Jesus was lord of the sabbath

JESUS WAS LORD OF THE SABBATH
EDITED BY GLENN PEASE
Matthew 12:8 8For the Son of Man is LORD of the
Sabbath."
BIBLEHUB RESOURCES
The Lord Of The Sabbath
Matthew 12:8
W.F. Adeney
Sabbath observance had been exalted into the chief position in the Jewish
religion, so that to "sabbatize" was a proverbial expression, used to describe
the following of Judaism, even among Latin writers, it was not the Law, it was
the trivial and yet burdensome additions to the Law, that marked the later
Jewishkeeping of the sabbath, Many of these observanceswere as lax in spirit
as they were strict in regardto the letter, and thus it was that the hypocrisy of
the scribes and Pharisees wasnowhere more pronounced than in their
treatment of the sabbath.
I. CHRIST IS SUPREME OVER ALL ORDINANCES.
1. By reasonoff, is Divinity. Here he speaks outof the calm consciousnessof
his Divine authority.

2. Through his human brotherhood. Christ speaks as the Son of man. He
teaches us that the sabbath was made for man (Mark 2:27). His rule is wise
and beneficentbecause of his large human knowledge andsympathy. Our
business is not to follow narrow laws like the GalatianJudaizers, but to follow
our Lord and Master.
II. OUR LORD GREATLY SHOCKED THE RELIGIOUS CLASSES BY
HIS DARING INNOVATIONS. He did not take pleasure in paining any one,
nor did he wish to offend religious prejudices merely for the sake ofproducing
a sensation, merely to astonishpeople with novel practices. He was far too
kind and earnestfor any such conduct. But he said. and did what he felt to be
right quite regardless ofthe factthat it would stir up a hornet's nest of
prejudices. It must be painful to a sensitive, devout mind to be accusedof
irreligion. Yet our Lord knowinglyprovoked this accusation. Truth is higher
than any respectedreligions observance. It is more important to please God
than to please the most worthy religious people. It may be a duty to offend
goodpeople in upsetting injurious customs. Menare not always the worse for
having their cherishednotions rudely shaken.
III. GOD EXPECTS US TO BE HUMAN IN OUR RELIGION. St. James has
shown us that the highest religious ritual consists in deeds of charity (James
1:27). We can best serve God by doing kind deeds to our brother-men. St.
John reminds us that if we do not love our brother whom we have seen, we
cannot love God whom we have not seen(1 John 4:20). From these principles
it follows, a fortiori, that any religious observancesthat involve unkindness to
other people must be very displeasing to God. We only mock him when we
offer him the formal rites he cares nothing about, and for the very sake of
doing so restrain the charity that he really loves, or even perform directly
unkind actions.

IV. WE CAN ONLY KEEP THE SABBATH ARIGHT WHEN WE DO SO
IN THE SPIRIT OF CHRIST.
1. Negatively. It is not to be kept for its own sake, as anordinance valuable in
itself; it is not to be kept in the letter to the neglectof its spirit; it is not to be
so kept that it interferes with higher duties.
2. Positively. It is to be kept as Christ, kept it. It is not left to our caprice to
decide how we shall use the privilege of the sabbath day's rest. Although we
are not under the letter of the JewishLaw, the eternal principles of it are
binding on us. Leisure from toil and an opportunity to "lift up our eyes" we
all need. Only they who follow Christ can use the sabbath in the bestway. We
best keepit when we help our brother-men on that day. - W.F.A.
Biblical Illustrator

I will have mercy, and not sacrifice.
Matthew 12:7
Mercy, not sacrifice
When St. Spyridion was about eighty years old, it happened that a traveller
came to visit him at one of those periods of the year when it was his custom to
fast on alternate days. Seeing that the strangerwas very tired, Spyridion told
his daughter to washhis feet, and setmeat before him. She replied, that as it
was fast-time, there was neither bread nor meat ready. On which Spyridion,
having prayed and askedforgiveness,desiredher to cook some saltpork there
chancedto be in the house. When it was prepared, he satdown at table with
the stranger, partook of the meat, and told him to follow his example. But the
strangerdeclined, saying he was a Christian, and ought not to eatmeat during
the greatfast. Spyridion answered, "Itis for that very reasonyou ought not to
refuse to partake of the food; unto the pure all things are pure."
The earthly subservientto the heavenly
Talmud.
Rabbi Tanchum was once askedif it were lawful to extinguish a candle on the
Sabbath, when it inconvenienceda sick man. Said he, "A candle is an earthly
light, man's soul a heavenly light." Is it not better to extinguish an earthly
than a heavenly light?
(Talmud.)
Obedience has not merely to do with the easypart of religion
T. Manton., T. Manton.
They pick and choose outthe easiestpart in religion, and lay out all their zeal
there, but let other things go: in some duties that are of easydigestion, and
nourish their disease ratherthan cure their soul, none so zealous as they, none
so partial as they. Now, a partial zeal for small things, with a plain neglectof
the rest, is direct pharisaism; all for sacrifice, nothing for mercy. Therefore

every one of us should take heed of halving and dividing with God: if we make
conscienceofpiety, let us also make conscienceofjustice; if of justice, let us
also make conscienceofmercy. It is harder to renounce one sin wherein we
delight, than a greaterwhich we do not equally affect. A man is wedded to
some speciallusts, and is loth to hear of a divorce from them. We have our
tender and sore places in the conscience, whichwe are loth should be touched.
But if we be sincere with God we will keepourselves from all, even from our
own iniquity (Psalm18:23).
(T. Manton.)Morals before rituals.
(T. Manton. .)
COMMENTARIES
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers
(8) For the Sonof man.—The words containthe ground for the authoritative
judgment of the previous verse. They assertthat this also came within the
limits of His jurisdiction as the Messiah, justas the power to forgive sins had
been claimed by Him under the same title. In both instances, however, the
choice of the title is significant. What is done is done by Him as the
representative of humanity, acting, as it were, in its name, and claiming for it
as such what He thus seems atfirst to claim for Himself as a specialand
absolute prerogative.
Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary
12:1-8 Being in the corn-fields, the disciples beganto pluck the ears of corn:
the law of God allowedit, De 23:25. This was slender provision for Christ and

his disciples;but they were content with it. The Phariseesdid not quarrel with
them for taking another man's corn, but for doing it on the sabbath day.
Christ came to free his followers, not only from the corruptions of the
Pharisees,but from their unscriptural rules, and justified what they did. The
greatestshallnot have their lusts indulged, but the meanestshall have their
wants considered. Those labours are lawful on the sabbath day which are
necessary, and sabbath rest is to froward, not to hinder sabbath worship.
Needful provision for health and food is to be made; but when servants are
kept at home, and families become a scene ofhurry and confusion on the
Lord's day, to furnish a feastfor visitors, or for indulgence, the case is very
different. Such things as these, and many others common among professors,
are to be blamed. The resting on the sabbath was ordained for man's good, De
5:14. No law must be understood so as to contradict its own end. And as
Christ is the Lord of the sabbath, it is fit the day and the work of it should be
dedicatedto him.
Barnes'Notes on the Bible
For the Son of man is Lord even of the Sabbath day - To crown all, Christ
says that he was Lord of the Sabbath. He had a right to direct the manner of
its observance - undoubted proof that he is divine.
Jamieson-Fausset-BrownBible Commentary
8. Forthe Son of man is Lord even of the sabbath day—In what sense now is
the Sonof man Lord of the sabbath day? Notsurely to abolish it—that surely
were a strange lordship, especiallyjust after saying that it was made or
instituted for MAN—but to own it, to interpret it, to preside over it, and to
ennoble it, by merging it in the "Lord's Day" (Re 1:10), breathing into it an
air of liberty and love necessarilyunknown before, and thus making it the
nearestresemblance to the eternalsabbatism.
Matthew Poole's Commentary
This argument Luke hath, Luke 6:5. Mark hath it thus, Mark 2:27,28, And he
said unto them, The sabbath was made for man, and not man the sabbath:

therefore the Son of man is Lord also of the sabbath. Some interpreters make
these two arguments:
1. The Son of man is Lord of the sabbath; therefore it is in my powerto
dispense with this actionof my disciples, though it had been contrary to the
letter of the law: or rather, therefore it is in my powerto interpret the law,
which I myself made.
2. The sabbath is made for man, not man for the sabbath. A law made for the
goodof another bindeth not, in such caseswhere the observationof it would
be evidently for his harm and ruin. The law of the sabbath was made for the
goodof man, that he might have a solemn time, in which he should be under
an obligation to pay his homage unto God; this must not be so interpreted as
would tend to the destruction of a man.
I find interpreters divided about that term the Son of man. Some think that it
is not to be interpreted, as usually in the gospel, concerning Christ; but of
ordinary men, and that man’s lordship over the sabbath is proved by the
subserviencyof it to his good, to which end also it was ordained. But certainly
that is both a dangerous and unscriptural interpretation: dangerous to give
man a lordship over a moral law, for it is very improper to call any lord of a
thing, because he hath the use of it, and it is for his advantage:I cannot see
but we may as well make man lord of the whole ten commandments as of one
of them. Unscriptural, for though our Saviour useth this term more than
threescore times in the gospel, yethe always usethit with relation to himself,
never with reference to any mere man; neither is there any necessityto
understand it otherwise here. Christ affirming himself Lord of the sabbath,
spake properly enoughto the Pharisees’quarrel; for it must needs then
follow, that he had power to dispense with the observationof it at particular
times, and much more to give a true and right interpretation of the law
concerning it.

Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible
For the Son of man is Lord even of the sabbath day. By "the Son of man" is
meant, not any man, as some have thought; for no mere man is lord of any
law, moral or ritual, natural or positive; or has a power of disposing of it, and
dispensing with it at pleasure;but Christ himself; which is the constantsense
of this phrase in the New Testament, and is a characterofthe Messiahin the
old, Daniel 7:13 who, as he was the institutor of the sabbath among the Jews,
that being a ritual, and of mere positive institution, could dispense with it, and
even abrogate it at his pleasure. The Jews so faragree to this, that he that
commanded the law of the sabbath, could dispense with it; they say (z), that
"the day on which Jericho was takenwas the sabbath day; and that though
they slew and burnt on the sabbath day, , "he that commanded the
observationof the sabbath, commanded the profanation of it".''
And since Christ is greaterthan the temple, and has all the perfections of the
divine nature in him, is equal to the Father in powerand glory; and even as
mediator, has all powerin heavenand earth given him; so as he is Lord of all
other things, he is of the sabbath, and has a powerof dispensing with it, and
even of abolishing it; see Colossians 2:16 and since the Lord of the sabbath
had a powerof dispensing with it, and made use of it in the casesofDavid and
his men, and of the priests in the temple formerly; the Phariseesoughtnot to
think it strange, that the Son of man, who is equally Lord of the sabbath,
dispensed with it in his disciples now.
(z) R. David Kimchi in Josh. vi. 11.
Geneva Study Bible
For the Son of man is Lord even of the sabbath day.
EXEGETICAL(ORIGINAL LANGUAGES)

