Installment 31 - Jesus and Disciples Break the Sabbath

[M.R. Hagerty]

Matthew 12:1-8, Mark 2:27, Matthew 12:9-10, Mark 3:4, Matthew 12:11-12, Mark 3:5-6, Matthew 12:15-21
1 At that time Jesus went through the grainfields on the Sabbath, and His disciples became hungry and began to pick the heads of grain and eat. 2 But when the Pharisees saw this, they said to Him, "Look, Your disciples do what is not lawful to do on a Sabbath." 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 consecrated bread, which was not lawful for him to eat nor for those with him, but for the priests alone? 5 "Or have you not read in the Law, that on the Sabbath the priests in the temple break the Sabbath and are innocent? 6 "But I say to you that something greater than the temple is here. 7 "But if you had known what this means, `I DESIRE COMPASSION, AND NOT A SACRIFICE,' you would not have condemned the innocent. 8 "For the Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath." (Matthew 12:1-8)

27 Jesus said to them, "The Sabbath was made for man, and not man for the Sabbath. (Mark 2:27)

9 Departing from there, He went into their synagogue. 10 And a man was there whose hand was withered. And they questioned Jesus, asking, "Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath?"--so that they might accuse Him. (Matthew 12:9-10)

4 And He said to them, "Is it lawful to do good or to do harm on the Sabbath, to save a life or to kill?" But they kept silent. (Mark 3:4)

11 And He said to them, "What man is there among you who has a sheep, and if it falls into a pit on the Sabbath, will he not take hold of it and lift it out? 12 "How much more valuable then is a man than a sheep! So then, it is lawful to do good on the Sabbath." (Matthew 12:11-12)

5 After looking around at them with anger, grieved at their hardness of heart, He said to the man, "Stretch out your hand." And he stretched it out, and his hand was restored. 6 The Pharisees went out and immediately began conspiring with the Herodians against Him, as to how they might destroy Him.

(Mark 3:5-6)
15 But Jesus, aware of this, withdrew from there. Many followed Him, and He healed them all, 16 and warned them not to tell who He was. 17 This was to fulfill what was spoken through Isaiah the prophet: 18 "BEHOLD, MY SERVANT WHOM I HAVE CHOSEN; MY BELOVED IN WHOM MY SOUL is WELL -PLEASED; I WILL PUT MY SPIRIT UPON HIM, AND HE SHALL PROCLAIM JUSTICE TO THE GENTILES. 19 "HE WILL NOT QUARREL, NOR CRY OUT; NOR WILL ANYONE HEAR HIS VOICE IN THE STREETS. 20 "A BATTERED REED HE WILL NOT BREAK OFF, AND A SMOLDERING WICK HE WILL NOT PUT OUT, UNTIL HE LEADS JUSTICE TO VICTORY. 21 "AND IN HIS NAME THE GENTILES WILL HOPE." (Matthew 12:15-21)
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Commentary

Matthew 12:1-5

1 At that time Jesus went through the grainfields on the Sabbath, . . His disciples . . began to pick the heads of grain and eat. . . 2 the Pharisees . . said to Him, "Look, Your disciples do what is not lawful to do on a Sabbath."

This opens into plain sight the minutia with which the Pharisees wrestled in order to micro-manage the dictates of the Law. The OT states that it is not lawful to do work on the Sabbath. This is not a simple thing to interpret, and it may not mean what we mean by work in American culture. The word is melachah and it is variously translated depending on how orthodox you are as a Jew. It is first used in relation to God’s work creating the world and life, therefore to some Jews it means any kind of creative work by man. Ironically, this prohibited work on building a synagogue for example, but allowed the rabbi to conduct services. But it simultaneously prohibited work in secular employment or manual labor in one’s field.

The rabbis chose as a model all the activities associated with building a sanctuary and these then became prohibited. The list expanded to include just about everything, because so many activities could be considered supportive to such a task. Strangely, they expanded to include reaping crops and even things like writing letters on a page or lighting a candle. This is the framework of intricate, divergent application in which Jesus is now addressed by the Pharisees.

Pointing out that his disciples were doing something unlawful is notable for two reasons. They were somewhat hesitant at this stage to accuse Jesus directly because of the undisputed wisdom He demonstrated. So they directed their charge against His disciples (which indirectly pointed back to Him as their teacher). Secondly, we see the degree of laxity that had developed with respect to Sabbath laws by this time, since they do not pursue the punishment called for in the Law.

