Not long ago I witnessed an ACCIDENT. A car ahead of me pulled out of it's lane into a bus lane and collected the car that had been coming up from behind him in that lane. It left a sizeable dent in each car. Each morning as I travel to the Shalom Centre I see many people use Sydney bus lanes ILLEGALLY. It's so easy and CONVENIENT to do. The temptation to save time and zip into a bus lane obviously overrides the possibility that a policeman will pull them over at the corner. Living on the EDGE! Is it worth the risk of 3 licence demerit points and $253 fine and progressive $50 fines until it is paid? It's not! And I should know. But doesn't Jesus break the law when it's convenient?
In Matthew 12:1-2 isn't Jesus just IGNORING parts of the law that He doesn't like? Is He walking to the EDGE of the law to explore where the BOUNDARIES really are? Is He the kind of person who would drive past a policeman just over the SPEED LIMIT or leave it until the last second to get through the AMBER TRAFFIC LIGHT instead of stopping? Or drive in a bus lane?
Matthew 12:1-2 speaks about a time when "...Jesus was walking through some grainfields on the Sabbath. His disciples were HUNGRY, so they began breaking off some heads of grain and eating them. But some Pharisees saw them do it and protested, "Look, Your disciples are BREAKING THE LAW by harvesting grain on the Sabbath."
If it was me I would have said something like "What is your problem? Mind your own business! Who made you the Sabbath police?" Besides, the Law of Deuteronomy 23:25 (NLT) says "...when you enter your neighbour's field of grain, you may pluck the heads of grain with your hand, but you must not harvest it with a sickle." So they weren't STEALING.
The problem is that the disciples are plucking grain on a SATURDAY. Saturday is the SABBATH, a rest day. Picking grain is viewed as work by the Pharisees even though technically the law only prohibited harvesting grain for PROFIT on the Sabbath. It's not as if they were driving a Massey Fergusen tractor with a COMBINE HARVESTER on the back and setting up a CUT PRICE SILO SALE for the grain.
Jesus always seems to confront me with my LEGALISM and calls me to think carefully about my responses to God. There's a difference between obeying God's law and legalism.