NOTES for Luk 6:1-5
The Evangelist’s account is very true to life and rich in precise details. It is easy to picture Jesus’ half-starved disciples, weary from long journeys, trying to satisfy their hunger 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 by the logic of everyday life comes into conflict with the generally 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 at the center of every problem there is always a living human being, not abstract, lifeless rules. This simple and intelligible approach was embodied in the saying, “The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath.”