BREAKING RULES

LAST WEEK

We looked at all of Chapter 11

We looked at the Topic of Doubt

We saw Jesus pronounce Judgement to certain cities for their impenitence

We also saw how Jesus offers the wicked rest for their souls

THIS WEEK

We are going to look at the purpose of rest

We are going to look at the breaking of some old traditions

We are going to see Jesus up the ante of the Sabbath.

Some people believe that He is doing away with the Sabbath

Some believe that we don’t need to keep the Sabbath

Some believe that the Sabbath is for the lazy

John Calvin was a great man of God

This dude had a crazy work ethic

As he grew older, he didn’t shrink back from his calling

If he was sick, he would ask his students to meet him in his bedroom

He preached from his bed

If he couldnt make it to church

He would ask his leadership to come help him

And they carried him to the pulpit

When asked why? He said this:

“What? Would you have the Lord find me idle when He comes?"

How do we balance work ethic and the necessity for the Sabbath?

How do we look at the Sabbath as not just rest, but a way for us to decrease and Jesus to increase?

READ

Matthew 12:1–21 NKJV

1 At that time Jesus went through the grainfields on the Sabbath. And His disciples were hungry, and began to pluck heads of grain and to eat. 2 And when the Pharisees saw it, they said to Him, “Look, Your disciples are doing what is not lawful to do on the Sabbath!” 3 But He said to them, “Have you not read what David did when he was hungry, he and those who were with him: 4 how he entered the house of God and ate the showbread which was not lawful for him to eat, nor for those who were with him, but only for the priests? 5 Or have you not read in the law that on the Sabbath the priests in the temple profane the Sabbath, and are blameless? 6 Yet I say to you that in this place there is One greater than the temple. 7 But if you had known what this means, ‘I desire mercy and not sacrifice,’ you would not have condemned the guiltless. 8 For the Son of Man is Lord even of the Sabbath.” 9 Now when He had departed from there, He went into their synagogue. 10 And behold, there was a man who had a withered hand. And they asked Him, saying, “Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath?”—that they might accuse Him. 11 Then He said to them, “What man is there among you who has one sheep, and if it falls into a pit on the Sabbath, will not lay hold of it and lift it out? 12 Of how much more value then is a man than a sheep? Therefore it is lawful to do good on the Sabbath.” 13 Then He said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” And he stretched it out, and it was restored as whole as the other. 14 Then the Pharisees went out and plotted against Him, how they might destroy Him. 15 But when Jesus knew it, He withdrew from there. And great multitudes followed Him, and He healed them all. 16 Yet He warned them not to make Him known, 17 that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Isaiah the prophet, saying: 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 will declare justice to the Gentiles. 19 He will not quarrel nor cry out, Nor will anyone hear His voice in the streets. 20 A bruised reed He will not break, And smoking flax He will not quench, Till He sends forth justice to victory; 21 And in His name Gentiles will trust.”

Matthew 12:1-13

Matthew 12:1–13 NKJV

1 At that time Jesus went through the grainfields on the Sabbath. And His disciples were hungry, and began to pluck heads of grain and to eat. 2 And when the Pharisees saw it, they said to Him, “Look, Your disciples are doing what is not lawful to do on the Sabbath!” 3 But He said to them, “Have you not read what David did when he was hungry, he and those who were with him: 4 how he entered the house of God and ate the showbread which was not lawful for him to eat, nor for those who were with him, but only for the priests? 5 Or have you not read in the law that on the Sabbath the priests in the temple profane the Sabbath, and are blameless? 6 Yet I say to you that in this place there is One greater than the temple. 7 But if you had known what this means, ‘I desire mercy and not sacrifice,’ you would not have condemned the guiltless. 8 For the Son of Man is Lord even of the Sabbath.” 9 Now when He had departed from there, He went into their synagogue. 10 And behold, there was a man who had a withered hand. And they asked Him, saying, “Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath?”—that they might accuse Him. 11 Then He said to them, “What man is there among you who has one sheep, and if it falls into a pit on the Sabbath, will not lay hold of it and lift it out? 12 Of how much more value then is a man than a sheep? Therefore it is lawful to do good on the Sabbath.” 13 Then He said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” And he stretched it out, and it was restored as whole as the other.

