Sunday School Lesson

June 3

Justice and Sabbath Laws

 

Devotional Reading: Psalm 10

Background Scripture: Matthew 12:1-14

 

Matthew 12:1-14

¹ At that time Jesus went on the sabbath day through the corn; and his disciples were an hungred, and began to pluck the ears of corn, and to eat.

² But when the Pharisees saw it, they said unto him, Behold, thy disciples do that which is not lawful to do upon the sabbath day.

³ But he said unto them, Have ye not read what David did, when he was an hungred, and they that were with him;

⁴ How he entered into the house of God, and did eat the shewbread, which was not lawful for him to eat, neither for them which were with him, but only for the priests?

⁵ Or have ye not read in the law, how that on the sabbath days the priests in the temple profane the sabbath, and are blameless?

⁶ But I say unto you, That in this place is one greater than the temple.

⁷ But if ye had known what this meaneth, I will have mercy, and not sacrifice, ye would not have condemned the guiltless.

⁸ For the Son of man is Lord even of the sabbath day.

⁹ And when he was departed thence, he went into their synagogue:

¹⁰ And, behold, there was a man which had his hand withered. And they asked him, saying, Is it lawful to heal on the sabbath days? that they might accuse him.

¹¹ And he said unto them, What man shall there be among you, that shall have one sheep, and if it fall into a pit on the sabbath day, will he not lay hold on it, and lift it out?

¹² How much then is a man better than a sheep? Wherefore it is lawful to do well on the sabbath days.

¹³ Then saith he to the man, Stretch forth thine hand. And he stretched it forth; and it was restored whole, like as the other.

¹⁴ Then the Pharisees went out, and held a council against him, how they might destroy him.

 

Key Verse

If ye had known what this meaneth, I will have mercy, and not sacrifice, ye would not have condemned the guiltless.—Matthew 12:7

 

Lesson Aims

After participating in this lesson, each learner will be able to:

1. Summarize the incidents in today’s text and Jesus’ response in each case.
2. Explain why mercy trumps sacrifice.
3. Plan a merciful act toward a specific person in the week ahead.

 

 

Introduction

 

1. The Best Rest

Someone has said it to you, probably more than once. You have heard it from friends and family when you have worked hard for a long time, when you have been under great stress, or when you have been ill: “You need to get some rest.”

Humans are divinely designed to need rest. Our bodies and minds are attuned to the rhythms of days and seasons, thriving on a blend of productive work and peaceful rest.

But as with so many other matters, we resist what we need. There always seems to be more work than there is time to do it. Something clamors for our attention at every moment. We lie awake thinking about what needs to be done. We worry that we have forgotten something important.

Our text today deals with the true rest that God gives His people through Jesus.

 

1. Lesson Background

Our text comes from the Gospel of Matthew, near the middle of its narration of Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection. Having presented himself in teaching and action as having authority belonging only to God (Matthew 5-9), Jesus encountered both opposition and belief. The religious leaders, for their part, opposed Him at nearly every turn. Even so, many chose to follow Jesus, believing God was about to fulfill His ancient promises to restore Israel. Of special focus in the latter group are the 12 disciples, called by Jesus and sent out to represent Him in teaching and action (10:1-8).

In the discourse that comes just before our text, Jesus invited those who were tired and needy to find rest in Him (Matthew 11:28-30). For Israel, the concept of rest was closely associated with two of God’s provisions: the Sabbath Day and the promised land (Exodus 20:8-11; Deuteronomy 12:10; 25:19; Joshua 1:13-15). In effect, Jesus declared that He fulfilled the promises that God had made through these divine institutions.

But that claim was challenged. We see that especially in today’s text, where Jesus dealt with a controversy concerning what He and His disciples were doing on the Sabbath. The Law of Moses described the Sabbath as a day of rest from work. It celebrated God’s resting from His acts of creation and His liberating Israel from slavery in Egypt (Exodus 20:8-11; Deuteronomy 5:15). But the law never clearly defined what constituted “work.”

For the Pharisees, that was a question to be settled with great care. From sources outside the New Testament, we learn that the Pharisees began as a movement opposed to what they saw as corrupt leadership in the temple. They hoped that God would restore His blessing to Israel if Israel began to observe God’s neglected law.

To that end, they sought to “build a fence” around the law. That is, they imagined every circumstance in which the law might come into play and devised strict responses to those situations. The person who followed their teachings would, as a result, not even come close to violating the law. Among these teachings were strict regulations about the Sabbath. Not even small, effortless deeds of “work” were to be done.

How would Pharisees, so strict in their interpretation of the Sabbath and so powerful in their influence over others, respond to Jesus’ claims to bring the Sabbath’s promised rest of Matthew 11:28-30?

