(9) And it shall be Aaron's and his sons'; and they shall eat it in the holy place: for it is most holy unto him of
the offerings of the LORD made by fire by a perpetual statute‖. (Lev 24:5-9)
The Pharisees recognised this fact, as in the Talmud makes it clear that both the commands of circumcision
and Temple sacrificial service take precedence over the command not to do work on the Sabbath:
Talmud - Mas. Shabbath 132b: ―whilst the sacrificial service supersedes the Sabbath, yet circumcision
supersedes it: then the Sabbath, which is superseded by the sacrificial service, surely circumcision
supersedes it‖.
12:6 In this place is one greater than the temple
―But I say unto you, That in this place is one greater than the temple‖.
Having reminded these legalistic Pharisees of the recognised oral Torah, He now announced that He is
greater than the Temple (therefore the same hierarchy of principles should apply to Him and His disciples).
Y‘shua was the Temple of Elohim while on earth.
Once again, John's Gospel makes the connection for us:
―Jesus answered and said unto them, Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up. Then said the
Jews, Forty and six years was this temple in building, and wilt thou rear it up in three days? But he spake of
the temple of his body‖. (John 2:19-21)
Y‘shua is alluding to what the prophet Isaiah spoke about the relationship between YHWH and His Temple:
―Thus saith the LORD, The heaven is my throne, and the earth is my footstool: where is the house that ye
build unto me? and where is the place of my rest?‖ (Isaiah 66:1)
The same passage in Isaiah also says that YHWH is looking for in man. These words mirror those of
Hos 6:6, which Y‘shua quotes in verse 7 below:
―For all those things hath mine hand made, and all those things have been, saith the LORD: but to this man
will I look, even to him that is poor and of a contrite spirit, and trembleth at my word‖. (Isaiah 66:2)
12:7 But if ye had known what this meaneth...
―But if ye had known what this meaneth, I will have mercy, and not sacrifice, ye would not have condemned
the guiltless‖.
Y‘shua repeats his quote from Hosea 6:5 what He said earlier in Matt 9:13. If these legalistic Pharisees had
truly been seeking YHWH's righteousness and not their own, they would have recognised Him as the
Messiah. They made themselves "blind" through their legalistic observance of the commands of YHWH,
seeking their own righteousness over His (i.e., Rom 10:3).
(5) ―Therefore have I hewed them by the prophets; I have slain them by the words of my mouth: and thy
judgments are as the light that goeth forth.
(6) For I desired mercy, and not sacrifice; and the knowledge of God more than burnt offerings‖. (Hos
6:5-6)
―But go ye and learn what that meaneth, I will have mercy, and not sacrifice: for I am not come to call the
righteous, but sinners to repentance‖. (Mat 9:13)
If they had recognised Him as Messiah, then by both the written and oral Torah they would have no cause to
be critical of any work being done by those serving the One who is greater than the Temple.
12:8 For the Son of man is Lord even of the Sabbath day
―For the Son of man is Lord even of the sabbath day‖.
Just as the priority was not to fast during Y‘shua's presence on earth (Matt 9:14-17); so, too, does this affect
other priorities of the Torah (as mentioned above). The Messiah's presence on earth was not to invalidate
any of Torah (Matt 5:17-21). Any "messiah" that declared an end to Torah would be a false one.