The story told by the evangelist is very true to life and full of precise details. It is easy to imagine Jesus’ famished disciples, weary from long journeys, trying...
The story told by the evangelist is very true to life and full of precise details. It is easy to imagine Jesus’ famished disciples, weary from long journeys, trying to regain their strength by any means available. It should be obvious to anyone what moved the apostles when they began to pluck the heads of grain.
Yet an action that is understandable from the standpoint of everyday logic comes into conflict with the commonly accepted understanding of the Law. Jesus points out the absurdity of this contradiction by recalling the story of King David, who ate the bread of the Presence. As in many other Gospel passages, the Lord resolves the question on the basis that a living person, not abstract and lifeless rules, always stands at the center. This simple and clear principle was embodied in the formula, “The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath.”
6
6:1 The first Sabbath - So the Jews reckoned their Sabbaths, from the passover to pentecost; the first, second, third, and so on, till the seventh Sabbath (after the second day.) This immediately preceded pentecost, which was the fiftieth day after the second day of unleavened bread. Mat 12:1; Mar 2:23.
6:2 Why do ye - St. Matthew and Mark represent the Pharisees as proposing the question to our Lord himself. It was afterward, probably, they proposed it to his disciples.
6:4 Sa1 21:6.
6:6 Mat 12:9; Mar 3:1.
6:9 To save life or to kill - He just then probably saw the design to kill him rising in their hearts.
6:12 In the prayer of God - The phrase is singular and emphatical, to imply an extraordinary and sublime devotion. Mar 3:13.
6:13 Mat 10:2; Mar 3:14; Act 1:13.
6:15 Simon called Zelotes - Full of zeal; otherwise called Simon the Canaanite.