Matthew 12 - CP House Church Summary Review
This week in our Matthew series, looking at the life of Christ, we discussed Matthew 12, and the interesting debate over the Sabbath, where some religious leaders were trying to point out a flaw or infraction to the law from Jesus and his disciples.
The way the interaction plays out is interesting since they try to point out the flaw as if Jesus and the disciples were the hypocrites, saying in verse 2, “Look, your disciples are doing what is not lawful to do on the Sabbath.” Of course this doesn’t go well for them, because Jesus then turns it back on them since the “law” they are concerned about is not the true Sabbath law, but extra legalistic regulations the religious leaders had tacked on over the years.
First Jesus points out examples of the Sabbath laws being relaxed in verses 4 and 5, with David and his men needing food while on the run and getting fed holy consecrated bread from the priests. Also pointing out that even the law is relaxed for the priests who are technically working on the Sabbath, tending to the Temple and their duties.
Then He continues to point out they do not understand the Scriptures in verse 7, “And if you had known what this means, ‘I desire mercy, and not sacrifice,’ you would not have condemned the guiltless.” Here He’s quoting Hosea 6:6, which is a common repeated sentiment in the Scriptures, such as Micah 6:6-8, showing that had they understood this, they too wouldn’t attempt to condemn Him or His disciples but would have valued mercy over rigid application to their rules.
Jesus has even already pointed this out in Matthew 9:9-13, where He defends eating with sinners at Matthews house by taking a jab at the Pharisees, saying “go and learn what this means” referencing the Hosea passage as if they’re unfamiliar with the Scriptures. This is because while they might know the text of the Scriptures well, they failed to understand the heart and meaning behind it when applying it to actual people and their circumstances in life. We describe that as missing the spirit of the law by only focusing on the letter of the law. The true spirit of the law is in its concern for all people, loved by their Creator, with the Sabbath itself being established as a means to give rest to creation. “The purpose of the Sabbath law was to show mercy to human beings and their farm animals by mandating regular rest from the hard labor of agrarian life (Matt. 12:8; Ex. 23:12). If its “observance” somehow made hungry people more miserable by forbidding them from obtaining food, or required a disabled person to remain disabled longer than necessary, then the purpose of the law itself had been violated (Matt. 12:7, 12; Hos. 6:6; Mic. 6:6–8)” [GTB].
In the same account in the Gospel of Mark 2:27-28, Jesus says, “The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath. So the Son of Man is lord even of the Sabbath.” This especially points to the spirit of the law, that the Sabbath is created for mankind, a mandate to slow down, rest, and worship the Lord, both in our religious observance, and in our fellowship with others. Essentially the Sabbath is an opportunity set aside to lean into the Greatest Commandment of loving God with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength, and to love our neighbor as ourselves (Mark 12:30-31), making the spirit of the Sabbath law a means of grace to mankind, not a burden to be upheld under coercion or guilt.
Similarly, in the same account Jesus heals a man’s crippled hand on the Sabbath when the religious leaders asked Him if it was lawful to heal on the Sabbath, looking for an excuse to accuse Him of breaking the law. His response was to point to the law where there were exceptions for helping your animals or even your enemy’s animals on the Sabbath (Exodus 23:4-5; Deut. 22:4). There were of course rabbis who taught this, but there were also some of their contemporaries, which we know of from the Dead Sea Scrolls, that taught to do nothing that could be considered work, including doing good, and to even leave an animal stuck in a pit until the next day. In this comparison we see Jesus juxtaposing the worth of an animal against the worth of a person. If God in His Word makes exceptions for doing good and helping an animal on the Sabbath, how much more worthwhile would it be to help a person, a fellow image bearer, on the Sabbath?
So why are these two stories of Jesus deliberately violating man-made Sabbath traditions here? Back up to the end of Chapter 11, where Jesus says (11:28-30), “Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.” The connection is Sabbath means to cease, desist, to rest or repose. “Jesus offers rest to all who will come to Him; there is no rest in mere religious observances” [BEC]. And to prove His point theologically, he appealed to King David, to the work of the priests, and to the words of the prophets, beginning His declaration that He is the Great Prophet, Priest, and King. “As the Priest, He is “greater than the temple” (Matt. 12:6); as Prophet, He is “greater than Jonah” (Matt. 12:41); and as King, He is “greater than Solomon” (Matt. 12:42)” [BEC]. Not only that, Jesus puts Himself on the level of God, who created the Sabbath for man, by saying He, the Son of Man, is Lord of the Sabbath. And so as to dispel any doubt in that claim, He breaks the laws of time and space and heals a man on the Sabbath, because as He, the Lord of the Sabbath declares, it is lawful to do good on the Sabbath.
What I want you to hear from this is that God’s Word is good and merciful, and Jesus proves this by pointing out here that anything that would take away from the true spirit of law is false. Any religious demands that would contradict the Biblical mandates of mercy and the care of creation should be seen as suspicious and weighed against the whole of the Biblical witness. The good news is that Jesus wants us to rest in Him, the Lord of the Sabbath, and live out the spirit of the law through Him, preaching the Gospel of peace and mercy that He has established.
