Daily Devotional For Tuesday, February 6, 2024

The next miracle Jesus does in Matthew is found in Matthew 12:9-14, “He went on from there and entered their synagogue. (10) And a man was there with a withered hand. And they asked Him, “Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath?”—so that they might accuse Him. (11) He said to them, “Which one of you who has a sheep, if it falls into a pit on the Sabbath, will not take hold of it and lift it out? (12) Of how much more value is a man than a sheep! So it is lawful to do good on the Sabbath.” (13) Then He said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” And the man stretched it out, and it was restored, healthy like the other. (14) But the Pharisees went out and conspired against Him, how to destroy Him. Before we get to the next miracle Jesus does in Matthew’s Gospel, we have to understand the context of how and when it occurred, which is Matthew 12:1-8 below:

• “At that time Jesus went through the grain-fields on the Sabbath. His disciples were hungry, and they began to pluck heads of grain and to eat. (2) But when the Pharisees saw it, they said to him, “Look, your disciples are doing what is not lawful to do on the Sabbath.” (3) He said to them, “Have you not read what David did when he was hungry, and those who were with him: (4) how he entered the house of God and ate the bread of the Presence, which it was not lawful for him to eat nor for those who were with him, but only for the priests? (5) Or have you not read in the Law how on the Sabbath the priests in the temple profane the Sabbath and are guiltless? (6) I tell you, something greater than the temple is here. (7) And if you had known what this means, ‘I desire mercy, and not sacrifice,’ you would not have condemned the guiltless. (8) For the Son of Man is lord of the Sabbath” (ESV).

Yesterday, I gave you a very lengthy devotional on the historical context  — Pharisaical religious man-made rules and regulations for the Sabbath. Since God had not defined “work” in the The Commandments, they felt they were on the same level of God and therefore came up with their interpretation and rules to enforce it. The Pharisees were already steaming mad with Jesus in Matthew 12:1-8, which occurred on the Sabbath.  They felt He and His disciples had violated Sabbath Laws in what they did while going through the grain-fields. You can read yesterday’s devotion to learn the historical context.

One wonders what the Pharisees were doing out in the grain-fields themselves or what the vantage point was from which they saw Jesus and His disciples. It may be that certain exceptions were made for these self-appointed guardians of tradition, just as policemen have the right to temporarily break certain laws while performing their duty. The accusation of the Pharisees itself was sinful because they put their interpretation on the same level of God’s  Word. Over time, God’s Word in the Old Testament was revered but not applied biblically. Instead, Pharisaical interpretations were what governed. Traditions became equal in status to God’s Word and these traditions were used to justify these traditions, which many times actually contradicted and validated the word of God. Jesus talked about this in Matthew 15:6b, “So for the sake of your tradition you have made void the word of God” (ESV).

So, look at Jesus’ response to the Pharisees in Matthew 12:3-8, “He said to them, “Have you not read what David did when he was hungry, and those who were with him: (4) how he entered the house of God and ate the bread of the Presence, which it was not lawful for him to eat nor for those who were with him, but only for the priests? (5) Or have you not read in the Law how on the Sabbath the priests in the temple profane the Sabbath and are guiltless? (6) I tell you, something greater than the temple is here. (7) And if you had known what this means, ‘I desire mercy, and not sacrifice,’ you would not have condemned the guiltless. (8) For the Son of Man is lord of the Sabbath’” (ESV).

Talk about a knock-out here. Did you noticed that Jesus responded with sarcasm using Scripture against them. Pharisees consider themselves the supreme experts and interpreters of the Old Testament. We can almost see them win in anger as Jesus said to them, “You experts in Old Testament interpretation, don’t you know the Scripture and what it says?” Jesus in His response reminded them of God’s intent for the Sabbath — particularly about three things it was not designated to do.

So, when we read in the Ten Commandments God’s instruction about the Sabbath, it was given to promote love towards God and others. In fact, when we read the first 3 Commandments, pertain to having reference, faithfulness, and respect for God. The remaining 7 Commandments have to do with loving other people through personal purity, unselfishness, truthfulness and contentment and through respect for their possessions, rights and well-being. 

