The Pharisees, who were constantly watching for an opportunity to find fault, now asked Jesus, why He allowed his disciples to do what was not lawful for them to do on the Sabbath day. For very many years the Jews had neglected to observe the Sabbath in a proper manner, and this neglect of a positive command, had been one cause of the destruction of their kingdom, and of all the misery they afterwards suffered. Now their descendants had gone into another sin, and instead of making the Sabbath a day of rest from worldly cares,--a day to be devoted to the service of God, and to thinking of all His mercies,--they made so many rules as to what might or might not be done, that the most common and necessary actions, such as healing the sick, or saving the life of an animal, came to be looked upon as unlawful, and therefore sinful. Jesus reminded the Jews who thus blamed His disciples, that David was not considered to have broken the Law of Moses, because once, when pressed by hunger, he and his followers had eaten the shewbread, which it "was not lawful to eat, but for the priests alone." He also told them, that no one accused the Priests of breaking the Law, because on the Sabbath day they, in performing the temple services, did things in themselves forbidden on that holy day. Jesus ended by declaring, that "the Sabbath was made for man, and not man for the Sabbath": that is, that the Sabbath was meant for the benefit of mankind, as well as for the glory of God, and not to be an oppressive burden; and that the Son of man was Lord also of the Sabbath, and had therefore power to dispense with its rigorous observance; and that if they had understood the meaning of God's words, "I will have mercy and not sacrifice," they would not have been so ready to blame His disciples, as if they had been guilty of a crime, merely because, to relieve the pangs of hunger, they had plucked a few ears of corn on the Sabbath day.