NOTES for Mat 12:1-13

On the sacred Sabbath day, the Law permits no work. This day belongs to God. On the Sabbath, a devout Jew must attend the synagogue and listen there to the Torah, the Law, or read it himself: God’s revelation given to Israel. The only people who must perform their professional duties on that day are the priests and Levites in the Temple, because they do not labor for themselves but carry out service to God: they perform circumcision and offer sacrifices. This is precisely the argument Christ presents to the Pharisees in the Gospel of Matthew. For He is the One who is greater than the Temple. His whole life is unceasing worship, the fulfillment of the Father’s will. He does His will at all times, including on the Sabbath, just as the daily sacrifice in the Temple must not be interrupted on the Sabbath.

The same applies to us: through faith in Christ we become a “royal priesthood”; our whole life becomes service to God, performed on Saturday and Sunday and at every moment in time. All our deeds must be dedicated to the Lord, and every thought or word of ours must be an acceptable sacrifice to God that never ceases for a single moment.