잃어버린 안식
12:2 not lawful. God’s law requires farmers to leave grain at the edge of fields to be gleaned by those in need (Lev. 19:9, 10; Deut. 23:24, 25), and it does not prohibit plucking grain on the Sabbath in order to satisfy hunger—after all, the disciples are not farmers laboring in the harvest. The Pharisees’ objections are based on an oral tradition that both obscures and counters the law’s true purpose.
Sabbath. The Sabbath is a symbol of God’s sovereignty over the whole created universe (Ex. 20:8). It is a reminder of His redemption of His people (Deut. 5:12), and it is a representation of the hope of eternal rest at the consummation (Heb. 4:9). As Lord of the Sabbath, Jesus fulfills all aspects of the meaning of the Sabbath (Col. 2:16, 17), and He defines how His followers should observe the Sabbath. Regulations that contravene the Sabbath’s life-sustaining and life-restoring purposes are at cross-purposes with God’s design for the day (Matt. 12:9–13).
12:3–6 In His reply to the accusations of the Pharisees, Jesus uses two arguments from the lesser to the greater, both focusing on His own person and authority. In an hour of need, David, God’s anointed, transgressed a ceremonial law concerning the bread of the presence in the tabernacle. Now one with much greater authority is present. Similarly, the demands of temple worship require priests to labor on the Sabbath, and now “something greater than the temple” is here (v. 6).
12:6 something greater than the temple. The one in whom God dwells personally is greater than God’s dwelling place in Israel that foreshadowed the incarnate Son. Jesus, Immanuel (“God with us”), is the true temple to whom the symbol pointed (John 1:14; 2:21). The disciples, being in the presence of Jesus, have a far greater service than the priests who served in the Jerusalem temple. Jesus is greater not only than the temple (associated with priests) but also than ancient prophets such as Jonah (Matt. 12:41) and the great sage-king Solomon (12:42).
12:7 I desire mercy. Again quoting Hos. 6:6 (cf. 9:13), Jesus condemns the Pharisees’ perversion of the Sabbath, multiplying regulatory restrictions and minimizing God’s merciful purpose for granting His people rest (Matt. 11:29; cf. Mark 2:27).
12:8 lord of the Sabbath. The Son of Man has received dominion over creation (8:20 note) and redemption (20:28). So also He has dominion over the Sabbath, the sign of God’s sovereignty in creation and redemption (v. 2 note). The claims Jesus makes here (as well as His disregard of rabbinic tradition in His practice) undoubtedly shock the Pharisees, furthering their resolve to kill Him (v. 14).
12:9–14 Another example of Christ’s lordship over the Sabbath. Again, no OT text prohibits healing on the Sabbath, and Jesus’ critics’ practice of rescuing an at-risk sheep in an emergency reinforces Jesus’ logic that the Sabbath is a fitting day to heal human beings, who bear God’s image and exceed sheep in value. Jesus does not teach that the Sabbath is abolished by the coming of the kingdom. He has come not to destroy the law but to fulfill it (5:17 note). The problem is not that the Pharisees observe the Sabbath but that they misinterpret it and turn what should be a delight into a burden.