Meyer's NT Commentary
Matthew 12:8. Γάρ] τοὺς ἀναιτίους, I say, for, and so on. “MajestateChristi
nititur discipulorum innocentia et libertas,” Bengel. The authority of the
Messiah(under which His disciples have acted)is superior to the law of the
Sabbath; the latter is subject to His disposal, and must yield to His will.
Bertholdt, Christol. p. 162 f. Forthe idea, comp. John 5:18; Holtzmann, p.
458. Others (Grotius, Kuinoel) interpret thus: Man may set aside the laws
regarding the Sabbath, wheneverit is for his advantage to do so. In opposition
to the regular use of ὁ υἱὸς τ. ἀνθρ., the argument is different in Mark 1:27.
Expositor's Greek Testament
Matthew 12:8. his weighty logion is best understood when takenalong with
that in Mark 2:27 = the Sabbath for man, not man for the Sabbath. The
question is: Does it merely state a fact, or does it also contain the rationale of
the fact? That depends on the sense we give to the title Song of Solomonof
Man. As a technicalname = Messiah, it simply asserts the authority of Him
who bears it to determine how the Sabbath is to be observedin the Kingdom
of God. As a name of humility, making no obtrusive exceptionalclaims, like
Son of David or Messiah, itsuggests a reasonfor the lordship in sympathy
with the ethicalprinciple embodied in the prophetic oracle. The title does not
indeed mean mankind, or any man, homo quivis, as Grotius and Kuinoel
think. It points to Jesus, but to Him not as an exceptionalman (“der
einzigartige,” Weiss), but as the representative man, maintaining solidarity
with humanity, standing for the human interest, as the Pharisees stoodfor the
supposeddivine, the real divine interest being identical with the human. The
radical antithesis betweenJesus and the Phariseeslay in their respective ideas
of God. It is interesting to find a glimpse of the true sense of this logionin
Chrysostom:περὶ ἑαυτοῦ λέγων. Ὁ δὲ Μάρκος καὶ περὶ τῆς κοινῆς φύσεως
αὐτὸντοῦτο εἰρηκέναι φησίν. Hom. xxxix.—κύριος, not to the effectof
abrogationbut of interpretation and restorationto true use. The weeklyrest is
a beneficent institution, God’s holiday to weary men, and the Kingdom of
Heaven, whose royallaw is love, has no interest in its abolition.
Bengel's Gnomen

Matthew 12:8. Κύριος, Lord) The innocence and liberty of the disciples is
guaranteedby the majesty of Christ, and the authority[554]of the Son of Man
manifests itself in mercy.—σαββάτου, ofthe Sabbath) The Lord of the
Temple, and of all things else, is undoubtedly the Lord of the Sabbath; nor
has He merely that right which David had.[555]
[554]“Dominatio”—domination, lordship. There is a play on the words
dominus (lord) and dominatio, which cannot be preservedin English. It might
be expressedby sovereignand sovereignty.—(I. B.)
[555]Matthew 12:9. Καὶ) This was eightdays after those things which have
been just mentioned (V. g.), and eight days before the Passover. In this brief
interval very many events happened of the greatestmoment. The people were
now getting ready for the feast. Hence a large (abundant) opportunity of
doing goodpresented itself to the Saviour.—Harm., p. 309.
Pulpit Commentary
Verse 8. - Parallelpassages:Mark 2:28; Luke 6:5. For. With immediate refer-
once to guiltless. The Sonof man is Lord even of the sabbath day; is Lord of
the sabbath (RevisedVersion); ere, being added in the ReceivedTextfrom
Mark and Luke. Christ clinches the argument, and at the same time explains
his phrase in ver. 6. The temple is greaterthan the sabbath; I am greaterthan
the temple; these my disciples are therefore guiltless;for, to put it briefly, I,
whom they are following, am greaterthan the sabbath and rule over it.
Observe, however, that Christ does not directly say "I," but the Son of man.
The reasonis seenin Mark, where a connecting link is given: "The sabbath
was made for man. and not man for the sabbath: so that the Son of man is
Lord even of the sabbath." Christ there implies that the sabbath is inferior to
man, not only because it exists for his sake (cf. 1 Corinthians 11:9),but also
because it falls under the lordship referred to in Genesis 1:28;and therefore
that he himself is really superior to it as man, and much more as the ideal
Man (Matthew 8:20, note). Our saying is very condensed, but includes the

name thought, omitting even as unnecessary, afterhaving definitely
pronounced the innocence ofhis disciples. (For the thought of the saying, cf. 2
Macc. 5:19, "Goddid not choose the people for the place's sake,but the place
for the people's sake,"and the Midrash 'Mechilta,'on Exodus 31:13,
especiallythe words, "The sabbath is given to you, not yon to the sabbath." So
also Talm. Bab., 'Yoma,' 85 b.)
PRECEPTAUSTIN RESOURCES
BRUC E HURT MD
Matthew 12:8 “Forthe Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath.”
NET Matthew 12:8 For the Son of Man is lord of the Sabbath."
GNT Matthew 12:8 κύριος γάρ ἐστιν τοῦ σαββάτου ὁ υἱὸς τοῦ ἀνθρώπου.
NLT Matthew 12:8 For the Son of Man is Lord, even over the Sabbath!"
KJV Matthew 12:8 For the Son of man is Lord even of the sabbath day.
ESV Matthew 12:8 For the Son of Man is lord of the Sabbath."

NIV Matthew 12:8 Forthe Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath."
ASV Matthew 12:8 For the Son of man is lord of the sabbath.
CSB Matthew 12:8 For the Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath."
NKJ Matthew 12:8 "Forthe Son of Man is Lord even of the Sabbath."
NRS Matthew 12:8 For the Son of Man is lord of the sabbath."
YLT Matthew 12:8 for the son of man is lord even of the sabbath.'
Mt 9:6 Mk 2:28 9:4-7 Lu 6:5 Joh 5:17-23 1Co 9:21 16:2 Rev 1:10
ParallelPassages: Matthew 12:1-8 Mark 2:23-28 Luke 6:1-5
Mark 2:28 “So the Sonof Man is Lord even of the Sabbath.”
Luke 6:5 And He was saying to them, “The Sonof Man is Lord of the
Sabbath.”
JESUS IS LORD
OF THE SABBATH

For (gar) is a term of explanation. What is Jesus explaining? The following
statementwould give the grounds for Jesus'authority in making the previous
statements (either v7 or all of what He had statedin vv3-7, I favor the latter).
The Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath - Notice that the word Lord is the first
word in the Greek sentence whichgives strong emphasis to His Lordship. Son
of Man is clearly a Messianic title. He had used this same Name in Matthew 9
where He had first forgiven the lame man's sins and then authentical His
authority to forgive sins by healing him declaring "But so that you may know
that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins”–thenHe said to
the paralytic, “Get up, pick up your bed and go home.” (Mt 9:6+). In that
passageHe left no doubt that He was not just claiming to be God, but that He
was in fact God, for no mere man could heala lame man. So the Pharisees
were aware of the significance ofHis use of the term Sonof Man in this
passage. He was saying in essence "Iam God and I am the Lord of the
Sabbath!" And because ofWho Jesus is He could determine what the rules for
Sabbath observance should be! The implication also is that as the One Who
instituted the Sabbath, He knows the correctmeaning of the Sabbath.
John MacArthur - “He declaredHimself to be Lord of the Sabbath.” That is a
shocking statement, shocking, beyondcomprehensionto the Jews. God
ordained the Sabbath, Genesis 2:3. God demanded Sabbath observance,
Exodus 20:8-11 in the Ten Commandments. If He says He’s Lord of the
Sabbath, He’s saying He’s God. And He backedit up by miraculous power
over disease, demons and death, and even over sin. Jesus is Lord over the
Sabbath, and He abolishedthe Sabbath. After His death and resurrection,
there is no more Sabbath....The seventhday of the week disappears from all
religious calendars. We now meet on the first day of the week, celebrating the
resurrectionof Jesus Christ. The Sabbath was a shadow (Col 2:16,17+). We
have the reality in Christ. Hebrews 3 and Hebrews 4 (cf Hebrews 4:9, 10, 11+)
says Christ is our Rest. We have entered into the restthe Sabbath portrayed,
a rest to come. Christ is that rest. We don’t need the shadow. The substance is

here. And so Colossians 2:16-17+says "Therefore no one is to act as your
judge in regardto food or drink or in respectto a festival or a new moon or a
Sabbath day– things which are a mere shadow of what is to come; but the
substance belongs to Christ." “Don’t let anybody hold you to a Sabbath.” The
Lord of the Sabbath has nullified the Sabbath, it’s gone.""(Jesus is Lord of
the Sabbath, Part 2)
In summary, it would have been impossible for the Pharisees to miss Jesus'
cleardeclarationof divinity and His declarationas the One having authority
over the Sabbath! Why because He is Lord of the Sabbath!
Why is Jesus making this statementwhich is found in eachsynoptic account?
Remember He is still addressing the accusationofthe Pharisees thatHis
disciples broke the Sabbath law. Since Jesus is the Lord of the Sabbath, He
alone has the authority to interpret the law. He is saying that He is Sovereign
Ruler over the Sabbath day. He is the Masterof this day for He as Creator
made it (Ge 2:1-3). His Lordship trumps the man-made rules of the Jews!We
do not have to guess whetherthe Pharisees "caught" Jesus'allusionto the fact
that He was God! Their violent rage-filled response and desire to destroy Him
(Lk 6:11+, cf Mt 12:14+, Mark 3:6+) made it clearthat they understood what
Jesus was teaching aboutHimself!
Son of Man - this name is used of Jesus in Daniel7:13+ and is used repeatedly
by Matthew - Matt. 11:19; Matt. 12:8; Matt. 12:32; Matt. 12:40;Matt. 13:37;
Matt. 13:41;Matt. 16:13;Matt. 16:27; Matt. 16:28; Matt. 17:9; Matt. 17:12;
Matt. 17:22;Matt. 18:11;Matt. 19:28; Matt. 20:18; Matt. 20:28;Matt. 24:27;
Matt. 24:30;Matt. 24:37;Matt. 24:39; Matt. 24:44; Matt. 25:31;Matt. 26:2;
Matt. 26:24;Matt. 26:45;Matt. 26:64; (Related: What does it mean that
Jesus is the Son of Man?, What does it mean that Jesus is the Lord of the
Sabbath?)

Lord (master, owner)(2962)(kurios fromkuros = might or power, relatedto
kuroo = to give authority) primarily means the possessor, owner, master, the
supreme one, the one who is sovereignoverthe Sabbath, so revered by the
religious Jews. The tragic irony is that the Jews veneratedthe Day and
violated the "DayStar" (2 Pe 1:19KJV+) the very One Who at His return will
be recognizedeven by those who piercedHim (Rev 1:7+) as the "bright and
morning star" (Rev 2:28+; Rev 22:16+)!N
JOSEPHALEXANDER
For the Son of man is lord (not only of all other things affecting human
happiness, but also or even) of the Sabbath, which you might suppose to be
exempt from his control. Grotius and others have endeavouredto explain Son
of man, in this place, as denoting any man or man in general. The sense will
then be that as the Sabbath was appointed for man’s benefit, it is his
prerogative to regulate and use it for his own advantage. But to this
construction, although specious, there are two invincible objections, one of
form and one of substance. The sentiment expressedis not in keeping with the
tenor of the Scriptures, which everywhere deny to man the right of abrogating
or suspending a divine institution for his own goodand at his own discretion.
Such a prerogative can belong only to a divine person, i. e. to God as God, or
to God incarnate in the person of Messiah. Besides, itis only to this person,
the Messiah, thatthe usage ofthe Scriptures will allow the title Sonof Man to
be applied. (See above, on 8:20.) The meaning of the sentence therefore must
be, that the Sabbath having been ordained for man, not for any individual,
but for the whole race, it must needs be subject to the Son of Man, who is its
head and representative, its sovereignand redeemer. This implies that though
the Sabbath, in its essence, is perpetual, the right of modifying and controlling
it belongs to Christ, and can be exercisedonly under his authority. This
sentence differs from the parallel in Mark (2:28), only in the collocationofthe
words, the lastwords here being Son of Man.

