In Matthew 12:3-8 Christ continues His teaching concerning the New Testament economy. When the Pharisees told Him that it was not lawful for His disciples to pick ears of grain on the Sabbath, He said, “Have you not read what David did when he was hungry and those who were with him; how he entered into the house of God, and they ate the showbread, which was not lawful for him to eat, nor for those who were with him, but for the priests only?” (vv. 3-4). The Lord’s word here implies that He is the real David. In ancient times David and his followers, when rejected, entered into the house of God and ate the showbread, apparently breaking the Levitical law. Now the real David and His followers were also rejected and took action to eat, apparently against the sabbatical regulation. Just as David and his followers were not held guilty, neither should Christ and His disciples be condemned. King David was a prefigure of Christ, the real David. David had followers and Christ, the real David, also had disciples as His followers. King David and his followers were rejected by the people, and the real David and his followers were rejected also. Just as David and his followers were hungry, so Christ and His disciples were hungry. Furthermore, neither David and his followers nor Christ and His followers had anything to eat, but there was a place where there was something to eat. For David it was the house of God, and for Christ it was the grainfield. All this implies that David and his followers were a type of Christ and His disciples.
It is important for us to see that Christ’s word here implies the dispensational change from the priesthood to the kingship. In ancient times the coming of David changed the dispensation from the age of the priests to the age of the kings, in which the kings were above the priests. In the age of the priests the leader of the people should listen to the priest (Num. 27:21-22). But in the age of the kings the priest should submit to the king (1 Sam. 2:35-36). Hence, what King David did with his followers was not illegal. Now by the coming of Christ the dispensation has also been changed, this time from the age of the law to the age of grace, in which Christ is above all. Whatever He does is right. The matter of keeping the Sabbath belonged to the old dispensation of the law. But in the age of grace Christ has the final word. It is not a matter of law but of Christ.
In Matthew 12:5 and 6 the Lord Jesus goes on to say, “Have you not read in the law that on the Sabbaths the priests in the temple profane the Sabbath and are guiltless? Now I say to you that a greater than the temple is here.” Christ’s revealing to the Pharisees that He is greater than the temple is another change, a type-fulfilling change from the temple to a person. In the case of David the change was from one age to another. In this case, a case concerning the priests, it is a change from the temple to One who is greater than the temple. Because the priests were guiltless in doing things on the Sabbath in the temple, how could Christ’s disciples be guilty in doing things on the Sabbath in Him who is greater than the temple? Apparently the priests were profaning the Sabbath, but actually they were not profaning the Sabbath, because they were in the temple, in a sphere where every day and everything was holy. Likewise, every day was sanctified by the temple. Everything, every day, every matter, and everyone in the temple were holy. The temple, however, was a shadow, not the reality. The reality is Christ, the One who is greater than the temple.
Finally, in Matthew 12:8 the Lord said, “The Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath.” Here the Lord indicated a third change, a right-asserting change from the Sabbath to the Lord of the Sabbath. As the Lord of the Sabbath, Christ has the right to change the regulations concerning the Sabbath. Therefore, in Matthew 12 He gave the condemning Pharisees a threefold verdict. He was the real David, the greater temple, and the Lord of the Sabbath. As such a One, He could do whatever He liked on the Sabbath, and whatever He did was justified by Himself. In the New Testament economy Christ is above all rituals and regulations.
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