If only you had known the meaning of ‘I desire mercy, not sacrifice,’ you would not have condemned the innocent.
7. But if you knew This Third argument is also mentioned by Matthew alone. Christ conveys an indirect reproof to the Pharisees, for not considering why ceremonies were appointed, and to what object they are directed. This has been a common fault in almost every age; and therefore the prophet Hosea (6:6) exclaims against the men of his own age for being too much attached...
The Jews had twisted the fourth commandment into a harsh strictness that Christ here corrects by His example. Works of necessity and mercy are lawful on the Sabbath; Christ's careful exposition proves the commandment stands firm for all ages, but His Church is freed from the rigid rules the Jewish elders had piled upon it.
AI summary
Commenting on Matthew 12:1-13
But if ye had known what this meaneth, The passage of Scripture in Hos 6:6 I will have mercy, and not sacrifice; of the sense of which, see Gill on Mat 9:13. ye would not have condemned the guiltless. Our Lord taxes the Pharisees both with ignorance of the Scriptures, in which they pretended to be very knowing, and took upon them to be the...