 

1. Law and Temple

(Matthew 12:1-5)

1. David in the Temple (vv. 1-4)

 

1. At that time Jesus went on the sabbath day through the corn; and his disciples were an hungred, and began to pluck the ears of corn, and to eat.

The scene is set as Jesus . . . and his disciples pass through a field of grain. (Corn in the King James Version refers to any grain; wheat and barley are common in this time and place, but corn in the sense of maize is unknown.) The Law of Moses allows a hungry traveler to take a modest amount of grain from a farmer’s field to eat immediately (Deuteronomy 23:24, 25), and that is what the disciples are doing. God gave Israel such laws so that His people would be generous in response to God’s generosity (15:12-14). So the plucking of grain is not a controversial matter in and of itself. (Mark 2:23 and Luke 6:1 begin parallel accounts.)

 

2. But when the Pharisees saw it, they said unto him, Behold, thy disciples do that which is not lawful to do upon the sabbath day.

The problem with the disciples’ action is that it is being done upon the sabbath day. According to the interpretation of the Pharisees, what the disciples are doing amounts to three kinds of work: reaping (plucking the grain), threshing (rubbing the grain to separate kernel from husk), and winnowing (blowing the husks away from the grain). It does not matter that their actions are simple and easy, expending little energy. They have transgressed the “fence” around the Sabbath law.

These Pharisees have no official position from which to stop the disciples’ actions. They do not occupy any governmental or religious office, but they do have powerful influence. They do not confront Jesus’ disciples, but Jesus himself. They hold Him, as the teacher, responsible for His followers’ actions. They perceive Jesus as a rival, so they seek to discredit Him for not correcting His disciples’ mistake.

 

What Do You Think?

How were you shaped by an experience of being judged though a lens of legalism?

 

Points for Your Discussion

Regarding your own use of such a lens

Regarding presuppositions

In terms of response

Other

 

Have Hat, No Service

He looked like a typical teenager. It was the first time we had seen him in church, and he appeared to be by himself. He came in and sat down, and it was obvious that he was out of his element.

We’ll never know why he came, but we do know why he left. He left because of his baseball cap. During the song service, a deacon sitting behind the boy leaned forward and demanded rather gruffly, “Please remove your hat.”

The boy did not comply, so during the preacher’s prayer a few minutes later, the deacon leaned forward again and whispered, “I said, remove your hat!” The teen turned around and pleaded, “I really don’t want to take off my cap. Maybe I should just leave.”

 

“You don’t need to leave. Just take off that hat!”

After the boy turned back around, the deacon reached forward and snatched off his hat and dropped it into his lap. “That wasn’t so hard, was it?” That was when everyone near the spectacle noticed the ashy paleness of the teen’s bald head and the nasty scar that stretched across it. The teen jammed the baseball cap back on his disfigured head and got up and left. The preacher was just beginning his sermon, which was titled “The Love of Christ.”

We don’t know who that boy was. We will probably never know him. He might have been blessed by hearing a message about the love of Christ. It’s a sermon we all need to hear, but most of all to apply. Don’t let human traditions get in the way of the message of Christ’s love.

—C. T.

 

3. But he said unto them, Have ye not read what David did, when he was an hungred, and they that were with him?

Jesus begins His response by summarizing a story from 1 Samuel 20:1-21:6. David had been a member of King Saul’s court, but Saul had become jealous of David’s popularity and success. Warned to flee for his life, David became a fugitive in desperate need of food.

 

4. How he entered into the house of God, and did eat the shewbread, which was not lawful for him to eat, neither for them which were with him, but only for the priests?

The house of God that David entered was the tabernacle—the tent that served as Israel’s center of worship before Solomon built the temple. Asking the high priest for food, David was told that the only food available was the bread ritually placed in the tabernacle as an offering to God. No one was permitted to eat that bread except the priests (Leviticus 24:5-9). Yet the high priest gave the bread to David.

The high priest’s reasons for giving the bread were apparently twofold. David’s life was in danger, so the high priest acted to save his life. And David’s anointing by Samuel to be king was likely known, even though Saul still occupied the office (1 Samuel 16:1-13). The high priest acted in submission to God’s chosen.

 

1. Priests in the Temple (v. 5)
2. Or have ye not read in the law, how that on the sabbath days the priests in the temple profane the sabbath, and are blameless?

Jesus then appeals to another part of Israel’s Scriptures. The Law of Moses explicitly requires priests to offer sacrifices on the Sabbath, first in the tabernacle and then in the temple that superseded it (Numbers 28:9, 10). Jesus sarcastically uses the deliberately harsh expression profane to describe their action. By the Pharisees’ definition, this work would reduce the holy Sabbath to an ordinary day. Yet the Law of Moses commands sacrifice on the Sabbath, and so the priests who perform the sacrifice must be without guilt.

