Matthew Images 12.1-14

 

 

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Jesus and the Sabbath

Matthew 12.1–14

Don Ruhl • Savage Street, Grants Pass, Oregon • March 21, In the year of our Lord, 2018

  1. Matthew 12.1–8 | Plucking Heads of Grain on the Sabbath

    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.”

    1. Supposed violations of the Sabbath were what the critics of Jesus went after the most.
      1. Why do you think that was?
    2. Did the disciples violate the Sabbath?
      1. If they violated the Sabbath, why did the Pharisees not talk to them?
      2. Notice what they did in Matthew 9.9–11!
    3. What two examples did Jesus show that proved His disciples did not break the Sabbath?
      1. David did what was unlawful, but they did not fault him.
      2. The priests also profane the Sabbath, but they are blameless.
        1. How then could the Pharisees condemn the disciples?
        2. Jesus showed
          1. their inconsistency and
          2. that they had not thought through things.
    4. What did Jesus mean in this controversy by saying that One greater than the temple was there?
      1. He was the One who made all these laws.
      2. He had the temple built.
      3. He knew what was right and what was wrong.
      4. Therefore, He declared that His disciples were guiltless.
    5. From what or from whom did Jesus quote in verse 7?
      1. Hos 6.6 
      2. How does the quotation apply to this case?
    6. Why did Jesus tell them that the Son of Man was Lord even of the Sabbath?
      1. He had the Sabbath made.
      2. He knew what violated it and what did not violate it.
  2. Matthew 12.9–14 | Healing on 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.

    1. His critics looked for a reason to accuse Him.
      1. He went into the synagogue of those very critics.
      2. This shows the boldness of Jesus.
    2. Think about their question.
      1. Did they truly want to affirm that it was not lawful to heal on the Sabbath?
      2. What if one of them had become injured on the Sabbath?
    3. Instead of using one of them as an example, he used a sheep.
      1. He knew that they would rescue a sheep that had fallen into a pit.
      2. It showed that they valued a sheep above a man.
    4. Obviously the Lord would not expect them to leave the sheep in a pit.
      1. In the same way, if a man could be healed on the Sabbath, why not?
      2. What logic keeps a person from doing good at any time?
      3. How much work did the miraculous healing require?
    5. What conclusion did Jesus draw?
      1. Did this endorse doing anything on the Sabbath?
      2. Does this or the previous incident mean we can lay aside God’s laws whenever we want to lay them aside?
    6. Observe the boldness of Jesus: He healed the man in front of the Pharisees.