Matthew 12:1-12

About that same time, Jesus was walking through some fields of grain on a Sabbath day. His followers were with him, and they were hungry. So they began to pick the grain and eat it. The Pharisees saw this, and they said to Jesus, “Look! Your followers are doing something that is against the Jewish law to do on the Sabbath day.” Jesus answered, “Have you not read what David did when he and the people with him were hungry? David went into God’s house. He and those with him ate the bread that was made holy for God. It was against the law for them to eat that bread. Only the priests were allowed to eat it. And have you not read in the law of Moses that on every Sabbath day the priests in the Temple break this law about the Sabbath day? But the priests are not wrong for doing that. I tell you that there is something here that is greater than the Temple. The Scripture says, ‘I want faithful love more than I want animal sacrifices.’ You don’t really know what those words mean. If you understood them, you would not judge those who have done nothing wrong. “The Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath day.” Jesus left there and went into their synagogue. In the synagogue, there was a man with a crippled hand. Some Jews there were looking for a reason to accuse Jesus of doing wrong. So they asked him, “Is it right to heal on the Sabbath day?” Jesus answered, “If any of you has a sheep, and it falls into a ditch on the Sabbath day, then you will take the sheep and help it out of the ditch. Surely a man is more important than a sheep. So the law of Moses allows people to do good things on the Sabbath day.”