"And when you reap the harvest of your land, you shall not reap your field to its very border, nor shall you gather the gleanings after your harvest; you shall leave them for the poor and for the stranger: I am the LORD your God." Leviticus 23:22 (RSV)
On a sabbath, while he was going through the grainfields, his disciples plucked and ate some heads of grain, rubbing them in their hands. But some of the Pharisees said, "Why are you doing what is not lawful to do on the sabbath?" And Jesus answered, "Have you not read what David did when he was hungry, he and those who were with him: how he entered the house of God, and took and ate the bread of the Presence, which it is not lawful for any but the priests to eat, and also gave it to those with him?" And he said to them, "The Son of man is lord of the sabbath." Luke 6:1–5 (RSV)
At first glance, one might think that the Pharisees were upset that the disciples had stolen grain from the local farmers. Here in Iowa, if folk came along and harvested a few rows of corn from someone else's field, we would not think kindly on it.
According to Moses's Law, a landowner was expected to leave some of his crop standing so the poor and stranger might have food. The disciples were doing nothing wrong by taking the grain. The Pharisees were concerned that they were 'harvesting' and 'milling' the grain on the Sabbath.
God had given the Sabbath to us as a day of holy rest and worship. The Pharisees were very clear on how they felt about the Law of God. It was to be kept in every possible detail and way. They searched out the tiniest infraction of the Law and forbade the error. As far as the Pharisees were concerned, it was far better for the disciples to go hungry rather than profane the Sabbath.
The Pharisees felt well within their bounds, chastising Jesus for this sloppy care of the Sabbath. Jesus reminded them that the Lord of the Sabbath. As the Sabbath's Lord, Jesus knew how best to honor and keep the day.
In their zeal to protect the Sabbath, they had forgotten the purpose of the Sabbath. When He had finished all His work in creation, God hallowed the seventh day by His rest, His Sabbath. The word 'sabbath' means 'to rest.' God gave us a day in which we might rest as He did when His labors were done. The Father desires His Children to have the time to be renewed through physical rest.
It was learned early on that our Sabbath rest provided time to bless our Father, sing praises to Him, and to be fed with His Word. Luther is clear that our Sabbath is when we can 'gladly hear and learn' God's Word. Hearing and receiving the Word is the perfect rest we can have. The peace and grace of the Word gives our weary souls the rest they must have.
Obsessing over the minutia of sabbath keeping distracts everyone from the gift of the Sabbath, the Word of God, and the rest we find in it. We ought not turn the Sabbath into something to be endured instead of the life-giving rest the Father intended it to be.