 

What Do You Think?

Where do you draw the line regarding what you will and won’t do on a day of rest? Why?

 

Points for Your Discussion

In terms of physical activity

In terms of mental activity

Considering Proverbs 6:10, 11; Matthew 11:28; 26:45; Mark 6:31; John 9:4; Hebrews 4:9, 10; 6:11, 12; 10:25

 

1. Sabbath and Messiah

(Matthew 12:6-8)

1. Greater Law (vv. 6, 7)
2. But I say unto you, That in this place is one greater than the temple.

As Jesus’ authority is greater than that of David, so He is greater than the temple. This statement, like many others that Jesus makes, no doubt shocks the religious leaders and others. To be allowed to have a temple is a gift from God. The temple was built according to His design for sacrifices and rituals instituted by God. To claim standing greater than the temple’s standing is to claim the authority of God himself.

 

7. But if ye had known what this meaneth, I will have mercy, and not sacrifice, ye would not have condemned the guiltless.

The regulations that allow plucking grain in order to satisfy hunger are expressions of God’s mercy(see comments on verse 1, above). This practice is an expression of God’s loving generosity. His people live in the land He has given them because of that generosity. So they are obliged to be similarly generous to one another.

Jesus quotes from Hosea 6:6 to make this point. The prophet Hosea had warned God’s people centuries before that their love for God was weak and erratic. They relied on sacrifice in the temple to express their devotion to God, but they practiced violence and theft day by day. True devotion to God must be expressed with His degree of mercy. These Pharisees, however, are using the Sabbath to enforce a devotion to God that has no place for mercy.

The Pharisees may not acknowledge it, but Jesus stands before them as the ultimate expression of God’s mercy. He is God as a human being, living among sinful humans, eventually to die as the innocent one in place of the guilty. When the Pharisees ignore Him while enforcing their view of the Law of Moses, they are ignoring the mercy of God in its greatest demonstration.

 

How to Say It

BabylonianBab-ih-low-nee-un.

HoseaHo-zay-uh.

LeviticusLeh-vit-ih-kus.

PhariseesFair-ih-seez.

 

What Do You Think?

How can you help your church improve its extensions of mercy?

 

Points for Your Discussion

In physical, material terms

In spiritual terms

As the material needs interrelate with the spiritual

 

For Lack of Track Shoes

You couldn’t find a more faithful woman than Hazel. Her son Donnie, however, was a different story: he had left the church immediately after graduating from high school. Now he was in his late 50s, and Hazel longed for her boy to come back to Christ. She begged me to visit him; I did.

“Would you mind telling me why you stopped attending church?” I asked Donnie.

“In high school I was a good distance runner. I even broke our league’s mile record. But I ran every race in my clodhoppers, the same shoes I wore to school—the only pair of shoes I owned. I asked Mom and Dad for a pair of track shoes, but they said we couldn’t afford them. I reminded them of the flour canister in the cupboard. Every payday Dad would put money in there. I asked if we could use that money.”

“‘Oh no!’ they said. ‘That’s the Lord’s money. We made a pledge to the church. We can’t use it for anything else.’ I went to the state meet, ran in my old shoes, and lost,” Donnie continued sadly. “Track shoes would have made a difference.”

Not knowing what to say, I responded, “I’m sorry, Donnie.” With misty eyes Donnie concluded, “I decided that if the God who owns the entire universe needed money more than I needed track shoes, He isn’t much of a God.”

I enjoyed my visits with Donnie and prayed for him often, but he never said yes to Jesus as far as I know. I could conclude here with “the moral of the story,” but I think you know what it is.

—C. T.

 

1. Greater Authority (v. 8)
2. For the Son of man is Lord even of the sabbath day.

Jesus’ divine authority is summed up in this statement. The phrase Son of man echoes Daniel 7:1-14. In the prophet’s vision, “beasts” representing kingdoms opposed to God’s people are overcome by “one like the Son of man.” To Him God gives authority to rule forever. Jesus claims to be that very figure, having come into the world with authority that belongs only to God. (By contrast, the dozens of references to the prophet Ezekiel as “Son of man” highlight his mortality.)

The Sabbath was a gift of God’s mercy for people who needed rest. Jesus declares himself Lord of that gift. As God’s divine Son, He exercises full authority over God’s Sabbath. The rest that He gives accomplishes what Sabbath promises.

 

III. Ritual and Humanity

(Matthew 12:9-14)

1. Trick Question (vv. 9, 10)
2. And when he was departed thence, he went into their synagogue.

Matthew records another incident that occurs on this particular Sabbath Day. The synagogue is the traditional gathering place for Jewish believers on the Sabbath. Apparently the concept of the synagogue was established during the Babylonian captivity, when the people no longer had access to the temple. Faithful Jews would gather on the Sabbath to read Scripture and pray together.