But those who quest for power and control do not have a love for God or others because they would interfere with their “god-complex.” Instead of loving God with all their heart, soul, mind and strength, they love their legalistic traditions and themselves. They attempt to maintain their power and control through man-made rules that are loveless, lifeless and loathing of others. Jesus’ comments reveal that Jesus said the Sabbath was given to love God through godly deeds that brought glory to God, service to others as acts of necessity send through grace and mercy. 

This is the heart of Matthew 12:2-4, "He said to them, `Have you not read what David did when he was hungry, and those who were with him: (4) how he entered the house of God and ate the bread of the Presence, which it was not lawful for him to eat nor for those who were with him, but only for the priests?’” (ESV). In Judaism, David was the ultimate hero. He was deeply revered, loved and honored above all others in the Old Testament. Jesus knew that. He brought to their attention a story where David and his men were fleeing for their lives south of Gibeah to escape the jealous and vengeful King Saul.

 When they came to Nob, where the Tabernacle was then located, they asked for food. We read about this in 1 Samuel 21:1-6: 

• “Then David came to Nob, to Ahimelech the priest. And Ahimelech came to meet David, trembling, and said to him, “Why are you alone, and no one with you?” (2) And David said to Ahimelech the priest, “The king has charged me with a matter and said to me, ‘Let no one know anything of the matter about which I send you, and with which I have charged you.’ I have made an appointment with the young men for such and such a place. (3) Now then, what do you have on hand? Give me five loaves of bread, or whatever is here.” (4) And the priest answered David, “I have no common bread on hand, but there is holy bread—if the young men have kept themselves from women.” (5) And David answered the priest, “Truly women have been kept from us as always when I go on an expedition. The vessels of the young men are holy even when it is an ordinary journey. How much more today will their vessels be holy?” (6) So the priest gave him the holy bread, for there was no bread there but the bread of the Presence, which is removed from before the Lord, to be replaced by hot bread on the day it is taken away” (ESV).

The bread of the Presence was baked weekly, and each Sabbath twelve fresh loaves (representing the twelve tribes) replaced the previous ones, which could be eaten only by the priests. On that particular occasion, however, an exception was made on behalf of David and his men, who were weak from hunger. God was not offended by that act, and He did not discipline either Ahimelech or David. The Lord was willing for a ceremonial regulation to be violated when doing so was necessary to meet the needs of His beloved people.

Jesus point was, “If God makes allowances for His own law to be broken under certain circumstances for the welfare of His people, He surely permits purposeless and foolish man-made traditions to be broken for that purpose.”

Then Jesus went for the jugular in Matthew 12:5-6, “Or have you not read in the Law how on the Sabbath the priests in the temple profane the Sabbath and are guiltless? (6) I tell you, something greater than the temple is here” (ESV). Jesus said to them, “In the Old Testament, God has made provisions even for priest to do certain things on the Sabbath. Meaning — the priests were not only allowed to do this but required to do this. 

For example, in the performance of their duties in the Tabernacle and then the Temple, the ministering priests had to light the altar fires, kill the sacrificial animals, and then lift up the carcasses and place them on the altar. Sacrifices on the Sabbath were, in fact, double sacrifices, requiring twice the work of the normal daily sacrifice:

• Numbers 28:9-10, “On the Sabbath day, two male lambs a year old without blemish, and two tenths of an ephah of fine flour for a grain offering, mixed with oil, and its drink offering: (10 ) this is the burnt offering of every Sabbath, besides the regular burnt offering and its drink offering” (ESV).
• Leviticus 24:8-9, “Every Sabbath day Aaron shall arrange it before the LORD regularly; it is from the people of Israel as a covenant forever. (9) And it shall be for Aaron and his sons, and they shall eat it in a holy place, since it is for him a most holy portion out of the LORD’S food offerings, a perpetual due” (ESV).

