All three of the Synoptic Gospels contain this verse in practically the same form. The Greek particle translated For by Revised Standard Version (so also Good News Translation) is essential to the argument. Jesus’ claim is that he (the Son of man) is the one who has the authority to tell what may or may not be done on the Sabbath. See 8.20 for a discussion of the translation of Son of man. As there, our recommendation is to use third person in the translation, as in “the one who is Son of Man,” but first person may be used if readers will otherwise fail to see at all that Jesus is referring to himself: “I, the one who is Son of Man.”

To say the Son of man is lord of the sabbath means he “makes the rules over what may be done on the day of rest” or “controls (the laws about) the day of rest.”

Quoted with permission from Newman, Barclay M. and Stine, Philip C. A Handbook on the Gospel of Matthew. (UBS Handbook Series). New York: UBS, 1988. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .