Doing Good on the Sabbath

Introduction

Go ahead and open up your Bibles to Matthew chapter 12, verse 9. Last week, we went through various Old Testament passages and gained a definition of what the “Sabbath” is. We discussed it being a Day of Rest instituted by God for the benefit of man, and how it was important enough for God to make it a “Commandment.”

We also look at the first 8 verses of Matthew 12 and read how the Pharisees tried to trap Jesus in an overly-legalistic argument, and we noted several rebukes of Jesus against the Pharisees.

Jesus gave us three “arguments” or “explanations” of why the Pharisees were mistreating and misunderstanding the Sabbath. One of these arguments is found in v. 7, where Jesus says: “Ad if you had known what this means, ‘I desire mercy, and not sacrifice,’ you would not have condemned the guiltless.”

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Today we are going to see that rebuke come to life as the Pharisees try to trap Jesus again. Now, it’s possible that the next few verses we read are on the same day as what we read last week, so keep that in mind.

Now, let’s read verses 9-14.

Matthew 12:9–14 ESV

9 He went on from there and entered their synagogue. 10 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. 11 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? 12 Of how much more value is a man than a sheep! So it is lawful to do good on the Sabbath.” 13 Then he said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” And the man stretched it out, and it was restored, healthy like the other. 14 But the Pharisees went out and conspired against him, how to destroy him.

I. The Pharisees try to trap Jesus

Notice in v. 10 where this man with a “withered hand” is present and the Pharisees ask Jesus if it’s lawful to heal on the Sabbath. In Luke 14, this same instance occurs, but Jesus is the one asking the Pharisees and “experts in the law” if it’s “lawful” to heal on the Sabbath. Some have pointed this out as an inconsistency, but frankly it sounds more reasonable that this man would be there, the Pharisees would ask their question trying to trap Jesus, then Jesus would respond back with the same question.

These Pharisees and “experts” should be able to answer such a simple question. It is a “simple question,” isn’t it? Well, not to someone who has spent their entire lives complicating the commands of God. Where one thing is allowable in one circumstance, but not in another. Where hypocrisy was the reigning rule.

Hypocrites like to make the simple complex so that they are not liable to perform what God commands when it doesn’t suit their timeline. They will gather a village to improve their house, yet never come when someone else is in need.

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So, when they ask this question or when Jesus asks them this question, it’s not simple to them. And that’s my point, they’re taking something that was complicated in their rules and regulations. Something that they knew Jesus was capable of, pointing to this man with some sort of condition with his hand and saying “Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath?”

This would be like someone coming to me with a computer problem. “Scott, I need help swapping out a hard drive in my computer, can you help me?.... Wait, IS IT LAWFUL FOR YOU TO DO THAT ON A WORK DAY, PASTOR?”

Yes, as a matter of fact it would be. Because a shepherd doesn’t just tend to the sheep, he tends to the sheep’s barn and fence. If it might allow me to spend time with a person, to learn of their struggles and pray for them, then it would not be a worthless endeavor.

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And neither was this encounter with this man worthless to Jesus. He used it to prove a point, to point out the hypocritical nature of the Pharisees.

II. Jesus Rebukes

Look at Jesus’s rebuke in v. 11 and 12:

“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.’”

Now, this is an exceptionally clever thing of Jesus to say. He is pointing to what is known as the “Oral Tradition” of the Pharisees. These oral traditions would be written down much later, but the Pharisees at the time had determined that it was allowable to lift a livestock animal out of a pit on the Sabbath (since animals have a tendency to fall in dumb places). But, if it were the Sabbath, they weren’t permitted to help a neighbor in trouble if it involved physical work.

For instance, if their neighbor had fallen in a pit, they wouldn’t be allowed to lift him or her out, but they could lift out a sheep.

This sheer hypocrisy frustrated Jesus, because the Pharisees had complicated the commandment of rest to a point that was ridiculous!

“Of how much more value is a man than a sheep!” Jesus exclaims.

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It’s here that we find our first application to ourselves to avoid becoming Pharisees. Not only is a “permissible” to do good on a day of worship and rest, but it should also be expected of us! If we see a person in need, we should find ourselves wanting to help them, even if it’s Sunday!

Here’s something I hope never happens, but what if we’re in here having service and all of a sudden hear a woman scream outside. What if someone walked through a parking lot, an event that happens all the time, and their child gets hit by a car when they try and cross 11th.

What would we do?

Is the worship of God more important than running to the aid of an injured and potentially dying child?

A Pharisee would respond yes to that question, but we who are saved and have redeemed hearts should want to spit at such an answer!

What we ought to do is drop everything and race outside at our quickest pace to see what has occurred, to run to the aid of the child, to call emergency services, and to cry out to God for help!

How wicked the person who is so hard-hearted that they know they are able to help, yet choose not to.

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This situation, by the way, is much like the parable of the Good Samaritan in Luke 10. A man is laying beaten on the side of the road, both a priest and Levite (two types of men who should be expected to bring gospel-aid to this injured man), yet not only do they walk by but walk by on the other side of the road.

Such is the way of the hypocritical Pharisee. He cannot be bothered by the pains and sufferings of others.

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This brings a question that we will not find an answer to, but what had the members of this synagogue done for this man? Some in church history have named this man and said that he had approached Jesus and was a “brickmaker.” This is sheer conjecture, it’s not in the Bible, and therefore should not be trusted.

But the synagogue was aware of this man whose hand was withered, he was there to worship on the Sabbath, and these Pharisees mocked him by using him to try and trap Jesus.

There is so much in this situation that enrages me.. that shows how hard-hearted these men who were expected to lead worship of God were. They were far from God, wicked and corrupt. They looked down on the ill and injured. They were self-satisfied and entitled.

