A Christ-Shaped Ministry

Jesus Is Lord of the Sabbath

¹At that time wJesus went through the grainfields on the Sabbath. His disciples were hungry, and xthey began to pluck heads of grain and to eat. ²But when the Pharisees saw it, they said to him, y“Look, your disciples are doing zwhat is not lawful to do on the Sabbath.” ³He said to them, a“Have you not read what David did when he was hungry, and those who were with him: ⁴how he entered the house of God and ate bthe bread of the Presence, which it was not lawful for him to eat nor for those who were with him, but only for the priests? ⁵Or have you not read cin the Law how on the Sabbath the priests in the temple profane the Sabbath and are guiltless? ⁶I tell you, dsomething greater than the temple is here. ⁷And if you had known ewhat this means, f‘I desire mercy, and not sacrifice,’ you would not have condemned the guiltless. ⁸For gthe Son of Man is lord of the Sabbath.”

A Man with a Withered Hand

⁹He went on from there and hentered their synagogue. ¹⁰And a man was there with a withered hand. And they asked him, i“Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath?”—jso that they might accuse him. ¹¹He said to them, “Which one of you who has a sheep, kif it falls into a pit on the Sabbath, will not take hold of it and lift it out? ¹²lOf how much more value is a man than a sheep! So mit is lawful to do good on the Sabbath.” ¹³Then he said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” And nthe man stretched it out, and it was restored, healthy like the other. ¹⁴But the Pharisees went out and conspired against him, how to destroy him.

God's Chosen Servant

¹⁵Jesus, aware of this, owithdrew from there. And pmany followed him, and he healed them all ¹⁶and qordered them not to make him known. ¹⁷rThis was to fulfill what was spoken by the prophet Isaiah:

¹⁸s“Behold, my tservant whom I have chosen,

my beloved with whom my soul is well pleased.

uI will put my Spirit upon him,

and he will proclaim justice to the Gentiles.

¹⁹He will not quarrel or cry aloud,

nor will anyone hear his voice in the streets;

²⁰a bruised reed he will not break,

and a smoldering wick he will not quench,

until he brings justice to victory;

²¹vand in his name the Gentiles will hope.”