Haven't You Read?

Mt. 12: 1-8
KV 12:3; “Haven't you read?”

Both Jesus and the Pharisees honored the Sabbath and made every effort to keep it holy according to the Ten Commandments. Pertained to keeping the Sabbath holy, Jesus' interpretation was different from that of the Pharisees. In this matter of their sharp difference, Jesus challenged the religious leaders' wrong view based on the Scriptures.

In this passage, Jesus was going through the grain fields on the Sabbath with his disciples. His disciples were hungry and began to pick some heads of grain and eat them (Mt. 12:1). The disciples were on the way with Jesus to the synagogue to worship God, but were in a hurry and had missed breakfast. They did not carry any food with them and had had no time to cook a day before so they had nothing to bring. They were too busy with assisting Jesus. Because of their hunger, they grabbed some heads of the grain and ate them. It was not theft. In the Scripture, God in his mercy allowed his people to pick grains out of necessity (Det. 23:25). But there was another factor to consider. It was the Sabbath. The Pharisees applied the Sabbath rule against the disciples’ action. When the Pharisees saw this, they said to him, “Look! Your disciples are doing what is unlawful on the Sabbath” (Mt. 12:2). The Pharisees criticized Jesus' disciples for violating the Sabbath.

The Sabbath started from the day of creation. After God created the heavens and earth for six days, God took a rest on the seventh day and blessed the day. Based on this, God spoke Moses to keep the Sabbath holy by prohibiting any work on that day (Ex. 20:10, Det. 5:14). Prohibiting work was not the focus of God’s command, but instead the focus was on rest. Moses enforced it to help his people to learn how to take rest. When he found someone working on the Sabbath, he executed them to prevent people from doing the same. Later, as the Pharisees became leaders in the society, they also enforced the Sabbath. The heart of matter in the enforcement was the definition of work. So they came up with a list of items that would be constituted as work on the Sabbath. Picking some heads was one of them under the class of reaping harvest. With their rigorous training on this, the Pharisees could easily notice that Jesus' disciples violated their Sabbath law.

When they noticed the violation, they brought it to Jesus who had nothing to do with it. They should have confronted the disciples and corrected them But instead they brought this matter to Jesus. In some respects, they blamed Jesus for not teaching his disciples correctly. They challenged Jesus' view of the Sabbath. They were sure that they had found something wrong with Jesus. They hoped that Jesus would accept their concern and rebuke his disciples. They hoped that this would never happen among Jesus' disciples. In such a difficult situation as this, Jesus could have reacted in many different ways. He could have exploded and counterattacked them, exposing their many shortcomings. Or he could have remained silent until the hot issue would subside and he would find an opportunity to reason with them. Or perhaps, he could have completely ignored their remarks and moved on. When Jesus was charged with many accusations during the trial before his crucifixion, he remained mostly silent. He made a statement only when it was absolutely necessary. He did not bother to talk. At this time, however, Jesus spoke up. He not only defended his disciples, but also vindicated them.

Although the conflict due to the incident might not happen again, Jesus considered the issue very relevant to his ministry. Jesus intended to clarify his position on this matter. Jesus set a tone in interpreting the Sabbath law so that his followers might have the correct view. In his defense, Jesus did not start with cogent arguments. He did not argue that picking some heads of grain was not a reaping. Instead he cited the Scriptures three times. He cited an incident involving David and his men. He cited the general practice of the law for the Levites. Lastly, he cited again what he cited often in defending the nature of his ministry. In the first two citations, he started with the phrase, "Haven't you read?" Both Jesus and the Pharisees knew the Scriptures well. But their interpretation, application and implementation of the Sabbath law were very different. The Pharisees often missed the right passage for the given occasion. Instead they hinged on what they liked and, worse yet, expounded some in a very wrong direction. For example, the Pharisees were loose in their interpretation of the law of adultery and supported the certificate of divorce allowed by Moses, whereas Jesus was strict in his interpretation so that he objected it (Mt. 5:31). In interpreting the law of Sabbath, Jesus was loose, whereas the Pharisees were strict. Jesus turned the incident around to teach them how to find the right passage from the Scriptures and apply it properly to the given occasion.