GREG ALLEN
"Lord of the Sabbath"
Matthew 12:1-8
Theme: Jesus reveals Himself to be the giver of true rest to those who follow
Him.
(Delivered Sunday, May 28, 2006 atBethany Bible Church. Unless otherwise
noted, all Scripture references are takenfrom The Holy Bible, New King
James Version; copyright 1982, Thomas Nelson, Inc.)
We have been studying from a very serious portion of Matthew's Gospel. It's
a portion that describes the growing oppositionthat our Lord receivedfrom
the religious leaders of the day because ofHis teaching. And as we begin
chapter 12, we see this oppositionreally take off in earnest.
Early rumblings of opposition beganall the way back in chapter 9. He had
calleda tax-collector—a notorious sinner, by the standards of that time—to
become one of His followers. He savedthe man and entered into fellowship
with him. He even ate dinner at the man's home. And we're told that, when
the Phariseessaw it, they said to His other disciples, "Why does your teacher
eat with tax collectors andsinners?" (Matthew 9:11). They would have had
nothing to do with such sinners; and they expecteda holy man to be like they
were. And yet, here was Jesus—having fellowshipwith sinners; and even
eating with them! How could this be?
Jesus told them,

"Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. But
go and learn what this means; 'I desire mercy and not sacrifice.'ForI did not
come to call the righteous, but sinners, to repentance" (Matthew 9:12-13).
Clearly, Jesus didn't fit in with their expectations ofwhat a holy man should
do. He was merciful to sinners.
Then—observing that Jesus and His disciples were at a banquet—some came
and askedHim, "Why do we and the Pharisees fastoften, but Your disciples
do not fast?" They didn't ask Him and His disciples why they only fasted
'rarely'; but rather, they askedwhy they didn't seemto fastat all! They
required fasting of those who would be holy. Why didn't He require fasting of
those who followedHim?
Jesus told them,
“Canthe friends of the bridegroom mourn as long as the bridegroom is with
them? But the days will come when the bridegroom will be takenawayfrom
them, and then they will fast" (Matthew 9:15).
The time would come when fasting would be appropriate—that is, when He
would be takenawayfrom His disciples. But that time had not yet come. He
was still there with His disciples; and it was not a time for fasting, but for
feasting!Again, Jesus clearlydidn't fit with the religious expectations of the
Pharisees!

In fact, He didn't comply with any of their outwardly strict religious patterns.
He didn't seemto concernHimself with conforming to their external
standards of holiness at all. They concluded that, since He didn't do as they
did, He must not be a holy man. As you read on in this Gospel, you getthe
impression that when He acted in compassionand mercy toward needy
people, the religious elites judged Him to be an evil worker. And so, when He
casta demon out of a man, the multitudes marveled and said, "It was never
seenlike this in Israel!"; but the Pharisees said, "He casts outdemons by the
ruler of demons" (Matthew 9:33-34). They, in effect, said He operatedunder
the powerof the devil.
And in chapter 12, this growing opposition towardJesus really begins to
intensify. It reveals itself in this chapter in three ways, First, the Pharisees
oppose Him on the basis of how He kept the Sabbath (vv. 1-21). Then, they
opposedHim on the basis of how He workedby the Holy Spirit (vv. 22-37).
Finally, they opposedHim on the basis of how He would not satisfy their
sinful craving for a miraculous sign(vv. 38-45).
The battle-lines, if I may put it that way, are being drawn in chapter 12;and
they will become more defined as we progress through this Gospel. We will
see the religious leaders confront our Saviorand try to trap Him with
questions; but He will make fools out of them every time. They will seek to lay
hands on Him; but He will slip from their grasp. When we get to Matthew 23,
Jesus really lets them have it! The things He says to them there are truly
shocking;and I'm not sure how I'm going to be able to preach about it in a
nice, polite church like ours! (And I'll bet everybody will show up then!)
The animosity of the religious leaders to Jesus will eventually lead them to
plot togetherto take Jesus by trickery and kill Him (26:3). And it will, of
course, end in the cross. Buteven then, He will rise in victory.

And the opposition begins to show itself for what it is with this morning's
passage—the firsteight verses of chapter twelve:
At that time Jesus wentthrough the grainfields on the Sabbath. And His
disciples were hungry, and began to pluck heads of grain and to eat. And
when the Pharisees sawit, they saidto Him, “Look, Your disciples are doing
what is not lawful to do on the Sabbath!” But He said to them, “Have you not
read what David did when he was hungry, he and those who were with him:
how he entered the house of God and ate the showbreadwhich was not lawful
for him to eat, nor for those who were with him, but only for the priests? Or
have you not read in the law that on the Sabbath the priests in the temple
profane the Sabbath, and are blameless? YetI say to you that in this place
there is One greaterthan the temple. But if you had known what this means,
‘I desire mercy and not sacrifice,’you would not have condemned the
guiltless. Forthe Son of Man is Lord even of the Sabbath" (Matthew 12:1-8).
* * * * * * * * * *
All of this reminds me of a question I have been asking myself lately. I ask it
when I look at other religious groups and considerhow they practice their
faith. I ask myself, "What is it that I do as a practitioner of my 'religion' in an
external sense? I'm a followerof Jesus Christ. I certainly hope I am a
'devoted' follower. But what does that mean in terms of the rites I observe, or
the outward religious practices I keep? What would other people from other
faiths think of my religious 'devotion'? What outward religious rites, or
rituals, or religious performances would they see that would prove I truly was
a 'practitioner' of my religious faith?”
I have to say that I can't think of much that I do in a "religious" sense. Iam a
part of this church; and I gather with my brothers and sisters often
throughout the week. Iget up in the morning and read my Bible every day;
but not as a established"religious" act. Isometimes read my Bible at night in

bed; or while waiting in the car for someone;or even at McDonalds with a cup
of coffee. I pray with others; but I also pray alone. I have no set times for
prayer-I just pray when I need to pray. Sometimes I pray out loud. Sometimes
I pray silently. I have been baptized. I observe the Lord's supper once a
month-along with everyone else here. I tithe; but not out of compulsion. I do
so willingly. But as far as regular outward acts go, that is pretty much it.
I'm not under any requirement to observe any specialholy days or feasts. I
don't have to wear specialgarments or robes, or light any candles, orassume
a meditative position. I don't have to offer any sacrifices orburn any incense.
I do not have to recite any formalistic words, or chants, or setprayers. I don't
have to make any pilgrimages to any sacredplaces;or bow in any specific
direction. I don't have to have a certain number of children. I can eat
anything I want, wheneverI want it; or if I choose, Ican eatnothing at all.
My "religious practice”—ifI may put it that way—is not in some separate,
distinct part of life. I have grown to understand it to be a matter of simply
walking in continual, daily fellowship with Jesus throughout the whole of
everyday life. It isn't so much a matter of what religious "things" I do at set
times, but of being in relationship with Christ all the time.
Now, I hastento add; it's not that I do "nothing". It's not that I live without
regard to God's holy law. That would be something called'antinomianism'—
and it's a terrible error. I hope that, by God's enabling, I am growing daily to
live a holy life in His sight and to live in accordancewith His Ten
Commandments. Jesus Himself even said, "Do not think that I came to
destroy the Law or the Prophets. I did not come to destroybut to fulfill"
(Matthew 5:17). Jesus was always faithful to His Father's law; and so must I
be.

But as I read the Bible, I find that I'm not to seek to live that holy life by
checking items off a list of religious 'do's and 'don't's. Rather, I am to fulfill
God's law through walking in daily fellowship with Jesus. He leads me
through the Holy Spirit; and the Spirit never leads me contrary to the
Father's law. As the Bible says, "Walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill
the lust of the flesh" (Galatians 5:16). As I keepin fellowshipwith Jesus, I am
to follow the biblical principle: "Therefore,whetheryou eator drink, or
whateveryou do, do all to the glory of God" (1 Corinthians 10:31). I
remember that My Lord said that the Father wants me to worship Him, not
with outward things, but “in spirit and truth” (John 4:23).
In a sense, my "religious practice" is to be summed up in three words: "all of
life". And to me, this is a remarkably freeing thing! In the passagethat
precedes the one we're looking at today, Jesus said,
"Come to Me, all you 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 easyand My
burden is light" (Matthew 11:28-30).
And His yoke truly is easy;and His burden truly is light! What liberty I enjoy
in following Jesus Christ! How wonderful it is not to have a bunch of man-
made religious rules to keep!What a burden that would be! As Paul the
apostle said, "Stand fast therefore in the liberty by which Christ has made us
free, and do not be entangledagainwith a yoke of bondage" (Gal. 5:1).
* * * * * * * * * *

Well; as I really startedto think about all of this, it amazed me how little I am
required to do when compared to others who are very careful, very strict
practitioners of man-made religious systems. I realize that, when I am
compared with those who concentrate onwhat they religiously "do", it must
look like I don't do much of anything. When they look at me, I'm sure I must
drive them crazy! I'm sure that I'm like a heathen in their eyes.
But the fact that the Scriptures seems to confirm to me more and more is that
the closersomeonedraws to Jesus Christin a personaland loving way, and
the deepertheir fellowship with Him truly becomes, the less they will find
themselves enamoredwith religious "rules and regulations" as a means of
making themselves "righteous" before God.
I remember Dr. Billy Graham making an observationabout all the countries
he has visited. He observedthat the smaller and weakerandmore
insignificant the nation, the more decoratedand elaborate the uniforms will
be that their ambassadors willparade around in. It's as if they're trying to
make up for something! I think that there's a spiritual parallel. I think that
the further one is from a genuine, personalrelationship with Jesus Christ, the
more they'll feelthe need to parade around in outwardly religious trappings.
The Bible teaches us that "Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to
everyone who believes" (Romans 10:4). The closer-drawnwe are in genuine
love to our precious Savior, the more glorious freedom we will enjoy! And by
the same token, the further we are from that relationship, and the shallower
our connectionto Him becomes, the more "legalistic"we will be. We will try
to make up for the lack of true relationship with rules, and rituals, and
regulations.
I believe that's one of the strongestlessons we draw from this morning's
passage. In it, Jesus reveals Himselfto be the gracious giverof true rest—true
freedom and liberty—to those who follow Him.