Matthew 12 NKJV

At that time Jesus went through the grainfields on the Sabbath. And His disciples were hungry, and began to pluck heads of grain and to eat. And when the Pharisees saw it, they said to Him, “Look, Your disciples are doing what is not lawful to do on the Sabbath!” But He said to them, “Have you not read what David did when he was hungry, he and those who were with him: how he entered the house of God and ate the showbread which 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 that on the Sabbath the priests in the temple profane the Sabbath, and are blameless? Yet I say to you that in this place there is One greater than the temple. But 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 even of the Sabbath.” Now when He had departed from there, He went into their synagogue. And behold, there was a man who had a withered hand. And they asked Him, saying, “Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath?”—that they might accuse Him. Then He said to them, “What man is there among you who has one sheep, and if it falls into a pit on the Sabbath, will not lay hold of it and lift it out? Of how much more value then is a man than a sheep? Therefore it is lawful to do good on the Sabbath.” Then He said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” And he stretched it out, and it was restored as whole as the other. Then the Pharisees went out and plotted against Him, how they might destroy Him. But when Jesus knew it, He withdrew from there. And great multitudes followed Him, and He healed them all. Yet He warned them not to make Him known, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Isaiah the prophet, saying: “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 will declare justice to the Gentiles. He will not quarrel nor cry out, Nor will anyone hear His voice in the streets. A bruised reed He will not break, And smoking flax He will not quench, Till He sends forth justice to victory; And in His name Gentiles will trust.” Then one was brought to Him who was demon-possessed, blind and mute; and He healed him, so that the blind and mute man both spoke and saw. And all the multitudes were amazed and said, “Could this be the Son of David?” Now when the Pharisees heard it they said, “This fellow does not cast out demons except by Beelzebub, the ruler of the demons.” But Jesus knew their thoughts, and said to them: “Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation, and every city or house divided against itself will not stand. If Satan casts out Satan, he is divided against himself. How then will his kingdom stand? And if I cast out demons by Beelzebub, by whom do your sons cast them out? Therefore they shall be your judges. But if I cast out demons by the Spirit of God, surely the kingdom of God has come upon you. Or how can one enter a strong man’s house and plunder his goods, unless he first binds the strong man? And then he will plunder his house. He who is not with Me is against Me, and he who does not gather with Me scatters abroad. “Therefore I say to you, every sin and blasphemy will be forgiven men, but the blasphemy against the Spirit will not be forgiven men. Anyone who speaks a word against the Son of Man, it will be forgiven him; but whoever speaks against the Holy Spirit, it will not be forgiven him, either in this age or in the age to come. “Either make the tree good and its fruit good, or else make the tree bad and its fruit bad; for a tree is known by its fruit. Brood of vipers! How can you, being evil, speak good things? For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks. A good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth good things, and an evil man out of the evil treasure brings forth evil things. But I say to you that for every idle word men may speak, they will give account of it in the day of judgment. For by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned.” Then some of the scribes and Pharisees answered, saying, “Teacher, we want to see a sign from You.” But He answered and said to them, “An evil and adulterous generation seeks after a sign, and no sign will be given to it except the sign of the prophet Jonah. For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the great fish, so will the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth. The men of Nineveh will rise up in the judgment with this generation and condemn it, because they repented at the preaching of Jonah; and indeed a greater than Jonah is here. The queen of the South will rise up in the judgment with this generation and condemn it, for she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon; and indeed a greater than Solomon is here. “When an unclean spirit goes out of a man, he goes through dry places, seeking rest, and finds none. Then he says, ‘I will return to my house from which I came.’ And when he comes, he finds it empty, swept, and put in order. Then he goes and takes with him seven other spirits more wicked than himself, and they enter and dwell there; and the last state of that man is worse than the first. So shall it also be with this wicked generation.” While He was still talking to the multitudes, behold, His mother and brothers stood outside, seeking to speak with Him. Then one said to Him, “Look, Your mother and Your brothers are standing outside, seeking to speak with You.” But He answered and said to the one who told Him, “Who is My mother and who are My brothers?” And He stretched out His hand toward His disciples and said, “Here are My mother and My brothers! For whoever does the will of My Father in heaven is My brother and sister and mother.”

