Several times in the Gospels, Jesus broke the Sabbath in order to eat with his disciples or to heal somebody. Upon being rebuked by religious leaders for breaking the Sabbath Jesus told them that the Son of Man was Lord of the Sabbath and that there was one who was greater than the temple in the place where they were. These were indirect ways of pointing to himself as that person.
Jesus also directed them to other passages of scripture such as when out of need, David ate unlawful showbread set apart for the priests. He also used reason to explain that even the religious leaders know that there is a time to bend the rules in order to help an animal. Jesus did not break the Law of Moses, but rather, he reinterpreted it in favor of mercy for others over strict obedience. In the Law, Jesus read that people were more important than the icon called the Law or the icon called the temple.
The religious leaders were sure that Jesus was breaking the Law because they had inherited, and built on, a different way of reading and obeying the Law than Jesus taught. For years, the leaders had been debating and refining the interpretation of Scriptures, so that they would know how to interpret the Law in matters of the Sabbath and purity.
We do not know who influenced Jesus and how he came to the conclusions he did about the Law and its interpretation. The Gospels tell us that Jesus received his teachings from God; but does this mean that, like Paul, he received revelations directly from God through visions and revelations; or did God give him his teachings from others who mentored him when he was young; or was it both?
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