At that time Jesus was going through a field of grain on the Sabbath. His disciples were hungry and began to pick the heads of grain and eat them. When the Pharisees saw this, they said to him, "See, your disciples are doing what is unlawful to do on the Sabbath." He said to them, "Have you not read what David did when he and his companions were hungry, how he went into the house of God and ate the bread of offering, which neither he nor his companions but only the priests could lawfully eat? Or have you not read in the law that on the Sabbath the priests serving i the temple violate the Sabbath and are innocent? I say to you, something greater than the temple is here. If you knew what this meant, "I desire mercy, not sacrifice,' you would not have condemned these innocent men. For the Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath."
The Word in other words
In many and various ways, Matthew wanted to show that Jesus was the New Moses. Moses as we know was the one to whom God gave the law in Sinai. Matthew shows, in his gospel, that Jesus came to fulfill the Law God gave to Moses, by teaching a new principle of interpretation. The prevailing principle then was "be pure" because of God is pure. For Jesus, however, the principle "be merciful" as God is merciful. By quoting the Prophet Hosea: "I desire mercy not sacrifice"(6:6), he indicates by what principle to judge the following or observance of the law. The end and purpose of every law is to help so that the true image of God may emerge from within every human being. This is what Jesus tried to do and in so doing he revealed who he really was--- the fulfillment of the law.
- Fr. Magdaleno Fabiosa, SVD (VCR, CKMS, QC)
