Lord of the Sabbath

Matthew 12: The Lord and His Family (1)

Pray Psalm 92.1-4.
It is good to give thanks to the LORD,
And to sing praises to Your name, O Most High;
To declare Your lovingkindness in the morning,
And Your faithfulness every night,
On an instrument of ten strings,
On the lute,
And on the harp,
With harmonious sound.
For You, LORD, have made me glad through Your work;
I will triumph in the works of Your hands.

Sing Psalm 92.1-4.
Sweet Hour: Sweet Hour of Prayer
How good it is to thank the LORD and praise to God Most High accord; 
by day to let His kindness ring, His faithfulness by night to sing. 
With ten-stringed lute, resounding lyre, and sweetest harp we’ll lift You higher. 
For You have made our souls rejoice; we sing Your praise with blended voice!

Read Matthew 12.1-8; meditate on v. 6.
In what sense is this true of Jesus?

Prepare.
1. To what did the Pharisees object?

2. What did Jesus say about His disciples’ actions?

Meditate.
The Pharisees—self-appointed Sabbath-police of their day—did not object to the disciples’ plucking grain from someone’s field. This was perfectly in line with the Law of God (cf. Deut. 23.24, 25). But they could not abide them doing this “work” on the Sabbath. Their traditions specified what could and could not be done on the Sabbath, and “harvesting” grain was definitely not on the list of accepted chores (v. 2).

Rather than address their specific complaint, Jesus responded to them categorically, using Biblical precedent to undermine their tradition (vv. 3-5). It was not a question of harvesting on the Sabbath, but of simple necessity. On the Sabbath—which was made for man’s rest and good (Mk. 2.27)—works of necessity are always in order. Jesus first cited David’s action in eating the holy bread as a precedent for the disciples’ plucking grain to satisfy their hunger. Then He reminded the Pharisees that on the Sabbath priests do a good bit of work to keep the operation of the temple going. No one ever objected to them.

Jesus next turned the argument from traditions to the very heart of Judaism: the temple. The temple was most sacred to Jews in Jesus’ day. He knew that, of course, and so took the next step to point religious worship away from the temple to Himself (v. 6), and what He desires—mercy, not the “sacrifice” of keeping tedious human traditions (v. 7). Jesus is greater than the temple for many reasons, as the writer of Hebrews explained in chapters 7-10. In asserting that He is Lord of the Sabbath, Jesus set Himself above all Hebrew traditions and institutions and the entirety of God’s Law. Thus He instructs us to see the Law and all the institutions of the Old Testament as pointing forward to and being fulfilled in Him.

Treasure Old and New: Matthew 13.52; Psalm 119.162
God’s Law found in Exodus 20.1-17 is the mainstay of the Kingdom.
Keeping those laws is the way the Kingdom works and functions properly.
These laws are not “traditional” laws. These laws are our life (Deut. 32.46, 47).

Above and beyond these laws—those defined as “traditional”—Jesus advises employing mercy when contemplating and enforcing them. Every culture on earth has its own traditions. They are peculiar to a specific people group. Again, mercy is required. But we are free to pursue those unique traditions; however, knowing full well they never supersede God’s Ten Commandments. Ever.

The takeaway from Jesus is that His people should be known as a merciful people.
Because really and truly, if it were not for His mercy shown to mankind, all of us would be without hope.
Without the forgiveness provided by Jesus’ merciful work for us, hell would be our given destination.
Total and complete, forever, separation from God.
But God is merciful. Thus, His children must also be so.

“You shall not make for yourself a carved image…For I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children to the third and fourth generations of those who hate Me, 
but showing mercy to thousands, to those who love Me and keep My commandments” (Ex. 20.4-6).
“The LORD is longsuffering and abundant in mercy, forgiving iniquity and transgression…” (Num. 14.18).
“Oh, give thanks to the LORD, for He is good! His mercy endures forever” (1 Chron. 16.34).
“For the LORD is good; His mercy is everlasting, and His truth endures to all generations” (Ps. 100.5).

“But when the kindness and the love of God our Savior toward man appeared,
not by works of righteousness which we have done, 
but according to His mercy He saved us, 
through the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Spirit, 
Whom He poured out on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Savior, 
that having been justified by His grace 
we should become heirs according to the hope of eternal life” (Titus 3.4-7). 

And as heirs of this great hope, what does that require of us?
“To do justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with [our] God” (Mic. 6.8).

As Jesus said to the unmerciful Pharisees:
“If you had known what this means, 
‘I desire mercy and not sacrifice’, 
you would not have condemned the guiltless. 
For the Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath” (Matt. 12.7, 8).

I AM greater than any building or tradition (Matt. 12.3-6).
Follow Me (Matt. 4.19).
Keep My commandments (Jn. 14.15).
But be like My Father: in wrath remember mercy (Hab. 3.2).

Reflect.
1. Do you think we hear enough about God’s Law in our churches’ preaching and teaching? Explain.

2. We say this over and over: We’re not saved by the Law but unto it. Explain.

3. What do we fear about keeping God’s Law? What should we fear by not keeping it?

The faithful are more than priests. For the Lord of the temple himself has come to them. The Truth personally has arrived, not merely the image of the truth. John Chrysostom (344-407), The Gospel of Matthew, Homily 39.2

Pray Psalm 92.5-15.
Jesus is Lord of all, Whom you go forth to serve this day. Ask Him to help you flourish and bear much fruit in all your endeavors.

Sing Psalm 92.5-15.
Sweet Hour: Sweet Hour of Prayer
How sweet Your works, Your thoughts how deep. The fool cannot such knowledge keep. 
Like grass the wicked rise each day; in judgment they are swept away. 
But You, O LORD, abide on high; Your enemies shall surely die. 
All those who sin shall scattered be, but, LORD, You have exalted me! 

My eye my vanquished foe shall see; my ears hear those who threaten me. 
Yet in God’s house, where he belongs, the righteous like a tree grows strong. 
Then let us green and fruitful be and flourish like a mighty tree, 
to tell God’s righteousness abroad: He is our Rock, our sovereign God!

T. M. and Susie Moore

If you have found this meditation helpful, take a moment to give thanks to God. Then share what you learned with a friend. This is how the grace of God spreads (2 Cor. 4.15).

We invite you to join us in ReThinking Church. We explain further at our ReThinking Church page, here.

Other columns of interest: This week: The Read Moore podcast continues readings from our book, The Kingdom Turn. Our Crosfigell teaching letter presses ahead in a series on the state of the Church in Europe at the time of the Celtic Revival. The ReVision column begins to examine the hope for the church, especially struggling churches. Click here to see all the other columns and writers available to you.

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Except as indicated, all Scriptures are taken from the New King James Version. © Copyright 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved. All psalms for singing are from The Ailbe Psalter.