Jesus is found often in the synagogues in the Gospels. But they prove to be places of controversy, as Jesus makes claims and performs actions to which the religious leaders object.

 

^10a. And, behold, there was a man which had his hand withered.

In this synagogue meeting Jesus encounters a man with a disability. The term withered suggests that his hand appears shrunken, like a plant that has dried up. The man has little or no ability to use this hand and probably not his arm.

 

^10b. And they asked him, saying, Is it lawful to heal on the sabbath days? that they might accuse him.

Jesus’ opponents see this as an opportunity to discredit Him. He has healed people before (Matthew 4:24; 8:16, 17; 9:1-7, 18-35), but will He “work” in a way that breaks the Sabbath law by healing the man? They once more illustrate that they don’t comprehend the priority of mercy.

 

1. Bold Response (vv. 11-14)
2. And he said unto them, What man shall there be among you, that shall have one sheep, and if it fall into a pit on the sabbath day, will he not lay hold on it, and lift it out?

Jesus responds to His opponents with a question of His own. They take for granted that an act of mercy on the Sabbath is a violation of the Law of Moses. But Jesus points out the inconsistency in their own practice.

Longstanding Jewish tradition allows a shepherd with a sheep in distress on the Sabbath to do what is necessary to rescue the animal. Oddly, many Jewish teachers of the day (like these in the synagogue with Jesus) do not allow acts of mercy toward other people.

 

What Do You Think?

What safeguards can be implemented to ensure that a Scripture discussion sheds “light” and not “heat”?

 

Points for Your Discussion

In terms of predefined safeguards, which everyone knows in advance

In terms of impromptu safeguards, enacted on the spot

 

12. How much then is a man better than a sheep? Wherefore it is lawful to do well on the sabbath days.

Arguing from the lesser to the greater, Jesus implies that humans are more worthy of mercy than livestock. How can a person who knows God apply the law of the Sabbath to treat a fellow human as less than an animal? The practice of Jesus’ opponents refutes their position.

But Jesus’ point is broader than just this comparison. It is lawful to do well for others on the sabbath days because the Sabbath is a gift from the generous God to His people in need. Israel had labored many years as slaves in Egypt. The Sabbath was God’s blessing of rest to those who had known no rest (Deuteronomy 5:15). Acts of goodness and mercy are not forbidden on such a day. In fact, they may be even more appropriate because of what the Sabbath celebrates.

 

What Do You Think?

What accessibility boundaries do you need to establish so you don’t overextend yourself in being available to help others?

 

Points for Your Discussion

In matters of time

In matters of money

 

13. Then saith he to the man, Stretch forth thine hand. And he stretched it forth; and it was restored whole, like as the other.

Jesus proceeds to demonstrate the point He has just made. As He commands the man to place his afflicted hand where all can see, the hand is fully restored. This is no temporary or partial healing, for the formerly withered hand is as strong as the man’s other hand.

Jesus’ previous assertion about mercy on the Sabbath is more than just sound reasoning. It has now become authoritative. Jesus has the power to restore life to the lifeless, including this man’s withered hand. Such power belongs only to the God who has granted Israel the Sabbath as His gift commemorating His creation of the world and as His gift of freedom to captive Israel. Such power identifies the “Lord of the Sabbath,” the one who has come to give true rest to suffering humanity. He authoritatively interprets the Sabbath. He fulfills the Sabbath’s promise of rest.

 

14. Then the Pharisees went out, and held a council against him, how they might destroy him.

Jesus has faced opposition since early in His ministry (Matthew 9:3, 11; 11:19). He has warned His disciples that they will face the same (10:16-25, 34-39). Now the Pharisees, repeatedly put to shame by Jesus’ responses to their objections, conspire to kill Him. In sad irony, those who outwardly profess to honor God’s law the most now secretly plan murder.

What comes of their plot? In every later controversy, Jesus still gets the best of His opponents. Eventually He warns His disciples that when He goes to Jerusalem, He will be arrested by the religious authorities, then handed over to the Romans to be crucified—only to be raised again to life (Matthew 16:21; 17:12, 22, 23; 20:18, 19; 26:2).

Jesus will surrender himself when approached by soldiers (Matthew 26:45-56). He will make no defense when on trial (26:57-68; 27:11-26). Jesus dies not because of His enemies’ power but because of His willing self-surrender. The Lord of the Sabbath is also the Lord of life and death. The Lord who restores life to a lifeless hand will make life possible for everyone by giving away His own life.

 

Conclusion

1. No Longer Sick and Tired

People today often complain that they are tired. Ironically, we enjoy more laborsaving devices than people in the past could even imagine! Yet we seem to find ourselves worn out all the time.

