He answered, “Haven’t you read what David did when he and his companions were hungry? He entered the house of God, and he and his companions ate the consecrated bread—which was not lawful for them to do, but only for the priests.” Matthew 12:3-4

            In 1 Samuel 21, David, while on a mission for King Saul, went to the priest Ahimelek and asked for bread to eat.  All the priest had on hand was consecrated bread.  This bread is talked about in Leviticus.

“Take the finest flour and bake twelve loaves of bread, using two-tenths of an ephah^[a] for each loaf. Arrange them in two stacks, six in each stack, on the table of pure gold before the Lord. By each stack put some pure incense as a memoria^] portion to represent the bread and to be a food offering presented to the Lord. This bread is to be set out before the Lord regularly, Sabbath after Sabbath, on behalf of the Israelites, as a lasting covenant. It belongs to Aaron and his sons, who are to eat it in the sanctuary area, because it is a most holy part of their perpetual share of the food offerings presented to the Lord.” Leviticus 24:5-9

            This bread was a food offering to the Lord and “a most holy part” of the sacrifice.  This bread was sacred.  However, there was a more immediate need for David and their men.  They were hungry.  The priest set aside the ceremonial reason for an immediate reason and fed the men.

            Jesus mentioned this story when the issues of healing on the Sabbath came up.  There were rules and then there were needs that were immediate and more important.  If David and his companions could eat holy bread, why couldn’t Jesus heal on the Sabbath?