Nepaug Bible Church - http://www.nepaugchurch.org - Pastor's Prayer Meeting Lesson Notes - http://www.nepaugchurch.org/pm/pm20130417.htm

THRU THE BIBLE EXPOSITION
Matthew: Jesus As Israel's Messiah And His Kingdom
Part XV: Christ As Israel's Messiah Seen By The Opposition To His Ministry, Matthew 11:2-16:12
D. Christ As Israel's Messiah By His Controversies Over Work On The Sabbath
(Matthew 12:1-13)
  1. Introduction
    1. Matthew's Gospel reveals that Jesus is God's Messiah to Israel though He did not establish His Messianic Kingdom at His first coming because Israel rejected Him. (Ryrie Study Bible, KJV , 1978, p. 1337, "Introduction to the Gospel According to Matthew"; Bible Know. Com., N. T., p. 16)
    2. To validate Jesus' identity as Messiah regardless of His rejection, Matthew reveals how He Biblically correctly viewed the Sabbath Day law opposite his opponents, providing a rich application for us:
  2. Christ As Israel's Messiah By His Controversies Over Work On The Sabbath, Matthew 12:1-13.
    1. God initiated the Sabbath Day to signal He was a God of gracious rest in contrast to pagan despotic gods:
      1. Pagan man viewed himself as having been created by despotic pagan gods to be their slaves, Bruce K. Waltke, Creation and Chaos, 1974, p. 65, citing Naburn M. Sarna, Understanding Genesis , 1972, p. 7.
      2. In line with this belief was pagan man's idea that he should not work on every seventh day or on the nineteenth of every month that occurs the seventh week of the previous month lest his efforts fail due to the anger of the gods, Ibid., citing Umberto Cassuto, A Com. on the Book of Genesis, 1961, p. 66.
      3. In contrast, God had Israel keep the Sabbath Day that man might be graciously refreshed at the hand of a benevolent God (Deuteronomy 5:14) versus pagan theology!
    2. However, Israel's religious leaders had made the Sabbath observance into a harsh burden versus the day of rest that the God of grace had intended, so Jesus countered this misrepresentation in Matthew 12:1-13:
      1. Jesus took His disciples through a grain field on the Sabbath Day so that His hungry disciples could pluck heads of grain to satisfy their hunger, Matt. 12:1 NIV. This was not theft: Deuteronomy 23:25 let a Hebrew pick and eat another's standing crops if he did not harvest it with an instrument and carry it away, a fact the Pharisees realized in that they did not charge the disciples with theft, Matthew 12:2.
      2. However, the Pharisees charged it was wrong for the disciples to do this on the Sabbath opposite rules they had formed in defining such activity to be servile work in alleged violation of the Sabbath law.
      3. Jesus replied that such extra biblical rules violated God's intent for the Sabbath, Matthew 12:3-8:
        1. First, Jesus referred to 1 Samuel 21:1-6 in Matthew 12:3-4 to show David rightly "believed that preserving his life was more important than observing a technicality" in eating the showbread the Law prescribed for the priests, putting human need over technicalities, Ibid., B. K. C., N. T., p. 45.
        2. Second, Jesus noted how the priests worked in the temple on the Sabbath (Matthew 12:5 with Numbers 28:9-10, 18-19) though considered blameless due to their need to lead Israel in her Sabbath worship over the technicality of keeping the Sabbath day restrictions. (Ibid.)
        3. Third, Jesus claimed as "Lord of the Sabbath" to be greater than the temple where the priests had to violate the Sabbath, and Who then had the right to control what occurs that day. Since He had not condemned the disciples for picking the grain that day, they had not sinned, Ibid.; Matthew 12:6, 8.
        4. Fourth, Jesus noted the Pharisees were more concerned with the technicalities of the Sabbath law than showing mercy in letting the hungry disciples eat, all in violation of Hosea 6:6; Matthew 12:7.
      4. Another Sabbath incident occurred where Jesus similarly corrected the religious leaders, Matt. 12:9-13:
        1. When Christ entered a synagogue on that Sabbath Day, some leaders tried to trap Him regarding the Sabbath, asking if it was lawful to heal on the Sabbath in violation of their rules, Matthew 12:9-10.
        2. Jesus simply noted that any one of the men present would work hard to pull out one of his sheep if it had fallen into a pit on the Sabbath Day, and since a man was more valuable than a sheep, it was well for Him to heal the lame man on the Sabbath Day as an act of mercy, Matthew 12:11-12.
        3. Jesus then had the lame man stretch forth his withered hand, restoring it like the other, Matt. 12:13.
Lesson: Jesus countered the legalistic burdens His opponents had placed on the Scripture's Sabbath Day observance opposite God's intent that the observance minister to refresh man in God's grace.

Application: May we demonstrate the gracious character of God in how we apply His Word.