Matthew 12:1-14
New Catholic Bible
Jesus Is the True Servant of God[a]
Chapter 12
Picking Grain on the Sabbath.[b] 1 At that time, Jesus was walking through a field of grain on the Sabbath. His disciples were hungry, and they began to pick some heads of grain and eat them. 2 When the Pharisees saw this, they said to him, “Look at your disciples. They are doing what is forbidden on the Sabbath.”[c]
3 [d]He answered, “Have you not read what David did when he and his companions were hungry? 4 He entered the house of God and they ate the consecrated bread, which neither he nor his companions but only the priests were permitted to eat. 5 [e]Or have you not read in the Law that on the Sabbath the priests in the temple violate the Sabbath, but they are considered to be without guilt? 6 I tell you, one greater than the temple is here. 7 If you had truly understood what is meant by the words, ‘I desire mercy and not sacrifice,’ you would not have condemned these men who are without guilt. 8 For the Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath.”[f]
The Man with a Withered Hand.[g] 9 Moving on from that place, Jesus entered their synagogue. 10 A man was there who had a withered hand, and hoping to find some reason to accuse Jesus they asked him, “Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath?”
11 He said to them, “Suppose you had only one sheep and it fell into a pit on the Sabbath. Would you not lay hold of it and lift it out? 12 How much more valuable a man is than a sheep! Therefore, it is lawful to do good on the Sabbath.” 13 Then he said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” He stretched it out, and it was restored, so that it was as sound as the other one. 14 But the Pharisees went out and began to plot how they might put him to death.[h]
Read full chapterFootnotes
- Matthew 12:1 The Good News of the kingdom spreads from town to town; a new law of salvation is announced and runs up against the refusal of those in authority. The conflict between Jesus and Judaism now appears inevitable. The newness of the Gospel totally upsets recognized habits of thinking and ways of acting. The more Jesus bypasses the Law for the service and salvation of human beings, the more he enters into conflict with his religious environment. Those who are close to Jesus are those who believe in him.
- Matthew 12:1 Jesus reminds the Pharisees, who are attached to the letter of the Law, that a religion without love is worthless (Hos 6:6), and in order to make them face up to their blindness he cites an incident of the Old Testament (David and his companions: 1 Sam 21:2-7), a practical aspect of worship (the priests do not abstain from work in the temple on the Sabbath: Lev 24:8; Num 28:9), and a requirement of good sense (the sheep in the pit). Jesus utters his decision with authority: he claims to be Lord of the Sabbath, and he is more than the Sabbath, that is, the very place of God’s presence.
- Matthew 12:2 The Pharisees had set down 39 categories of actions forbidden on the Sabbath, based on interpretations of the Law and Jewish customs. One of these was harvesting. By picking wheat and rubbing it in their hands, the disciples were technically harvesting according to the religious leaders. But the disciples were picking grain because they were hungry, not because they wanted to harvest the grain for profit. Hence, they were not working on the Sabbath.
- Matthew 12:3 Each Sabbath 12 fresh loaves of bread (the bread of the Presence) were to be set on a table in the Holy Place (Ex 25:30; Lev 24:5-9). The old loaves were eaten by priests. The loaves given to David (1 Sam 21:1-6) were the old loaves that had just been replaced by fresh ones. Although the priests were the only ones allowed to eat this bread, David and his men were allowed to eat it because of their need for food, showing that laws should be enforced with discernment and compassion.
- Matthew 12:5 The Sabbath-work is related to worshiping God, changing the shewbread (Lev 24:8), and doubling the usual daily burnt offerings (Num 28:9f). Hence, the Law itself requires works that break the Sabbath rest (violate the Sabbath) because of the higher duty of God’s service. If temple duties outweigh the Law, how much more does the presence of Jesus with his proclamation of the kingdom (one greater than the temple) justify the conduct of his disciples. If people become more concerned with the means of worship than with the God they worship, they will miss God even while they think they are worshiping him.
- Matthew 12:8 Lord of the Sabbath: the ultimate justification for the disciples’ violation of the Sabbath rest is that Jesus is the Son of Man, the Messiah, who has supreme authority over the Law.
- Matthew 12:9 By healing the man with a withered hand, Jesus corroborates his teaching: it is licit to do good on the Sabbath; no law can oppose the doing of good. He thus rejects the false interpretation put forth by the Pharisees who are attached to the letter of the Law to the detriment of the glory of God and the good of human beings. The very persons who are scandalized by Christ’s miracle are in no way held back from plotting his death even though it is the Sabbath.
- Matthew 12:14 Pharisees . . . began to plot how they might put him to death: even though Matthew does not mention them here, the Herodians were also involved in the plot (see Mk 3:6).
