The next controversy arose over the purpose of the Sabbath. Because they were hungry the disciples pulled some ears of ripe wheat from a cornfield so that they might husk it with their hands and chew the grain. This action was considered as unnecessary work on the Sabbath by the Pharisees who saw them and so the disciples were accused of breaking the Sabbath laws. Jesus did not deny that, according to the interpretation of the Pharisees, the disciples had broken the Sabbath laws, but he challenged their whole understanding of the purpose of the Sabbath. He reminded them of a story about King David and his soldiers who were given the sacrificial bread by the high priest when they were in desperate need of food. The priest broke the Law to feed the hungry men. Mark leaves it to his readers to see the point of the story; setting aside the demands of the Law could be justified in circumstances of human need. As we know from the letters of Paul and Acts the relationship of the Jewish Law to Christian faith had to be worked out when the Good News was taken to the Gentiles. In the controversy stories concerning the Sabbath laws, we see the beginning of the loosening of the bonds of the Law and the end of its use in God's plan. In 2:27 there is more than just a general statement that the Sabbath is intended for the rest, strengthening and spiritual nurture of God's people (even the Pharisees would not have disagreed with that). 2:27 leads on to the great claim of Jesus in 2 :28 to have divine authority over the Sabbath and therefore over everything else in the Law. When he healed on the Sabbath, he was proclaiming the arrival of the Messianic age in which all days were holy. He was Lord of the Sabbath which his Father had created for the good of mankind.