MATTHEW 12:1-

PRAY THAT JESUS WOULD GIVE US REST. THAT JESUS WOULD REPLENISH THE DESIRE TO BE RESTLESS WITH A DESIRE TO REST IN HIM.

Matthew 12:1–8 NKJV

1 At that time Jesus went through the grainfields on the Sabbath. And His disciples were hungry, and began to pluck heads of grain and to eat. 2 And when the Pharisees saw it, they said to Him, “Look, Your disciples are doing what is not lawful to do on the Sabbath!” 3 But He said to them, “Have you not read what David did when he was hungry, he and those who were with him: 4 how he entered the house of God and ate the showbread which was not lawful for him to eat, nor for those who were with him, but only for the priests? 5 Or have you not read in the law that on the Sabbath the priests in the temple profane the Sabbath, and are blameless? 6 Yet I say to you that in this place there is One greater than the temple. 7 But if you had known what this means, ‘I desire mercy and not sacrifice,’ you would not have condemned the guiltless. 8 For the Son of Man is Lord even of the Sabbath.”

Matthew 12:1–2 NKJV

1 At that time Jesus went through the grainfields on the Sabbath. And His disciples were hungry, and began to pluck heads of grain and to eat. 2 And when the Pharisees saw it, they said to Him, “Look, Your disciples are doing what is not lawful to do on the Sabbath!”

MATTHEW 12:1-

After Jesus asked those who were weary and heavy laden

To come to Him, That He may give them rest

That He may give them rest

That they would take HIS Yoke upon them and learn from Him

For HE is gentle and lowly at heart

And in doing so

They would find rest for their souls

For HIS Yoke is easy and HIS burden is light.

After this beautiful promise

Jesus takes the disciples through some grainfields

As they became hungry,

They went ahead and did what anybody would do

Pluck some heads of grain to eat

As they did this, we notice that there were other people following also

The Pharisees

Those who knew the Law of God inside and out

Whose job was to make clear the law of God

Who would institute laws for the laws

It wasn’t that they were plucking grain that didn’t belong to them

That was allowed according to

It was the fact that it was done on the Sabbath

For the Talmud

A day where no food preparation could be done

A day where you couldn’t gather

In fact, if you live in Israel, you would need to purchase and prepare all your food before sunset on Friday.

Because everything shuts down friday pm through saturday pm

As they plucked the grain, it would be known as reaping

As they rubbed the grain together, it would be seen as threshing

As they blew away the husks, it would be seen as winnowing.

The entire process would be seen as food preparation

Which was prohibited by Jewish Law.

How would Jesus respond?

Matthew 12:3–8 NKJV

3 But He said to them, “Have you not read what David did when he was hungry, he and those who were with him: 4 how he entered the house of God and ate the showbread which was not lawful for him to eat, nor for those who were with him, but only for the priests? 5 Or have you not read in the law that on the Sabbath the priests in the temple profane the Sabbath, and are blameless? 6 Yet I say to you that in this place there is One greater than the temple. 7 But if you had known what this means, ‘I desire mercy and not sacrifice,’ you would not have condemned the guiltless. 8 For the Son of Man is Lord even of the Sabbath.”

Matthew 12:3-

He challenges their scriptural knowledge

“Have you not read”

Don’t you remember

What David, your King, the man you believe is the greatest in the Kingdom

How when He was hungry, went into the temple of God

Ate the showbread, which was not lawful for him to eat

For this bread was only for the Priests?

“Have you not read?”

That the Priests work on the Sabbath

Have you not looked at

Numbers 28:9 NKJV

9 ‘And on the Sabbath day two lambs in their first year, without blemish, and two-tenths of an ephah of fine flour as a grain offering, mixed with oil, with its drink offering—

How it instructs for double the sacrifice?

Don’t you realize that your Talmud is creating a burdensome observance of something that was supposed to be good.