Perhaps we are tired because we look for rest in the wrong places. Leisure and recreation have their place. But true rest can be found only from the Christ who made us and redeemed us. He makes us whole. He gives us life. He grants us rest even in the midst of trouble.

 

1. Prayer

Lord, we cast our cares on You. We cast our lives on You. Make us whole. Give us Your peace. Grant us rest. And make us the instruments of Your peace and rest for others. We pray in Jesus’ name. Amen.

 

1. Thought to Remember

Jesus gives us rest in a weary world.

 

 

KID’S CORNER

Where Believers Meet God

June 3, 2018

Matthew 12:1-14

 

Matthew 12:1-14

(Matthew 12:1) At that time Jesus went through the grainfields on the Sabbath, and His disciples became hungry and began to pick the heads of grain and eat.

Some scholars distinguish between ceremonial laws and moral laws in the Old Testament.

Examples of ceremonial laws include laws regulating what should and should not be done by priests and non-priests on the Sabbath (ceremonially defined as Saturday). Ceremonial laws can be cancelled, changed, fulfilled, or made obsolete. The Pharisees added their traditions to the Old Testament ceremonial laws that they expected everyone to obey, and they gave their traditions the same authority and status as the laws of God specifically revealed and recorded in the Old Testament. The Pharisees expected Jesus and His disciples to obey all the ceremonial laws, including their traditional interpretations of these laws, which was the foundation for their discussion with Jesus. The additions of their traditions to the Law of God formed the basis for many of the conflicts between Jesus and them, and later between them and the Apostle Paul and the New Testament Church.

Examples of moral laws are the Ten Commandments and the commands of Jesus. These laws of God will never be changed; for example, God will never change the laws requiring love for God and neighbor. For example, God will never change the laws forbidding murder, theft, bearing false witness, or coveting. The moral law regarding the Sabbath observance can be found in Exodus 20:8-11, which describes one of the ways we should love ourselves and others; how we should love our physical minds and bodies by caring for them, and how we should make certain people and animals under our authority are also given the rest they need one day a week. In addition to mental and physical rest, the Sabbath observation also gives people the time to worship God, enjoy Christian fellowship, and study the Bible. In Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount, He showed how we should not even violate these moral laws in our hearts! Because we have violated some of the moral laws both in heart and action, Jesus died and rose again to save is from our sins.

From Leviticus 23:22, we learn that the Law of God, the Law of Love, required farmers to permit the poor to eat from their fields: “When you reap the harvest of your land, do not reap to the very edges of your field or gather the gleanings of your harvest. Leave them for the poor and for the foreigner residing among you. I am the LORD your God.” Jesus and His disciples were materially poor; therefore, the Law of God permitted them to eat grain from the field as they walked.

(Matthew 12:2) But when the Pharisees saw this, they said to Him, “Look, Your disciples do what is not lawful to do on a Sabbath.”

The poor could not “harvest,” and many did not have the means to collect and save enough food during the week to feed themselves on the Sabbath. By adding to the Law of God, the Pharisees violated the Law of Love; they brought hardship on those God intended to care for and protect when He gave the Law to Moses. Likewise, the disciples who travelled from place to place with Jesus were sometimes hungry, and in this situation on the Sabbath they took a few grains of barley or wheat, rubbed the grain between their hands, let the chaff blow away, and then ate the grains. Using their unlawful traditions, the Pharisees accused Jesus’ disciples of harvesting and threshing, thus working on the Sabbath in violation of the Law of God. Adding to or subtracting from the Law of Love, the moral law, can lead to hardship, suffering, and painful, hypocritical, unjust, judgmental accusations against others.

(Matthew 12:3) But He said to them, “Have you not read what David did when he became hungry, he and his companions,

In answering their accusation, Jesus referred them back to the Bible as the authority, back to the Old Testament as their authority, back to 1 Samuel 21:1-6, back to David as an example when he was poor and fleeing King Saul. Twelve loaves of bread, representing the twelve tribes of Israel, were put fresh in the tabernacle every seven days (see Leviticus 24:5-9). The priest, Ahimelech, gave David and his men five loaves of bread that had been previously removed and replaced by fresh bread in the tabernacle.

(Matthew 12:4) how he entered the house of God, and they ate the consecrated bread, which was not lawful for him to eat nor for those with him, but for the priests alone?

