Jesus Is Lord of the Sabbath
1 At that time
1Jesus went through the grainfields on the Sabbath. His disciples were hungry, and
2they began to pluck heads of grain and to eat.
2
But when the Pharisees saw it, they said to him,
3"Look, your disciples are doing
4what is not lawful to do on the Sabbath."
3
He said to them,
5"Have you not read what David did when he was hungry, and those who were with him:
4
how he entered the house of God and ate 6the bread of the Presence, which it 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 7in the Law how on the Sabbath the priests in the temple profane the Sabbath and are guiltless?
6
I tell you, 8something greater than the temple is here.
7
And if you had known 9what this means, 10'I desire mercy, and not sacrifice,' you would not have condemned the guiltless.
8
For 11the Son of Man is lord of the Sabbath."
A Man with a Withered Hand
9 He went on from there and
12entered their synagogue.
10
And a man was there with a withered hand. And they asked him,
13"Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath?"--
14so that they might accuse him.
11
He said to them,
"Which one of you who has a sheep, 15if it falls into a pit on the Sabbath, will not take hold of it and lift it out?
12
16Of how much more value is a man than a sheep! So 17it is lawful to do good on the Sabbath."
13
Then he said to the man,
"Stretch out your hand." And
18the man stretched it out, and it was restored, healthy like the other.
14
But the Pharisees went out and conspired against him, how to destroy him.
God's Chosen Servant
15 Jesus, aware of this,
19withdrew from there. And
20many followed him, and he healed them all
16
and
21ordered them not to make him known.
17
22This was to fulfill what was spoken by the prophet Isaiah:
18
23"Behold, my
24servant whom I have chosen, my beloved with whom my soul is well pleased.
25I will put my Spirit upon him, and he will proclaim justice to the Gentiles.
19
He will not quarrel or cry aloud, nor will anyone hear his voice in the streets;
20
a bruised reed he will not break, and a smoldering wick he will not quench, until he brings justice to victory;
21
26and in his name the Gentiles will hope."