Blessed 2 B Zoey
06-03-2008, 06:38 AM
Matthew 12:1-14
Matthew 12
Jesus Is Lord of the Sabbath
1 At that time Jesus was walking through some fields of grain on a Sabbath day. His followers were hungry, so they began to pick the grain and eat it.2 When the Pharisees saw this, they said to Jesus, "Look! Your followers are doing what is unlawful to do on the Sabbath day."
3 Jesus answered, "Have you not read what David did when he and the people with him were hungry? 4 He went into God's house, and he and those with him ate the holy bread, which was lawful only for priests to eat.5 And have you not read in the law of Moses that on every Sabbath day the priests in the Temple break this law about the Sabbath day? But the priests are not wrong for doing that.6 I tell you that there is something here that is greater than the Temple. 7 The Scripture says, 'I want kindness more than I want animal sacrifices.' You don't really know what those words mean. If you understood them, you would not judge those who have done nothing wrong.
8 "So the Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath day."
Jesus Heals a Man's Hand
9 Jesus left there and went into their synagogue, 10 where there was a man with a crippled hand. They were looking for a reason to accuse Jesus, so they asked him, "Is it right to heal on the Sabbath day?"
11 Jesus answered, "If any of you has a sheep, and it falls into a ditch on the Sabbath day, you will help it out of the ditch. 12 Surely a human being is more important than a sheep. So it is lawful to do good things on the Sabbath day."
13 Then Jesus said to the man with the crippled hand, "Hold out your hand." The man held out his hand, and it became well again, like the other hand. 14 But the Pharisees left and made plans to kill Jesus.
Text
Main point
Lord of the Sabbath
Jesus lived in a time when the Pharisees (the Jewish religious leaders) had tried to ‘capture’ the Word of God. They wanted to pin everything down and went into great detail as to what it was or wasn’t OK to do. In today’s passage Jesus challenges their legalism surrounding the Sabbath.
In our times legalism would not seem to be an issue. But are most Christians comfortable with a fair degree of flexibility as to how we should live out our faith? Are we happy for people to look and act differently to ourselves, and express their faith in ways that they feel happy with?
As we look closely at this passage we see that Jesus questions the underlying attitude and inconsistencies of the Pharisees. He points them to Hosea 6:6 (v 7) and argues with them that God is more concerned about the well being of his people than about empty ritual.
But Jesus does not say that the Sabbath does not count. God gave us a day of rest for our benefit. We function much better when we put aside our regular work to do things a little differently.
Take time to consider your Sabbath day and how you use it.
Catherine Doig
• How is your Sunday different from other week days?
• Do you need to make any changes?
• How does what you do fit in with what Jesus taught about the Sabbath?
Matthew 12
Jesus Is Lord of the Sabbath
1 At that time Jesus was walking through some fields of grain on a Sabbath day. His followers were hungry, so they began to pick the grain and eat it.2 When the Pharisees saw this, they said to Jesus, "Look! Your followers are doing what is unlawful to do on the Sabbath day."
3 Jesus answered, "Have you not read what David did when he and the people with him were hungry? 4 He went into God's house, and he and those with him ate the holy bread, which was lawful only for priests to eat.5 And have you not read in the law of Moses that on every Sabbath day the priests in the Temple break this law about the Sabbath day? But the priests are not wrong for doing that.6 I tell you that there is something here that is greater than the Temple. 7 The Scripture says, 'I want kindness more than I want animal sacrifices.' You don't really know what those words mean. If you understood them, you would not judge those who have done nothing wrong.
8 "So the Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath day."
Jesus Heals a Man's Hand
9 Jesus left there and went into their synagogue, 10 where there was a man with a crippled hand. They were looking for a reason to accuse Jesus, so they asked him, "Is it right to heal on the Sabbath day?"
11 Jesus answered, "If any of you has a sheep, and it falls into a ditch on the Sabbath day, you will help it out of the ditch. 12 Surely a human being is more important than a sheep. So it is lawful to do good things on the Sabbath day."
13 Then Jesus said to the man with the crippled hand, "Hold out your hand." The man held out his hand, and it became well again, like the other hand. 14 But the Pharisees left and made plans to kill Jesus.
Text
Main point
Lord of the Sabbath
Jesus lived in a time when the Pharisees (the Jewish religious leaders) had tried to ‘capture’ the Word of God. They wanted to pin everything down and went into great detail as to what it was or wasn’t OK to do. In today’s passage Jesus challenges their legalism surrounding the Sabbath.
In our times legalism would not seem to be an issue. But are most Christians comfortable with a fair degree of flexibility as to how we should live out our faith? Are we happy for people to look and act differently to ourselves, and express their faith in ways that they feel happy with?
As we look closely at this passage we see that Jesus questions the underlying attitude and inconsistencies of the Pharisees. He points them to Hosea 6:6 (v 7) and argues with them that God is more concerned about the well being of his people than about empty ritual.
But Jesus does not say that the Sabbath does not count. God gave us a day of rest for our benefit. We function much better when we put aside our regular work to do things a little differently.
Take time to consider your Sabbath day and how you use it.
Catherine Doig
• How is your Sunday different from other week days?
• Do you need to make any changes?
• How does what you do fit in with what Jesus taught about the Sabbath?