The Sabbath run-in that we looked at in our last post is paralleled in Matthew. Matthew adds a little more detail about what Jesus said to those who were confronting him.

After seemingly using David to justify his ethical violations, he pulls out another example to justify his “wrong” actions.” He tells the Pharisees, “Or haven’t you read in the law that on Sabbath days the priests in the temple violate the Sabbath and are innocent?” (Matthew 12:4)

Jesus is yet again appealing to a person of high honor in his culture. The Levitical priests were the holiest of holy men. They were the ones that were actually able to enter into God’s presence on behalf of the people. As is still true of pastors today, the priests’ work had to be done on the Sabbath. There’s no way around it. And Jesus is arguing that God makes an exception for them to carry out their vocation.

But, the real crux of the matter comes in Matthew 12:7. Jesus points out why their nitpicking (in all facets of Law-keeping, not just the Sabbath) has completely missed the point of the Law.

Jesus says to them, “If you had known what this means, I desire mercy and not sacrifice, you would not have condemned the innocent.” (Matthew 12:7)

Oftentimes, this verse can trip folks up because in our modern parlance, to sacrifice for Jesus is the whole point of the Christian life. We are invited to give up (or sacrifice) everything to follow Him, much like his disciples did.

But when Jesus quotes Hosea 6:6 here, the linguistic understanding that He’s bringing in means something totally different than ours. Hosea 6:6 in the NLT gives us a better glimpse of what Jesus means: “I want you to show love, not offer sacrifices. I want you to know me more than I want burnt offerings.” (Hosea 6:6 NLT)

God wants our whole-hearted devotion not our strict religious adherence.

Maybe to illustrate with an example from our modern world, we can think of a husband and a wife (or a boyfriend and girlfriend). There is a way this couple can go on date-nights, buy gifts for each other, and show other outward demonstrations of love, yet have no relational intimacy whatsoever. There is a way a person can go through all the relational motions of a loving couple yet not feel any real love towards the other person.

The same is true in our relationship with God. 

There is a way in which we can go through the religious motions of going to church, reading our Bibles occasionally, praying before meals, and yet have no relational intimacy (often called communion) with God.

That is the issue that Jesus is correcting here with the religious leaders. They had completely forgotten that the Sabbath was a means, not an end.

Checking off the Sabbath every week was not the point of God creating the Sabbath (Gen. 1). The point of God establishing the Sabbath was so that Israel could cultivate hearts of love towards him. He wanted whole-hearted devotion (mercy), not surface level obedience (sacrifice).

As LORD of the Sabbath, Jesus knew more than anybody what the Sabbath was created for.

As LORD of the Sabbath, Jesus knew what God the Father desired.

As LORD of the Sabbath, Jesus knew what the heart behind the Sabbath was: mercy, not sacrifice; whole-hearted devotion, not check mark religiosity; inner transformation, not external mechanization.

The spirit of the Sabbath was (and still is) mercy, not sacrifice.