Welcome to Day 24 of our 40 Day challenge! Matthew 12:1-14

(Catch up with us, with our reading list March, reading list for April,  and Day 1, Day 2, Day 3, Day 4, Day 5, Day 6, Day 7, Day 8, Day 9, Day 10, Day 11, Day 12, Day 13, Day 14, Day 15, Day 16, Day 17, Day 18, Day 19, Day 20, Day 21, Day 22, Day 23)

Today we are reading Matthew 12:1-14:

Matthew 12:1-14

Jesus Is Lord of the Sabbath

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

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

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

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

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

The chief priests, teachers of the law, and the elders knew Jesus was talking about them. And instead of introspection, they were angry enough to have Him murdered.

In the parable, the servants who kept being sent knew the fate of those who had gone before them, but servants must do what their master commands. They might have been killed for disobeying, so they might as well take their chances.

But the prophets of Israel did so because of their relationship to their Master. They operated not out of fear of disobeying but in devoted partnership with Him. From the beginning, God’s servants have walked in close relationship with Him. Adam and Eve walked with God in the garden. We see the close relationship with Moses, David, and Elijah, etc. And we see it in how Jesus walked and lived with His disciples. We see a relational Master. The religious leaders had dedicated their lives to rules. The disciples devoted their lives to Jesus.

The religious leaders worked so hard for God, but they did not have a relationship with Him. They studied and legalistically dedicated themselves to the many rules, and here comes this man who seems to break them all! How dare he! We are often the most judgemental of others in our areas of pride or weakness.

It’s never been about rules. It’s always been about relationships, first between us and the Lover of our souls, and then taking that love and power to all we encounter. Bringing His Kingdom to every circumstance.

And we can only do that if we know what kind of God He is. The kind of God who doesn’t avoid the sick and the lowest in society, He doesn’t hesitate to pull the donkey out of a ditch on the Sabbath, healing the blind and crippled, and invalid—redeeming and restoring. If the Pharisees had known Who God is, perhaps they would have stopped to see His works in their midst.

 

Options for further  journaling or discussion throughout the challenge:

• Choose a part of the passage to write out by hand. Writing by hand helps us slow down and focus on what the Lord might highlight for us in the passage. Our brains can focus and remember better by writing than just reading alone.
• Journal about what the passage brings to mind. Does the passage tell us anything about God? Does it tell us anything about our response to Him?
• Does your heart respond in gratitude to any part of the passage? Write or pray your gratitude to the Lord.

We’ll see you next time, for Day 25 and John 11:1-7 and John 11:30-44

♥ Samantha