279. Exposition of Matthew 12:1-21

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 Transcript of Exposition of Matthew 12:1-21

This section connects to and highlights what Jesus meant when he said in Matthew 11:28-30, ²⁸ “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. ²⁹ Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. ³⁰ For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”  Jesus offers rest which is the express purpose of the sabbath.  He says his yoke is easy and his burden is light.  This is in contrast to the legalism of the Pharisees.  They had develop 39 laws that explained what you couldn’t do on a day of rest.  39 categories of activity that could be classified as work.  They claimed to “put up a fence around the law” so you would be careful not to break the law.

Here are twenty of the thirty-nine categories of work:

1. Carrying

2. Burning

3. Extinguishing

4. Finishing

5. Writing

6. Erasing

7. Cooking

8. Washing

9. Sewing

10. Tearing

11. Knotting

12. Untying

13. Shaping

14. Plowing

15. Planting

16. Reaping

17. Harvesting

18. Threshing

19. Winnowing

20. Selecting

  Jesus addresses these by appealing to his inherent authority and the priority of the spirit of the law over the letter of the law.

 

1. Jesus, LORD of the Sabbath

At that time Jesus went through the grainfields on the Sabbath. His disciples were hungry and began to pick some heads of grain and eat them. ² When the Pharisees saw this, they said to him, “Look! Your disciples are doing what is unlawful on the Sabbath.”

³ He answered, “Haven’t you read what David did when he and his companions were hungry? ⁴ He entered the house of God, and he and his companions ate the consecrated bread—which was not lawful for them to do, but only for the priests. ⁵ Or haven’t you read in the Law that the priests on Sabbath duty in the temple desecrate the Sabbath and yet are innocent? ⁶ I tell you that something greater than the temple is here. ⁷ If you had known what these words mean, ‘I desire mercy, not sacrifice,’^[a] you would not have condemned the innocent. ⁸ For the Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath.”

Jesus had offered rest in the previous chapter which was the purpose of the sabbath:  ²⁸ “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. ²⁹ Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. ³⁰ For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.” 

The Pharisees made sabbath keeping a chore:

• You could not spit on the Sabbath because it would disturb the dirt and you would be guilty of plowing.
• You could not swat a fly on the Sabbath because you would be guilty of hunting.
• A woman could not look at her reflection because she might see a gray hair and pluck it out, which would be doing work.

They created loopholes to get around some laws.

• If your house was burning down on a Sabbath, you could not carry clothes out of it. However, you were allowed to put on several layers of clothes as the house was burning down. You could leave without breaking the law because you were wearing them instead of carrying them.

 

12:1-2  Picking grain could fall under the category of reaping, while getting the grain out of the husks could be considered threshing, both of which were prohibited by the Pharisees.  Keep in mind that this is happening on a Saturday and must have been close enough to town to not break the distance rule of about a half mile of walking allowed.  The Pharisees were circling Jesus and his disciples, looking for any breaking of their laws.

Jesus argues against the Pharisees using three levels of authority he carries because of who he is as God:

1. Jesus is greater than King David
2. Jesus is greater than the temple
3. Jesus is greater than the Law or Old Testament Writings

12:3-4  Jesus asks, “Haven’t you read…?” This was a subtle dig to the Pharisees who prided themselves on their knowledge and memorization of scripture.  He points out that David, their hero and king, broke their law by eating bread only allowed to the priests.  It was his authority as king that superceded the law.  Jesus is saying, how much more is it lawful for the king of the world to supercede any regulation.  Not only that, they were both hungry.  He’s not saying that because the law was broken once, it could be broken again, but it does matter who is doing it. 

12:5-6  Jesus builds on this theme of authority when he talks about how the priests “work” on the sabbath in doing their normal duties at the temple.  Then he says something shocking.  He says, “something greater than the temple is here.”  To the Jew, what could be greater than the temple?  This was the house of God, where God lived.  The temple was the focus of Israel’s worship, it’s national center, the destination for all pilgrimages and the essence of its national identity.  Jesus is saying that he himself is the center of all future worship.  This is what got Jesus killed.  His cleansing of the temple, his claim that he would rebuild the temple in three days was the final straw that confirmed in the Jews’ minds that Jesus deserved death.  Jesus was saying that in serving him and eating while working, his disciples were serving the greater presence and residence of God, Jesus himself.  They were exempt from these lesser regulations. Jesus and the church he started were greater than the temple.  His role as mediator, prophet, priest and king is greater than the temple of Moses time.  That’s one of the significances of the temple curtain being torn when Jesus died.   

12:7  Jesus again points out his operating theology drawn from Hosea 6:6, love matters more than ritual or rules.  It’s always better to err on the side of love over laws.  He also highlights the error of their human traditions that led them to people who were innocent in the sight of God.

12:8  Jesus drives the sword even deeper in calling himself the LORD of the sabbath.  The sabbath is a defining feature of the Jewish religion.  They and a few other groups are known as “sabbath-keepers.”  The sabbath originates all the way back when God rested on the seventh day (Genesis 2:3) and was instituted in the ten commandments.  In Exodus 31:13 God calls it “My Sabbath.”    As the creator of the world and author of the law, Jesus had unique authority to interpret it as he chose. For Jesus to say, I am the Lord of the Sabbath was heresy in the ears of the Pharisees.  He was saying, “I, not you, know how to interpret the sabbath law and its application.  I wrote the law, you didn’t.”  This was a direct attack on the Pharisees’ religious authority and it’s what made them so mad.

