Did Jesus’ disciples break the Jewish Sabbath law? (Matthew 12:1-5)

PROBLEM: Jesus said, “Do not think that I came to destroy the Law or the Prophets. I did not come to destroy but to fulfill” (Matt. 5:17). Yet Jesus’ disciples deliberately and knowingly picked grain on the Sabbath, thus arousing the ire of the Pharisees by doing “what is not lawful to do on the Sabbath” (Matt. 12:2).

Matthew 12:1 - 5

ESV - ¹ At that time Jesus went through the grainfields on the Sabbath. His disciples were hungry, and they began to pluck heads of grain and to eat. ² But when the Pharisees saw it, they said to him, "Look, your disciples are doing what is not lawful to do on the Sabbath.

Clarify • Share • Report • Asked April 29 2020 • Jack Gutknecht