A Study of Matthew: So You're Mad Because I Did Something GOOD???
Notes
Transcript
At that time Jesus went through the grainfields on the Sabbath. His disciples were hungry, and they began to pluck heads of grain and to eat.
But when the Pharisees saw it, they said to him, “Look, your disciples are doing what is not lawful to do on the Sabbath.”
He said to them, “Have you not read what David did when he was hungry, and those who were with him:
how he entered the house of God and ate the bread of the Presence, which it was not lawful for him to eat nor for those who were with him, but only for the priests?
Or have you not read in the Law how on the Sabbath the priests in the temple profane the Sabbath and are guiltless?
I tell you, something greater than the temple is here.
And if you had known what this means, ‘I desire mercy, and not sacrifice,’ you would not have condemned the guiltless.
For the Son of Man is lord of the Sabbath.”
He went on from there and entered their synagogue.
And a man was there with a withered hand. And they asked him, “Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath?”—so that they might accuse him.
He said to them, “Which one of you who has a sheep, if it falls into a pit on the Sabbath, will not take hold of it and lift it out?
Of how much more value is a man than a sheep! So it is lawful to do good on the Sabbath.”
Then he said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” And the man stretched it out, and it was restored, healthy like the other.
But the Pharisees went out and conspired against him, how to destroy him.
Jesus, aware of this, withdrew from there. And many followed him, and he healed them all
and ordered them not to make him known.
This was to fulfill what was spoken by the prophet Isaiah:
“Behold, my servant whom I have chosen, my beloved with whom my soul is well pleased. I will put my Spirit upon him, and he will proclaim justice to the Gentiles.
He will not quarrel or cry aloud, nor will anyone hear his voice in the streets;
a bruised reed he will not break, and a smoldering wick he will not quench, until he brings justice to victory;
and in his name the Gentiles will hope.”
I was a Sophomore in high school before my voice changed. Some people would probably say it still hasn’t changed.
But I was always active in music. My freshman year, I had gone to state vocal competition and gotten the highest rating. I was singing soprano at that time. When I was a sophomore, I suddenly had this huge range from soprano to low tenor. So, at my teacher’s encouragement, I went to contest with music to show off my vocal range. At contest, you do two songs for the judge. That year, I had a soprano-range song, and a tenor-range song. I nailed both of those songs. So you can imagine my surprise, along with my teacher and all my teammates who heard me perform, when we saw the judge’s results later and found that he had given me the LOWEST score possible. We went and picked up the judge’s notes on my performance. Everything was excellent—pitch, intonation, diction…everything that was supposed to be judged had high marks. At the end of the notes was a comment. “If you’re going to be a soprano, be a soprano. If you’re going to be a tenor, be a tenor. Don’t be both in my room.”
Have you ever done something, something that was good, and you were excited about how it turned out, then had someone else complain about it? Or how about you were just minding your own business, and someone starts yelling at you?
Jesus and his disciples are traveling on the Sabbath. They are passing some fields of grain, and the disciples grab some grain off the stalks and eat it. The religious leaders see them and get upset! Why? What are they upset about?
Is it that the men are stealing food? NO. Jewish law actually admonishes people to be generous. It wasn’t considered stealing for people to take some grain, like the disciples did.
The problem was not that they took the grain and ate it; it was that they did this on the SABBATH!
Isn’t it funny how some folks care more about HOW something is done than about the WHAT and WHY. The religious leaders were angry with the disciples for grabbing a handful of grain to eat, because they considered that WORK, and it’s forbidden to work on the Sabbath.
Jesus reminded them that scripture records times when the laws of God seemed to be broken, but were considered the right thing. Like when the priests gave David and his men consecrated bread that only the priests were allowed to eat. Jesus reminded them that, even at that moment, priests were performing religious duties in the temple, technically breaking the Sabbath law.
Last week, we talked about how God is judge, and that we need to demonstrate genuine repentance. That is true. At the same time, we need to remember that God values mercy. When God judges, he doesn’t condemn. He brings our sin to light, and gives us the opportunity to repent. We condemn ourselves when we make excuses rather than repent.
When we value institutions over people, we have a problem.
Let’s go on with the story.
Jesus no sooner has this discussion with the Pharisees about whether it’s right or wrong to let someone literally grab a snack on the Sabbath, then he walks into their synagogue and finds a man with a withered hand. They have set him up, because they ask him if it’s lawful to heal on the Sabbath. What does Jesus do?
He said to them, “Which one of you who has a sheep, if it falls into a pit on the Sabbath, will not take hold of it and lift it out?
Of how much more value is a man than a sheep! So it is lawful to do good on the Sabbath.”
Then he said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” And the man stretched it out, and it was restored, healthy like the other.
Jesus points out that any of those men would rescue one of their animals if it fell into danger on the Sabbath, and they would have felt justified to do so. They know it’s lawful to do good on the Sabbath.
Then Jesus speaks to the man. All he says is, “Stretch out your hand.” What happens? The man stretches out his withered hand, and he sees that it’s not withered anymore! Only a moment before, it had been tiny, dead, with no muscle or sinew. Suddenly, and without any warning, it’s a healthy hand. Muscles that hadn’t existed a moment before are now there.
And what is the Pharisees’ response?
But the Pharisees went out and conspired against him, how to destroy him.
Can you believe it? They just saw a dead hand come to life, and their response is to get rid of Jesus!
Jesus knows what their thinking, so what does he do? Go into hiding? No. He goes out and continues to minister, continues to fulfill his role as Messiah.
Folks, there will always be people who are quick to judge what we are doing. What we have to be concerned with is whether or not we are doing what GOD has called us to do.
At our last youth group meeting, we had three new kids show up who were all under middle school age. Zenetta and I talked to their parents and told them that, if they want to keep sending them, we will have something ready so that they can be ministered to. Someone who heard it didn’t like it, but we are here to minister to those who come through our doors. And it doesn’t matter who it was who didn’t like it, so don’t ask me later.
This issue is this. We can be concerned with pleasing people. If that’s our goal, we can create attractive programs that will draw a crowd. But if our goal is to build a Christ-honoring church, there will be people who won’t like it.
We can also find ourselves more concerned about preserving our traditions and the “dignity” of this church than about serving the broken people in our community. We need to be a church that loves our neighbors. We need the love of Christ—a love that reaches out. A love that draws them in. A love that lifts them up. A love that shares their burdens.
