Matthew 12:1-21

Matthew 12:1-21

This passages marks a change in the ministry of Jesus as it relates to the Jewish religious elite. From this point on they will grow ever more vocal in their opposition to Jesus and His message. The occasion is Jesus’ disciples breaking one of their rules about keeping the Sabbath. They literally had books of rules that they wanted to enforce on everyone by which they made the law a heavy burden. Keeping the Sabbath was intended to be a witness of God’s creation and of Israel’s special covenant, as well as, a time of preparation of the hope to come. But they, along with their rules, made it a drudgery that ruined faith and life.

Jesus responds to their attack with a four-fold argument that centers on Him. 1) David could break the rule because of who he was and Jesus is greater than David. 2) The ritual work of the Temple broke the law, but someone greater than the Temple has come. 3) Hosea quoted here, presents God as compassionate. The disciples are not innocent because they did not break the Pharisees rules. They are innocent because they are under Jesus’ authority. 4) The Sabbath regulations have their authority and find their meaning in the Son of Man not the other way around.

In verse 9, we see one of those tiny things that has huge meaning. It is almost impossible to over state how important two words here are! In verse 9, “He went into their synagogue.” When the house of worship becomes the property of men we see the advanced symptoms of an advanced spiritual cancer. The division between Jesus and the religious leaders is becoming more evident. They have moved from reacting to Jesus to actually setting traps. The religious elite would be more than willing to rescue what was theirs, like a sheep, but they simply didn’t care about their fellow man or fellow Jew. This man was nothing to them except a tool to be used for their purpose. The “animal in a pit” scenario was widely debated by the religious elite and there was a general conclusion that it was permissible to rescue your trapped animal on the Sabbath. It was presented as compassionate and therefore a pious thing to do. When selfish motives are dressed up in religious trappings it is a purified form or hypocrisy.

In contrast to the religious elites’ indifference to the man, Jesus wants to heal. He does two things. First of all, He withdraws and does the healing privately. Jesus did not want to make this man a public spectacle. Then He commands the man to keep this matter quiet, again to save him the grief of the religious elite’s reprisals. In contrast to the harsh rule keeping of the religious elite, Jesus is kind and tender and sensitive to the needs of the individual. The quote here from Isaiah is reflective of what the Father said at Jesus’ baptism. In this passage we see the negative of Jesus’ ministry; what He would not do. What great compassion that Jesus will not finish off that which appears to be a lost cause or hopeless.

"Lord, forbid in my heart that I would ever make religious practices a tool for any selfish agenda. Help me in, like Jesus to be filled with gentleness and mercy. AMEN"