John Calvin Reformed @genevareformer

Matthew 12:9. And having departed thence. This narrative and that which immediately precedes it have the same object; which is to show, that the scribes watched with a malicious eye for the purpose of turning into slander every thing that Christ did, and consequently that we need not wonder if men, whose minds were so depraved, were his implacable enemies.

Matthew Henry Presbyterian @wholebiblehenry

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

John Gill Reformed Baptist @doctorgill

And when he was departed thence,.... From the corn fields, where the disciples had plucked the ears of corn, and this conversation passed between Christ and the Pharisees about the violation of the sabbath, he went into their synagogue; not on the same sabbath day, as one might be led to conclude from the account of this evangelist, but on another sabbath, as Luke expresses it, Luk 6:6.