Charles Spurgeon Commentary Matthew 12:7

"But if ye had known what this meaneth, I desire mercy, and not sacrifice, ye would not have condemned the guiltless." — Matthew 12:7 (ASV)

Our Lord had galled the Pharisees by saying twice, Have ye not read? Did He imagine that they had left any part of the Psalms or Law unread? Now He assails them again with the charge of ignorance of the meaning of a passage from the prophets, If ye had known what this meaneth. Then He quotes from Hosea 6:6, which He had used against them before. (See Matthew 9:13.) I will have mercy, and not sacrifice. There must be very much in this word of the prophet to make it so great a favorite with our Lord.

God preferred that His priests should rather give the consecrated shewbread to David as an act of mercy, than keep it sacred to its use. He would rather that the disciples should spend a few minutes in plucking ears of corn for their hunger than suffer faintness in order to preserve the sanctity of the day. Having thus the permit of the Lord Himself, those who allowed the merciful act of removing hunger were guiltless, and ought not to be condemned. Indeed, they would not have been condemned had their critics been better instructed.

Works of mercy are lawful on the Sabbath.