Tuesday, Feb 17- Matthew 12:1-8

1At that time Jesus went through the grainfields on the Sabbath. His disciples were hungry and began to pick some heads of grain and eat them.
-probably violated man made code for him to be around there on the sabbath.
-working by picking the grain surely would have broken code.

2When the Pharisees saw this, they said to him, "Look! Your disciples are doing what is unlawful on the Sabbath."
-its only unlawful because they added unintended meaning to the law.
-They are overly critical and we fall into this trap sometimes as well. In some ways htey are well meaning, but they miss the point.

3He answered, "Haven't you read what David did when he and his companions were hungry?
-He uses a Biblical example of King David.

4He entered the house of God, and he and his companions ate the consecrated bread—which was not lawful for them to do, but only for the priests.
-In this similar instance they did something they shouldn't have clearly done.

5Or haven't you read in the Law that on the Sabbath the priests in the temple desecrate the day and yet are innocent?
-The priests are sinners yet are innocent.

6I tell you that one[a] greater than the temple is here.
-They do these things to make the temple holy, but the point of the temple is to represent something else, Jesus.

7If you had known what these words mean, 'I desire mercy, not sacrifice,'[b] you would not have condemned the innocent.
--What do these words mean? God is a merciful God. He wants us to be merciful to each other. The point of the sabbath or sacrificial system was to show mercy not to teach sacrifice alone.

8For the Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath."
-Jesus is the king of the Sabbath he knows.
-This is a hugely bold claim to make.

-Often we get caught up in legalism as well. Following man made laws strictly can be good/helpful in life. We need to realize tho that we shouldn't be overly zealous in pointing out mistakes, but we should use the laws to help each other.