Jesus’ point was, “You Pharisees consider these priests innocent, even thought they were working twice as hard doing their things (work) on the Sabbath in comparison to He and His disciples and what they did on the Sabbath.”  If the legalistic application of the Sabbath was intended then preachers could not preach on the Sabbath, Christian teachers could not teach on the Sabbath, children and youth leaders could not serve and teach on the Sabbath, musicians could not sing nor play their instruments on the Sabbath, greeters, ushers, sound and media folks could not do their ministries either. 

What really ticked the Pharisees is that Jesus showed their hypocrisy, their inconsistency in their legalistic approach to the Sabbath with those of their own kind. Like the Pharisees, most of us, when confronted with our wrong, we get defensive, make excuses and argumentative. Did I just hit a nerve? I hope so. Ask my own family, I have a tendency to this. 

Let’s look at Matthew 12:6-8, as we wrap up here. “I tell you, something greater than the temple is here. (7) And if you had known what this means, ‘I desire mercy, and not sacrifice,’ you would not have condemned the guiltless. (8) For the Son of Man is lord of the Sabbath” (ESV). Greater? What does Jesus mean? — Himself. Here was God in human flesh and they could not see it. And again their own interpretation of the Old Testament blinded them to this. The religious leaders believed that nothing was greater than the Temple itself. They revered the Temple and had turned it into an idol — something God forbids in the Ten Commandments.

In Matthew’s Gospel, Jesus had claimed to be deity — God in the flesh which trumped their Temple idolization: We will see this on Wednesday when we look at Matthew 12:9-6. And later when we look at Matthew 11:3-5, 25-27. In case these Pharisees were not getting it, Jesus made it clear He was God in Matthew 12:8, “For the Son of Man is lord of the Sabbath” (ESV). Jesus was not attempting to prove His deity, but rather that in light of His deity, He had the right to override any and all Sabbath man-made regulations, just as He saw fit — even more than David had the right to violate the Tabernacle laws or the priest had to violate the Sabbath laws in their duties in the Temple.

Pharisees were supposed to be teachers of the Law, so Jesus decided to teach them something in what said in verse 7b “‘I desire mercy, and not sacrifice,’ you would not have condemned the guiltless” (ESV). Jesus knew the Old Testament because in verse 7b, He quotes from it in Hosea 6:6a, “For I desire steadfast love and not sacrifice, the knowledge of God rather than burnt offerings” (ESV). In other words, “Guys, what is God’s primary desire for His people — sacrifice?

Jesus’ point is that in honoring the Sabbath, it was a sacrifice for Jews. The sacrifices that were made were about pointing the Jews to God’s gracious and future care that no priest, rabbit, Pharisee or scribe could do, and especially that no animal could do. The Sabbath Day was to remind them of the future final rest God’s people would have in heaven. In the Old Testament, animal sacrifices were intended to be a substitute for a heart of righteousness, holiness and godliness. If a Jew followed God’s intent for the Sabbath, then their life that day would be marked by compassion, just as God was compassionate to them. God is a compassionate God. He wants to save people, not send them to hell.

What Jesus also revealed here is that because the Pharisees were so far from a personal relationship to God, and because to them, their traditions had become their idols, they were also far from God, far from understanding His will and purpose. Jesus’ rebuke also showed the Pharisees hardness of heart and unbelief. And based on what we read in Matthew 15:6 above, the Pharisees were the true violators of the Sabbath because they condemned the innocent and refused to show mercy as proof they were devoted to God’s law. 

I love what Christian scholar Stan Toussaint writes: “If the ministry of the temple superseded Sabbath rules, how much more does the work of the Messiah overrule the Sabbath!” (Stan Toussaiint, Behold The King, p. 159). When Jesus claimed to be greater than their Temple, this was such a shock they probably did not know how to respond. As that ever happened to you? Someone says something or does something, and you are speechless? The New Testament does not require us to obey all these man-made rules about the Sabbath. Instead, it gives us the freedom. Look at Romans 14:5-6: 

“One person esteems one day as better than another, while another esteems all days alike. Each one should be fully convinced in his own mind. (6) The one who observes the day, observes it in honor of the Lord. The one who eats, eats in honor of the Lord, since she gives thanks to God, while the one who abstains, abstains in honor of the Lord and gives thanks to God” (ESV).