He answered, “Haven’t you read what David did when he and his companions were hungry? He 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 (Mt. 12:3-5).” The story appears in 1 Samuel 21:1-6. David was a great general, protecting his country from her enemy Philistines. David won many victories against the Philistines and became increasingly popular among the people. However, the more victorious and popular David became, the more King Saul was jealous of him. In fact, Saul tried to kill David several times. Initially, David considered it an accident and not Saul’s intention. However, after realizing the Saul’s intention to kill him, David and his men ran away in the guise of a mission. Under the circumstances anyone who would assist them with bread and shelter would be subject to interrogation and even to death. He and his men were hungry on the way. David went to Ahimelech the priest and asked for whatever they had. He had nothing but the consecrated bread, which is allowed only for priests. David demanded it and Ahimelech complied. Jesus even acknowledged that it was unlawful. Yet God did not make it an issue. There was an occasion when God punished those who broke his law. When Uzziah was a king, he invaded the priest office and did what was only allowed for priests and God struck him with leprosy (2Ch. 26:16). But God did not do the same to David and his men. Instead God blessed them to gain the strength so that they could escape from the evil hands of Saul on that day. When David became a king, he expanded his kingdom so that it was the largest in the history of Israel. More importantly, he was a man after God's own heart. Although he was a powerful king, he always put God's law above him and humbled himself before him. So nobody questioned David for taking the consecrated bread on that day. People understood that his action was unlawful, but was justified under the circumstance. Jesus invoked the incident for justifying his disciples. The law is the law, since it is universal. It does not allow for exceptions since it will weaken the law. Soon nobody will bother to keep it. Yet Jesus allowed an exception out of necessity as was the case for David. There was no record after such event that David abused the exception and exercised his right for consecrated bread.

“Or haven’t you read in the Law that the priests on Sabbath duty in the temple desecrate the Sabbath and yet are innocent? I tell you that something greater than the temple is here” (12: 5-6). Here Jesus started with the same phrase, "Haven't you read?" What Jesus was going to cite was nothing new. It was all in the Scriptures. He reasoned with the Pharisees using the common basis— the Scriptures. The Pharisees, however, failed to make connection between the Scriptures and what was happening with the disciples. The busiest people on the Sabbath were the priests in the temple. They killed, flayed and burned the sacrificed beasts. In light of the Sabbath law, they violated every single provision in the law. Yet none of their activities were considered transgressions. Rather they were encouraged and admired, since their service was required in honoring God on the Sabbath. This is almost common sense in modern law. For example, crossing the road at the stop sign is the violation of the traffic law. If policeman finds it out, he issues a ticket to the driver. When policemen are on a mission, they ignore red lights and even the speed limit to go to the scene. Yet no other policemen stop them despite their violations of the law. Their action is justified because of a higher mission. The Pharisees did not realize that Jesus' disciples were on a very important mission—serving in the temple. It was more than that since Jesus was bigger than the temple. His disciples were on a constant move to expand the kingdom of God. Thus the trivial part of the Sabbath law did not apply to the disciples.

