John Calvin 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)

But if you knew—this third argument is also mentioned by Matthew alone. Christ indirectly reproves the Pharisees for not considering why ceremonies were appointed and for what purpose they are intended. This has been a common fault in almost every age; and therefore, the prophet Hosea (Hosea 6:6) exclaims against the people of his own time for being too attached to ceremonies and caring little about the duties of kindness. But God declares aloud that He sets a higher value on mercy than on sacrifice. He uses the word mercy, by a figure of speech, for acts of kindness, just as sacrifices include the outward service of the Law. Christ applies this statement to His own time and charges the Pharisees with wickedly distorting the Law of God from its true meaning, disregarding the second table of the Law, and being entirely preoccupied with ceremonies.

But a question arises: Why does God declare that He is indifferent to ceremonies when He strictly commanded in His Law that they should be observed? The answer is easy. External rites have no value in themselves and are required by God only insofar as they are directed to their proper purpose. Besides, God does not absolutely reject them; instead, by comparing them with acts of kindness, He declares that ceremonies are inferior to kindness in actual value.

Nor is it inconsistent with this to say that, in the perfection of righteousness, the highest rank belongs to the worship of God, and the duties that people owe to each other occupy the second rank. For, though piety is justly considered to be as much superior to charity as God is higher than humans, yet, since believers, by practicing justice towards each other, prove that their service of God is sincere, it is not without reason that this subject is brought to the attention of hypocrites, who imitate piety by outward signs and yet pervert it by confining their laborious efforts to carnal worship alone.⁸¹ From the testimony of the Prophet, Christ justly infers that no blame attaches to His disciples; for while God trained His people in the basic principles of the Law, it was far from being His design to kill wretched people with famine.

⁸¹ “Et cependant neantmoins la renversent et falsifient, s’arrestans au seul service charnel, auquel ils prenent grande peine;” — “and yet nevertheless overthrow and falsify it, confining themselves to the carnal service alone, on which they bestow great pains.”;” — “and yet nevertheless overthrow and falsify it, confining themselves to the carnal service alone, on which they bestow great pains.”