1. reconciling difficult passages

2. 1 At that time Jesus went through the grainfields on the Sabbath. And His disciples were hungry, and began to pluck heads of grain and to eat. 2 And when the Pharisees saw it, they said to Him, "Look, Your disciples are doing what is not lawful to do on the Sabbath!" 3 But He said to them, "Have you not read what David did when he was hungry, he and those who were with him: 4 how he entered the house of God and ate the showbread which was not lawful for him to eat, nor for those who were with him, but only for the priests?

3. 5 Or have you not read in the law that on the Sabbath the priests in the temple profane the Sabbath, and are blameless? 6 Yet I say to you that in this place there is One greater than the temple. 7 But if you had known what this means, 'I desire mercy and not sacrifice,' you would not have condemned the guiltless. 8 For the Son of Man is Lord even of the Sabbath."

4.  situation ethics  Jesus, like David, was justified in breaking the law because of the situation and their sincerity  therefore, if we have the right attitude, we can overlook the finer points of God’s law  acceptance  since God’s law is not the sole determination of righteousness, we should extend mercy towards those who “tweak” His law, not judgment

5.  situation ethics  can we overlook parts of God’s law if sincere?  Nadab & Abihu (Lev. 10:1-3)(Heb. 10:26-31)  “sincerity” doesn’t justify rebellion (Rom. 10:1-3)  acceptance  can we judge one another based on God’s law?  rightly expressed, our judgment should be an outgrowth of mercy (2 Cor. 5:10-11)(Jam. 5:19-20)

6. 1 At that time Jesus went through the grainfields on the Sabbath. And His disciples were hungry, and began to pluck heads of grain and to eat. 2 And when the Pharisees saw it, they said to Him, "Look, Your disciples are doing what is not lawful to do on the Sabbath!" 1)Jesus and His disciples were not breaking God’s law. Had they been reaping the fields they would have violated the Sabbath, but they were merely eating.

7. 3 But He said to them, "Have you not read what David did when he was hungry, he and those who were with him: 4 how he entered the house of God and ate the showbread which was not lawful for him to eat, nor for those who were with him, but only for the priests? 2)As opposed to Christ, David did break God’s law. Regardless of the circumstances, Christ plainly says that the showbread was not lawful for him to eat.

8. 5 Or have you not read in the law that on the Sabbath the priests in the temple profane the Sabbath, and are blameless? 3)The priests ate the bread on the Sabbath without sin. Again, Christ is clear that while David violated God’s law, the priests did not, even though it was the same practice. If they had truly read and cared about God’s law, they would have been able to discern not only the guilt of David and the innocence of the priests, but also that Christ and His disciples were innocent of any wrong doing. Their judgment was shallow. (Jn. 7:24)

9. 6 Yet I say to you that in this place there is One greater than the temple. 7 But if you had known what this means, 'I desire mercy and not sacrifice,' you would not have condemned the guiltless. 8 For the Son of Man is Lord even of the Sabbath.“ Their inability to discern and apply the Scriptures was not limited to the current situation, but was even more so evident in their refusal to accept Him as the Christ, the Son of God.

10.  rightly applying the Scriptures  to discern right and wrong in a situation, we must have studied His word and appraised the situation with truth as our primary concern (Gal. 1:10)(2 Tim. 4:3-4)  self-imposed judgments  whether in ignorance or in pride, judging from self and not the Scriptures cannot be tolerated (Mt. 15:8-9)(Rom. 14:4, 22-23)