Mat 12:4-8 | Clarke

Matthew 12:4-8

Verse 5

The priests - profane the Sabbath - Profane, i.e. put it to what might be called a common use, by slaying and offering up sacrifices, and by doing the services of the temple, as on common days, Exo 29:38; Num 28:9. Verse 6

In this place is one greater than the temple - Does not our Lord refer here to Mal 3:1? Compare this with Heb 3:3. The Jews esteemed nothing greater than the temple, except that God who was worshipped in it. Christ, by asserting he was greater than the temple, asserts that he was God; and this he does, in still more direct terms, Mat 12:8, The Son of man is Lord of the Sabbath - is Institutor and Governor of it. Compare this with Gen 2:3 (note), and see the notes there. Verse 7

I will have mercy, etc. - See this explained, Mat 9:13.

There are four ways in which positive laws may cease to oblige.

First, by the natural law of necessity.

Secondly, by a particular law, which is superior.

Thirdly, by the law of charity and mercy.

Fourthly, by the dispensation and authority of the Lawgiver.

These cases are all exemplified from Mat 12:4-8. Verse 8

The Son of man is Lord even of the Sabbath-day - The change of the Jewish into the Christian Sabbath, called the Lord's day, Rev 1:10, shows that Christ is not only the Lord, but also the truth and completion of it. For it seems to have been by an especial providence that this change has been made and acknowledged all over the Christian world.