Noticing how those accompanying Jesus were picking and eating ears of corn, the Pharisees complained to Jesus, "See, your disciples are doing what is unlawful to do on the Sabbath."  And Jesus replied, "Do not condemn these innocent men. They are picking and eating ears of corn under my watch, and I have not condemned them, yet am the Lord of the Sabbath. If you have to condemn anyone, then condemn me!" What does the Sabbath mean for me, for you? Is it a day set aside for worshiping God? Of course it is. What kind of God? A legalistic God? A God who would remain unmoved even if someone is on the brink of dying of hunger because he/she is observing the Sabbath? A God who delights in sacrifice at the expense of mercy and compassion? Jesus seems not to think so. 
The command to observe the Sabbath is predicated on the fact that God rested on the seventh day after six days of creating the universe and everything contained in it (cf. Exodus 20:11). And I would not be entirely wrong to assume that for most of us that is where it ends. We don't go as far as asking ourselves why God had to rest on the seventh day. Was God tired? Was God exhausted after six days of laborious activity so much so that God needed a day to relax and to “re-fuel?” 
God rested on the seventh day after bringing forth life from nothing. God rested on the seventh day after creating order out of chaos. God hallowed the seventh day as a day of rest (Sabbath) as a celebration of the life God had created. God set aside the Sabbath, first and foremost, as a day of giving life. It is a day on which creation is called forth to celebrate the life of God that is in creation. It is day on which we are called forth and reminded to stay and do away with any and everything that might extinguish the sacred gift of God that has been placed inside of us. Isn't this what the disciples were doing when they were picking and eating ears of corn? Don't we eat so as to regenerate and keep ourselves alive? And how can this possibly be a violation of the Sabbath? Jesus interestingly points to his accusers who, presumed to be the guardians and protectors of life, are the real violators of the Sabbath. They (the accusers of Jesus) represent all those who only care about the letter of the law while disregarding the spirit of the law: those who observe all the tenets of the law but are corrupt, selfish, mean, violent. These are the real violators of the Sabbath.