A Sabbath Controversy Over Gleaning

This is a story which John skips, but Matthew, Mark, and Luke include. None of the three synoptic writers give us the location, but from the events that follow, the best guess is that it occurred in Judea, while they were still near Jerusalem. If not, it would have been on the way home from Passover.

The only hint of when this happened is found in Luke. Speaking of the synagogue where this healing occurred, most modern translations smooth this out to just “another Sabbath.” It seems better translated “the other Sabbath.” (The KJV seems more correct, translating Luke 6:1 as “…on the second Sabbath after the first…”

Why is this important? If it is “the other Sabbath,” it is the second Sabbath of the Week of Unleavened Bread and can thus be dated. If Passover came with the full moon of March—which is the most likely month—this would have been on April 3, 31 A.D.

Also, no one was permitted to harvest any of the coming crop of barley until after the presentation of the first sheaf of grain in the Temple. In most years, First Fruits came shortly after Passover. If this Sabbath was the “other Sabbath” this grain offering would have been during the Week of Unleavened Bread. This was the case in 33 A.D. when fulfilled in the resurrection of Jesus.

If not after First Fruits, they would have been guilty of taking what was dedicated to God. If so, the Pharisees would have made this greater violation their accusation, rather than just that they violated the prohibition against work on the Sabbath.