Please turn in your Bibles to Matthew chapter 12 as we continue our study through the Word of God. As we are going to see this evening, the events recorded in this portion of Scripture are going to mark a major turning point in the ministry of Jesus. We are going to see the religious leaders reject Jesus as their Messiah, and these religious leaders represented the nation of Israel.
Thus, it is out of what transpires in Matthew chapter 12, that Jesus will speak in parables to the people starting in Matthew chapter 13. Again, a change in the style of His teaching. Now, what brought this to a head? What transpired to bring this on? As we shall see this evening, it is all going to center around the Sabbath day, or SHABBAT in Hebrew, which basically speaks of ceasing from work, resting, inactivity. With that said, let’s begin reading in Matthew chapter 12, starting in verse 1 and see what the Lord has for us this evening.
VERSE 1
1. Shortly after the events of Matthew chapter 11, Jesus and His disciples were traveling and they were going through the wheatfields to get to their destination. Now it happened to be the Sabbath day and they were hungry at this point. So they were plucking the wheat with their hands, rubbing it in their hands causing the chaff to separate, and then they would blow on it causing the chaff to blow away, leaving the wheat kernel for them to eat. This was lawful for them to do according to Deuteronomy 23:25, which says, "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." Also, keep in mind that these grainfields were set-up in rows and there were paths between these rows for people to walk through. So the disciples were not doing anything wrong and now we are going to see something very interesting, at least it is to me, and hopefully to you.
VERSE 2
1. Listen to what the Lord said regarding the Sabbath day in Exodus 20:8-11. We read "Remember the 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. For in six days the LORD made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested the seventh day. Therefore the LORD blessed the Sabbath day and hallowed it."
2. That is what God said, and now the problem comes in their interpretation of this Law. For instance, in one section alone in the Talmud, there is twenty-four chapters that deal with the Sabbath Law. And you thought our government was bad! For instance, you could not carry a load heavier than a dried fig! You couldn’t wear a wooden leg. Chapter after chapter of restrictions of what you couldn’t do, and the reality was, the day of rest had become a day of heavy burdens!
3. So these Pharisees are coming against Jesus for breaking the Sabbath day Law by reaping the grain, threshing the grain and winnowing the grain. The question I have, and the thing I find interesting, is "How did the Pharisees get to the field if they were not to travel more than 3,000 feet from their own house on the Sabbath?" according to their interpretation of the Law! Like today, they had exceptions to every Law. For example, pressing a button is work, so on the Sabbath, all elevators will stop on every floor so you won’t have to press any buttons and break the Sabbath Law, or should I say the laws that were developed by man, the traditions that have developed over the years!
VERSES 3-4
1. Jesus is going to nail these guys by taking them back to the very Scriptures that they were suppose to know. First Jesus uses king David as an example, from I Samuel chapter 21. As he was fleeing from Saul, who wanted David dead, he came to Nob where the tabernacle was located, and asked for food from Ahimelech the priest, for he and his men were very hungry. And the only food was the showbread, 12 loaves that were baked each Sabbath and were set out on the table of showbread outside of the holy of holies. The 12 loaves represented the 12 tribes of Israel. Thus, each week the old loaves would be removed and the new ones placed on the table. The old loaves would then be eaten by the priests, and only the priests, according to Leviticus 14:5-9.
2. But here we see Ahimelech give the bread to David and his men to eat, which was unlawful to do. And God does not rebuke Ahimelech or David for doing that. Why? Because man’s needs outweigh ceremonial regulations! And the Pharisees were not going to argue that David was wrong! It was in the Scriptures, but again, their man made laws superceded the Words of God.
VERSES 5-6
1. Again Jesus takes them to the Scriptures, not their traditions, and uses the priests as an example. On the Sabbath day the priests performed their duties in the tabernacle and later on in the temple by keeping the altar fires lit, getting and killing the animal sacrifices, and-so-on. In fact, on the Sabbath they did twice as much work and yet they were not guilty of breaking the Sabbath day Law. (Numbers 28:9-10, Leviticus 24:8-9). Kind of sounds like Sunday’s for many of us!
