One Ominous Day in Galilee: Chapter 1 (Matthew 12)
Notes
Transcript
Intro
Intro
Last week we answered 2 specific questions.
What is a parable?
A parable is an ingeniously simple word picture illuminating a profound spiritual lesson.
The second question was...
Why did Jesus teach in parables?
And we discussed that He intended parables to reveal the truth in intriguing and simple ways to hearts that were seeking after Him.
But they were also intended to conceal the truth from hearts that were hardened against Him and opposed to His teaching.
This morning we are going to see a turning point in Jesus’ ministry.
He goes from openly teaching the crowds unmistakable, doctrinal truth to veiling that same truth in parables.
Why did He do this?
What was the tipping point?
Confrontation
Confrontation
Jesus began to teach in parables because of a particularly nasty conflict with the Pharisees.
This had been coming to a head since Jesus began teaching.
We’re 2 years in and the Pharisees are getting out of hand.
They’re gatekeeping of their traditions that were supposedly built upon the Law of God was out of control.
They had it in for Jesus and nothing He was going to do would be right in their eyes.
He threatened their perceived power, their status quo.
What were the disputes found in Matthew chapter 12?
Sabbath and blasphemy
Sabbath
Sabbath
There were 2 instances of “Sabbath breaking”. What were they?
The disciples were picking just the heads of grain in order to feed themselves, and that was considered harvesting.
To the Pharisees, this was a forbidden activity!
This wasn’t rest!
How did Jesus respond when confronted?
Someone please read Matthew 12:3-5.
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?
So Jesus gave them an example from their own history (David and the showbread).
Why was it unlawful for David to have that bread?
What did God have to say about that bread?
“You shall take fine flour and bake twelve loaves from it; two tenths of an ephah shall be in each loaf. And you shall set them in two piles, six in a pile, on the table of pure gold before the Lord. And you shall put pure frankincense on each pile, that it may go with the bread as a memorial portion as a food offering to the Lord. Every Sabbath day Aaron shall arrange it before the Lord regularly; it is from the people of Israel as a covenant forever. And it shall be for Aaron and his sons, and they shall eat it in a holy place, since it is for him a most holy portion out of the Lord’s food offerings, a perpetual due.”
This bread was considered holy.
It was in God’s presence.
It was only to be eaten by priests who were purified and set apart.
But Jesus uses this as an example to show that the the Law was instituted for the benefit of God’s people.
David was not condemned and did not drop dead because he ate this holy bread (even though he was not supposed to do so).
He was in a bind and the Lord provided through unusual means.
In a parallel account of these events found in Mark 2, Jesus expounds upon this.
Someone please read Mark 2:25-28.
And he said to them, “Have you never read what David did, when he was in need and was hungry, he and those who were with him: how he entered the house of God, in the time of Abiathar the high priest, and ate the bread of the Presence, which it is not lawful for any but the priests to eat, and also gave it to those who were with him?” And he said to them, “The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath. So the Son of Man is lord even of the Sabbath.”
The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath.
This day of rest observing God’s example of rest in creation was instituted to benefit the disciples, the Pharisees, and all of Israel.
It was never intended to be weaponized against mankind through tradition.
But the disciples, and Jesus’ managing of them, was not the only reason He came under fire due to Sabbath regulations that day.
What made Jesus address the Pharisees head on?
They condemned His healing of a man!
Not only did they condemn it, they contributed the healing to the power of Satan!
And that leads us into the 2nd topic of confrontation.
Blasphemy
Blasphemy
Matthew 12:32 is an oft misunderstood and misapplied Scripture.
And whoever speaks a word against the Son of Man will be forgiven, but whoever speaks against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven, either in this age or in the age to come.
This can give some pause.
It can cause some to wonder if they have spoken against the Holy Spirit at any point in their life.
But, while self-examination is good, it is not the point to which Jesus is speaking.
What does Jesus mean here?
What does it mean to speak against the Holy Spirit?
It’s exactly what the Pharisees did here.
It is attributing the Holy Spirit’s work to Satan.
It is robbing the Spirit of the recognition He deserves and giving it to the Enemy instead.
Not only that, but they were doing this with full understanding that they were opposing God.
Their little kingdom of correctness and power was more important to them.
At this point Jesus immediately launches into parable and doesn’t turn back.
Conclusion
Conclusion
He put up with the Pharisees and their shenanigans for 2 years and this was the breaking point.
If they were going to reject His teaching, with the signs and wonders that were bearing witness to the truth that He spoke, He was going to conceal the truth from their unbelieving hearts.
In Matthew 13, Jesus will go on to explain to His disciples that His parables are a mercy upon hardened hearts.
Then the disciples came and said to him, “Why do you speak to them in parables?” And he answered them, “To you it has been given to know the secrets of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it has not been given. For to the one who has, more will be given, and he will have an abundance, but from the one who has not, even what he has will be taken away. This is why I speak to them in parables, because seeing they do not see, and hearing they do not hear, nor do they understand. Indeed, in their case the prophecy of Isaiah is fulfilled that says:
“ ‘ “You will indeed hear but never understand,
and you will indeed see but never perceive.”
For this people’s heart has grown dull,
and with their ears they can barely hear,
and their eyes they have closed,
lest they should see with their eyes
and hear with their ears
and understand with their heart
and turn, and I would heal them.’
He was keeping them from heaping up further judgment upon themselves by concealing the truth.
As we move into discussion time around the tables, I would encourage us all to take inventory of our hearts.
Is there any tradition of man that is not found in, or supported by, Scripture that we hold to have the same authority as Scripture itself?
I also challenge each of us to be aware of how the Holy Spirit works and give Him, and Him alone, the glory at every turn.
Let’s discuss around our tables.
