1 Samuel 20–22
I don’t know whether the account in chapter 21 sounded familiar to you but in Luke 6:1–11 (also in Matthew 12:1–14 & Mark 2:23–3:6), there’s the story of Jesus rebuking the Pharisees for not understanding the law and for not seeing Jesus for who he was. He reminded them of what David did in chapter 21 when he and his men ate consecrated bread, which was against the law (only priests were meant to eat the bread).
It got me wondering about the link that Jesus had made… How does what David did in eating the consecrated bread explain why Jesus and disciples were able to eat grain on the Sabbath? How did it explain why Jesus was “Lord of the Sabbath”? Any thoughts…?
Hi there,
The Pharisees had made up lots of rules of their own interpreting what you could and couldn’t do on the Sabbath. My guess is that this eating of the consecrated bread by David was an example of “doing good on the Sabbath” and something that whereby God was desiring “compassion” to be done, not just following the letter of the law and making sacrifices which God says through David he doesn’t really have delight in. Jesus also pointed out that he was greater than the temple, (which sanctified the bread in the OT I think). Jesus also pointed out that he was greater than the Sabbath, as he is the “word made flesh”. Therefore Jesus was saying that he (as God’s chosen King)has the right as the word made flesh to interpret was was “good” and “compassionate” to do on the Sabbath.