2. And to the Jews, only God was greater than their temple, and thus, Jesus is saying that He is greater, making Himself to be God! They clearly understood what He was saying.
VERSES 7-8
1. Again, Jesus goes to the Scriptures, looking at the prophet Hosea, quoting Hosea 6:6, and He is telling these religious leaders that mercy is more important than those outward rituals that had become empty. For Christians, we can look at the example of spiritual gifts. Some today parade around with outward gifts and yet there is no love, no compassion, no mercy towards others. In I Corinthians chapter 13, Paul speaks of this, and he says that without love, your gifts are just a bunch of meaningless noise, they are not music at all. But with love, those gifts are beautiful sounding! And that truly goes with anything we do for the Lord.
2. The Pharisees came inditing Jesus and His men for breaking the Sabbath day Law, but the reality was, they were true violators of the Law because they allowed their traditions to supersede the Word of God. In Matthew 15:5-6 we see this. It says, "But you say, ‘Whoever says to his father or mother, "Whatever profit you might have received from me is a gift to God"-- then he need not honor his father or mother.’ Thus you have made the commandment of God of no effect by your tradition." Thus, Jesus, as our King, our Priest, and our Prophet is showing us that He is Lord of the Sabbath!
3. I think it is important to rest one day of the week, spending time with the Lord, to be refreshed, but don’t make it into some legalistic activity that becomes a heavy burden. Enjoy your rest in the Lord.
4. One other point before we move on. Some argue that we must keep the Sabbath day, from sundown Friday to sundown Saturday. Some even go as far as to say you are not saved unless you do. First of all this was given to the Jews and not to the church. In Exodus 31:16-17 we are told, "Therefore the children of Israel shall keep the Sabbath, to observe the Sabbath throughout their generations as a perpetual covenant. ‘It is a sign between Me and the children of Israel forever; for in six days the LORD made the heavens and the earth, and on the seventh day He rested and was refreshed.’" Thus, for me as a Christian, I don’t esteem one day above another as more important, but I give every day to the Lord. He is our Sabbath rest. For those who remain under the Law, there is no rest but just heavy burdens, man-made restrictions, and just plain exhaustion in trying to keep those traditions!
VERSES 9-10
1. Notice that Jesus went into "their" synagogue, not "His"! Why? Because He was rejected by them, they followed their own traditions, and thus, their religious activity was empty. And here these religious men are setting Jesus up by having a man who had a withered hand there in the synagogue, and knowing the compassion that Jesus had for people, they knew He would heal him. And thus, is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath? In their minds, NO! You could only prevent someone from dying but you could not do any more until after the Sabbath, no caring for the person.
VERSES 11-13
1. For all you animal lovers out there, sorry. Jesus is saying that man is of more value than a sheep. And yet, they would be willing to rescue a sheep but not a man who was in need. Do you see how the Law or should I say their interpretation of the Law messed them up! And Jesus nails them by telling them it is lawful to do good, even on the Sabbath! Sounds silly, but they were doing evil towards Jesus and saw nothing wrong with it! And with all these rigid religious leaders looking on, Jesus heals this man.
VERSE 14
1. What evil did Jesus do that they wanted to kill Him? He went against their tradition and was drawing the people away from them! They thought it was fine to plot the death of this man, Jesus, on the Sabbath, that was good. And they saw that healing of this man with the withered hand was evil. Be careful who you are serving, tradition or the Lord!
VERSES 15-16
1. Jesus healed many, showing that He was the fulfillment of what the Old Testament prophets spoke of regarding the Messiah. And the reason He didn’t want all the fan-fare is because He was afraid some zealots would use this as the signal to overthrow Rome, and that is not what He came to do. He came to free man from his sin.
VERSES 17-21
1. Matthew quotes Isaiah 42:1-4, showing again that Jesus is fulfilling what Isaiah said of the Messiah. In verse 18 we see a picture of the Trinity emerge, the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, which comes out of the Old Testament. And Jesus did not come on the scene to overthrow or stir up a revolution, but to touch peoples hearts. And for those that have been bruised, He will not break or throw away, but He will strengthen them in the faith. Those that feel their light almost out, He will not quench, but He will fan those embers into a raging fire! And lastly, the promise to us, that the gentiles will trust in Him. Praise the Lord for that promise that we see come to pass.
