THE BOOK OF MATTHEW – Chapter 12, Verses 1 – 29, The Sabbath, The Lord of the Sabbath, The Pharisees Rebuked

 

THE BOOK OF MATTHEW – Chapter 12, Verses 1 – 29

The Sabbath & The Lord of the Sabbath, The Pharisees Rebuked

Jesus continues His mission and journey, teaching His disciples by example as they encounter various circumstances in life. These circumstances, though they may seem random, they are not. They are foreknown by Jesus, and His responses are both calculated teaching moments to prepare His disciples to carry His work forward. They are also examples of Jesus fulfillment of the Jewish Law, the Torah (see Matthew 5:17-18). The Old Covenant has passed and the New Covenant has come, and the religious establishment is enraged.

This is also an opportunity for us, the contemporary Christian, to discard personal religious biases, views, habits and rituals that do not conform to Jesus’ person, character and teachings, and to follow Him, only.

(Just as an observation: I believe it is doubtful that Jesus would be a welcomed guest in most of the postmodern church – the Church which He built. Please, think about that as you read. If Jesus said these same things and did these same miracles, what would the reaction be within the church, today?)

Sabbath Questions

Matthew 12:1-29, 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. Verse 2. Now when the Pharisees saw this, they said to Him, “Look, Your disciples are doing what is not lawful to do on a Sabbath!” Verse 3. But He said to them, “Have you not read what David did when he became hungry, he and his companions, verse 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? Verse 5. Or have you not read in the Law that on the Sabbath the priests in the temple violate the Sabbath, and yet are innocent? Verse 6. But I say to you that something greater than the temple is here. Verse 7. But if you had known what this means: ‘I DESIRE COMPASSION, RATHER THAN SACRIFICE,’ you would not have condemned those who are the innocent.

Lord of the Sabbath

Verse 8. For the Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath.”

(Commentary Break: First, let’s put this in contemporary terms. Suppose you, as a local religious or civic leader, see a man and his friends trespassing in a grain field which they do not own, stripping off the heads of grain and eating them, on a Sunday morning. What is your initial reaction?

 In this case, a group of Pharisees, went to Jesus and complained, not about trespassing or eating another man’s grain, but that the religious law forbade any work on a Sabbath day, in this case, picking or harvesting grain.

 Jesus’ response is to point out the hypocrisy of the practitioners of the Law and to remind them that the Law actually says that God DESIRES COMPASSION, RATHER THAN SACRIFICE. In other words, people come before the restrictive nature of a religious and ritual Law; people come before programs and that the Law of God is meant for our good and not for our condemnation. These verses define the failure of the Pharisees, the scribes and the Sanhedrin, and the failure of many postmodern churches.

Jesus then ‘doubles down’ as they say, and proclaims Himself as Lord of the Sabbath! I.e., He is greater than the and above the laws of the Mosaic Covenant, and as Creator, He is the original Lord of the Sabbath, and as Lord of the Sabbath, He had the right, power and authority to dispense it any way He chose. Is there little doubt why He enraged the religious Jews? Imagine he would walk, unannounced, into your church and said the same thing? (End Commentary Break).

Verse 9. Departing from there, He went into their synagogue. Verse 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 bring charges against Him. Verse 11. But 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? Verse 12. How much more valuable is a person than a sheep! So then, it is lawful to do good on the Sabbath.” Verse 13. Then He said to the man, “Stretch out your hand!” He stretched it out, and it was restored to normal, like the other. Verse 14. But the Pharisees went out and conspired against Him, as to how they might destroy Him.

Verse 15. But Jesus, aware of this, withdrew from there. Many followed Him, and He healed them all, verse 16, and warned them not to tell who He was. Verse 17. This happened so that what was spoken through Isaiah the prophet would be fulfilled:

Verse 18, “BEHOLD, MY SERVANT WHOM I HAVE CHOSEN; MY BELOVED IN WHOM MY SOUL DELIGHTS; I WILL PUT MY SPIRIT UPON HIM, AND HE WILL PROCLAIM JUSTICE TO THE GENTILES.

Verse 19. “HE WILL NOT QUARREL, NOR CRY OUT; NOR WILL ANYONE HEAR HIS VOICE IN THE STREETS.

