Matthew 12:1 At that time Jesus went through the grainfields on the
Sabbath. And His disciples were hungry, and began to pluck heads of grain and
to eat. 2 And when the Pharisees saw it,
they said to Him, "Look, Your disciples are doing what is not lawful to do
on the Sabbath!" 3 But He said to them,
"Have you not read what David did when he was hungry, he and those who
were with him: 4 how he entered the house of God
and ate the showbread which 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 that on the Sabbath the priests in the temple profane
the Sabbath, and are blameless? 6 Yet I say to you
that in this place there is One greater than the temple. 7
But 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 even of the Sabbath." 9 Now when He had departed from there, He went into
their synagogue. 10 And behold, there was a man
who had a withered hand. And they asked Him, saying, "Is it lawful to heal
on the Sabbath?"--that they might accuse Him. 11
Then He said to them, "What man is there among you who has one sheep, and
if it falls into a pit on the Sabbath, will not lay hold of it and lift it out?
12 Of how much more value then is a man than a
sheep? Therefore it is lawful to do good on the Sabbath." 13 Then He said to the man, "Stretch out your
hand." And he stretched it out, and it was restored as whole as the other.
14 Then the Pharisees went out and plotted against
Him, how they might destroy Him. 15 But when Jesus
knew it, He withdrew from there. And great multitudes followed
Him, and He healed them all. 16 Yet He warned them
not to make Him known, 17 that it might be
fulfilled which was spoken by Isaiah the prophet, saying: 18 "Behold! My Servant whom I have chosen, My
Beloved in whom My soul is well pleased! I will put My Spirit upon Him, And He
will declare justice to the Gentiles. 19 He will
not quarrel nor cry out, Nor will anyone hear His voice in the streets. 20 A bruised reed He will not break, And smoking flax He
will not quench, Till He sends forth justice to victory; 21
And in His name Gentiles will trust."
Now we begin to see the intensity of the opposition Jesus
faced ramped up. He begins to have direct face-offs with the Pharisees themselves.
Prior to this, the opposition of the Pharisees had been
more indirect. Either they had sent their representatives, or they had just
happened to see Jesus do something they chose to object to as it happened. Now
they were actively seeking to oppose Jesus, and to point out every flaw they
could find.
When a person does only good, it becomes difficult to
point out their flaws, doesn’t it? This has always been the position of Jesus,
and it becomes more incredible the more you think about it that anyone would or
could oppose the work of Jesus - but that was the case then even as it is now.
Think about it, Jesus only did good works. What is there to oppose?
You’re going to have to slice some pretty thin hairs to
find anything to complain about, but that just happened to be the Pharisees’
specialty. (Splitting hairs, that is.) And so they begin to criticize Jesus simply
because they are looking to be critical. They critique the way He eats on the
Sabbath. They critique Him for performing a miracle on the Sabbath.
Jesus’ response is fascinating. “The Son of Man is Lord
even of the Sabbath,” which means He is also the Lord of them. They would seek
to kill Him for that statement.
-Pastor Bill
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