And when the Pharisees saw it, they said to him, “Look, your disciples are doing what is not permitted on the Sabbath day.”
In this passage the Pharisees criticize Jesus, noticing that His disciples are doing something on the Sabbath day that, according to their laws, is not permitted. For the Pharisees, plucking heads of grain and eating on the Sabbath was considered a form of work, and they sought to keep a strict interpretation of the law regarding the Sabbath, in which doing no work was required. This criticism by the Pharisees shows how they were focused on the outward demands of the law, without taking into account the true purpose of the action being done. In reality, Jesus emphasized the depth of the law, which was intended not merely for observance but for people’s well-being, whereas the Pharisees were constrained by a formal and rigid application of the law.