VERSES 22-23
1. As Jesus does these miracles, fulfilling what the Old Testament prophets spoke of, the people were wondering if He is the Messiah, which the term "Son of David" spoke of. That’s what the people were saying, now we will hear from the religious leaders.
VERSE 24
1. They couldn’t deny the works of Jesus, so they attribute His power to the demonic world and not from God. And we see the same today, as God is working, some are uncomfortable, it doesn’t fit their tradition, so they say it is of the devil. How sad to be kicking or fighting against God and not for Him because of traditions and not the Word of God.
VERSES 25-26
1. Jesus is not going to let them get away with this foolish idea. The point is this. If a kingdom is divided, it won’t stand, it won’t be able to continue on. Thus, why would Satan defeat himself? And the answer is, "He wouldn’t!" Point one is clearly made!
VERSES 27-28
1. The Pharisees supported those Jewish exorcists who went around casting out demons. Now, if Jesus is casting out demons by the power of Satan, then what about these men that your are supporting! You see, what they refused to see was that Jesus cast out demons by the power of God, and thus the Kingdom of God had come. It was right in their midst! Point number 2!
VERSE 29
1. Point number 3 is this, before you can plunder the strong man, defeat him, you must bind him, and that is done through prayer. You see, prayer binds the powers of darkness and our Christian service is just picking up the spoil! Too often we try to get the spoil without binding the strongman and we get frustrated and the spoil comes up short. Go into battle after you have laid a foundation of prayer.
VERSE 30
1. Notice there is no neutral position. You are either for Jesus or you are not! You see, you don’t have to oppose Jesus to be against Him, you only have to be not with Him! Listen to what Paul says in Romans 5:9-10, "Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from wrath through Him. For if when we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life." Notice, if you are not with Jesus, you are His enemy! And thus, Jesus is saying that these religious people were His enemies because they were not with Him!
VERSES 31-32
1. These religious leaders who saw the miracles of God, the power of God, were now rejecting it and saying it was coming from the devil, and they were very close if not committing blasphemy of the Holy Spirit. In fact, in John 12:39 we are told, "Therefore they could not believe..." Why? Because they rejected the truth that was before them. They had passed the point of no return.
2. Then what is blasphemy of the Holy Spirit? There is some confusion here, some saying it is cursing God, others have different views, but the reality is, it is very simple. It speaks of rejecting the work of the Holy Spirit, which He has come to draw men to Jesus. Thus, you are saying no to Jesus, and you are lost in your sins. It is as Peter said in Acts 4:12, "Nor is there salvation in any other, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved."
2. Let me give you an example of what I mean. During World War II, a United States battleship, aircraft carrier, and several other smaller boats were patrolling the waters of the Northern Atlantic in search for German U-boats. One evening, several pilots took off from the carrier and were told to be back by a certain hour. But the leader of the squadron of four planes purposefully stayed out longer, feeling with just a little more time, he could find the enemy and score an impressive hit.
As the sun set, a German armada entered the area. The American fleet was in trouble for now they were out-gunned, out-manned, and out-numbered. Unbeknownst to the pilots, radio silence was ordered between the ships in the water and the aircraft still in flight.
At this point, as their fuel was getting dangerously low, the pilots radioed to the American ships, but there was no reply. Again and again the pilots cried, "Turn on the lights. Turn on the landing lights." but the lights didn’t go on, for to have done so would have jeopardized the lives of thousands of men.
Thus, the story is recorded how the men on that aircraft carrier stood by in horror as they watched four American planes crash into the icy waters of the Atlantic.
And there is a time when God will turn out the lights, when the opportunity for salvation is forever lost for that person. That is why Paul said "...Behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation." II Corinthians 6:2. The Pharisees, by rejecting Jesus, the full light of God, no further light was given to them, and thus, no forgiveness. And the same is true today. There is a point of no return, spiritually speaking, and it is called blasphemy of the Holy Spirit!