* * * * * * * * * *
But not everyone is going to acceptthat. Clearly, the Pharisees didn't. Look,
first of all, at . . .
1. THE COMPLAINT BROUGHT TO JESUS (vv. 1-2).
Matthew says that the incident describedin this passagehappened"at that
time". These words hearkenback to the first verse of 11:1; where we read
that Jesus'disciples had been sent by Him to teachand preachin the cities of
the Jewishpeople.
He had presented Himself to them as their long-awaitedKing, and offered the
kingdom to them. But they did not acceptHis offer. He began to rebuke the
cities that heard His teaching, and saw His miracles;but who did not repent
and acceptHis kingdom offer. And it was then that He made the offer to give
rest insteadto all who labor and are heavy laden. He said, "Take Myyoke
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 easyand My burden is light" (11:28-
30). It's important to notice that. The story that follows is one that shows the
difference betweenthe harsh, burdensome yoke that the religious leaders
placed on people, and the wonderfully light yoke that Jesus placeson those
who follow Him.
Jesus and His disciples were traveling along; and they happened to pass
through a grainfield. And since His disciples were hungry, they began to pluck
the heads of grain, rub them in their hands (as Luke tells us in Luke 6:1), and
munch on the grain. This was something that was perfectly permissible to do.
It was written in the law: "When you come into your neighbor's standing
grain, you may pluck the heads with your hand, but you shall not use a sickle
on your neighbor's standing grain" (Deuteronomy 23:25).

And by the way; I can't help but make notice of this. Isn't it wonderful that
they felt free to do so when they were with Jesus? If they were with the
Pharisees,they might not have felt the freedom to do much of anything.
They'd always have to be looking over their shoulder for 'permission'—
always wondering, “Is this okayto do?” But the more you're around Jesus,
the more you feel the liberating freedom of grace!
* * * * * * * * * *
Well; speaking of the Pharisees—theyjustseemto pop up from out of the
gopher-holes. Whenthey saw what His disciples were doing, they said to
Jesus, "Look,Your disciples are doing what is not lawful to do on the
Sabbath!" (Don't you just love people who come along and help you out like
that?) The problem that the Phariseeshad with the disciples, of course, was
not the fact that they were plucking and eating grain. They couldn't have a
problem with that; because it was permitted in the Scriptures. Rather, they
had a problem with when they were doing it. They were doing it on the
Sabbath.
The Pharisees were strictprotectors ofthe Sabbath. The fourth
commandment says;
"Rememberthe Sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days you shall labor and do
all your work, but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the LORD your God. In it
you shall do no work:you, nor your son, nor your daughter, nor your male
servant, nor your female servant, nor your cattle, nor your stranger who is
within your gates. Forin six days the LORD made the heavens and the earth,
the sea, and all that is in them, and restedthe seventh day. Therefore the
LORD blessedthe Sabbath day and hallowedit" (Exodus 20:8-11).

Now;that is God's law. It was applicable to the disciples of Jesus;and Jesus
never leads His followers in contradictionto His Father's will. But the
Pharisees,in their zeal for God's law, actually applied it beyond God's true
intention. The commandment forbid anyone from doing "work" on the
Sabbath; but they had expanded the meaning of what constituted “work” to a
ridiculous extent. They consideredthat picking heads of grain with one's hand
was the work of "harvesting";and that rubbing the kernels of grain in the
hand was the work of "grinding"; and that blowing the chaff awayfrom the
hand was the work of "threshing";and all together, it was all the work of
"preparing a meal".
And it didn't matter that the disciples were hungry! It was "work" onthe
Sabbath—as they defined it; and that's all that mattered. And if they were so
concernedabout keeping the disciples from doing any work on the Sabbath,
isn't it interesting that they didn't just offer them food instead? Why didn't
they say to the disciples; "Here, here, fellas! Don't work on the Sabbath.
Look;we have brought our lunch! It's all prepared! We'll share." That's in
the Bible too, you know;for in the contextof fasting and keeping the Sabbath,
God spoke to the people of Israelthrough the prophet Isaiah, and said,
“If you take awaythe yoke from your midst,
The pointing of the finger, and speaking wickedness,
If you extend your soul to the hungry
And satisfythe afflicted soul,
Then your light shall dawn in the darkness,
And your darkness shallbe as the noonday.
The LORD will guide you continually,

And satisfyyour soul in drought,
And strengthen your bones;
You shall be like a wateredgarden,
And like a spring of water, whose waters do not fail" (Isaiah 58:9a-11).
You have to say that, in the end, what they were doing was placing the letter
of the law above the spirit of the law. It certainly wasn't God's intention, in
giving the Sabbath law, that people suffer hunger. It was meant to be a day of
mercy. It was meant to be a day of turning awayfrom the regularwork-a-day
chores of life, and taking delight in a day of rest. God, speaking through
Isaiah, goes onto say;
"If you turn awayyour foot from the Sabbath,
From doing your pleasure on My holy day,
And call the Sabbath a delight,
The holy day of the LORD honorable,
And shall honor Him, not doing your own ways,
Nor finding your ownpleasure,
Nor speaking your own words,
Then you shall delight yourself in the LORD;
And I will cause you to ride on the high hills of the earth,
And feed you with the heritage of Jacobyour father.
The mouth of the LORD has spoken" (Isaiah58:13-14).
Clearly, the spirit of this commandment was not brokenby the disciples when
they plucked grain with their hands. We are to seek the spirit of the law—that

which God truly meant—and not just the letter of the law. This was what
Jesus taught us in His Sermon on The Mount; when He said repeatedly, "You
have heard that it was said to those of old . . . but I sayto you . . ." (Matthew
5:21-48).
By the way; what is your emphasis? Is it the spirit of the law? Or is it the
letter of the law? I suggestthat the closeryou draw to Jesus, the more you will
keepthe goodlaw of His Father. But your focus will not be on the mere
"letter" of the law—forthe public display of your own obedience, orto the
hurt of others. Rather, your focus will be on the "spirit" of the law—for
display of God's own mercy, and to the goodof others.
* * * * * * * * * *
This leads us, then, to . . .
2. THE RESPONSEOF JESUS (vv. 3-7).
The Pharisees were,as I'm sure you know, very careful teachers ofthe
Scriptures. And yet, it is to these very Scriptures that Jesus points in order to
correctthem. Can you imagine how it must have angeredand offended them
to hear Him say things like, "Have you not read . . .?" or, "But if you had
known what this means . . ." I'm sure they thought, "How dare He presume to
teachus the Scriptures! Who does He think He is?" (Well, of course, 'who He
is' is the very one about whom the Scriptures testify!—John 5:39.)
And if you pay attention, you can see that Jesus touches on all the major
classifications ofthe Scripture in order to answertheir accusation. First, he
touches on the portion of Scripture that deals with history. He points to the
story of King David that was recordedin 1 Samuel 21.

David was on the run. Saul—the king of the people of Israel—wasseeking to
kill him; because Godhad made it clearto sinful old Saul that He was going to
remove him from the throne and place righteous David on it in his place.
David hurriedly ran for his life to Nob, where the tabernacle of the Lord was;
but he ran in such greathaste that he didn't have time to take food for himself
or for the men who were with him. So, he went to the priest Ahimelech and
askedwhatwas available.
All that was available was the "showbread"—the breadthat was setout fresh
eachweek in as a part of the worship in the temple, in accordancewithGod's
command through Moses(Leviticus 24:5-9). It was commanded in the
Scriptures that only the priests of the temple may eatit (Exodus 29:32-33;
Leviticus 22:10-16). But when Ahimelech saw that David and his men were
truly hungry; and that they were holy men, and not ceremoniallyunclean;
and that fresh bread was about to take its place—mercytook precedenceover
the letter of the law, and he gave the bread to David and his men (1 Samuel
21:16).
Jesus pointed to this story and said to the Pharisees, "Have you not readwhat
David did when he was hungry, he and those who were with him: how he
entered the house of God and ate the showbreadwhich was not lawful for him
to eat, nor for those who were with him, but only for the priests?" (vv. 3-4).
Jesus'point was that it is always lawful to do goodon the Sabbath (Mark 3:4).
And what's more, if this was permitted in the case ofDavid, how much more
appropriate it is when someone is present who was greaterthan David!
* * * * * * * * * *

Second, Jesus points to the portion of Scripture that deals with the precepts of
the law. He says, "Or have you not read in the law that on the Sabbath the
priests in the temple profane the Sabbath, and are blameless?"
Here, He was pointing to the fact that, in the temple, priests were required to
violate the Sabbath every week as they prepared and offered the burnt
offering. Numbers 28:9-10 says,
"'And on the Sabbath day two lambs in their first year, without blemish, and
two-tenths of an ephah of fine flour as a grain offering, mixed with oil, with its
drink offering—this is the burnt offering for every Sabbath, besides the
regular burnt offering with its drink offering'" (Numbers 28:9-10).
Can you imagine how much work that took? And yet, it was required of the
priests that they do so every Sabbath. What's more, Jesus may also be
pointing back to the fact that the priest had to prepare the very showbreadHe
just mentioned every Sabbath. Leviticus 24:8 says,
"Every Sabbath he shall set it in order before the LORD continually, being
takenfrom the children of Israel by an everlasting covenant" (Leviticus 24:8).
The priests of the Old Testament, in their work of temple service, "profaned"
the Sabbath; and yet, they were "blameless". And Jesus makes a remarkable
statementin application of this fact: "Yet I say to you that in this place there
is One greaterthan the temple" (v. 6). He speaksofHimself. Jesus here claims
superiority over both the temple and the Sabbath law. If the Sabbath law can
be "broken" without guilt in order to fulfill the needs of the temple, then it
follows that it canbe "broken" without sin to meet the needs of "One greater
than the temple".

Isn't it interesting how challenging Jesus only leads to greatertruth about
Jesus being revealed?
* * * * * * * * * *
Finally, Jesus points to that portion of the Scripture that dealt with the
prophets. He says, "But if you had knownwhat this means, 'I desire mercy
and not sacrifice,'you would not have condemned the guiltless" (v. 7).
Here, He's quoting from the Old Testamentprophet Hosea;in Hosea 6:6,
where God says to Israel, "ForI desire mercy and not sacrifice, andthe
knowledge ofGod more than burnt offerings." God is not interested in
"sacrifices"just for sacrifices'sake. A sacrifice offeredwill not satisfy God
when the heart that gives it is wrong. In 1 Samuel15:22, He says,
“Has the LORD as greatdelight in burnt offerings and sacrifices,
As in obeying the voice of the LORD?
Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice,
And to heed than the fat of rams" (1 Samuel 15:22).
In Micah 6:6-8, it says,
With what shall I come before the LORD,
And bow myself before the High God?

Shall I come before Him with burnt offerings,
With calves a yearold?
Will the LORD be pleasedwith thousands of rams,
Ten thousand rivers of oil?
Shall I give my firstborn for my transgression,
The fruit of my body for the sin of my soul?
He has shown you, O man, what is good;
And what does the LORD require of you
But to do justly,
To love mercy,
And to walk humbly with your God? (Micah 6:6-8).
Clearly, God is looking for mercy on His Sabbath—and not that a rigid, strict,
inhumane "burden" be placed on people's backs. You might remember that
Jesus had taught them this before. He had mentioned this same passage from
Hosea back in Matthew 9:31. He told them then to "go and learn what this
means . . ."; but clearlythey hadn't. If they had, they would not have
condemned the innocent.
* * * * * * * * * *
This leads us, at last, to . . .
3. THE CONCLUSION ABOUT JESUS (v. 8).