Verse 20. “A BENT REED HE WILL NOT BREAK OFF, AND A DIMLY BURNING WICK HE WILL NOT EXTINGUISH, UNTIL HE LEADS JUSTICE TO VICTORY.

Verse 21. “AND IN HIS NAME THE GENTILES WILL HOPE.”

(Commentary Break: The Pharisees are now attempting to ‘set Jesus up’ for an arrest. Instead, Jesus turns the table on the Pharisees with a simple question with a conclusive statement, and proceeds to heal a man. The Pharisees then conspire to destroy Jesus, and being aware of their plot, Jesus withdraws from that area but does not withdraw from His mission. Many follow Him and He heals them all!

Would you say Jesus is deliberately behaving like a radical, or is He obeying His Father and staying true to His Mission? The next verse clearly says, “This happened so that what was spoken through Isaiah the prophet would be fulfilled”: HE WILL NOT EXTINGUISH, UNTIL HE LEADS JUSTICE TO VICTORY. “AND IN HIS NAME THE GENTILES WILL HOPE.”

We are to follow Jesus and His example, so, it is important to ask how you would react to the current religious establishment if you were truly serving God but perceived to be transgressing a local church rule. (End Commentary Break).

The Pharisees Rebuked

Verse 22. Then a demon-possessed man who was blind and unable to speak was brought to Jesus, and He healed him so that the man who was unable to speak talked and could see. Verse 23. And all the crowds were amazed and were saying, “This man cannot be the Son of David, can he?” Verse 24. But when the Pharisees heard this, they said, “This man casts out demons only by Beelzebul the ruler of the demons.”

Verse 25. And knowing their thoughts, Jesus said to them, “Every kingdom divided against itself is laid waste; and no city or house divided against itself will stand. Verse 26. And if Satan is casting out Satan, he has become divided against himself; how then will his kingdom stand? Verse 27. And if by Beelzebul I cast out the demons, by whom do your sons cast them out? Therefore, they will be your judges. Verse 28. But if I cast out the demons by the Spirit of God, then the kingdom of God has come upon you. Verse 29. Or, how can anyone enter the strong man’s house and carry off his property, unless he first ties up the strong man? And then he will plunder his house.

(Commentary Break): Verses 22 through 29 should be enshrined over the door of every church sanctuary and emblazoned of every hymnal and church program handout as a reminder and a warning against becoming apostate or joining the apostasy, and blaspheming the Holy Spirit, and as a reminder of the resultant disaster for those who are part of that rebellion.

To repeat, “And all the crowds were amazed and were saying, “This man cannot be the Son of David, can he?”. Can you hear this question?

But when the Pharisees heard this, they said, “This man casts out demons only by Beelzebul the ruler of the demons. Do you hear the blasphemy?

Every kingdom divided against itself is laid waste; and no city or house divided against itself will stand. And if Satan is casting out Satan, he has become divided against himself; how then will his kingdom stand? And if by Beelzebul I cast out the demons, by whom do your sons cast them out? Therefore, they will be your judges.

But if I cast out the demons by the Spirit of God, then the kingdom of God has come upon you.

Or, how can anyone enter the strong man’s house and carry off his property, unless he first ties up the strong man? And then he will plunder his house.

This is the warning to all of His church throughout all of the ages! (End Commentary Break).

 Jesus is ‘the Strongman’ referred to in these foregoing verses, Who is being tied up in the hearts and minds of these religious Jews. How can anyone be surprised at the flames of tribulation that have engulfed Israel since these deeply prophetic words were spoken by Jesus in or around A.D 30? Can anyone be surprised at the trouble besetting the United States and the world? They, and we, were warned. We must turn to Jesus for our salvation.

A Special Note: Jesus warned that the great apostasy within the church would occur. His words of warning are found in Chapter 24 of the book of Matthew, and the results of those who stay faithful are found in Chapter 6 of The Book of The Revelation. What we are seeing here in Matthew chapter 12 are the seeds of the breaking of the 5^th Tribulation Seal, which has been overlapping and is intensifying with the previously broken tribulation seals one through four. Jesus calls these seals and this phase of the tribulation period “the beginning of the Birth Pangs”. (see Matthew 24:9)

Your Brother and Friend,

Mike Young

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NEXT: THE BOOK OF MATTHEW – Chapter 12, Verses 30 – 50. The Unpardonable Sin, Words, Signs, Relationships

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