I desire mercy, not sacrifice

From today's reading: "if you had known what this means, 'I desire mercy and not sacrifice,' you would not have condemned the guiltless. For the Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath." Matthew 12:7-8 In today's lesson the Pharisees are complaining to Jesus because the disciples are picking and eating grains of wheat on the Sabbath because they are hungry. As the Pharisees got too caught up in obeying the law, they often overlooked the underlying conditions that led to violations. If they had had mercy on those who were hungry, the Pharisees would have fed them instead of complaining that they satisfied their need for food. How often do we see someone doing something we disapprove of and we simply make judgments instead of exploring to find the root cause. We all do it, we all have our standard that we expect others to live up to. When people violate the law, they need to be held accountable, but we as Christian members of society also need to discern when and where to show mercy and when to help in meeting their needs.