As for the Law and the Sabbath, it was understood since the earliest times that works of pity and mercy were not prohibited, and certainly one had to eat on the Sabbath. But for the legalistic Jew, preparing the food was work, so it was exhorted that they prepare it the day before or be obliged to fast.

3 "Have you not read what David did when he became hungry . . 4 and they ate the consecrated bread, which was not lawful for him to eat

Jesus answers their charge by simply asking them to keep things in proper perspective. They are complaining about the minor work required to retrieve grain and to eat it (which outside their extra-biblical machinations was permitted), but they make no historic objections and accept as legal David’s entering into the sanctuary and partaking of the holiest form of food in their faith. This was meant to show that their duplicitous behavior disqualified them from dictating the terms of the Law.

5 "Or have you not read in the Law, that on the Sabbath the priests in the temple break the Sabbath and are innocent?

Again, He cites a legal act of work to which they all will concur. The priests were exempt from the prohibition. But as is now His pattern, He says more that will eventually be used against Him.

Matthew 12:6-8
6 "But I say to you that something greater than the temple is here.

By this He means His own presence. Messiah is greater than the Temple and His very presence and the work He is doing supersedes the importance of those things made sacred in the Temple.

7 "But if you had known what this means, `I DESIRE COMPASSION, AND NOT A SACRIFICE,' you would not have condemned the innocent. 8 "For the Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath."

Here is a lesson on the interpretive tool called the Analogy of Scripture - Scripture interprets Scripture. Jesus has just put His finger on a verse that controls the meaning of the Sabbath laws. A verse the Pharisees were too blind to see. It is not merely a text from the Scripture but a direct quote from God as to what He desires.

This is what comes of legalism. One gets wrapped around the axle in trying to micro-manage something God has commanded and one can no longer see the import of other verses. Here also Jesus puts Himself in further jeopardy with the Pharisees by applying “Son of Man” to Himself. But this is now secondary. His point is that Messiah has command over how the Sabbath is to be observed. This means that even if the old dispensation concerning the Sabbath was just as the Pharisees interpreted it, Messiah has the power to introduce a new dispensation in which the old regulations are now to make way for the new.

Mark 2:27
27 "The Sabbath was made for man, and not man for the Sabbath.

The purpose of stating this is to reiterate the intention of God in instituting the Sabbath. It was not made for God but for man. It was not of such a magnitude that man should be considered made specifically to obey its superiority over him – the case of man made for the Sabbath. As such, man is expected to observe the strict charges concerning it, but not at the expense of mercy, health, and charity with respect to human life, therefore man is to observe it but not be ruled by it.

Matthew 12:9-10
9 . . He went into their synagogue. 10 And a man was there whose hand was withered. . . "Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath?"-- . . that they might accuse Him.

At this juncture, we now see the Pharisees no longer following Him so as to glean from His wisdom, but to trick Him into actionable speech or deeds. To the Jew it was only permissible to render first aid or care that would prevent a man from dying of injuries or wounds. To heal a withered hand would be prohibited because such an act could easily wait until after the Sabbath. This they found as a perfect trap, because the very case before Jesus was surely an act of mercy, but one that could wait.

Mark 3:4
4 And He said to them, "Is it lawful to do good or to do harm on the Sabbath, to save a life or to kill?" But they kept silent.

Those setting the trap now find themselves in one of their own. They know they can’t answer in favor of good because this must be qualified if they wish to be faithful to their tradition. They also know full well they cannot publicly recommend the doing of harm by proscribing all work. So they say nothing.

Matthew 12:11-12
11 And He said to them, "What man is there among you who has a sheep, and if it falls into a pit on the Sabbath, will he not take hold of it and lift it out? 12 "How much more valuable then is a man than a sheep!

Rather than engaging in a theological discussion about the interpretation of terms, Jesus cleverly takes advantage of the ambiguity in their own practice of such things. He appeals to what they all know they would do in the case of a sheep in the pit. Ironically, in their own ambiguity they had actually discovered the true spirit of the Sabbath by way of necessity. But here also Jesus drives the nail in the coffin. Why would they do such things for the lowly sheep but in their legalism leave man to suffer.