And that, by the way, is the answerto all of this—who Jesus is!Jesus was free
to do what He did on the Sabbath because ofwho He is. He tells them, "For
the Sonof Man is Lord even of the Sabbath" (v. 8).
To call Himself "the Son of Man" was the same as to call Himself the
Messiah—andyou canbe sure that the Pharisees knew this!They would have
recognizedthis as a reference to the Messiahas He is describedin Daniel 7:13-
14;
"I was watching in the night visions,
And behold, One like the Son of Man,
Coming with the clouds of heaven!
He came to the Ancient of Days,
And they brought Him near before Him.
Then to Him was given dominion and glory and a kingdom,
That all peoples, nations, and languages shouldserve Him.
His dominion is an everlasting dominion,
Which shall not pass away,
And His kingdom the one
Which shall not be destroyed" (Daniel7:13-14).
Jesus is making a very bold assertionhere. He is saying that He has a right to
dictate what happens on the Sabbath, because He is the Lord of the Sabbath.
Those who follow Him follow the One concerning whom the Sabbath of the
Old Testamentwas simply a type. He is the One in whom true rest is to be

found. He is the One to whom the commanded restof the Sabbath law
pointed. "Forwe who have believed do enter that rest . . ." (Hebrews 4:3).
* * * * * * * * * *
The apostle Paulgave us a wonderful word of encouragementconcerning all
of this. He wrote for his brothers and sisters to rest completely on the
sufficiency of Jesus Christ; and told them, "So let no one judge you in food or
drink, or regarding a festival or a new moon or sabbaths, which are a shadow
of things to come, but the substance is of Christ" (Colossians 2:16). How
foolish, then, for the Pharisees to be so focusedon insisting that the Old
Testament"shadows"be kept so strictly—and to the hurt of the disciples—
when they were right then in the very presence ofthe One who was
“substance” ofit all!
Dearbrothers and sisters;Jesus here reveals Himself to be the giver of true
rest—true mercy and freedom and liberty—to those who follow Him. He is
Lord over all—evenover the Sabbath.
Let's never make outward religious rules a substitute for enjoying a genuine
relationship with Him. And let's always make sure we praise Him for the
wonderful liberty we enjoy in following Him. BecauseHis yoke truly is easy;
and His burden truly is light!
Misseda message?Check the Archives!
Copyright © 2006 BethanyBible Church, All Rights Reserved

WILLIAM BARCLAY
Breaking The Sabbath Law (Matthew 12:1-8)
12:1-8 At that time Jesus wentthrough the cornfields on the Sabbath day. His
disciples were hungry, and they began to pluck the ears of corn and to eat
them. When the Phariseessaw this, they said to him, "Look you, your
disciples are doing that which it is not permitted to do on the Sabbath day."
He said to them, "Have you not read what David and his friends did, when he
was hungry--how he went into the house of Godand ate the shewbread, which
it was not permissible for him, nor for his friends to eat, but which the priests
alone may eat? Or, have you not read in the Law that the priests profane the
Sabbath, and yet remain blameless? I tell you that something greaterthan the
Temple is here. But, if you had knownthe meaning of the saying, 'It is mercy
that I wish, and not sacrifice,'youwould not have condemned those who are
blameless. Forthe Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath."
(The last phrase should perhaps be translated: "Forman is master of the
Sabbath.")
In Palestine in the time of Jesus the cornfields and the cultivated lands were
laid out in long narrow strips; and the ground betweenthe strips was always a
right of way. It was on one of these strips betweenthe cornfields that the
disciples and Jesus were walking whenthis incident happened.
There is no suggestionthatthe disciples were stealing. The Law expressly laid
it down that the hungry traveller was entitled to do just what the disciples
were doing, so long as he only used his hands to pluck the ears of corn, and
did not use a sickle:"When you go into your neighbours standing grain, you

may pluck the ears with your hand, but you shall not put a sickle to your
neighbours standing grain" (Deuteronomy23:25). W. M. Thomsonin The
Land and the Book tells how, when he was travelling in Palestine, the same
custom still existed. One of the favourite evening dishes for the traveller is
parched corn. "Whentravelling in harvest time," Thomsonwrites, "my
muleteers have very often prepared parched corn in the evenings after the
tent has been pitched. Nor is the gathering of these greenears for parching
ever regardedas stealing.... So, also, Ihave seenmy muleteers, as we passed
along the wheatfields, pluck off the ears, rub them in their hands, and eatthe
grains unroasted, just as the apostles are said to have done."
In the eyes of the Scribes and Pharisees,the fault of the disciples was not that
they had plucked and eaten the grains of corn, but that they had done so on
the Sabbath. The Sabbath Law was very complicatedand very detailed. The
commandment forbids work on the Sabbath day; but the interpreters of the
Law were not satisfiedwith that simple prohibition. Work had to be defined.
So thirty-nine basic actions were laid down, which were forbidden on the
Sabbath, and amongstthem were reaping, winnowing and threshing, and
preparing a meal. The interpreters were not even prepared to leave the matter
there. Eachitem in the list of forbidden works had to be carefully defined. For
instance, it was forbidden to carry a burden. But what is a burden? A burden
is anything which weighs as much as two dried figs. Even the suggestionof
work was forbidden; even anything which might symbolically be regarded as
work was prohibited. Later the greatJewishteacher, Maimonides, was to say,
"To pluck ears is a kind of reaping." By their conduct the disciples were
guilty of far more than one breach of the Law. By plucking the corn they were
guilty of reaping; by rubbing it in their hands they were guilty of threshing;
by separating the grain and the chaff they were guilty of winnowing; and by
the whole process they were guilty of preparing a meal on the Sabbath day,
for everything which was to be eatenon the Sabbath had to be prepared the
day before.

The orthodox Jews took this Sabbath Law with intense seriousness.The Book
of Jubilee has a chapter(chapter 50)about the keeping of the Sabbath.
Whoeverlies with his wife, or plans to do anything on the Sabbath, or plans to
setout on a journey (even the contemplation of work is forbidden), or plans to
buy or sell, or draws water, or lifts a burden is condemned. Any man who
does any work on the Sabbath (whether the work is in his house or in any
other place), or goes a journey, or tills a farm, any man who lights a fire or
rides any beast, or travels by ship at sea, any man who strikes or kills
anything, any man who catches an animal, a bird, or a fish, any man who fasts
or who makes waron a Sabbath--the man who does these things shall die. To
keepthese commandments was to keepthe Law of God; to break them was to
break the Law of God.
There is no doubt whatever that, from their own point of view, the Scribes
and Pharisees were entirelyjustified in finding fault with the disciples for
breaking the Law, and with Jesus for allowing them, if not encouraging them,
to do so.
The Claim Of Human Need(Matthew 12:1-8 Continued)
To meet the criticism of the Scribes and PhariseesJesusput forward three
arguments.
(i) He quoted the actionof David (1 Samuel 21:1-6) on the occasionwhen
David and his young men were so hungry that they went into the tabernacle--
not the Temple, because this happened in the days before the Temple was
built--and ate the shewbread, which only the priests could eat. The shewbread
is described in Leviticus 24:5-9. It consistedof twelve loaves of bread, which
were placed every week in two rows of six in the Holy Place. No doubt they
were a symbolic offering in which God was thanked for his gift of sustaining

food. These loaves were changedevery week, andthe old loaves became the
perquisite of the priests and could only be eatenby them. On this occasion, in
their hunger, David and his young men took and ate those sacredloaves, and
no blame attachedto them. The claims of human need took precedence over
any ritual custom.
(ii) He quoted the Sabbath work of the Temple. The Temple ritual always
involved work--the kindling of fires, the slaughterand the preparation of
animals, the lifting of them on to the altar, and a hostof other things. This
work was actually doubled on the Sabbath, for on the Sabbath the offerings
were doubled (compare e.g. Numbers 28:9). Any one of these actions would
have been illegalfor any ordinary person to perform on the Sabbath day. To
light a fire, to slaughteran animal, to lift it up on to the altar would have been
to break the Law, and hence to profane the Sabbath. But for the priests it was
perfectly legalto do these things, for the Temple worship must go on. That is
to say, worship offeredto God took precedence ofan the Sabbath rules and
regulations.
(iii) He quoted God's word to Hosea the prophet: "I desire steadfastlove and
not sacrifice"(Hosea 6:6). What God desires far more than ritual sacrifice is
kindness, the spirit which knows no law other than that it must answerthe
call of human need.
In this incident Jesus lays it down that the claim of human need must take
precedence ofall other claims. The claims of worship, the claims of ritual, the
claims of liturgy are important but prior to any of them is the claim of human
need.
One of the modern saints of God is Father George Potterwho, out of the
derelict Church of St. Chrysostom's in Peckham, made a shining light of

Christian worship and Christian service. To further the work he founded the
Brotherhoodof the Order of the Holy Cross, whose badge was the towel
which Jesus Christ wore when he washedhis disciples' feet. There was no
service too menial for the brothers to render; their work for the outcastand
for homeless boys with a criminal recordor criminal potentialities is beyond
all praise. Father Potter held the highest possible ideas of worship; and yet
when he is explaining the work of the Brotherhoodhe writes of anyone who
wishes to enter into its triple vow of poverty, chastity and obedience:"He
mustn't sulk if he cannot getto Vespers on the Feastof St. Thermogene. He
may be sitting in a police court waiting for a 'client'. . . . He mustn't be the
type who goes into the kitchen and sobs just because we run short of incense. .
. . We put prayer and sacraments first. We know we cannot do our best
otherwise, but the fact is that we have to spend more time at the bottom of the
Mount of Transfigurationthan at the top." He tells about one candidate who
arrived, when he was just about to give his boys a cup of cocoa andput them
to bed. "So I said, 'Just cleanround the bath will you while it's wet?'He stood
aghastand stuttered, 'I didn't expectto clean up after dirty boys!' Well, well!
His life of devoted service to the BlessedMasterlastedabout sevenminutes.
He did not unpack." Florence Allshorn, the greatprincipal of a women's
missionary college,tells of the problem of the candidate who always discovers
that her time for quiet prayer has come just when there are greasydishes to
be washedin not very warm water.
Jesus insistedthat the greatestritual service is the service of human need. It is
an odd thing to think that, with the possible exceptionof that day in the
synagogue atNazareth, we have no evidence that Jesus everconducteda
church service in all his life on earth, but we have abundant evidence that he
fed the hungry and comfortedthe sad and cared for the sick. Christian service
is not the service of any liturgy or ritual; it is the service of human need.
Christian service is not monastic retiral; it is involvement in all the tragedies
and problems and demands of the human situation. Whittier had it rightly:

"O brother man, fold to thy heart thy brother!
Where pity dwells, the peace of God is there;
To worship rightly is to love eachother,
Eachsmile a hymn, eachkindly deed a prayer.
For he whom Jesus loved hath truly spoken;
The holier worship which he deigns to bless
Restoresthe lost, and binds the spirit broken,
And feeds the widow and the fatherless.
Follow with reverent steps the greatexample
Of Him whose holy work was doing good;
So shall the wide earth seemour Father's temple,
Eachloving life a psalm of gratitude."