Check out this beautiful picture:

Jesus points to David, not just because, He was the king in the eyes of the Jews

But because it is a picture of what was actually going on

David goes in recognizing the need of his squad

Takes the bread, and distributes it to his men

Jesus, is the bread of Life

Who stood in the holy place

Who made a way for all those who hunger and thirst for God

To enter the most holy place through what He had accomplished on the cross.

This isn’t just your normal parallel of scripture

It was a clarification of what God desired

It was a pointing to the most excellent thing

The reality was that the Law had become burdensome

The law had become a source of defeat

As people realized more and more that the law could not be kept

They did what most of us do

They questioned its necessity

If something is constantly defeating you

Why even try?

Why not just give up?

It is when we realize that we don’t have what it takes, that we ask for Mercy

That we may receive something that we don’t deserve

That we may receive forgiveness when we deserve punishment.

The law was so exhausted, that the sacrificial system became mundane

The Lord recognized this

He realized what sin had done to a good thing

He lets the people know

I would rather show you mercy than see you sacrifice another animal on behalf of your sin

I would rather you rest in your identity in Me, than have you work for your identity in yourself.

Furthermore, I desire Mercy and not Sacrifice,

So you would have the right perspective when it comes to other people

If you don’t desire Mercy

How will you be able to preach its necessity?

If you are going to boast in the sacrificial system

How will that help those who cant afford the sacrifice?

If you haven’t realized that the sacrificial system is not sustainable

How will you recognize the necessity for Jesus.

If you don’t recognize the need to surrender

You will condemn the guiltless.

If we don’t recognize our need to surrender

We will have an incorrect perspective when ministering to the non believer

MERCY + LOVE = GRACE

When we realize that we deserve Hell

MERCY

When we realize that we deserve the consequence of sin

LOVE

When we realize that this truth brought Jesus to this Earth

When we realize that the Incarnate Jesus took on our consequences

When we realize that this sacrifice satisfied the just wrath of God

It is then that we realize why God desires Mercy

It is then that we realize the necessity

GRACE

The New King James Version Chapter 2

4 But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, 5 even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved),

If you don’t recognize the need to surrender

You will condemn the guiltless.

If we don’t recognize the value of surrender

We will have an incorrect perspective when ministering to the non believer

We will have the wrong heart and motives when speaking to unbelievers

We will seek to give the right answer

Instead of showing compassion through our orthodoxy

CHECK OUT HOW JESUS DOES IT

Matthew 12:9

Matthew 12:9–13 NKJV

9 Now when He had departed from there, He went into their synagogue. 10 And behold, there was a man who had a withered hand. And they asked Him, saying, “Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath?”—that they might accuse Him. 11 Then He said to them, “What man is there among you who has one sheep, and if it falls into a pit on the Sabbath, will not lay hold of it and lift it out? 12 Of how much more value then is a man than a sheep? Therefore it is lawful to do good on the Sabbath.” 13 Then He said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” And he stretched it out, and it was restored as whole as the other.

It is still the Sabbath

The Pharisees are still trying to pick up the pieces of their broken theology

But Jesus isn’t done yet

As he arrives in their synagogue

There was a man with a withered hand

Whom they brought to Jesus to ask him a very provoking question

“Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath?”

Would Jesus break the Sabbath?

Would Jesus perform the work of the kingdom on the Sabbath?

Would He allow Orthodoxy to get in the way of Compassion?

Jesus responds to their question with another question

Which man among you

Who has one sheep and it falls into a pit on the Sabbath

Would not rescue their sheep on the Sabbath?

This was a very personal question

A question that may have convicted them of their hypocrisy

The question that they asked might have been a question that handicapped Jesus

However, it showed the true colors of how they valued life

Jesus, in his omniscience

Brings light to the fact that they have been mishandling the word of God

That they have been misapplying the concept of Rest

That they have lost grip of what matters most

Jesus says:

“How much more valuable is a man than a sheep?”

Because Jesus came to bring life

Because Jesus came to heal the sick

Because Jesus came to correct the incorrect application of the Scriptures

He acts upon His Identity

His actions trump the man made orthodoxy by which man prided himself.

God is good

He loves his children

He loves