The Life of Christ (15)

1. The Life of Christ (15) • Controversy (Disagreement) Regarding The Sabbath • Scriptures • Matthew 12:1-14 • Vocabulary • Sabbath—The seventh day of the week, observed as a day of rest in Israel and the Jewish religion. The Sabbath begins with sunset on Friday evening and ends with sunset on Saturday evening. The Life of Christ (15)

2. The Life of Christ (15) Controversy (Disagreement) Regarding The Sabbath Matthew 12:1–7 (NASB95) 1At 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. 2But when the Pharisees saw this, they said to Him, “Look, Your disciples do what is not lawful to do on a Sabbath.” 3But He said to them, “Have you not read what David did when he became hungry, he and his companions, 4how 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 desirecompassion, and not a sacrifice,’ you would not have condemned the innocent. The Life of Christ (15)

3. The Life of Christ (15) Controversy (Disagreement) Regarding The Sabbath Matthew 12:8–14 (NASB95) 8“For the Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath.” 9Departing from there, He went into their synagogue. 10And 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. 11And 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.” 13Then He said to the man, “Stretch out your hand!” He stretched it out, and it was restored to normal, like the other. 14But the Pharisees went out and conspired against Him, as to how they might destroy Him. The Life of Christ (15)

4. The Life of Christ (15) Controversy (Disagreement) Regarding The Sabbath • Jesus and his disciples are walking to the synagogue on a Saturday (Sabbath) morning. As they passed a field of grain, the disciples began to eat some of the grain for breakfast. Matt. 12:1 • Gleaning (gathering grain) from the edge of fields was authorized (permitted) according to the Law of Moses. • Deuteronomy 23:25 (NASB95) • 25“When you enter your neighbor’s standing grain, then you may pluck the heads with your hand, but you shall not wield a sickle in your neighbor’s standing grain. • The charge against the disciples was not that they were stealing grain, but that they were working (harvesting) on the Sabbath. • Harvesting is one of 39 kinds of work forbidden (not allowed) on the Sabbath under Jewish tradition. • The Law does not prohibit (outlaw) eating on the Sabbath, only food preparation. Putting food (leftovers) on the table was not considered a violation. The Life of Christ (15)

5. The Life of Christ (15) Controversy (Disagreement) Regarding The Sabbath • Jesus then cites (tells of) an incident from the life of David. I Sam. 21 • Both David and his men ate bread that was only to have been eaten by the priests (Ex. 25:30, Lev. 24:9) and did so after lying about their mission. I Sam. 21:2 • Exodus 25:30 (NASB95) • 30“You shall set the bread of the Presence on the table before Me at all times. • Leviticus 24:9 (NASB95) • 9“It shall be for Aaron and his sons, and they shall eat it in a holy place; for it is most holy to him from the Lord’s offerings by fire, his portion forever.” • 1 Samuel 21:2 (NASB95) • 2David said to Ahimelech the priest, “The king has commissioned me with a matter and has said to me, ‘Let no one know anything about the matter on which I am sending you and with which I have commissioned you; and I have directed the young men to a certain place.’ • The consecrated bread was to be exchanged for newly baked bread on the Sabbath and the priests could eat the old bread. The Life of Christ (15)

6. The Life of Christ (15) Controversy (Disagreement) Regarding The Sabbath • Jesus also cites the fact that the priests did a lot of work on the Sabbath, including the baking of the bread for the Temple; if a child was 8 days old on the Sabbath, the priests also performed circumcision, which was viewed as work. Num. 28:9-10. • In reality, the priests were guiltless because the same Law that established the Sabbath established the priests’ right to perform these works on the Sabbath. • In the parallel versions in Mark and Luke, Jesus points out that the Sabbath was made for man (Mk. 2:27); it was primarily designed as a humanitarian (caring) benefit, bestowed (gave) by a gracious God on His creation, for his welfare (good). • Jesus goes on to point out that something greater is here; Jesus is the one who is greater than the temple (Matt. 12:6), the one to whom the temple and the sacrifices pointed. The Life of Christ (15)

7. The Life of Christ (15) Controversy (Disagreement) Regarding The Sabbath • Jesus fulfills or satisfies the Law, all the temple rituals, and the sacrifices. • In Matt. 12.7, Jesus rebukes the Pharisees for their failure to understand the scriptures; in this instance quoting Hosea 6:6. • The relevance or significance of this quotation is tied to the Pharisees’ use of the Law exclusively as an instrument of condemnation at the expense of mercy. • Grace, mercy, compassion, justice and forgiveness were largely abandoned by legalistic Judaism; this is something that is true of legalists in general. • The main point of Jesus’ argument comes in Matt. 12:8, He is Lord of the Sabbath. • The background to Matt. 12:9-10 is that there was much discussion among legalistic Jews about how much you could help a sick person on the Sabbath. The Life of Christ (15)

8. The Life of Christ (15) Controversy (Disagreement) Regarding The Sabbath • The customary rabbinical view was that healing was allowed on the Sabbath only when life was in danger, which was not the case here. • In Matt. 12:12, Jesus asks the more fundamental question; “Is it lawful to do good on the Sabbath?” • The Pharisees hoped to bring formal charges against Him that were serious enough to result in the death penalty. Matt. 12:14 • Jesus’ argument in Matt. 12:11 assumes that it was considered lawful to lift a sheep out of a ditch on the Sabbath. • Jesus uses an a fortiori argument (with greater force or strength); if it is good to help a sheep on the Sabbath, how much greater good is it to help a man who is suffering. • Neither the sheep in the pit nor the man in Jesus’ presence were in mortal (deadly) danger. The Life of Christ (15)

9. The Life of Christ (15) Controversy (Disagreement) Regarding The Sabbath • Mark 3:5 says Jesus looked “around at them with anger, grieved at their hardness of heart.” • Here again, the Pharisees have placed legalism (adding to the WOG) over compassion and mercy. • This miracle attests (proves) to His being the Lord of the Sabbath. • The Pharisees, like all those who are negative to the truth, hate the truth and hate those who proclaim it with authority. • This is the first mention of the plot to kill Jesus by the religious establishment, but this occurred within the first year of His public ministry. The Life of Christ (15)