That is what we mean--or ought to mean--when we say, "Let us worship
God!"
MasterOf The Sabbath (Matthew 12:1-8 Continued)
There remains in this passage one difficulty which it is not possible to solve
with absolute certainty. The difficulty lies in the last phrase, "Forthe Son of
man is lord of the sabbath." This phrase can have two meanings.
(i) It may mean that Jesus is claiming to be Lord of the Sabbath, in the sense
that he is entitled to use the Sabbath as he thinks fit. We have seenthat the
sanctity of the work of the Temple surpassedand over-rode the Sabbath rules
and regulations;Jesus has just claimedthat something greaterthan the
Temple is here in him; therefore he has the right to dispense with the Sabbath
regulations and to do as he thinks best on the Sabbath day. That may be said
to be the traditional interpretation of this sentence, but there are real
difficulties in it.
(ii) On this occasionJesusis not defending himself for anything that he did on
the Sabbath; he is defending his disciples; and the authority which he is
stressing here is not so much his own authority as the authority of human
need. And it is to be noted that when Mark tells of this incident he introduces
another saying of Jesus as part of the climax of it: "The Sabbath was made for
man, not man for the Sabbath" (Mark 2:27).
To this we must add the fact that in Hebrew and Aramaic the phrase son of
man is not a title at all, but simply a way of saying a man. When the Rabbis
begana parable, they often beganit: "There was a son of man who...";when

we would simply say, "There was a man who . . ." The Psalmistwrites, "What
is man that thou art mindful of him? and the son of man that thou dost care
for him?" (Psalms 8:4). Again and againthe EzekielGod addresses Ezekielas
son of man. "And he said to me: 'Son of man, stand upon your feet and I will
speak with you'" (Ezekiel2:1; compare Ezekiel2:6; Ezekiel2:8; Ezekiel3:1;
Ezekiel3:4; Ezekiel3:17;Ezekiel3:25). In all these casessonof man, spelled
without the capital letters, simply means man.
In the (early and best) Greek manuscripts of the New Testamentall the words
were written completely in capitalletters. In these manuscripts (called
uncials) it would not be possible to tell where specialcapitals are necessary.
Therefore, in Matthew 12:8, it may well be that son of man should be written
without capital letters, and that the phrase does not refer to Jesus but simply
to man.
If we considerthat what Jesus is pressing is the claims of human need; if we
remember that it is not himself but his disciples that he is defending; if we
remember that Mark tells us that he said that the Sabbath was made for man
and not man for the Sabbath; then we may well conclude that what Jesus said
here is: "Man is not the slave of the Sabbath; he is the master of it, to use it
for his own good." Jesus maywell be rebuking the Scribes and Phariseesfor
enslaving themselves and their fellow-men with a host of tyrannical
regulations;and he may well be here laying down the greatprinciple of
Christian freedom, which applies to the Sabbath as it does to all other things
in life.

Matthew 12:1-14: “Jesus Gives Five Rebuttals To The Pharisees Accusation
That His Disciples Were Breaking The SabbathLaws, Then He Heals On The
Sabbath”
by
Jim Bomkamp
Back Bible Studies Home Page
1. INTRO:
1.1. In this next sectionof the gospelof Matthew, we see that Jesus has
His first run in with the Pharisees overthe issue of the observance ofthe
Sabbath
1.2. The Pharisees hadadded hundreds of their own Sabbath laws ontop
of the laws that were delivered by Moses
1.3. Regarding Sabbath observance, Jesus did not follow the laws which
man laid down, neither did He break God’s laws, and, He did not teachothers
to break God’s Laws

1.3.1. Jesus did not follow the laws of the PhariseesbecauseHe knew that
legalismdid not produce godliness nor bare fruit for God, but rather brought
slavery and spiritual lethargy and death
1.4. We see from these verses that Jesus brings out and teaches the true
meaning and purpose for the Sabbath laws, something which the Pharisees
had lostsight of
1.4.1. The Pharisee’sapproachto the Sabbath:
1.4.1.1.The Pharisees hadthought that since the Sabbath laws were somewhat
vague, and it was very important that Jews obeythese laws, that the only way
to be sure that a person really obeyed these laws was to define them more
strictly than what scripture lays out
1.4.1.1.1.Bythe Pharisees adding to the laws governing the Sabbath so that
they could be sure to keepthe Sabbath, they were enslavedand enslaving
people, and thus they were actually the greatestviolators of the Sabbath by
making it an incredible burden for everyone
1.4.1.1.2.Inthe book of 1 Maccabees(2:31-38), there is a story written of
where the Jews refusedto to defend themselves on the Sabbath againstan
army led by Antiochus Epiphanes, who thereby slew a thousand of their
people
1.4.1.1.3.Itis also written by Josephus, the Jewishhistorian, that the Jews
would not defend themselves on a Sabbath which led to Pompey being able to
capture Jerusalem

1.4.1.1.4.Armies knew that because ofthe Jew’s legalisticfollowing of the
Pharisaic laws that all a country had to do to defeatthem in battle was to
attack on a Sabbath
1.4.1.1.5.The Pharisees willfully violated so many of God’s commandments,
yet it seemedthat the one area that they sought to obey completely was
Sabbath observance, albeitby their own additions to God’s Law
1.4.2. Jesus’approachto the Sabbath:
1.4.2.1.Jesus taughtthat the Sabbath was given so that man could spend one
day in relaxation and worship, free from the cares and urgencies of work, and
that by doing this man would not lose sight of God in his life nor work himself
too hard
1.4.2.2.Insaying these things, Jesus was teaching that the Sabbath was made
for the goodof man, to remove his burden, not to make his burden greaterby
the keeping of this law
1.4.2.3.following this approach, man would truly be setfree and thus be free
to fully follow the Lord
1.5. In this sectionJesus gives 5 rebuttals to the Pharisees’accusation
againstHis disciples that they were breaking the Sabbath Laws by picking
grain with their hands in a field on the Sabbath

1.6. As we considerthe events of this story, we need to see that whenever
man adds to God’s Laws the result is not fruit-bearing, but rather ‘religion’
which is cold, lifeless, and enslaving
1.7. When I first came to Christ 27 years ago, mostif not all of the
churches that were evangelistic and not apostate practiceda form of legalism,
for Christian parents tended to disallow their kids from attending dances,
listening to contemporary music, girls wearing dresses much above their
ankles, and many parents even forbade their kids from attending sporting
events, watching television, and listening to the radio
1.7.1. The kids that I knew from these kinds of homes often rebelled against
their parents and went to far extremes of imitating the world, or they often
just gotsociallyisolatedand really had no effective Christian witness to their
lost friends
2. VS 12:1-2 - “12:1 At that time Jesus went on the Sabbath through
the grainfields, and His disciples became hungry and beganto pick the heads
of grain and eat. 2 But when the Pharisees sawit, they said to Him, “Behold,
Your disciples do what is not lawful to do on a Sabbath.”” - The Pharisees
came to Jesus accusing His disciples of breaking the Sabbath Laws
2.1. The first thing that we need to be clearon here is that Jesus’disciples
were not breaking any of God’s Sabbath laws in what they were doing, for the

law said it was perfectly legalfor someone to glean food to eatas he walked
through another man’s field (Deut. 23:25), that is, as long as he didn’t use a
sickle to harvestthe food
2.2. Secondly, the Phariseeswere not charging Jesus’disciples with
stealing another man’s food, for they knew themselves that by God’s law a
person could pick his neighbor’s grain or vines by hand and eat from them
2.3. Third, the law that the Phariseesare charging Jesus’disciples of
breaking is actually their own law, for they had added onto God’s law and
had legislatedtwo new laws of their own:
2.3.1. The rubbing togetherof grain in the hands was a form of ‘threshing’,
which was forbidden in the Law
2.3.2. The blowing awayof the chaff was a form of ‘winnowing’ which was
also forbidden
3. VS 12:3-4 - “3 But He said to them,“Have you not read what
David did, when he became hungry, he and his companions; 4 how he entered
the house of God, and they ate the consecratedbread, which was not lawful
for him to eat, nor for those with him, but for the priests alone?”” - Jesus’
first rebut of the Pharisees’charge: The Pharisees’hero, David, and his men
had once done as Jesus’disciples had done when once they were hungry

3.1. In the case ofDavid and his men, found in 1 Sam. 21:6, they actually
had broken the Mosaic law which forbade anyone from eating of the
sanctifiedbread in the tabernacle exceptfor the appointed priests (see Lev.
24:5-9)
3.2. The question that must be askedis whether or not David and his men
had sinned in eating the tabernacle bread that was only to be eatenby the
preists?
3.2.1. The implied answerfrom scripture is that they did not break the Law
3.2.2. The reasonwhy they did not sin in eating this bread is because Godis
truly concernedabout man’s welfare and the hunger of David and his men
was more important than the keeping of a ceremoniallaw regarding the
eating of the sanctified bread
3.2.3. There canbe instances that occurwhere a personcould break one law
while trying to fulfill another law, and we must know God’s heart and seek for
His wisdom and leading in knowing how to respond in those circumstances
3.2.3.1.Forinstance, the Pharisees were constantlybreaking the law that is
more weighty in God’s eyes of having love, compassion, andmercy for people
by the rigid keeping of the Sabbath

3.3. As I have mentioned before, God does not give us laws that are
arbitrary, rather they are given for our own goodand to enrich our lives and
bring us closerto Him
3.3.1. We Christians need to let it sink deep into our hearts and minds that
God always does everything He does in regard to us because He knows that it
is the very bestfor us, and He knows intimately all of our needs and wounds
and wants only to provide the provision for those that He knows we are truly
needing
3.3.1.1.Ifyou ever find yourself accepting less than God’s very best for you,
then you are being ripped off in a big way, because God’s plan for your life
cannot be improved upon
4. VS 12:5 - “5 “Or have you not read in the Law, that on the
Sabbath the priests in the temple break the Sabbath, and are innocent?”” -
Jesus’secondrebut of the Pharisees’charge: The priests in the temple
constantly break the Sabbath laws with their serving in the temple, yet they
are innocent
4.1. Every Pharisee knew that the Sabbath Laws did not pertain to the
priests, for they had to labor arduously on the Sabbath conducting sacrifices
for the people

4.2. This verse just shows that when man creates laws he becomes very
rigid about their enforcement and quick to condemn those who do not
perfectly tow the line, without giving any considerationto a person’s personal
circumstances
4.3. When men add to God’s Word requirements for those who walk with
the Lord, then it is always the case with them (just as it was with the
Pharisees)thatthey place the observance oftheir laws even above God’s Laws
and desires
4.4. By nature I believe that all of us tend to be legalists, andwhen we
come to know the Lord it seems that one of the first things that we do is try to
re-enslave ourselves to the very things that Christ redeemed us from, the Law
and condemnation
4.4.1. Then, as we are doing that to ourselves we also begin to condemn others
for not observing our legalism
4.4.2. It takes time for God to bring us to the point of realizing that Christ is
our righteousness,that His righteousness is imputed to us, and that being
completely acceptedby God because ofChrist’s righteousness there is nothing
that we could do to improve upon that
4.4.3. This is what ‘grace’consistsof, and it is so difficult for a new Christian
to really graspthe depth of what God’s grace has and is doing in his life
4.5. Notice Jesus’sternrebuke of those who were supposedto be the
spiritual leaders of the people, for if anyone was to be responsible for knowing

