Matthew 12:1-13 “At that time Jesus went on the sabbath day through the corn; and his disciples were an hungred, and began to pluck the ears of corn and to eat. But when the Pharisees saw it, they said unto him, Behold, thy disciples do that which is not lawful to do upon the sabbath day. But he said unto them, Have ye not read what David did, when he was an hungred, and they that were with him; How he entered into the house of God, and did eat the shewbread, which was not lawful for him to eat, neither for them which were with him, but only for the priests? Or have ye not read in the law, how that on the sabbath days the priests in the temple profane the sabbath, and are blameless? But I say unto you, That in this place is one greater than the temple. But if ye had known what this meaneth, I will have mercy, and not sacrifice, ye would not have condemned the guiltless. For the Son of man is Lord even of the sabbath day. And when he was departed thence, he went into their synagogue:And, behold, there was a man which had his hand withered. And they asked him, saying, Is it lawful to heal on the sabbath days? that they might accuse him. And he said unto them, What man shall there be among you, that shall have one sheep, and if it fall into a pit on the sabbath day, will he not lay hold on it, and lift it out? How much then is a man better than a sheep? Wherefore it is lawful to do well on the sabbath days. Then saith he to the man, Stretch forth thine hand. And he stretched it forth; and it was restored whole, like as the other.”
The lesson from this passage is that the Lord is Lord of the sabbath, and can do anything He wants to do with it. He could change the rules of how it was kept. He could make exceptions to the rules. Or He could suspend the sabbath all together, as He did when Jesus died and the Old Testament ceremonial law was nailed to the cross and died. All of the sabbaths were ended, then. They were a sign between God and Israel and were never given to the church. God does what is best for us, and He will not allow legalities or legalism to hinder Him.
Verse 7 is especially needed in our day, “But if ye had known what this meaneth, I will have mercy and not sacrifice, ye would not have condemned the guiltless.” Most people in Christendom do not know what the above passage means, have no mercy, and condemn the guiltless. There is no guilt before God in not keeping the sabbath today. Christians should keep Sunday, not the sabbath.