They were eating the corn as they walked. The Sabbath Day for the Jewish people was in fact on a Saturday. We have our Sabbath Day on a Sunday.

The Pharisees on hearing about this, come to Jesus and say to him: “it is forbidden to walk through a cornfield and eat the corn on the Sabbath.”

To put this in context it’s a bit like me saying that no one is allowed to go to McDonald's on Sunday or play sports on Sunday. Jesus goes on to tell the Pharisees that the Sabbath is made for people and not people for the Sabbath. So in short, Jesus told the Pharisees that the Sabbath was for people to not only honour God, but enjoy life free from work, one day a week.

God did not give us his spiritual laws or commandments to limit our spiritual potential, but rather to enhance our ability to carry out good works in God’s name.

One of the commandments that God gave us was to love our neighbour as ourselves. We all need to make sure that we don’t make the commandments a burden, but rather a guide.

Perhaps the following short story better illustrates what I mean: There is a legend told about Abraham in the Middle East. According to the legend, he always held off eating his breakfast each morning until a hungry person came along to share it with him. One day an old man came along, and of course, Abraham invited him to share his breakfast with him. However, when Abraham heard the old man say a pagan blessing over his food, he jumped up, and ordered the man from the table, and from his house.

Almost immediately, God spoke to Abraham. “Abraham! Abraham! I have been supplying that unbeliever with food every day for the past eight years. Could you not have tolerated him for just one meal?” The moral of the story being that Jesus has strong words to say about those who only love or share with friends, or with those who can give in return. Jesus always calls upon us to reach out to those in need in our community.