Lord of the Sabbath

The Lord of the Sabbath is an expression describing Jesus which appears in all three Synoptic Gospels: Matthew 12:1–8,[1] Mark 2:23–28[2] and Luke 6:1–5.

[4] According to the Gospel of Mark: 23One Sabbath Jesus was going through the grainfields, and as his disciples walked along, they began to pick some heads of grain.

[9] Lutheran theologian Johann Albrecht Bengel suggested that this dialogue could have taken place at the time of year when the regulations on temple sacrifices in the Book of Leviticus were being read during Sabbath services;[10] however, the Pulpit Commentary questions this by reference to a "double uncertainty: first, what time of year it really was; and secondly, what is the antiquity of the present custom of reading the whole Law every year?

"[11] Matthew makes two statements regarding Jesus' view of his role: he is Lord [even] of the Sabbath and also he is "one greater than the Temple".

[14] 1 Samuel 21:1–6 says the incident referenced by Jesus occurred when Ahimelech was the high priest, not Abiathar, as written in Mark.