Jesus was walking with His disciples and they took some heads of grain and rubbed off the husks to eat them, and the Pharisees accused them of working on the Sabbath by harvesting wheat. First what they did was hardly harvesting wheat making their charges absolutely absurd. It shows how desperate they were to find fault with Jesus. Jesus sited David and his men eating Holy bread in the Temple then went on to say in verse 5, "The Son of Man, is Lord, even over the Sabbath." Meaning that He is Lord of all things including the Sabbath, Which is to say if He did work on the Sabbath that is up to Him.
We know Jesus heart regarding the Sabbath which is given us in Mark 2:27; "The Sabbath was made for man not man for the Sabbath." Here we see that the Sabbath was created to give man a break and was intended to bless man. The Sabbath was not intended to be a problem or burden for man. The Pharisees had polluted the intent of the Sabbath to the point that it was another burdensome rule that confined them and made them miserable.
While in the synagogue on the Sabbath, Jesus saw a man with a deformed man. The Pharisees and teachers again waited for an opportunity to attack and accuse Jesus of breaking the law. Jesus knew what they were up to and called to the man with the deformed hand asking him to stand in clear view of the crowd. Jesus asked those who wanted to ruin Him if the law permitted good deed on the Sabbath or if it permitted doing evil on the Sabbath. He asked if the Sabbath as a day for saving a life or destroying one. Then Jesus looked at those in the room "one by one". Perhaps Jesus was waiting for anyone bold enough to answer His question but obviously no one did. He them told the man to hold out his hand and it was healed.
They became furious and filled with rage toward Jesus and deliberated about what to do with Him. Jesus attempted to teach them but they were so consumed with obeying rules they forgot the intent of the Sabbath and placed a higher value on adhering to the definition of the Sabbath as they had wrongly made it rather than help a person. People are what God cares about not rules, especially rules turned into something God had never intended them to be.
Verses 12-16 tell us of Jesus selection of the 12 Apostles and lists them for us. I think what precedes the list is important to note. Verse 12; "One day soon afterward (the ordeal regarding the Sabbath) Jesus went up on a mountain to pray, and He prayed to God all night." Jesus was about to select the men who would work with Him while He was on Earth and then carry on His work after He ascended. Jesus was about to make some very important choices and spent the entire night in prayer. I see this as a great lesson to us all. Jesus took making this decision seriously enough to spend the night before in prayer and we should do likewise. Especially those of us who are church leaders or leaders in ministries. The decisions we make should be made after significant time in prayer.
Verses 27-36 are among my favorite in all the Bible. In these verses, Jesus taught about loving enemies. He brought about the concept of loving those who love you and who are lovable as being something to think as great. However, to love those who are not lovable or who are your enemies would be something of great accomplishment.
He tells us to love our enemies. Do good to those who hate us. Bless those who curse us and pray for those who hurt us. What credit is it for any of us to love those who love us or do good to those who do good to us, even sinners and pagans do as much. We as Christians are called to a love that is beyond the kind of love that most men find easy to give.
Give to those who ask and give more than they ask. Lend to those who borrow without expecting payment in return. Do to others what you would like done to you. If something is taken away from you, don't worry about or try to get it back. Be compassionate just as our Father is compassionate.
Living in such a way will bring you (vs 35) reward from heaven which will be very great. Then... we will "truly" be acting as children of the Most High, for He is kind to those who are unthankful and wicked. The opposite of that is if we only love, loan, pray and care for only those who love us and do the same for us, we are no different from anyone else including sinners. We will NOT be "truly" acting as children of the Most High by caring only for those who care for us.
This teaching is again given in Matthew 5: 44-45; "But I say, love your enemies! Pray for those who persecute you! In that way, you will be acting as true children of Your Father in heaven. For He gives sunlight to both the evil and the good. and He sends rain on the just ands unjust alike.
God shines the sun and sends rain to both the good and wicked and again we see God blesses all. His love is for all mankind. We too, should emulate His love and not save it only for those who love us back.
We are taught to not judge others because we may see something wrong with another because none of us are free from being flawed. We may even have greater flaws than the one see in another person. We are to be careful to make ourselves right before we go looking at and judging the flaws of others.
Jesus then uses the idea that grapes cannot be grown on bramble bushes nor can figs come from thorn bushes. He is telling us that evil can only come from an evil heart and likewise only good can only come from a good heart. None can claim to be what they are not for what is in their heart is exhibited by what their life produces. As Jesus said, "What you say (or do - my words) flows from what is in your heart." If we love then love is exhibited in our words and actions. If we exhibit anger, hatred and violence then there must be evil in our heart. We can check the state of our hearts by our words, deeds and actions and make the needed changes so we can truly present ourselves as children of God.