2. The healing of man with the shriveled hand

⁹ Going on from that place, he went into their synagogue, ¹⁰ and a man with a shriveled hand was there. Looking for a reason to bring charges against Jesus, they asked him, “Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath?”

¹¹ He said to them, “If any of you has a sheep and it falls into a pit on the Sabbath, will you not take hold of it and lift it out? ¹² How much more valuable is a person than a sheep! Therefore it is lawful to do good on the Sabbath.”

¹³ Then he said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” So he stretched it out and it was completely restored, just as sound as the other. ¹⁴ But the Pharisees went out and plotted how they might kill Jesus.

11-12  He appeals to common sense that the average person would understand when he says, “If any of you has a sheep…” Jesus again stresses how much more valuable people are than animals.  Jesus also points out the inconsistency of the Pharisees’ own teaching.  They would do “work” if it meant preserving their own property.  Jesus’ interpretation puts responsibility on each one of us to figure out what is good or positive to do in interpreting any action.  The Pharisees had a fundamentally negative focus on what couldn’t be done.  Jesus points to a higher method of asking yourself, “how can I do good in this situation?” 

12:13-14  Jesus goes on to heal the man’s hand publicly.  It was a public embarrassment and shaming of the Jews.  He embarrassed them in “their synagogue” (12:9).  He beat them on their home field.  Their authority was damaged, their motives were exposed and their hatred was inflamed.  The Jews want to kill Jesus.  Jesus said it’s lawful to do good on the Sabbath.  The Pharisees wanted to kill on the sabbath!

Turtle Illustration 

This is a touching video, viewed over two million times.  How much more powerful when we help people turn their “upside down” lives right side up.  That fires Jesus up!

3. God’s Servant

¹⁵ Aware of this, Jesus withdrew from that place. A large crowd followed him, and he healed all who were ill. ¹⁶ He warned them not to tell others about him. ¹⁷ This was to fulfill what was spoken through the prophet Isaiah:

¹⁸ “Here is my servant whom I have chosen,
    the one I love, in whom I delight;
I will put my Spirit on him,
    and he will proclaim justice to the nations.
¹⁹ He will not quarrel or cry out;
    no one will hear his voice in the streets.
²⁰ A bruised reed he will not break,
    and a smoldering wick he will not snuff out,
till he has brought justice through to victory.
²¹     In his name the nations will put their hope.”^[b]

 

12:15-16  What does Jesus do?  He doesn’t go on the attack.  He withdraws.  He puts into practice what he had taught his disciples in Matthew 10:14 and 10:23.  When people don’t accept your teaching, shake the dust off and go somewhere else.  Be as shrewd as snakes and as innocent as doves.  Jesus just leaves and continues his work of preaching and healing.  Why does he do this?  Why doesn’t he have a massive showdown with the Pharisees right then and there.  It gets revealed in verses 18-21 as another fulfillment of Old Testament prophesy about the Messiah’s character and method.

12:18-21  Again Jesus defines himself by what he “doesn’t” do.  Unlike John and others’ expectations that he would judge, condemn, blow away, destroy Roman rule, Jesus reveals himself as gentle and lowly or humble.  He will not quarrel or cry out.  He touts a more non-confrontational manner, an avoidance of publicity and a patient, encouraging type of ministry.  He won’t argue with the Pharisees, he won’t shout at them or deliberately embarrass them. 

Bruised reeds and smoldering wicks.  A reed was used as a light walking stick, a musical instrument or a way to measure things.  Once it was bruised, it was typically discarded.  A smoldering wick was made of linen and if it smoked, would fill the whole house with smoke.  It too was immediately replaced.  The ministry of the messiah is one in which he won’t break the reed or snuff out the wick.  Jesus is patient and kind with people who are bruised and who’s fire has dimmed.  He is patient with the Pharisees who were deeply damaged and he is incredibly patient with people who have experienced trauma, trouble, difficulties and trials.  Think about the bleeding woman, the man with the shriveled hand, the lepers.  These were all bruised reeds.

·         You might be a bruised reed.  Life has bruised you.  You’ve taken your hits.  Guess what, Jesus is loving and patient with you.  He won’t break you.  He won’t say, “I’m done with you!”  He is patient, gentle and lowly and is willing to work with all of us in our bruised and battered condition.  All he asks is that you come to him.  Look to him for healing.  Don’t count yourself out.  Stop tearing yourself down.  Go to Jesus.

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·         You might be a smoldering wick.  Maybe your fire was higher in the past.  Maybe you used to light up the room when you walked into church, your home, your classroom or your workplace.  Now all you can muster is a barely burning flame and lots of smoke.  People know when you’re coming and when you’re around.  You’re not what you once were.  Guess what, Jesus won’t snuff you out.  He’s willing to work with you and help you get your fire going again.  All you have to do is go to him and work with him.  Don’t quit on him.  Ask for help.  Jesus offers rest and a light burden for all bruised reeds and smoldering wicks.