J. Albrecht…Trinity 17…Sept 27^th, 2026…Matthew 12:1-8…I Would Have Mercy Not Sacrifice

¹ At that time Jesus went through the grainfields on the Sabbath. And His disciples were hungry, and began to pluck heads of grain and to eat. ² And when the Pharisees saw it, they said to Him, “Look, Your disciples are doing what is not lawful to do on the Sabbath!” ³ But He said to them, “Have you not read what David did when he was hungry, he and those who were with him: ⁴ “how he entered the house of God and ate the showbread which was not lawful for him to eat, nor for those who were with him, but only for the priests? ⁵ “Or have you not read in the law that on the Sabbath the priests in the temple profane the Sabbath, and are blameless? ⁶ “Yet I say to you that in this place there is One greater than the temple. ⁷ “But if you had known what this means,`I desire mercy and not sacrifice,’ you would not have condemned the guiltless. ⁸ “For the Son of Man is Lord even of the Sabbath.”

Grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord. Amen.

INJ Who is the substance of our faith, the assurance of all God’s promises, DFR:

Let me pose a scenario for you. You are traveling down I-5 at 70 miles per hour. You see the flashing blue and red lights behind you, it is a cop, you’re getting pulled over. Do you complain? No, you were going over the speed limit and by the letter of the law, you are breaking the law even if other drivers are doing the same thing.

As you are sitting there, another car comes flying by, even faster than you were going, but the cop pays it no mind. Why doesn’t’ he pull over that car too? Because that care also had flashing lights and a loud siren clearing the way. It was an ambulance rushing towards the hospital. The same law applies to both drivers, but only one of you got in trouble. It’s because the need of the person the ambulance is traveling far outweighs the letter of the law for speeding. In this case, the spirit of the law is vastly more important than the letter.

Jesus teaches the exact same lesson in our text this morning. Except, He is talking about the ceremonial laws God gave to His Old Testament people (the laws that governed their worship life). There were certain exceptions to the law that God gave, not because He didn’t care that it was followed, but because the spirit of the law far outweighed the letter of the law. When Jesus deals with the Pharisees in Matthew 12, He doesn’t just excuse His disciples from wrongdoing, He sets the precedence for His Church of the New Covenant to have freedom and liberty from all ceremonialism. It was Gods’ will all along – He would have mercy and not sacrifice even when the Jewish regulations were in place, but especially now that Christian liberty has come.

Let us pray for the Holy Spirit’s blessing on our study of His Word this morning: Lord, may the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart, be pleasing in Your sight, O Lord, my Rock and my Redeemer, Amen.

The crux of our text this morning deals with one law specifically, the Law of the Sabbath. In the Old Testament, God instituted the Sabbath Day as a time for His people to break from work, gather around the tabernacle or temple, and be refreshed spiritually. It was God’s way of ensuring their spiritual health remained an important aspect of their lives. We abide by the same principle when we have weekly worship services. We set aside a day out of the week where our focus is on our spiritual well-being. That sounds simple enough right? But then, why do we have this hostile confrontation on the Sabbath? Why are there other hostilities between Jesus and the Pharisees on the Sabbath?

Because the Pharisees, as the experts in the Law of Moses, had increased the restrictions God had placed on the Sabbath Day. God did command an abstaining from work on the Sabbath. But the rabbinical scholars took this command hyper-literally so that any form of work was strictly forbidden. When they saw Jesus’ disciples pluck grain to eat, they saw it as an opportunity to accuse Jesus of breaking the Sabbath restriction.

Jesus knows His disciples did nothing wrong. This kind of work was not forbidden by God. But He sees this as an opportunity to show His divine authority about the purpose of the ceremonial laws.

³ But He said to them, “Have you not read what David did when he was hungry, he and those who were with him: ⁴ “how he entered the house of God and ate the showbread which was not lawful for him to eat, nor for those who were with him, but only for the priests?

The Pharisees spent a lot of time reading, but their focus was in the wrong place. They filled themselves with rabbinical tradition rather than the divine law. Much the same today, do we take care to read God’s Word, or do we fill ourselves with human learning and speculation?

This story of David is recorded in 1 Samuel 21. David is fleeing for his life and he and his men are hungry. Approaching the tabernacle, the only food available was 12 loaves of unleavened bread that is set aside every Sabbath to the Lord. Even when a new batch is made each week, only the priests were allowed to eat it, according to the law of the Lord. Yet, the high priest gave to David to eat and David did not break God’s law.

David eating the showbread is an example of God desiring mercy and not sacrifice. Yes, the letter of the ceremonial law forbade David from eating this bread. But, the divine law about caring for your neighbor and making sure someone doesn’t go hungry, possibly to their death, is also at play. The divine law is binding, the ceremonial law is not.

