Some Jews Criticize Jesus (Mk. 2:23-28; Lk. 6:1-5)

12 ¹About that same time, Jesus was walking through the fields of grain on a Sabbath day.* Jesus' followers were with him, and they were hungry. So the followers began to pick the grain and eat it. ²The Pharisees* saw this. They said to Jesus, "Look! Your followers are doing something that is against the [Jewish] law to do on the Sabbath day." ³Jesus said to them, "You have read what David* did when he and the people with him were hungry. ⁴David went into God's house. David and the people with him ate the bread that was offered to God. It was against the law for David or the people with him to eat that bread. Only the priests were allowed to eat it. ⁵And you have read in the law [of Moses] that on every Sabbath day* the priests in the temple* break the law about the Sabbath day. But the priests are not wrong for doing that. ⁶I tell you that there is something here that is greater than the temple. ⁷The Scripture* says, 'I don't want animal sacrifices; I want kindness [among people].'* You don't really know what those words mean. If you understood those words, then you would not judge those people that have done nothing wrong. ⁸"The Son of Man* is Lord (ruler) over the Sabbath day.*"

Sabbath day The seventh day of the Jewish week. It was a special religious day for the Jews. Pharisees The Pharisees were a Jewish religious group that claimed to follow carefully all Jewish laws and customs. David King of Israel about 1000 years before Christ. temple The special building in Jerusalem for Jewish worship. Scripture Part of the Holy Writings--Old Testament. 'I don't ... people' Quote from Hos. 6:6. Son of Man A name Jesus used for himself. In Dan. 7:13-14, this is the name for the Messiah, the one God chose to save his people.