Mk. 2:25. He said to them: Have you never read what David did when he had need and was hungry, he himself and those who were with him?
Mk. 2:26. How he entered the house of God in the time of Abiathar the high priest, and ate the showbread, which it was not lawful for anyone to eat except the priests, and also gave it to those who were with him?
Mk. 2:27. And He said to them: The Sabbath was made for man, and not man for the Sabbath;
Mk. 2:28. Therefore the Son of Man is Lord even of the Sabbath. The disciples of the Lord plucked the ears of grain, as men accustomed to living no longer under the law. When the Pharisees became indignant at this, Christ silences them by pointing to David, who out of necessity broke the law during the time of the high priest Abiathar. Fleeing from Saul, the prophet David came to this high priest and deceived him, saying that he had been sent by the king on an urgent military matter. There he both ate the showbread and took back the sword of Goliath, which he had once dedicated to God. There were twelve of these loaves; they lay upon the table every day, six on the right and six on the left side of the table. Some ask: why did the evangelist here call the high priest Abiathar, when the Book of Kings names him Ahimelech (1 Sam. 21)? To this one may say that the high priest had two names: Ahimelech and Abiathar. It can also be explained differently, namely: the Book of Kings speaks of Ahimelech, the priest at that time, while the evangelist speaks of Abiathar, the high priest at that time, and therefore their accounts do not contradict one another. The priest on that occasion was Ahimelech, while Abiathar was then the high priest. In the higher sense, understand it thus: Christ's disciples walk on the Sabbath, that is, in the repose of the soul (Sabbath means rest); consequently, when they have attained freedom from the passions and from the assaults of demons, then they make the journey, that is, they become guides for others as well on the path to virtue, plucking up and uprooting all earthly and base illusory growths. For whoever has not first been freed from the passions and disposed himself to a quiet way of life cannot guide others and be a leader for them toward the good.