Mark 3:-6
5 After looking around at them with anger, grieved at their hardness of heart,

We all fear this look on Jesus’ face. We all have moments of hardness of heart, and lapses of sin. But we trust and hope that all our failings will be met with the gentle expression of understanding and compassion on the face of Jesus – one that does not condone but encourages restoration.

The key is in the heart. Are we grieved at our failings, are we struggling but determined to repent? These will not be met with anger. But the Pharisees were in no wise grieved or looking to repent. They were full of self-justification, pride and arrogance.

"Stretch out your hand!" . . and it was restored to normal, like the other. . . . 6 . . and [they] conspired against Him, as to how they might destroy Him.

The command conveys to everyone present that He has every intention of proceeding with the healing. What is so incredibly telling is that they then became eye witnesses to the miracle. They saw before their very eyes the hand become normal, yet went out from this scene to devise ways to destroy Him. It pictures how incredibly small their faith was. It had become merely a system of managing ordinances, not much

different than the role of a building inspector today, whose job is to make sure you haven’t violated code. This was their life, their little empire of importance. So much so that God was no longer recognizable among them. He would come but they would not be moved.

. . with the Herodians

Mark 3:6 includes mention of the Herodians. These were the sycophants, administrators, officials, and the nobility allied with Antipas, essentially anyone friendly to the heirs of Herod the Great. But why include this class in the machinations of the Pharisees?

Despite Herodian rule as tetrarchs, Rome reserved the right of capital punishment in non-free provinces. In coming to the decision that Jesus must be done away with, the Pharisees must now tread the maze of Roman red-tape in getting a man sentenced. Pilate must be called in from Caesarea. They would need the influence of Herod.

(The outline and details of this plan is seen at the arrest of Jesus.)

Matthew 12:15-17
15 But Jesus, aware of this, withdrew from there. Many followed Him, and He healed them all, 16 and warned them not to tell who He was.

This seems odd, since Jesus has by now made several undeniably bold statements in the presence of those who can do Him the most harm. But we must always be cautioned that Jesus is managing these circumstances in perfect accord with his Father. He is treading with great skill the ridge between witnessing to the truth and preventing premature arrest.

One of His frequent means for frustrating His enemies is to move His location. In a small region like Galilee, this seems hardly effective. But it had the singular effect of at least removing Himself from the immediate atmosphere of contention. And often the heat of an issue will dissipate somewhat when things return to normal and one has regular duties to which one must return.

17 This was to fulfill what was spoken through Isaiah the prophet:

We have here one of the most beautiful and tender pictures of Messiah to be had in the Bible. It is a picture of the Father declaring His delight as He reveals His Son, “Behold My Servant, . . My Beloved in Whom My soul delights.”

proclaiming justice to the Gentiles.

We must remember that to a very large extent, the Law and the ways of Judaism remained isolated from the Gentiles. There is a hint that the Law was applicable to the Gentiles, but we do not see God enforcing the stipulations of the Mosaic Law on the nations. They are held instead to the Law once written on their hearts, the Law that prevailed even in God’s people before the Mosaic Law – the age of conscience in the time of Abraham.

But the nations without the written code of God were permitted to exercise their free will to adhere to or deviate from that original revelation. Hence, we see nations with quite different laws, even those that offend the God of Israel, yet curiously embracing commonality in many areas with the Law of God. All nations had laws against theft, murder, and adultery.

To proclaim justice to the nations is as though they at long last will hear again the righteousness of God, so long drummed out of their hearing by other voices. The last verse states that the Gentiles will come to hope in His Name.

“He will not quarrel . . nor will anyone hear His voice in the streets.”

This begins a soliloquy on the gentleness of the Messiah, despite His promised victory of the enemies of God’s people. He will not be the kind of person who is quarrelsome or contentious. He will not stand in the street and make Himself the object of attention by loud proclamations.

Matthew 12:20
20 . . a battered reed He will not break, a smoking wick He will not quench

Here is perhaps the most delicate of attitudes and behavior ever pictured. His walk will be so gentle that were He to pass by a reed bent over and ready to break off, the brush of the air from His stride would not sever it. The gentleness of His stride will not completely put out a wick that is smoldering – literally smoking in the ebb of extinguished flame. Such gentleness will endure until He comes again to lead in victory.