As long as nothing but a ceremonial restriction stood in the way, they might eat. God cared far more for the right spiritual condition of the heart, than for the outward observance of ceremonial regulations, let alone human traditions added on. The Pharisees practiced the very opposite, they were painfully careful about outward observance, but their hearts were filled with wickedness.

This first example Jesus gave is general and represents the whole ceremonial law. This second example is specific to the issue at hand of the Sabbath. ⁵ “Or have you not read in the law that on the Sabbath the priests in the temple profane the Sabbath, and are blameless?

Every Sabbath day, the priests would offer sacrifices for the people. But in doing so, they would break the ceremonial law of no work on the Sabbath, for offering these sacrifices would be laborious. And yet, the priests are not charged with breaking the Sabbath, but are blameless because the divine law to perform these acts excuses them.

The Sabbath had its outward labor restrictions for the Jews, but also required certain laborious ministrations in the Temple for the Jews. Both were required, not on their own account, but for the spiritual need of people. Moreover, God is the one who established the Sabbath. It is His goodness and grace that provides both aspects to address the needs of His people.

This should have satisfied the Pharisees. But Jesus goes a step further to remove any doubt. To do so, He speaks from His own divine authority: ⁶ “Yet I say to you that in this place there is One greater than the temple.

Was the Temple great as the House of God, where God dwelt? Jesus was greater for He was God Himself. Was the Temple great because God came down and dwelt with man? Jesus was greater, because in Him God had joined Himself to mankind and dwelt more graciously among us than in any Temple ever built by human hands. Why does Jesus thus measure Himself against the Temple? To emphasize His greater and absolute authority, but also to show that all the ceremonial laws, and even the Temple, were shadows of what was to come – Him.

In the Old Testament, God gave His people His divine law in the 10 commandments to show that they could not achieve the perfection necessary for salvation and eternal life. He gave them the ceremonial law to paint a picture of how God would solve the problem for them. The sacrifices were a picture of Jesus offering Himself as the sacrifice for all sin of all people. The laws regarding uncleanness were vivid reminders of what we all are by nature – but how God purifies us. These were all a shadow. The laws of themselves did no good to the people without the promise of God attached to them. But now, that has all changed.

Gone is the shadow, for the substance of what those things promised has come. Jesus is the substance. Everything Jesus did in His life was to fulfill God’s divine moral, and ceremonial law in our place. Jesus removed the punishment of the Law that hung over each of our heads by keeping it without sin. Then, He went to the cross. And on the cross, He suffered the penalty for each and every sin, including our sins against the third commandment – keeping the Sabbath day holy. That last Sabbath which Jesus spent in the tomb, brought to completion the old and ushered in a new Sabbath rest for the people of God.

This Sabbath rest that belongs to you today and every day, is found in the body of Christ Jesus. It is the fulfillment of all the promises made by God in the Old Testament that He brings to completion through Jesus: Forgiveness of sins, eternal life, peace with God, just to name a few. Gone is the ceremonialism that pictures Christ, because you have Christ. He dwells in your heart. No longer do you have to go to the temple. God’s temple is in your heart where He reigns forever. No more is the Sabbath just one day of rest. Every day of your life there is immediate access to the throne of God who hears and answers prayer; who offers rest through His means of grace. How precious is this freedom that you have in Jesus! This is what God always intended His relationship with His people to be. Even when the Jewish restrictions were in place, God did want outward obedience, but trust in His grace and mercy. Today, we don’t have to go through the outward appearances of ceremonialism. We can go directly to the substance of our salvation and eternal life, Jesus, and see God’s grace and mercy shine even brighter. Especially today, the Lord’s day, in which we set aside moments to be refreshed by God through His word as God originally intended.

Imagine two sons working at their father’s grocery store. One son dares not take anything for himself, lest his father become angry with him. Then, the other son comes in and takes whatever he wants for lunch, knowing his father is gracious. The Pharisees and those without Christ are like that first son. They only see the shadow which promises freedom, liberty, and salvation, but cannot deliver it. But you are the second son. Not that you can have a disregard for God’s law, but because, through Jesus, you have all that belongs to God given to you. You have the fulfillment of what the shadows promised – life and liberty, peace and forgiveness. God our Father wants you to rest in His mercy and grace!

What comfort Jesus brought to His disciples hearts that day, covering them with His arm of divine authority, and setting them free from the slavery of dead ceremonialism. What comfort and joy our Savior brings to us today and every day, for He has set us free as well; set us free to worship Him in spirit and in truth all the days of our life, bound only by love and good order, until we receive the eternal Sabbath rest prepared for the people of God, Amen.