Daily Devotional For Sunday, November 2, 2025
Good morning Southside. Thank you for taking your time to read and reflect on these devotionals. We are making our way through Matthew’s Gospel and today we pick up with Matthew 12:1-7:
“At that time Jesus went through the grainfields on the Sabbath, and His disciples became hungry and began to pick the heads of grain and eat. (2) But when the Pharisees saw this, they said to Him, ‘Look, Your disciples do what is not lawful to do on a Sabbath.’ (3) But He said to them, ‘Have you not read what David did when he became hungry, he and his companions, (4) how he entered the house of God, and they ate the consecrated bread, which was not lawful for him to eat nor for those with him, but for the priests alone? (5) Or have you not read in the Law, that on the Sabbath the priests in the temple break the Sabbath and are innocent? (6) But I say to you that something greater than the temple is here. (7) But if you had known what this means, ‘I desire compassion, and not a sacrifice,’ you would not have condemned the innocent” (NASB).
Jesus and His disciples, still in Galilee, were hungry and began to pick the heads of grain to eat. Normally, this would be okay. This particular day is the Sabbath. Fields did not have fences as we do today, but they would have stones to mark on as a boundary of one person’s field from another (See Deut. 19:14) . Many times there were paths and even roads through these. This made them very accessible. Some have suggested the disciples were stealing but this is not true. God’s Law allowed for this (See Deut. 23:25). But the Law did forbid reaping grain on the Sabbath (See Ex. 34:21). Oh no, right?
The disciples were hungry. They were not reaping grain for a harvest or a profit. They were not breaking God’s Law. The legalistic Pharisees had established 39 separate categories of forbidden actions on the Sabbath. These were solely based on their own misinterpretation of the Sabbath Law. The Pharisees accused Jesus’ disciples of picking wheat because in order to do that, they had to rub it in their hands to get the head off the stalk. Jesus gave four logical explanations as to why what His disciples did was lawful:
- David’s example in the Old Testament (Matt. 12:3-4). Jesus was referencing 1 Sam. 21:1-6. When David and his men were hungry and running from Saul, Abiathar the priest gave David and his men what was called the “Showbread.” This would have been 12 loaves of bread that were being replaced with 12 new ones. Since God did not punish Abiathar and David for this, it had to be permissible. Jesus’ use of, “Have you not read” implied that the Pharisees were ignorant of the true meaning of this story in Scripture. How could Pharisees, who knew the Law better than anyone else, be this ignorant and had missed this. Jesus justified His disciples’ action on the grounds that His authority superseded the requirement of ceremonial law.
- The priest’s example (Matt. 12:5-6). Jesus used the same phrase “Have you not heard . . .” For Pharisees who would have known this story, they definitely seemed ignorant of it. Not working on the Sabbath was a non-negotiable. Yet, Jesus showed that when the priests did their duties on a Sabbath, that was technically “work.” Since the priests technically break the law to do this, God holds them guiltless. Jesus was stressing the spirit of the law, which the Pharisees had missed. The religious leaders had missed the whole point of the Temple – to bring people to God. All they were concerned about were their rituals, not the peoples’ relationship to God. To Jesus, this was and is more important.
- Proof from the prophets (Matt. 12:7). Then Jesus took these very educated Pharisees back to the Old Testament in 1 Sam. 15:22-23, Ps. 40:6-8, Isa. 1:11-17, Jer. 7:21-23 and Hose 6:6. New Testament scholar Bruce B. Barton writes this: The Old Testament statement: “I desire mercy, not sacrifice” means that rituals and obedience to the law are valuable only if carried out with an attitude of love for God. If a person’s heart is far from God, ritual and law keeping are no more than empty mockery. God did not want the Israelites’ rituals; he wanted their hearts. Jesus challenged the Pharisees to apply the prophets’ words to themselves” (Source: Bruce B. Barton, The Life Application Bible Commentary, “Matthew,” p. 234). If only the Pharisees had known and had understood the words of the prophets, they would have understood the love and compassion behind God’s laws. Their condemnation would then have been only to those who deserved it, not to those who were truly innocent of disobedience.
- Proof of who He is (Matt. 12:8). Jesus was Lord over the Sabbath. It was He who had given the commandment to honor the Sabbath to Moses, not the other way around.
Assignment: Jesus pointed out the unjustified legalism of the Pharisees. What are you legalistic about in life and/or with others? Does your legalism point or draw people to God or cause them to struggle in their relationship to HIm? Legalism void of love creates confusion and chaos. What would the Lord say you are know to Him for – being legalistic or loving. Why?
Scripture To Meditate On: Matthew 16:6, “And Jesus said to them, ‘Watch out and beware of the leaven (yeast, pride, legalism) of the Pharisees and Sadducees” (PAR).
Prayer To Pray: “Lord, I want to be known as a person of love, not legalism. Please forgive me when I make an idol out of legalism and forget that I am to let love be my highest goal (1 Cor. 14:1). Remind that anything I do void of love is meaningless (1 Cor. 13:1-3). I gain nothing through legalism. I gain nothing without love. Help me to point people to You with love. In Jesus’ name, Amen!”
I love you Southside! – Pastor Kelly