In accordance with the ceremonial law, the bread was consecrated or made ceremonially holy, having been previously presented to the LORD by the priests at least seven days earlier as part of worshiping the LORD. The ceremonial law forbids anyone but the priests to eat this holy bread. Ahimelech, the priest, broke the ceremonial law when he gave the ceremonial bread to David and his companions, and David and his companions broke the ceremonial law when they ate it, but no one broke the moral law when they were given and ate the holy bread. Jesus declared that Ahimelech and David were justified in breaking the ceremonial law because of a real, human need: hunger. They did not break the moral law; rather, they complied with the Law of Love when they were given and ate of the bread. Neither the Bible nor Jesus condemned their actions. The priest, Ahimelech, obeyed the moral law, the Law of Love, when he loved his poor, hungry neighbors and gave them something to eat. In Mark 2:27, Jesus said, “The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath.” God never intended for the ceremonial laws in the Old Testament to make life more difficult for people, but to bless them in many ways physically, spiritually, and socially. Many of the ceremonial laws pointed to Jesus as the promised Messiah; they showed some of what Jesus the Messiah would do. In this confrontation with the Pharisees, Jesus’ example and words show that the ceremonial laws should never be applied or interpreted in ways that would violate the moral law, the Law of Love.

(Matthew 12:5) “Or have you not read in the Law, that on the Sabbath the priests in the temple break the Sabbath and are innocent?

The Word of God is the authority for our actions, not human religious traditions; therefore, Jesus went on to give another example from the Scriptures. The priests have “Sabbath duty,” the priests “work” on the Sabbath (Saturday: the Jewish Sabbath); therefore, they “desecrate” or “break” the ceremonial Sabbath law every Saturday, but not the Sabbath moral law — they would keep the Sabbath by resting a different day of the week. Their actions and work on the Sabbath (Saturday) fulfilled the moral law, the Law of Love, because their neighbors benefitted from their temple service and leadership in worship. Jesus and His disciples were also doing the Lord’s work on the Sabbath or were on their way to do “Sabbath duty,” even though what they were doing in the service of God and others was not specified in the ceremonial laws of the Old Testament. As the Lord of the Sabbath, Jesus had the authority to lead His followers in the service of God and others without breaking any of God’s ceremonial laws. Indeed, Jesus always led them to do the will of God. Furthermore, Jesus never broke a moral law, the Law of Love, nor encouraged anyone to do so.

(Matthew 12:6) “But I say to you that something greater than the temple is here.

Jesus, their long awaited and expected Messiah, the King of kings, the only begotten Son of God, their faithful High Priest and Prophet of God, was there with them preaching the good news and healing the sick. Right before their eyes, the One who was speaking to them at that very moment, all that Jesus was, is, will be, and do, was the “something greater” than the temple. The temple represented the presence of the LORD with His people. Jesus came into the world as Emmanuel, as God with us (see Matthew 1:23). God was with them at that moment in Jesus, and wherever Jesus was, God was there. The temple could not move from place to place to bring the LORD to the people, but Jesus could and did bring the LORD to the people wherever He went, and wherever He went He brought and explained the Law of Love.

(Matthew 12:7) “But if you had known what this means, ‘I DESIRE COMPASSION, AND NOT A SACRIFICE,’ you would not have condemned the innocent.

Having referred to an historical event in the life of their greatest king as an example, having referred to the law that regulated the service of their Levitical priests at the temple as an example; Jesus then directly quoted from their prophets in the Bible as authoritative commands or words of God. These are some examples of what God spoke through their prophets: Hosea 6:6 – “For I desire mercy, not sacrifice, and acknowledgment of God rather than burnt offerings;” Isaiah 1:17 – “Learn to do right; seek justice. Defend the oppressed. Take up the cause of the fatherless; plead the case of the widow,” and Micah 6:8 – “He has shown you, O mortal, what is good. And what does the LORD require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.” The traditions of the Pharisees regarding the ceremonial and sacrificial laws in the Old Testament demanded unlawful behavior, violating the moral law, and disregarding the Law of Love (as fulfilled by Abimelech, David, and by the priests in their service at the temple, and the specific commands of the LORD through their prophets).

(Matthew 12:8) “For the Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath.”

On various occasions, Jesus told people that He was the Son of Man (an Old Testament prophetic title for the promised Messiah) when He used that title for himself. As the Son of Man, Jesus claimed to be the Lord of the Sabbath. He had given the Sabbath laws; therefore, He could and did apply and interpret the ceremonial and moral laws according to the express intention and will of the LORD God. He proved He was Lord of the Sabbath by always doing acts of love on the Sabbath, even miraculous acts that only God could do on the Sabbath

(Matthew 12:9) Departing from there, He went into their synagogue.

The Pharisees often followed Jesus in order to find some reason to accuse Him of breaking the Law of God or their Jewish laws and traditions or even Roman laws, in order to slander Him, or discredit Him in the eyes of the people, or punish Him, or eventually put Him to death. They would do whatever was necessary to silence Him or destroy His influence over others. Therefore, they followed Him from the grainfields as He and His disciples walked on paths through the fields to worship in the synagogue, where Jesus would do more “Sabbath duty” or “work.”

