Jesus told the Pharisees that they judged according to appearances and admonished them to judge righteously instead. We tend to react like the Pharisees. Similar to the man in yesterdays story, we do not see three thirsty and hungry men, we see thieves. God would see men he created who were in desperate need of the oranges.
The disciples were hungry and ate grain from an open field on the Sabbath. According to the law given to Moses it was acceptable to eat grain from any field. The Pharisees were not complaining about the men stealing. They complained because they saw this as “harvesting” or working on the Sabbath. They were twisting the law of Moses so that they looked more spiritual than others.
Jesus told them, “if you had known what this means, ‘I desire mercy and not sacrifice.’ You would not have condemned the guiltless.”
God’s word needs to always be ministered with mercy (Mathew 12:1-7).
