In Mark 2:26-28 (as well as Matt 12:1-8 & Luke 6:1-5), Jesus and his disciples are accused of harvesting on the Sabbath. However, all they did was break off a few grains to eat. Did they break the law? How did Jesus respond? What does David have to do with it?
This was allowed under the law and didn’t count as a harvest because it didn’t involve a “basket or sickle”; therefore, it wouldn’t have been a problem on the Sabbath, as they weren’t harvesting, but rather eating. Harvesting from your neighbor without permission would be stealing, but eating handfuls is allowed. Deuteronomy 23:24-25 says, “When you enter your neighbor’s vineyard, you may eat your fill of grapes, but you must not carry any away in a basket. 25 And when you enter your neighbor’s field of grain, you may pluck the heads of grain with your hand, but you must not harvest it with a sickle.”
This was not a Sabbath violation because there was no actual harvesting taking place, according to Deut 23:24-25, since neither a sickle nor a basket was used. Instead of responding with that, Jesus referenced David’s apparent lawbreaking in 1 Samuel 21:1-9. This is when David needed food for himself and his men, who were fleeing from Saul. The high priest Ahimelech, Abiathar’s father, gave him some of the Showbread from the gold table in the Tabernacle. This bread was reserved for the Levites and their families (Leviticus 24:8-9). Still, under these circumstances, the high priest said it was okay as long as David and his men were ceremonially clean, meaning they hadn’t had any recent sex or touched anything unclean. Jesus is essentially saying that if it is acceptable for David to eat sacred loaves, even though he is not a Levite, then surely it is permissible for him to feed his disciples on the Sabbath. He was making a larger point that connects with all the other Sabbath conflicts he has with the Sanhedrin council regarding the issue of the Sabbath. The Sabbath was not intended to control people; it is here to refresh them and give them a day to focus on God, without having to think about the toils and labors associated with the curse on the earth, as described in Genesis 3:17-19. This is basically what he says in Mark 2:27-28.
Mark 2:27 Then Jesus said to them, “The Sabbath was made to meet the needs of people, and not people to meet the requirements of the Sabbath. 28 So the Son of Man is Lord, even over the Sabbath!”
Jesus had much to say about how the Pharisees were abusing the Sabbath laws. Similar to Luke 13:10-17, when he healed the woman who had a spinal infirmity. The leader of the synagogue objected to her being healed on the Sabbath. Still, Jesus pointed out that the religious leaders let the animals out of the stalls for water on the Sabbath, and that it would be wrong to have this covenant woman, who had been afflicted for 18 years, wait for deliverance any longer simply because it was on the Sabbath.
Essentially, he is arguing that God didn’t prohibit showing mercy and helping others on the Sabbath. In other words, “loving your neighbor” (Lev 19:18) is a higher law than the sabbath. Another Sabbath healing scenario is found in Mark 3:1-6 (and Luke 6:6-11), where Jesus rhetorically asks if it is lawful to do good deeds on the Sabbath before healing a man. The Sanhedrin does not respond because they know he is right, but they still hate him for it. A similar discussion occurs in Luke 14:1-6, where Jesus heals a man and asks the Sanhedrin rhetorically if it is permissible to heal on the Sabbath. They didn’t answer, and he pointed out that they would “work” on the Sabbath if it meant rescuing their children or animals if they fell into a pit. In another Sabbath conflict with the religious leaders (John 7:21-24), he pointed out that circumcision has to happen on the Sabbath if it is 8 days after a male child’s birth because circumcision is a higher law. Jesus consistently teaches that higher, more fundamental commandments can supersede specific rules. This idea is also explained in Matthew 15:3-6, where Jesus says that it is wrong to violate one commandment to fulfill another, such as neglecting your parents to keep a religious vow.
The two greatest commands are to love God with all your being and love your neighbor as yourself (Matthew 22:36-40). This means that Jewish emergency phone operators, firefighters, police officers, and EMTs are not guilty of sin if working on the Sabbath, because they are out there saving lives in emergencies. Only ordinary work was to be stopped on the sabbath, not walking in love and helping people. The Sabbath was rest from working the cursed ground, not rest from being a blessing. In the Good Samaritan parable, the Jews who ignored the man could have possibly argued, “It’s the Sabbath, I can’t help you,” if the setting were on the Sabbath. Jesus’ point of that parable implies that, hypothetically, if the setting were the Sabbath, they would still be wrong for failing to love their neighbor. Just like the circumcision example, the Sabbath law is not higher than the command to love your neighbor as yourself (Lev 19:18). This is what James calls the “royal law” in James 2:8.
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