Mark 2:25-28

So we have a "problem." Mark records that Jesus says, "In the days of Abiathar the high priest..." Abiathar was not the high priest that David went to; it was his son Ahimelech. I suppose we could argue that those could well have been "the days of Abiathar," but it is interesting that we have Abiathar instead of Ahimelech.

But the story itself is what matters. To combat the Pharisees' argument, Jesus draws from the life of David and one interesting story found in I Sam. 21. David and his followers were extremely hungry, so they eat the only thing available - the Bread of the Presence. Jesus uses this story to express that humans and their lives are more important than the Sabbath.

"The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath."

And then Jesus shows us what that means....