Matthew 12:4
How he entered into the house of God, and did eat the shew bread, which was not lawful for him to eat, neither for them which were with him, but only for the priests? How he entered into the house of God, and did eat the shew bread, which was not lawful for him to eat, neither for them which were with him, but only for the priests?
David, when he was hungry, entered the house of God with his companions and ate the consecrated showbread, although it was lawful only for the priests to eat it. Jesus used this example in answering the charge brought against His own hungry disciples. He also set this example before the Pharisees when they accused Him of breaking the Sabbath for healing on the Sabbath.
The disciples, passing through fields on the Sabbath, plucked grain and ate to satisfy their hunger. The law permitted a hungry person to enter another's field and take grain or fruit from a neighbor's field, orchard, or vineyard to satisfy hunger. Their action therefore accorded with God's provision for the poor.
Jesus used David's example to answer the charge against His hungry disciples and to defend them. He established their innocence by His own authority and prerogatives. The charge that He and His disciples violated the Sabbath was false and could not be proved.
Christ denied that charge and declared the hungry disciples guiltless, for their act to satisfy hunger was in harmony with the Sabbath commandment. His works were in perfect harmony with God's law. He also set David's example before the Pharisees when they accused Him of breaking the Sabbath for healing, to show their ignorance of the Scriptures and the power of God and of the true meaning of the law and how blindly they applied the law.
God requires mercy and not sacrifice: to relieve the suffering of man or beast and to do well on the Sabbath is in harmony with God's commandment, and those who do so are guiltless. In so doing Christ broke no commandment of the Decalogue, and no fault could be found in Him. He rejected human rules that distorted the Sabbath and did not conform to the rabbis' requirements, but kept the Sabbath according to God's law.
The scribes, Pharisees, and Jewish rulers condemned Christ as a Sabbath-breaker even though He was the Maker and Lord of the Sabbath. Their accusation showed how blindly they applied the law. It shows the folly and weakness of human judgment when it condemns Christ.