Sermon Tone Analysis

Chapter 12

The following material is adopted from John MacArthur’s commentary on Matthew and his Study guide.

Additional material taken from sources listed at the end

Read and summarize

Look for

— Prayers ( Blue )

— Promises ( Green )

— Warnings ( Red )

— Commands ( Purple )

Note: Matthew 12 is the end of an important section; it ends the presentation of the kingdom to Israel.

The rejection of Jesus Christ did not begin at the cross, but in Chapter 12.

Note that Jesus will “shift gears” dramatically after Chapter 12 with the Seven Kingdom Parables in Chapter 13.

Gentiles come into focus

Q: What was the source of conflicts between Jesus and the religious leaders in Matthew 12:1-13?

The Lord of the Sabbath ( 12:1-2 )

( 12:1-2 ) 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!”

— No longer being regularly engaged in their earlier occupations it is not surprising that at times the disciples were hungry

— Jesus, too, experienced not only thirst ( Jn 4:6,7 ) but also hunger ( Matt 21:18 )

— This little group was poor, needy and now also hungry

— Jesus and His disciples were picking grain because they were hungry, not because they wanted to harvest the grain for a profit ( cf.

Mark 3:6-12; Luke 6:11; the Chosen has this reversed)

— The OT permitted eating grain or grapes from a neighbors field but not taking more than needed to satisfy one’s hunger

— “When you come into your neighbor’s vineyard, you may eat your fill of grapes at your pleasure, but you shall not put any in your container.

25 When you come into your neighbor’s standing grain, you may pluck the heads with your hand, but you shall not use a sickle on your neighbor’s standing grain.”

( Deut 23:24-25 )

— But the Rabbinic tradition had ridiculously misinterpreted this verse to imply that rubbing the grain was a form of harvesting

Q: What do you think God’s intent was for this law?

Going Deeper

— The Pharisees had established 39 categories of actions forbidden on the Sabbath; harvesting was one of them

— Instead of being a day of rest it had become a day of burden

— The Sabbath is the only law of the Ten Commandments that is nonmoral and purely ceremonial; and it is unique to the Old Covenant and to Israel

— The other nine commandments, on the other hand, pertain to moral and spiritual absolutes and are repeated and expanded upon many places in the New Testament

— Observing the Sabbath was a kind of sacrifice, a symbolic service to the Lord in obedience to His command

— It was a reminder of God’s completion of creation and a shadow of the perfect rest His redeemed people look forward to in salvation and in heaven

— God’s Word was honored in name and was the supposed basis for their traditions

— But scripture was not studied and obeyed directly; it was rather used as a means to justify the traditions, many of which actually contradicted and “invalidated the word of God” ( Matt 15:6 )

The Instruction ( 12:3-8 )

( 12:3-8 ) 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.”

—The story of David is recorded in 1 Sam 21:1-6 entering the tabernacle

— The bread of the Presence was replaced every week, and the old loaves ( 12 one for each tribe ) were eaten by the priests

— The loaves given to David were the old loaves that had just been replaced with fresh ones

— Although the priests were the only one allowed to eat the bread, God did not punish David because his need for food was more important that the priestly regulations

— if God makes allowances for his own law to be broken under certain circumstances for the welfare of His people, He surly permits purposeless and foolish man-made traditions to be broken for that purpose

Q: Is God always more concerned about people’s need ahead of keeping ceremony ( xref.

Hos 6:6 )?

— “For I desire mercy and not sacrifice, And the knowledge of God more than burnt offerings.”

( Hos 6:6 )

Q: If no work was allowed on the Sabbath, wasn’t the work of the priest breaking the letter of the law on the Sabbath?

The Sabbath does not restrict service to God ( 12:5-6 )

( 12:5-6 ) 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.

— Jesus did not have to explain what He meant by saying on the Sabbath the priests in the temple profane the Sabbath

— The Pharisees had often read in the law that priests were not only allowed but commanded to do many things that would otherwise be prohibited on the Sabbath

— If we are more concerned with the means of worship than the One we worship, we will miss God even as we think we are worshiping him

Going Deeper

— Jesus must have embarrassed and angered the Pharisees by pointing out their inconsistent legalistic thinking

— But their anger turned to rage when Jesus said, Yet I say to you that in this place there is One greater than the temple

— Because of His previous claims to deity ( 9:2-6; 11:3-5, 25-27 ), the Pharisees probably realized Jesus was referring to Himself as greater than the temple

— His immediate purpose was not to prove His deity but to point out that He had the right to abrogate Sabbath regulations as He saw fit

— Jesus was saying, if even an earthly temple, which was but a type, demanded modification of the fourth commandment ( Sabbath ), literally interpreted, would not its far superior Antitype, namely Jesus Christ, who was addressing the Pharisees here and now, and in whom “all the fulness of the godhead dwells bodily” ( Col 2:9; cf.

John 10:30 ), have the right to make a similar demand?

— Surely, something greater than the temple, a treasure infinitely more precious, a gift from heaven immeasurably more valuable, an authority endowed with rights far more magisterial, was speaking to them

The Sabbath does not restrict acts of mercy ( 12:7-8 )

( 12:7-8 ) 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.”

— Jesus’ third point regarding the Sabbath was that its observance was never meant to restrict acts of mercy

— That was exactly the trouble with the Pharisees: they lacked pity

— They did not love kindness

— The hunger that plagued the disciples of Jesus failed to kindle within the hearts of their critics any feeling of tenderness or eagerness to help

— Instead they were condemning the disciples

— As to Jesus, they not only condemned him but secretly rejoiced having discovered another reason, as they saw it, for causing him to be destroyed

For Man’s benefit

— Jesus affirmed that the Sabbath was made for man’s benefit and God’s glory

— It was never intended to be a yoke of bondage to the people of God ( Mark 2:27 )

— Luke adds “I will ask one thing: Is it lawful on the Sabbath to do good or to do evil, to save a life or to destroy” ( Luke 6:9 )

— Activity per se was not unlawful; Good works were especially appropriate on the Sabbath, particularly deeds of charity, mercy and worship

— Works necessary for the preservation of life were also permitted

— To corrupt the Sabbath to forbid good works was a perversion of God’s design

— to do evil: Refusal to do good is tantamount to doing evil ( James 4:17 )

Going Deeper

— When Jesus said he was the Lord of the Sabbath, he claimed to be greater that the law and above the law

— The creator is always greater than the creation, thus Jesus had the authority to overrule their traditions and regulations

— Seven Healings on the Sabbath:

(Jesus compassion on display)

— Demoniac in Capernaum Mk 1:21-27

— Peter’s Mother-in-law healed Mk 1:29-31

— Impotent Man Jn 5:1-9

— Man with withered hand Mk 3:1-6 Mt 12:8-14

— Woman hunched over Lk 13:10-17

— Man with dropsy Lk 14:1-6

— Man born blind ( Jn 9:1-14 )

Q: Have you ever read or heard something in scripture and then caught yourself thinking just the opposite?

How would you describe the Pharisees ( 12:9-13 )?

The Illustration ( 12:9-13 )

( 12:9-13 ) Now when He had departed from there, He went into their synagogue.

10 And behold, there was a man who had a withered hand.