God’s Word it must be those who are their spiritual leaders, yet He says to
them, “Have you not read…?”
4.5.1. Christian, Godexpects you to study and rightly divide the Word of
God, for as Jesus saidon another occasion, “manis not to live by food alone
but by EVERY Word that proceeds out of the mouth of God”
5. VS 12:6 - “6 “But I sayto you, that something greaterthan the
temple is here”” - Jesus’third rebut of the Pharisees’charge: Something
greaterthan the temple is here
5.1. In saying this, Jesus may be saying that since He, God the Son, the
creatorof all that exists, is in their midst, He is much greaterthan the temple
built to worship Him
5.2. Or, Jesus may be saying that there was a greaterdynamic there than
that which the temple represented, for He was issuing in the new covenant
which was much greaterand provides many more privileges than the old
covenant

6. VS 12:7 - “7 “But if you had known what this means, ‘I desire
compassion, andnot a sacrifice,’you would not have condemned the
innocent”” - Jesus’fourth rebut of the Pharisees’charge: The Pharisees
were condemning the innocent disciples because they didn’t realize that God
is more interested in their having ‘compassion’than in their observing
religious rites and sacrifices
6.1. It is so wonderful here to see the heart of the Lord, for He reveals
just how much compassionHe has for us, and how His value system places
loving people so much higher than mere external observance oflaws
6.2. The legalist, as the Pharisees were,is not concernedabout people,
and is not motivated by love for people, rather he is concernedonly about
earning points through observing laws
6.3. Jesus is quoting from Hos. 6:6: “6 ForI delight in loyalty rather
than sacrifice, And in the knowledge ofGod rather than burnt offerings”
7. VS 12:8 - “8 “Forthe Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath.”” -
Jesus’fifth rebut of the Pharisees’charge: The Son of Man is Lord of the
Sabbath

7.1. Some interpreters have said that by Jesus’speaking ofthe, ‘Lord of
the Sabbath’, He is referring to every man, however this view does not make
sense because:
7.1.1. There is no other place in the scripture where Jesus uses this phrase,
‘son of man’, to refer to anyone but Himself
7.1.2. This would be no big revelation, if He did mean it that way
7.2. I, along with most goodinterpreters, believe that God is referring to
Himself as being the ‘Lord of the Sabbath’ here
7.2.1. Jesus is the Lord, and therefore He has the right and privilege to
interpret correctlyfor us any portion of scripture as wellas to revealto us
that which before was unknown, for everything that He said was infallible and
inerrant
7.2.2. Jesus rose onSunday, and then for the next two weeks appearedto the
church on Sundays as they were worshipping, and thereafter the church quit
meeting on Saturdays and beganmeeting on Sundays for the Lord who is
Lord of the Sabbath had sanctionedSunday as the day for worship for His
church by His resurrectionand appearances
7.2.2.1.Thus, you see He is Lord of the Sabbath

7.3. When you think about it, when Jesus saidthat He was ‘Lord of the
Sabbath’ this claim is pregnant with meaning and implications
7.3.1. One writer has said that this saying might be Jesus’greatestassertion
of His deity, for who could be ‘Lord of the Sabbath’ but the One who created
it
7.3.2. The one thing that the Pharisees seemedto value as being of prime
importance, the observance ofthe Sabbath laws, Jesus claimedto be Lord
over
7.3.2.1.Ifthis saying would not stir up the angerand resentment of the
Pharisees,whatelse could?
8. VS 12:9-10 - “9 And departing from there, He went into their
synagogue. 10 And behold, there was a man with a withered hand. And they
questioned Him, saying, “Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath?”—inorder that
they might accuse Him”” - Jesus wentinto the synagogue andupon His
seeing of a man with a withered hand, the Pharisees, knowing thatJesus
would heal the man, soughtto accuse Him of breaking the Sabbath and thus
they askedHim if it was lawful to heal on the Sabbath

8.1. It is such a sad thing here to realize that these Pharisees were so
callousedand hard of heart that they had this man with a withered hand
placed near Jesus justso that they could accuse Him when Jesus healedthe
man on the Sabbath
8.1.1. Theywere not at all concernedfor the man and his well-being, in fact
they could care less whether Jesus healedhim, all they were interested in was
seeing if Jesus wouldbreak one of their own interpretations and additions to
the Sabbath law
8.1.2. ThesePhariseesknew Jesus characterand heart, and that he would be
moved to compassionand thus ‘have to’ heal this man
8.2. Jesus usedthis incident to reveal that He truly was God the Son and
that He had power overlife, death, the devil, hell, and the grave, but sadly the
Pharisees responseto Jesus’wonderful work of healing and restorationwas
that being filled with jealousytowards Him they were enragedand beganto
plot His death
9. VS 12:11-12 - “11 And He said to them, “Whatman shall there be
among you, who shall have one sheep, and if it falls into a pit on the Sabbath,
will he not take hold of it, and lift it out? 12 “Of how much more value then is
a man than a sheep!So then, it is lawful to do goodon the Sabbath.”” - Jesus
convicts the Phariseesoftheir hypocrisy and sin by revealing to them where
their values really did lay, for on the Sabbath they would rescue one of their
own sheeptrapped in a pit, yet they could not have compassionona man and
hope that he would be healed of an infirmity

9.1. As is the case with all legalists, these Phariseeswouldin their own
case make exceptions to their own keeping of the Sabbath laws when necessity
or opportunity afforded themselves
9.2. Those who are legalistic tend to excuse their own faults and sins while
focusing upon the faults and sins of others which they deem to be inexcusable
9.3. Jesus reveals here how greatlyGod values people whom He has made
in His image by asking the rhetorical question, ‘Of how much more value then
is a man than a sheep?’
9.4. Finally Jesus reveals the greatSabbath principle: ‘it is lawful to do
goodon the Sabbath’
9.4.1. Whenpeople need help and there is some means for us to help them, it
is perfectly right and appropriate to give them help on a Sabbath day
9.4.2. The purpose of the Sabbath was to cause men to not overwork but have
to take some time awayfrom the drudgery and labor in their weekdaylife so
that they could have time to concentrate upon seeking the Lord and helping
others when they need it
9.5. In the 27 years that I have walkedwith the Lord I have seenso many
forms of legalismin the lives of Christians, and in the activities of the church,

and I suppose there is no end to the ways in which Christian leaders cantry to
legislate overthe lives of people external requirements and expectations which
the supposed‘faithful’ of their church must perform if they are to be on the
inside track with God
9.5.1. Justthis past week I sort of winced in pain and grinned in disbelief
when I receiveda flier in the mail from an evangelistwho is going to be
holding revival meetings in town soon, and the entire gist of the flier was a
huge, yet only partial, list of all of the many many things that this evangelist
was going to preach against. Almost every faithful (and fruitful) Christian I
know does one or more of the things included in this list. I thought, ‘I wonder
how many people are going to read this huge list of the things this man is
againstand then think, ‘Oh boy, I can’t wait to get down there and hear this
guy condemn us!’’ However, sadly I know that there are many Christians that
seemto gravitate towards this kind of bondage and condemnation over their
lives.
10. VS 12:13 - “13 Then He *saidto the man, “Stretchout your hand!”
And he stretched it out, and it was restoredto normal, like the other”” - Jesus
healed the man with the withered hand
10.1. Jesus was moved with compassionandthus He could not refuse healing
the man, even if it brought a confrontation with the religious leaders who
were seeking some sortof a way to accuse Him of Sabbath violation

10.2. It is very interesting that in healing this man with the withered hand
that He askedthe man to do the very thing that he was presently unable to do,
‘stretch forth’ his hand
10.2.1.Because the man had faith in Jesus, he did what Jesus askedof him, he
stretchedforth his hand, and then he was wonderfully and marvelously healed
10.2.2.This storypaints a picture for us, as do all of Jesus’healings, of how we
Christians canbe healedfrom and have victory over sin in our lives:
10.2.2.1.“God’scommands are His enablings:”
10.2.2.1.1.Eachof us will first hear God’s commands and demands for
obedience in our lives, howeverwe are at first crippled and unable to obey
these demands due to the weakness ofour flesh, howeverwhen in obedience
and faith we act upon God’s commands a miraculous thing happens to us,
God supernaturally gives us the ability to do His will
10.2.2.1.2.Iremember when I first beganto walk with Christ after coming out
of the hedonistic hippie lifestyle and thinking that there is no way that I would
ever be able to walk in the way that the Bible commands that God’s people
walk, and yet one day in obedience and faith I beganto take one day at a time
and submit to God and trust His power to enable me to walk obediently
before Him, and miraculously, though I did have my setbacks, Godbeganto
give me victory over sin in my life

11. VS 12:14 - “14 But the Pharisees wentout, and counseledtogether
againstHim, as to how they might destroy Him” - Jesus’performance of this
miracle of healing the man with the withered hand causes the Pharisees to
begin to plot His death
11.1. It is such a sad and tragic thing that the performance of this wonderful
miracle of healing upon a man who had suffered so greatly probably since
birth was what triggeredthe Pharisees to be so greatly incensedat Jesus for
not following their program and coming through their ranks that now they
want to kill Him
11.2. The Pharisees sawthat the multitudes of people were marveling at
Jesus and coming to Him with every kind of sickness andailment, and they
foresaw that if they didn’t stop Jesus now that everyone would embrace Him
and then they would lose their standing and perhaps livelihood with the
people
JOHN BROADUS
Matthew 12:8. This gives a fourth defence of the disciples, in the shape of a
reasonfor declaring them 'guiltless.'Acting under their Master's authority,
they had a right to do what would not usually be proper on the Sabbath, for
he is Lord of the Sabbath. (Even is genuine in Mark and Luke, but not in
Matthew)This statement carries higher the idea of Matthew 12:6. There he

declaredthe presence ofsomething superior to the temple, and a fortiori, to
the Sabbath; here he says that the Messiahis Lord of the Sabbath, having full
authority to controland regulate it as he may see proper. In both casesit is
implied that the speakeris the personreferred to, but it is not distinctly
stated, because the time for publicly taking such a position has not yet come.
The Son of man, see on "Matthew 8:20". If the inspired apostles ofJesus
afterwards changedthe day to be observed, and absolved Christians from all
particular Mosaic as wellas traditional rules concerning the manner of
observing it, they were not going beyond the authoritative control overthe
Sabbath which their Masterhimself had claimed.
CALVIN
8. Forthe Son of man is Lord even of the Sabbath. Some connectthis sentence
with a preceding statement, that one greaterthan the temple is in this place,
(ver. 6;) but I look upon them as different. In the former case, Christ, by an
allusion to the temple, affirmed that whateverwas connectedwith his
personalholiness was not a transgressionofthe Law; but now, he declares
that he has receivedauthority to exempt his followers from the necessityof
observing the Sabbath. The Sonof man, (he says,)in the exercise of his
authority, can relax the Sabbath in the same manner as other legal
ceremonies. And certainly out of Christ the bondage of the Law is wretched,
from which he alone delivers those on whom he bestows the free Spirit of
adoption, 82 (Romans 8:15.)
Mark 2:27. The Sabbath was made for man. This Fifth argument is relatedby
Mark alone. The generalmeaning is, that those persons judge amiss who turn
to man’s destruction, 83 the Sabbath which God appointed for his benefit.