(Matthew 12:10) And a man was there whose hand was withered. And they questioned Jesus, asking, “Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath?”—so that they might accuse Him.

These Pharisees broke the Law of Love, the moral law, when they did not love their neighbor as themselves and help the man with special needs. Instead of comforting him or trying to make his life better any day of the week, as they would have wanted others to do for them, they broke the moral law and tried to use the man as an object lesson in the hope of entrapping Jesus and bringing charges against Jesus; thus, once again breaking the moral law by not loving Jesus as He deserved, but instead seeking to trick Him in order to destroy Him. While breaking the moral law, their evil, unloving hearts prompted their question about obedience to the ceremonial law. Would Jesus break the ceremonial law according to their interpretation and traditions? If He did, they knew they could bring charges against Jesus.

(Matthew 12:11) And He said to them, “What man is there among you who has a sheep, and if it falls into a pit on the Sabbath, will he not take hold of it and lift it out?

The Law of Love given by God in the Old Testament commanded people to help others and even animals in trouble. In Deuteronomy 22:4, we read, “If you see your fellow Israelite’s donkey or ox fallen on the road, do not ignore it. Help the owner get it to its feet.” This is a moral law, a law of love, a law that commands a person to always do the loving and wisest thing they know to do. Jesus’ question assumes even a person who is selfish and self-centered, like these Pharisees, would save a sheep or ox or donkey that belonged to him rather than suffer the lose if it fell into a pit or on the road, even on the Sabbath. They would break the ceremonial laws regarding the Sabbath to save a valuable sheep for themselves. These Pharisees probably would not break a ceremonial Sabbath law to help a neighbor’s sheep, only their own sheep.

(Matthew 12:12) “How much more valuable then is a man than a sheep! So then, it is lawful to do good on the Sabbath.”

Jesus then told them (and He tells us) that a person is more valuable than an animal, even a domestic animal. If a person can do good and help a sheep or any other animal on the Sabbath; then, certainly, it is lawful to help a person and do good on the Sabbath. Jesus had already told them that He was the Lord of the Sabbath, so He could declare what was lawful to do on the Sabbath; therefore, it was lawful to do good on the Sabbath. In compliance with the moral law, it was lawful to do the loving thing, the good thing, and heal the man on the Sabbath.

(Matthew 12:13) Then He *said to the man, “Stretch out your hand!” He stretched it out, and it was restored to normal, like the other.

Jesus then proved He was Lord of the Sabbath by doing good on the Sabbath and working a miracle which was in His power to do. It was in the power of a Pharisee to save his sheep if it fell into a ditch. It was in the power of Jesus to heal person if he was sick or handicapped. Jesus always did the good, wise, and loving thing, even on the Sabbath. So, in obedience to the moral law, we too should and can always do the good, wise, and loving thing within our prayerful power seven days a week.

(Matthew 12:14) But the Pharisees went out and conspired against Him, as to how they might destroy Him.

These Pharisees did not do the good, wise, and loving thing. Instead, they did the evil, hateful thing in violation of the Law of Love and plotted the death of Jesus. They refused to accept the words of Jesus even when He demonstrated by His actions that He always did what was within His power in wise, good, and loving ways. Indeed, by His words and actions, Jesus demonstrated that He was everything He claimed about himself.

 

Where Believers Meet God

June 3, 2018

Matthew 12:1-14

 

“I tell you that something greater than the temple is here” (Matthew 12:6).

 

One Sabbath day, Jesus and His disciples were walking through a grainfield to worship in a synagogue. Since the disciples were hungry, they obeyed the Law of God designed to feed the poor. God’s Law is the Law of Love; therefore, we read in Leviticus 23:22, “When you reap the harvest of your land, do not reap to the very edges of your field or gather the gleanings of your harvest. Leave them for the poor and for the foreigner residing among you. I am the LORD your God.” Obeying God, the disciples took some grain, rubbed it between their hands, and then ate the grain. When some Pharisees saw Jesus’ disciples, they accused them of lawbreaking for harvesting on the Sabbath and they reprimanded Jesus for permitting them to sin. So, Jesus went back to the Old Testament, to Hoses 6:6, and showed them where they were wrong: they had accused innocent men because they did not know “what these words mean, ‘I desire mercy, not sacrifice’” (Matthew 12:7). Then, Jesus claimed that as the Son of Man He was the Lord of the Sabbath who applied the Law of God rightly. Then, the Pharisees followed Jesus to the synagogue to see if they could accuse Him further. There, Jesus did good and helped those worshiping God on the Sabbath: He healed a man with a shriveled hand. As the supreme place of worship, people went to the temple to meet God. Because Jesus is greater than the temple, He claimed and proved by His words and actions that when people met Him they were meeting God. So, the Pharisees left to plot how they might kill Jesus