Jesus did not stop his defense. He cited another verse in the Scriptures, “If you had known what these words mean, ‘I desire mercy, not sacrifice,’ you would not have condemned the innocent (Mt. 12:7).” Jesus taught it previously (Mt. 9:13). It is likely that Jesus quoted the verse often. The quoted verse was at the heart of his ministry. Everything he did was based on this verse. Every application was based on this. Here Jesus lamented that the Pharisees had never taken it seriously even though he repeated it many times. They brushed it aside and considered it meaningless. In light of this verse, however, Jesus delivered a verdict to the Pharisees. They had condemned the innocent. In his earlier defense, Jesus indicated that his disciples indeed violated the Sabbath law— the law defined by the Pharisees. Now Jesus unraveled a whole new perspective that shocked the Pharisees. They had made every effort to keep the law of God. In this endeavor, they tried to help people by clarifying what was work and what was not on the Sabbath. It was their extraneous effort to guide people to keep the Sabbath holy. In the process, however, they had missed the original intention of the Sabbath. On that day God stopped working and took rest. God wanted his people to rest as well. So it was a day of rest. But the many meticulous rules on the Sabbath law only burdened the people. What was worse, the Pharisees used them to find violators and accused them. In short, Jesus stated that they condemned the innocent. Their judgment was a great mistake and could be even constituted as a malpractice. In such cases, a prosecutor would be subject to being sued for malpractice and even losing his license to practice. Here, the issue was even deeper. Jesus challenged the whole frame work, i.e. their definition of the work on the Sabbath. His challenge was firmly anchored on the verse from the Scriptures, “I desire mercy, not sacrifice.”

After defending his disciples' action by quoting three parts of the Scriptures, Jesus declared, "For the Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath” (Mt. 12:8). This was a big claim. In the matter of interpreting the law, he claimed that he was like a Supreme Court justice. He had the final say on this disputed matter. It was a direct challenge to the authorities of the Pharisees. On the surface they honored God as the Lord of the Sabbath. They tried to please God by keeping and enforcing his law. In the process, however, they put themselves as the protector and interpreter of the Sabbath law. In practice, the Pharisees acted as if they were the Lord of the Sabbath. They held the sole authority on interpreting and enforcing the Sabbath law. At the top, it was the high priest who had the final word on any dispute on the Sabbath law. Their verdict was supported by the whole system. Thus, Jesus challenged the entire system by claiming his Lordship over the Sabbath. In other words, he put himself above the high priest. Needless to say, he risked his life for such claim. Jesus was courageous and bold, since he based his view and verdict on the Scriptures.

There are many who have made similar dramatic claims in the history of the church. Some went as far as being a false prophet. Their claims and lifestyles were outside the Scriptures. On the other hand, some people went in the right direction to the extent of developing a new movement that pleased God. They had a firm foundation on the Scriptures. Martin Luther is one example. In his struggle with sin, he found the true way of salvation in Christ. The salvation was obtained by faith, not by works (Ro. 1:17). He was full of joy and shared the truth with others. In light of this he adamantly opposed the sales of indulgences (Indulgence, Wikepedia). He wrote many books with this one theme in mind, which alarmed many church leaders. Many bishops and Bible scholars summoned him and demanded him to recant his teachings on the doctrine of salvation among many others. Luther agonized and trembled over their verdict. But at the end, Luther declared, "I won't recant unless you prove that my writings are wrong based on the Bible."

Samuel Lee is another example. When he started student ministry, he taught the Bible diligently to students. Whenever he finished a book of the Gospel, he found Jesus' world mission command. He prayed for world mission and encouraged his disciples to participate in it. When pastors heard about his prayer for world mission they discouraged him. Some pastors told Samuel Lee that "only rich countries like the USA can do this. We have no money to send out missionaries. You are absurd." However, Samuel Lee held on to the word of God and kept praying. His persistence inspired many students in his church. In this way his church ended up sending most lay missionaries in short period. His resilient effort turned the course of Korean churches. Some churches began to participate in this movement and sent missionaries as well. Forty some years later in a recent Time magazine report, Korea was listed as the second most missionary sending nation after the USA.

The Sabbath law is not civil in nature, but divine. God commanded it to Moses, who instituted it. The Pharisees not only inherited, but also enforced it. Their interpretation and application, however, clashed with Jesus' ministry on the Sabbath. Jesus took such conflicts seriously and challenged them in light of the Scriptures. In this passage Jesus cited the Scriptures three times to defend his interpretation and application. He even claimed that he was the Lord of the Sabbath. He acted as if he had a final say on enforcing the Sabbath Law. His authority was not based on the religious system, but the Scriptures.