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How did Jesus put up with them and only give them the rebukes he did? To even remind them “Of how much more value is a man than a sheep!” is a minor rebuke in comparison to the judgmental fire from heaven I would be tempted to bring on them.

And yet here is where I am reminded of my own sin… My sin of not wanting the hard-hearted to repent, but to fall into immediate judgment. I reveal my own lack of patience that brings sinners to repentance.

Church, we should not let our own frustration at the Pharisees lead us into sin ourselves. May we not be malicious toward self-righteous, but plead for their reconciliation and salvation.

Let us take a second application from Jesus’s actions and rebuke hypocrites in hopes of God’s work in their hearts.

III. Jesus heals the man

Notice how Jesus responds to their trap. He walks right through the trap, proving that it was not put well-together and ineffective, and then still proceeds to heal this man.

He still shows provides the mercy despite the opposition, allowing this man to stretch out his hand and have it restored.

The Pharisees don’t seem to have doubted that Christ was able to do this anymore. Their question presupposes that Jesus was able to perform the miracle.

Hypocrites are not always those who deny God’s ability. They may declare Jesus’ power from the housetops, but what makes them hypocrites is that they don’t live in response to the gospel. They don’t see their own need for repentance.

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By healing this man, Jesus proved exactly what he said “It is lawful to do good on the Sabbath.” God’s commandments, including the Fourth Commandment to have a Sabbath Day of Rest, do not inhibit God’s people from doing good works.

Most people would look at the Ten Commandments and assume that to be true, but apparently not the Pharisees. Notice how the original question was “Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath?” Yet Jesus pointed that their real meaning was “Is it lawful to do good on the Sabbath?”

IV. Pharisaical Self-Justified Unrighteousness

This is important to note, because Jesus knew their heart-intent. Not only did they want to “accuse him” (v. 10) by what He did, but they also wanted to justify themselves.

In our modern times, many who claim to know Christ will try to justify themselves so they can be excused from having to do that which God has commanded.

Jesus is tearing down the Pharisees, removing from them their self-justified unrighteousness, kindly proving to them that they are in desperate need of salvation, that they don’t really know the God they say they know. Their love of God is cold. Christ is trying to revive it.

Last week I mentioned Hosea 6, which is where Jesus drew the phrase “I desire mercy, and not sacrifice.” The Pharisees epitomize the heart of Israel that’s found in Hosea 6. Chapters 1-5 of Hosea are an illustration and legal declaration of the guilt of Israel, that as a people they are faithless. True faith results in true worship, but fake faith leads to continued dives into sin while trying to look good on the outside.

Hosea 4 begins a list of sins for God’s people, Hosea 5 announces that punishment is coming, that their wickedness and sin will be seen among them. God is going to reveal their wickedness, but when wickedness is revealed, it tends to try and justify itself.

So, as God reveals that wickedness, Israel and Judah fall deeper and deeper into sin, assuming that they can both worship God and live unrighteous lives.

Chapter 6 is the culmination of their hard-heartedness. They falsely declare that they want repentance. Let’s read a chunk of this prophet who predated the Pharisees by several centuries. And note that whenever God says “Ephraim,” he means Israel since the two kingdoms were divided at this point between Israel and Judah. Both are supposed to be God’s people.

Hosea 6:1–7:2 ESV

1 “Come, let us return to the Lord; for he has torn us, that he may heal us; he has struck us down, and he will bind us up. 2 After two days he will revive us; on the third day he will raise us up, that we may live before him. 3 Let us know; let us press on to know the Lord; his going out is sure as the dawn; he will come to us as the showers, as the spring rains that water the earth.” 4 What shall I do with you, O Ephraim? What shall I do with you, O Judah? Your love is like a morning cloud, like the dew that goes early away. 5 Therefore I have hewn them by the prophets; I have slain them by the words of my mouth, and my judgment goes forth as the light. 6 For I desire steadfast love and not sacrifice, the knowledge of God rather than burnt offerings. 7 But like Adam they transgressed the covenant; there they dealt faithlessly with me. 8 Gilead is a city of evildoers, tracked with blood. 9 As robbers lie in wait for a man, so the priests band together; they murder on the way to Shechem; they commit villainy. 10 In the house of Israel I have seen a horrible thing; Ephraim’s whoredom is there; Israel is defiled. 11 For you also, O Judah, a harvest is appointed. When I restore the fortunes of my people, 1 when I would heal Israel, the iniquity of Ephraim is revealed, and the evil deeds of Samaria, for they deal falsely; the thief breaks in, and the bandits raid outside. 2 But they do not consider that I remember all their evil. Now their deeds surround them; they are before my face.

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Conclusion

The Pharisees said things that sounded godly, their minds were enriched with theological terms, but in all their knowledge they do not “know God.” They do not do what knowledge of God requires. Instead, they are self-serving, self-justifying, unrighteous sinners.

It is lawful to do good on the Sabbath. It is lawful to do acts of mercy within our ability on days of worship. It is not good, even wicked, to pretend to know God and not do what God requires of us.

Finally, notice how the Pharisees responded to conviction in verse 14. After Jesus righteously rebuked them, they began to plot on how to “destroy him.” Pharisees love to feel superior, but hate to be confronted. Rebuke causes them to go behind closed doors, to plot on how to destroy God’s people, just like the real Pharisees began lying in wait for Jesus in order to “destroy him.”

Do not be like the Pharisees, church. God desires us to have mercy, not wickedly plot others’ destruction. God requires us to know Him so well, that we are gracious and kind to those who would otherwise desire to kill us.