The Pharisees sawthe disciples of Christ employed in a holy work;they saw
them worn out with the fatigue of the journey, and partly with want of food;
and yet are offended that, when they are hungry, they take a few grains of
corn for the support of their weariedbodies. Is not this a foolish attempt to
overturn the purpose of God, when they demand to the injury of men that
observationof the Sabbath which he intended to be advantageous? Butthey
are mistaken, I think, who suppose that in this passagethe Sabbath is entirely
abolished; for Christ simply informs us what is the proper use of it. Though
he asserted, a little before, that he is Lord of the Sabbath, yet the full time for
its abolition 84 was not yet come, because the veil of the temple was not yet
rent, (Matthew 27:51.)
by Dr. Knox Chamblin
LORD OF THE SABBATH. 12:1-14.
PLUCKING GRAIN ON THE SABBATH. 12:1-8.
The Disciples and the Pharisees. 12:1-2.
The Pharisees do not object to the plucking as such (see Deut 23:25), but to
the factthat it is done on the Sabbath (see Ex 34:21). "Look!Your disciples
are doing what is unlawful on the Sabbath" (v. 2b); the question of Mk and
Lk is heightenedinto an accusationin Mt (Gundry, 222).
Jesus and the Pharisees.

Jesus'reference to David, 12:3-4. Both here and in vv. 5 and 7, Jesus appeals
to the OT, his antagonists'prime authority (note the ouk anegnote, vv. 3, 5).
For the story of David and his men, see 1 Sam 21:1-6. Jesus makes nothing of
the factthat the bread in question "had been removed from before the LORD
and replacedby hot bread on the day it was takenaway" (21:6b), nor of the
Midrashic tradition that the episode occurredon the Sabbath (cf. Gundry,
223). He simply identifies the bread as "consecrated"and thus unlawful for
any but priests to eat (12:4; cf. Lev 24:9a, "It belongs to Aaron and his sons";
1 Sam 21:6a, "So the priest gave him the consecratedbread"). Jesus affirms
the correctnessofwhat David did, and thus upholds the OT (cf. 5:17).
Laws moral and ceremonial. Jesus, moreover, affirms the superiority of the
MoralLaw over the Ceremonial. The Sabbath Law itself belongs to the
former. Certain ceremoniallaws were added on the basis of the Fourth
Commandment, to stipulate practicalways of honoring the day and protecting
it from profanation. Yet significantly "the Decalogue ...does notinclude rules
for the offering of sacrifices"(F. I. Andersen and D. N. Freedman, Hosea, AB,
430). Moreover, David's actionupholds the Sixth Commandment, which calls
for the sustaining of human life. David honors this commandment by acting to
relieve his and his men's physical needs ("what David did when he and his
companions were hungry?" 12:3), needs likely to have been far more acute
than usual, since David and his men were fugitives. The disciples too are
honoring the Sixth Commandment by plucking grain to satisfy their hunger.
Jesus'reference to the priests, v. 5. As Gundry notes (223), the argument of v.
5 is an halachic addition to the haggadic argument of vv. 3-4. Jesus refers to
the priests'habit of changing the shewbreadon the Sabbath (Lev 24:8; 1 Sam
21:6b), and of doubling the burnt offering on the Sabbath (Num 28:9-10).
Thus by the standard of the Fourth Commandment the priests "desecratethe
day" (12:5b). Yet they are "innocent" (v. 5c), because their actions are
stipulated by the Mosaic Law itself (cf. Carson, 281).

Jesus'argument from the lesserto the greater(qal wahomer), vv. 6-8.
The "something greater." In v. 6 Jesus declaresthat "something greater[for
the neuter meizon] than the temple is here." Interpreted strictly as a neuter
(NIV mg.), the coming of the kingdom itself is meant. But "the neuter gender
may refer to a person...providedthat the emphasis is less on the individual
than on some outstanding generalquality..." (NigelTurner, A Grammar of
NT Greek, 3:21). In this case Jesus might be referring to himself as the One
who ushers in the kingdom, the One on whose accountit comes. Thus NIV
renders, "one greaterthan the temple."
The quotation from Hos 6:6. Having referred to the Former Prophets (vv. 3-4)
and to the Pentateuch(v. 5), Jesus now quotes from the Latter Prophets (and
for the secondtime from Hos 6:6; see comments on Mt 9:13). Hos 6:6a states
in an arresting way (as needed in the face of Israel's excessive dependence on
the cult) the supremacy of hesed(covenant-keeping love and loyalty) over
sacrifice, nothesed's exclusionof the cult (thus also Andersen and Freedman,
430). Cf. 1 Sam 15:22 (which Hosea had in mind), "Does Yahwehdelight in
offerings and sacrifices/As much as in obedience to the voice of Yahweh?"
(translated in ibid., 431). Moreover, the parallel statement of Hos 6:6b ("and
acknowledgmentof God rather than burnt offerings")makes it clearthat the
hesedbegins with love and loyalty to God (cf. Hos 4:1b). Thus, in quoting Hos
6:6 Jesus declaresthat the Pharisees'hostile response to the disciples' action
proceeds from a concernfor religious ritual which has been divorced from the
right relationship to God. I believe that Jesus is implying something more:
namely, that had the Phariseesbeenrightly relatedto Godbased on the right
reading of the OT, they would have been recognizedImmanuel when he came.
Indeed the recognitionof who Jesus really is, is essentialif a person (whether
a Pharisee orsomeone else)is to acceptthe contention that "something
greaterthan the temple is here," or that the disciples are indeed "innocent."

Jesus'argument. Having lookedat some particulars of vv. 6-7, we can now see
how vv. 6-8 climax the argument that Jesus beganin vv. 3-5.
The Temple is greaterthan the Sabbath, as shown by the factthat, within the
OT context, the demand for priestly work in the temple overrode the Sabbath
law, v. 5.
The Son of Man is greaterthan the Temple, v. 6.
Therefore he is greaterthan the Sabbath as well. Indeed, he is "Lord of the
Sabbath" (v. 8).
As the Lord of the Sabbath - which means as Yahweh, the God who revealed
the Mosaic Law, including the Decalogue -Jesus has the right to say whatever
he chooses aboutthe Sabbath. Moreover, he has the supreme and unique right
to expound the Sabbath Law in the light of, and on the basis of, the dawn of
the New Age - just as he did in the case ofother OT laws in 5:21-48. There are
two aspects to his present treatment of Sabbath Law. On the one hand, Jesus
abrogates existing Sabbathceremonial. In defending his disciples' actionand
declaring them "innocent" (the opening "for," gar, of v. 8 links this
pronouncement with v. 7), Jesus forecaststhe end of OT ceremonial. The
prohibition of "harvesting" no longer applies (cf. below on 15:1-20). On the
other hand, Jesus upholds the Fourth Commandment. His very declaration
that he is "Lord of the Sabbath," affirms the ongoing reality and validity of
the Sabbath Day. The abrogationof the ceremonialprescriptions recalls
attention to the foundational law in the Decalogue, andthus reminds the
people of God that the Sabbath is his goodgift (not something he does to us
but something he provides for us), an expressionof his own hesed, designedto
fostera deepened relationship with him (which is the essenceofthe covenant).

The effectof God's initiative is an answering hesedfrom man, both to God
(praise and worship) and to man (beneficentactions bringing blessing both to
oneself, v. 1, and to others, v. 12b, "It is lawful to do goodon the Sabbath";cf.
II. below). Preciselyhow one keeps the Sabbath will be governedby love of
God and of neighbor (22:34-40;cf. Rom 13:8-10;chs. 14-15).
THOMAS CONSTABLE
Verse 7-8
Jesus againcriticized the Pharisees forfailing to understand the Scriptures
(cf. Matthew 12:3), and He quoted Hosea 6:6 again(cf. Matthew 9:13).
Previously Jesus had cited this verse to show the Phariseesthat they failed to
recognize their own need. Now He used it to show them that they failed to
recognize Him. The Jews in Hosea"sday relied on mere ritual to satisfy God.
The Pharisees were doing the same thing. They had not graspedthe real
significance ofthe Law, as their criticism of Jesus" disciples demonstrated.
Jesus accusedthe accusersand declaredthe disciples innocent.
"Note that Jesus appealedto prophet [ Matthew 12:3-4], priest [ Matthew
12:5-6], and king [ Matthew 12:7]; for He is Prophet, Priest, and King. Note
too the three "greater" statements thatHe made: as the Priest, He is "greater
than the temple" ( Matthew 12:6); as Prophet, He is "greaterthan Jonah" (
Matthew 12:41); and as King, He is "greaterthan Solomon" ( Matthew
12:42)." [Note:Wiersbe, 1:42.]
As Son of Prayer of Manasseh, "this Prayer of Manasseh," Jesus was Lord
of the Sabbath. That Isaiah, His authority was greaterthan the authority that
God had given the Sabbath over His people. Jesus had the authority to do

anything He wishedwith the Sabbath. Significantly, He abolished its
observance whenHe terminated the whole Mosaic Code evenas the temple
effectively abolishedit for the priests within the Mosaic system.
"We are free while we are doing anything for Christ; God loves mercy, and
demands not sacrifice;His sacrifice is the service ofChrist, in heart, and life,
and work. We are not free to do anything we please;but we are free to do
anything needful or helpful, while we are doing any service to Christ." [Note:
Edersheim, The Life . . ., 2:59.]
THE SABBATH DAY
DR. W. A. CRISWELL
Matthew 12:1-13
1-10-65 7:30 p.m.

On the radio, on WRR the radio of the city of Dallas, you are sharing the
services ofthe First BaptistChurch in this queenly and glorious city. And the
title of the sermonis The Sabbath Day. Every Sunday night the pastorbrings
a messageonthe life of Christ. And following through the story of the life of
our Lord, we have come to the Sabbath controversy;the controversythat
precipitated the determination of the elders, and the scribes, and the rulers of
Israelto destroyJesus. At the close ofthe passagethatwe shall read together
tonight it says in the next verse, "Then the Pharisees wentout and held a
council againstJesus how they might destroy Him." [Matthew 12:14] And
that was precipitated by this Sabbath controversy.
Now let us read it togetherMatthew chapter 12, the first thirteen verses.
Matthew, the first gospel, chapter12, the first thirteen verses and share your
Bible with your neighbor. And you who listen on the radio, read it out loud
with us; it will bless you heart, every Word of God was written to be read
aloud. The first thirteenverses of the twelfth chapter of Matthew, all of us
reading together:
At that time Jesus wenton the Sabbath day through the corn; and His
disciples were an hungred, and began to pluck the ears of corn, and to eat.
But when the Phariseessaw it, they said unto Him, Behold, Thy disciples do
that which is not lawful to do upon the Sabbath day. But He said unto them,
Have ye not read what David did when he was an hungred, and they that were
with him;

Jesus was lord of the sabbath

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