Jesus Is Lord of the Sabbath
1 At that time Jesus went through the grainfields on the Sabbath. His disciples were hungry and began to pick some heads of grain and eat them.
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When the Pharisees saw this, they said to him, “Look! Your disciples are doing what is unlawful on the Sabbath.”
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He answered,
“Haven’t you read what David did when he and his companions were hungry?
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He entered the house of God, and he and his companions ate the consecrated bread—which was not lawful for them to do, but only for the priests.
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Or haven’t you read in the Law that the priests on Sabbath duty in the temple desecrate the Sabbath and yet are innocent?
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I tell you that something greater than the temple is here.
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If you had known what these words mean, ‘I desire mercy, not sacrifice,’ you would not have condemned the innocent.
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For the Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath.”
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Going on from that place, he went into their synagogue,
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and a man with a shriveled hand was there. Looking for a reason to bring charges against Jesus, they asked him, “Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath?”
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He said to them,
“If any of you has a sheep and it falls into a pit on the Sabbath, will you not take hold of it and lift it out?
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How much more valuable is a person than a sheep! Therefore it is lawful to do good on the Sabbath.”
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Then he said to the man,
“Stretch out your hand.” So he stretched it out and it was completely restored, just as sound as the other.
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But the Pharisees went out and plotted how they might kill Jesus.
God’s Chosen Servant
15 Aware of this, Jesus withdrew from that place. A large crowd followed him, and he healed all who were ill.
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He warned them not to tell others about him.
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This was to fulfill what was spoken through the prophet Isaiah:
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“Here is my servant whom I have chosen, the one I love, in whom I delight; I will put my Spirit on him, and he will proclaim justice to the nations.
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He will not quarrel or cry out; no one will hear his voice in the streets.
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A bruised reed he will not break, and a smoldering wick he will not snuff out, till he has brought justice through to victory.
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In his name the nations will put their hope.”