The New Testament also says that no one believer has the right or authority to impose his or her view of the Sabbath on another believer. Look at Galatians 4:9-10 and Colossians 2:16 below:

• Galatians 4:9-10, “But now that you have come to know God, or rather to be known by God, how can you turn back again to the weak and worthless elementary principles of the world, whose slaves you want to be once more? (10) You observe days and months and seasons and years!” (ESV).
• Colossians 2:16, “Therefore let no one pass judgment on you in questions of food and drink, or with regard to a festival or a new moon or a Sabbath” (ESV).

These devotionals over the last two days set the context for Jesus’ next miracle in Matthew 12:9-14, which we will get to on Wednesday.

Questions to Consider

1. I grew up in an era when you were at church almost all of Sunday. You went to Sunday School for an a hour of Bible study and then you immediately went to worship for at around an hour. Then Sunday night, for us kids, we had Youth Choir practice at 5-6  PM, then Discipleship Training from 6-7 PM and the evening worship from 7-8 PM. That’s 5 hours at church. Many churches over time have eliminated their Sunday evening schedules. There are legalistic churches that condemn for that. What do you think and why?
2. I grew up having to wear what we called “our Sunday best.” You looked good, smelled good, but your heart could have been as evil and sinful as one of the devil’s demons. Now, it seems that in most churches “Sunday best clothes” are almost out and casual is the style. Should we go back to “Sunday best” or stay casual? What do you think and why?
3. I grew up in church were hymns were considered the only kind of music. I love hymns. They have a lot of great theology in them. 
   • As a teen, I loved contemporary Christian music. I grew up on Amy Grant, Michael W. Smith, Keith Green, 2^nd Chapter of Acts, Andrae Crouch, Evie, The Imperials and Steve Taylor just to name a few. Many churches have split over which music genre is “right” — hymns, Southern Gospel or Contemporary Christian? So, how does this compare to Psalm 96:1-13, Psalm 40:3, Revelation 5:9, Isaac 42:10, Psalm 95:1-11 for example?
   • I guess if we were going to be legalistic, then we should sing all our church songs either in Hebrew, Aramaic  or Greek as those in the Old Testament and New Testament did. What do you think and why?
   • We saw that Jesus’ response left the Pharisees speechless. Has that ever happened to you? Someone says something or does something, and you are left speechless? When was it? Have you ever done that to someone else? If so, when and what happened?

Have you ever used God’s Word in a legalistic way like the Pharisees did with Jesus? If so, how and with who? What were the results?

1. Why do you think even mature Christians can fall into the trap and lure of legalism like the Pharisees in Jesus’ day? What is the solution ?
2. Read Romans 6:14, “For sin will have no dominion over you, since you are not under law but under grace” (ESV). What does this tell you about legalism and why?
3. Read Galatians 3:24, “So then, the law was our guardian until Christ came, in order that we might be justified by faith” (ESV). What does this tell you about legalism and why?

Read Galatians 3:24, “So then, the law was our guardian until Christ came, in order that we might be justified by faith” (ESV). What does this tell you about legalism and why?

Scripture to Mediate On: Galatians 5:18, “But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law” (ESV).

Prayer to Pray:  “Dear Jesus, it is so easy for me to trust, be motivated by and follow what I am comfortable with in my Christian walk. There are traditions I love. I simply love them, but I am willing to submit them to loving You and others more. Please forgive me when my tendency to idolize my traditions can be “a stumbling block” to others as Jesus refers to in Matthew 18:6. Jesus, these traditions I love have given me security, but should let You be my only security. So, Jesus, unlike the Pharisees in Jesus’ day, please convict me to open my eyes, my heart, my attitudes, and my actions to model Your example in Scripture when it comes to this issue of legalism. In Jesus’ name, Amen!”

I love you!, Pastor Kelly