 

 

Thinking Further

Where Believers Meet God

June 3, 2018

Matthew 12:1-14

Name ______________________________

 

1. Why did the Pharisees accuse Jesus’ disciples of doing something unlawful on the Sabbath?

 

 

2. In His response to them, what did Jesus say David had done (and he was not condemned for having done what he did)?

 

 

3. Why were the priests allowed to desecrate the Sabbath and were considered innocent?

 

 

4. What words from the prophets did Jesus say these Pharisees did not know?

 

 

5. After Jesus healed the man with the shriveled hand, what did the Pharisees decide to do?

 

Questions for Discussion and Thinking Further

 

1. Why did the Pharisees accuse Jesus’ disciples of doing something unlawful on the Sabbath? According to the traditions and rules the Pharisees and others had added to God’s laws regarding the Sabbath in the Old Testament, Jesus’ disciples were harvesting and threshing grain on the Sabbath; thus, they were working on the Sabbath. They were also looking for some reasons to accuse Jesus of breaking or allowing His disciples to break God’s laws. [But their interpretation was not according to God’s laws in the Bible.]

 

2. In His response to them, what did Jesus say David had done (and he was not condemned for having done what he did)? He and his companions ate some loaves of holy bread that according to the ceremonial laws in the Old Testament only the priests could eat legally.

 

3. Why were the priests allowed to desecrate the Sabbath and were considered innocent? They were performing their ceremonial Sabbath duties according to other ceremonial laws of God in the Old Testament; thus, they were considered innocent (they were doing the will of God).

 

4. What words from the prophets did Jesus say these Pharisees did not know? “I desire mercy, not sacrifice.”

 

5. After Jesus healed the man with the shriveled hand, what did the Pharisees decide to do? “The Pharisees went out and plotted how they might kill Jesus.”

 

 

Word Search

Where Believers Meet God

June 3, 2018

Matthew 12:1-14

Name _____________________________

 

G F M S J S O S Y S Y L K T E

S X P E D G N X T K B W J X C

D E U K R I H O C S G Y S W H

I Y E N W C S Z I F E D Z U C

V C U S L H Y C K N L I N Q G

A Y I F I A T Z I E A G R J F

D X K D N R W A I P R P Z P T

B V Z E Y M A F B Y L J M E Y

H C K S F P N H U B M E A O D

Q Z G E K I V E P L A T S U C

A N A C A T J L D Y J S P K M

L T I R O S A C R I F I C E B

D P G A Y C G X F Y Q W U X L

J T R T E T A R C E S N O C G

S K O E H S U S E J G M Z T H

 

 

Grainfields

Sabbath

Disciples

Hungry

Pick

Eat

Pharisees

Unlawful

David

Companions

Consecrate

Priests

Desecrate

Mercy

Sacrifice

 

 

 

True and False Test

Where Believers Meet God

June 3, 2018

Matthew 12:1-14

Name ________________________________

 

Circle the true or false answers. Correct the false statements by restating them.

 

1. The Pharisees accused Jesus’ disciples of breaking a Sabbath law because they were eating grain as they walked through a grainfield. True or False

 

2. Jesus told the Pharisees that a priest had given David and his companions holy bread when they were hungry, so His disciples could eat grains in a grainfield on the Sabbath when they were hungry. True or False

 

3. The Pharisees asked Jesus questions about the Sabbath law because they really wanted to learn the truth from Jesus and obey Him. True or False

 

4. Jesus said that the priests broke the Sabbath laws when they worked on the Sabbath, so anyone can work and break the Sabbath laws for any reason. True or False

 

5. Jesus said He is greater than the temple. True or False

 

6. If the Pharisees had known what “I desire mercy, not sacrifice” meant, they would not have condemned the innocent. True or False

 

7. Jesus Christ, the Son of Man, is Lord of the Sabbath, so His applications of the Sabbath law are right and true. True or False

 

8. Today, there is no need to rest one day a week. True or False

 

9. Jesus said it was okay to do good on the Sabbath, and He proved it by healing people on the Sabbath. True or False

 

10. After the Pharisees left Jesus, they broke the law of God when they went out and did evil by plotting how they might kill Jesus. True or False

 

 

True and False Test Answers

Matthew 12:1-14

 

1. True
2. True
3. False
4. False
5. True
6. True
7. True
8. False
9. True

10.True

 

 

Prayer

Lord, we cast our cares on You. We cast our lives on You. Make us whole. Give us Your peace. Grant us rest. And make us the instruments of Your peace and rest for others. We pray in Jesus’ name. Amen.