VERSES 33-35
1. All they had to do was be fruit inspectors and check Jesus out. They would have seen the good He was doing and that good did not come from a bad tree, from Satan, but from God. But they rejected the truth and what they said with their lips came from the evil that was in their hearts. If you want to see how someone is doing spiritually speaking, inwardly, then listen carefully to what they say, the things that come out of their mouths. And, more importantly, we should listen to what comes out of our mouths, for it will show us what is in our hearts! Again, a good way to monitor what is going on internally is to listen what comes out verbally!
VERSES 36-37
1. The words that you say will either justify you or they will condemn you! It is as Paul said in Romans 10:9-10, "that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation." By rejecting Jesus, by committing blasphemy of the Holy Spirit, you will be condemned. Your idle words, your blasphemous words, your words that accomplish nothing you will have to give account for and you will come up short!
VERSE 38
1. Don’t you love this! He heals a man’s withered hand. He healed great multitudes. He delivered and healed a demon-possessed man who was blind and mute. And then they ask for a sign to see if He is the Messiah? What more did they need? That just tells me they were not sincere in what they were saying but again trying to discredit Jesus in front of the people. But, as we are going to see, instead of giving them a sign that is out of this world, He will give them a sign out of the Scriptures!
VERSES 39-40
1. What is the greatest sign of His Messiahship? The resurrection! Without it our faith is empty, futile, we are still lost in our sins. But the resurrection did happen, the tomb is empty, and we do have the forgiveness of sins, death has no power over us! Thus, just as Jonah was 3 days and nights in the belly of the whale, so too will be the Messiah in the belly of the earth, and then He will rise again! It was during that time that Jesus preached to those Old Testament saints who died believing in the coming Messiah, by faith, and now they have received Him. Keep in mind that prior to the death and resurrection of Jesus, all who died went to Sheol. And in Sheol there were 2 compartments, one for those who died out of the faith and were tormented. The other side was Abraham’s bosom, and they were comforted until the Messiah came and set them free! Now the only part of Sheol occupied is the one for those who die rejecting the Messiah, for all believers go to be with the Lord when they die.
VERSE 41
1. The people of Nineveh repented at the preaching of Jonah, and yet, a greater than Jonah is before them, and the children of Israel refused to listen! It is easy to come against the Jews and their rejection of the Messiah, but what about this generation? We have the Good News, the Gospel message, the love of God, and many still reject it, they don’t respond to it, and like these religious leaders of Jesus’ day, they too will be judged, they will be condemned for their actions!
VERSE 42
1. The queen of Sheba traveled long distances to hear the wisdom of Solomon, and she received his words, while these religious leaders had before them a greater than Solomon and they rejected Him. Thus, they will be judged, condemned for their actions!
VERSES 43-45
1. Some demonic spirits, for whatever reason, want to be embodied. And the picture here is a person who has been set-free from a demon, cleansed outwardly, involved in empty religious activity, has left the door open for many more demons to enter in because he has not been filled with Jesus. You see, I don’t believe you can be demon possessed and a believer, having Christ on the throne of your heart. Thus, if you believe in Jesus, that spiritual vacuum has been filled and there is no room for demonic possession!
2. In the church today we like to clean people up outwardly, but that is wrong. It needs to start inwardly with Christ. We don’t want reformation outwardly, but regeneration inwardly and that will then affect a persons outward actions.
VERSES 46-50
1. For those who are looking to Mary to intervene for them, for the logic goes, "Jesus will listen to His mother!" think again. Jesus says here "Who is My mother?" The beautiful thing is that God has provided a way to come to Him and that is through Jesus Christ, the mediator, the bridge-builder between God and man! We don’t need anyone else, just as Jesus said in John 14:6, "...‘I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.’" There is no other way, no other mediator!
2. One last point before we close tonight. Mary was not a virgin all of her life. After the birth of Jesus, Mary and Joseph had normal sexual relations, and they had children, at least 4 sons and we are not told how many daughters. Follow God’s will, obey His Word, and not the traditions of men. You see, by doing His will, you are a disciple of His! You see, it is out of this rejection that Jesus is now going to speak to them in parables, and we will see that next time. Don’t reject what God has said, for if you do, you are a fool and who knows but God how close you are to blasphemy of the Holy Spirit. Don’t wait another day to get right with God! Today is the day of salvation! Come to Him, He is calling you!