith for... Read more

Sometimes one hears from very intelligent and educated people that ritual is a kind of injection of faith for the uneducated, for simple people, for the average person. That through such injections some healing substance enters the body of society. It seems that Christ says "No" today to exactly this kind of reasoning.

Let us think once more about the position of the guardians of ritual purity. They can be understood, because there are things before which they feel sacred awe, and that is not alien to us. But is God there? Or is there only our habit of worshiping Him? When you love a person, you carefully keep everything connected with that person; some funny, unnecessary little trinket given many years ago can become ritual, can inspire awe, and that is beautiful.

Of course, the same is true in relation to God... on the personal level. But there is one essential addition here: the Lord is one, and there are many of us. Then the Savior's words are simple to understand, for what did Christ command us? He commanded unity: that they may be one (John 17:22). And what unites us, people of different confessions, and what divides us? On what ground can we seek ways to fulfill what God has commanded? We have one God, our Lord Jesus Christ, one word of God, the Bible, but we have completely different rituals. So where should we seek unity? After all, what matters is not the house, and even less its load-bearing structures, but the one who lives in it, although everyone loves his own home dearly and with trembling. It can even be said more sharply: remember how Christ does not share the disciples' admiration at the sight of the Temple.

So can ritual be a bearer of faith, as medicine brings health? Perhaps for someone, under some conditions... But it seems to us that only God heals.

For Mat 12:1-21

¹At that time Jesus went on the sabbath day through the corn; and his disciples were an hungred, and began to pluck the ears of corn, and to eat.

²But when the Pharisees saw it, they said unto him, Behold, thy disciples do that which is not lawful to do upon the sabbath day.

³But he said unto them, Have ye not read what David did, when he was an hungred, and they that were with him;

⁴How he entered into the house of God, and did eat the shewbread, which was not lawful for him to eat, neither for them which were with him, but only for the priests?

⁵Or have ye not read in the law, how that on the sabbath days the priests in the temple profane the sabbath, and are blameless?

⁶But I say unto you, That in this place is one greater than the temple.

⁷But if ye had known what this meaneth, I will have mercy, and not sacrifice, ye would not have condemned the guiltless.

⁸For the Son of man is Lord even of the sabbath day.

⁹And when he was departed thence, he went into their synagogue:

¹⁰And, behold, there was a man which had his hand withered. And they asked him, saying, Is it lawful to heal on the sabbath days? that they might accuse him.

¹¹And he said unto them, What man shall there be among you, that shall have one sheep, and if it fall into a pit on the sabbath day, will he not lay hold on it, and lift it out?

¹²How much then is a man better than a sheep? Wherefore it is lawful to do well on the sabbath days.

¹³Then saith he to the man, Stretch forth thine hand. And he stretched it forth; and it was restored whole, like as the other.

¹⁴Then the Pharisees went out, and held a council against him, how they might destroy him.

¹⁵But when Jesus knew it, he withdrew himself from thence: and great multitudes followed him, and he healed them all;

¹⁶And charged them that they should not make him known:

¹⁷That it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Esaias the prophet, saying,

¹⁸Behold my servant, whom I have chosen; my beloved, in whom my soul is well pleased: I will put my spirit upon him, and he shall shew judgment to the Gentiles.

¹⁹He shall not strive, nor cry; neither shall any man hear his voice in the streets.

²⁰A bruised reed shall he not break, and smoking flax shall he not quench, till he send forth judgment unto victory.

²¹And in his name shall the Gentiles trust.

The scribes' accusations against Jesus are very serious: He is profaning the Sabbath, He is doing what must not be done, and "must not" in the highest, sacred sense - this is a violation of a divine commandment. Christ does not justify Himself; instead, He reminds them that King David once also did what was not permitted, and that even now the priests profane the Sabbath, and this profanation took place and still takes place in the Temple itself! Jesus deliberately uses such words, though He could have spoken more mildly. And if those violations seem forgivable to the scribes, what will they say if the One who is here is greater than David, greater than the priests, and greater than the Temple?

Christ shows them His divine-human freedom to do good on the Sabbath, the sacred day of God's perfection. The prohibition exists only so that human freedom will not be turned toward evil, toward destruction and death. This means that Jesus' actions announce that standing before them is the One who is incapable of evil: the Lord of the Sabbath.

For Mat 12:1-21

¹At that time Jesus went on the sabbath day through the corn; and his disciples were an hungred, and began to pluck the ears of corn, and to eat.

²But when the Pharisees saw it, they said unto him, Behold, thy disciples do that which is not lawful to do upon the sabbath day.

³But he said unto them, Have ye not read what David did, when he was an hungred, and they that were with him;

⁴How he entered into the house of God, and did eat the shewbread, which was not lawful for him to eat, neither for them which were with him, but only for the priests?

⁵Or have ye not read in the law, how that on the sabbath days the priests in the temple profane the sabbath, and are blameless?

⁶But I say unto you, That in this place is one greater than the temple.

⁷But if ye had known what this meaneth, I will have mercy, and not sacrifice, ye would not have condemned the guiltless.

⁸For the Son of man is Lord even of the sabbath day.

⁹And when he was departed thence, he went into their synagogue:

¹⁰And, behold, there was a man which had his hand withered. And they asked him, saying, Is it lawful to heal on the sabbath days? that they might accuse him.

¹¹And he said unto them, What man shall there be among you, that shall have one sheep, and if it fall into a pit on the sabbath day, will he not lay hold on it, and lift it out?

¹²How much then is a man better than a sheep? Wherefore it is lawful to do well on the sabbath days.

¹³Then saith he to the man, Stretch forth thine hand. And he stretched it forth; and it was restored whole, like as the other.

¹⁴Then the Pharisees went out, and held a council against him, how they might destroy him.

¹⁵But when Jesus knew it, he withdrew himself from thence: and great multitudes followed him, and he healed them all;

¹⁶And charged them that they should not make him known:

¹⁷That it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Esaias the prophet, saying,

¹⁸Behold my servant, whom I have chosen; my beloved, in whom my soul is well pleased: I will put my spirit upon him, and he shall shew judgment to the Gentiles.

¹⁹He shall not strive, nor cry; neither shall any man hear his voice in the streets.

²⁰A bruised reed shall he not break, and smoking flax shall he not quench, till he send forth judgment unto victory.

²¹And in his name shall the Gentiles trust.

On the holy day of the Sabbath, the law permits no work. This day belongs to God. On the Sabbath a devout Jew... Read more

On the holy day of the Sabbath, the law permits no work. This day belongs to God. On the Sabbath a devout Jew must attend the synagogue and listen there to the Torah, the Law, God's revelation given to Israel, or read it himself. The only ones who must practice their professional work on that day are the priests and Levites in the Temple, because they do not work for themselves but perform service to God: they circumcise and offer sacrifices. This is precisely the argument Christ gives the Pharisees in the Gospel of Matthew. For He is the One greater than the Temple. His whole life is continuous worship, the fulfillment of the Father's will. He does His will always, including on the Sabbath, just as the daily sacrifice in the Temple must not be interrupted for the Sabbath.

The same applies to us: through faith in Christ we become a "royal priesthood." Our whole life is transformed into service to God, carried out on Saturday and Sunday and at every moment of time. All our deeds must be dedicated to the Lord, and every thought or word of ours must be a pleasing sacrifice to God, one that does not cease for even an instant.

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