God's Beloved Servant-Son

Have you ever been to Manhattan? Next time you take a trip there, look up when you’re on the outskirts of that NYC borough. If you look carefully enough, you will probably see a fishing line strung between poles and buildings, well above the height of traffic and interruptions.

A fishing line? Yes, but not for catching fish. This little string encircles most of Downtown NY, and creates what is known as the Manhattan Eruv.

It has been there, maintained ever week in case of a break or a problem, since 1999. It costs between $125,000-150,000 a year to maintain, but the city of New York isn’t responsible for this establishment.

What is it, you ask? Well, the fishing line, and the space within the boundary of that line, the Eruv, is there for the purpose of allowing Observant Jewish people to travel freely and carry their babies and belongings on the Sabbath day. By tradition, Jewish people are not allowed to carry any burden (including a child) from the “private domain to the public domain.” That means their wallet, their keys, any belongings, and even their infants, must stay in their home. What the Eruv does, by approval of the Rabbis, is to place everything within the boundary in the “private domain” rather than public.

The Eruv in Manhattan is huge, but it is not the only one. Right next door in brooklyn, there are streets and sections of town encircled by a similar string or line. And there are hundreds of cities and neighborhoods around the world with Eruvs as well, some larger than Manhattan.

Now, besides learning something new, you might be asking what that has to do with our passage today.

Well, as we come to Matthew 12, we come to what we see many places in the Gospels, and that is the Sabbath Controversies.

Jesus had many opposers, but chief among them were the religious group known as the Pharisees, and along with them, the Lawyers. We have seen them challenge Jesus on things like authority to forgive sins, and we have seen them accuse him of working by the power of the Devil, but what became chief among all their complaints, all their opposition, is their accusation against Jesus that he and his disciples violate the Sabbath Laws.

The Sabbath, from Sundown on Friday to Sundown on Saturday, is 24 hours of holy rest that was commanded by God for the Israelites, patterned after God’s day of rest after 6 days of creation.

Since the resurrection of Christ, as Christians, we typically observe the Lord’s Day, Sunday, as our day of holy worship and rest. Depending on how you grew up, and what type of church you were part of, that may have meant a number of things - from simply going to church, to not making purchases, doing yard work, or watching sports.

But for the devout Jewish People, the simple command to remember the Sabbath and keep it holy, was one of the pinnacle and most notable ways to be observant or not observant. But, that simple command had also turned into much more than a simple command.

For instance, there is nowhere in the Scripture that forbids a mother or father from carrying their baby outside their home on Saturday. So why do Jewish people in Manhattan need a special Eruv, a special zone, to do so?

Well, that stems from the Mishnah. The Mishnah is the written record of what is known as the Oral Law, or the Oral Torah. These are interpretations, explanations, and further instructions from Rabbis throughout the centuries on various Old Testament Laws.

It is commonly stated that there are around 600 commandments in the Old Testament. Those are God’s words. But, in the Mishnah, there are thousands of regulations added to fence in those laws.

By Jesus Day, the question became not whether you followed the Laws in the scripture, in the Torah, but whether you were observant of all the regulations in the Traditions.

The Pharisees and Lawyers were “experts” in these traditions, and it was these man-made additions that they were holding Jesus accountable to. It was also these manmade traditions that were the heavy burdens that Jesus referred to in the last chapter, and will refer to again as he denounces the Pharisees.

Now, all that background will be significant as we read through this account. Lets do that.

Matthew 12:1-14

We will continue through verse 21 today, but I wanted to stop there because it sets the scene for the rest of the Gospel Record. Here is Jesus, God’s Son, the Messiah, now pit against these religious leaders, not on the terms of scripture and God’s authority, but on the terms of tradition and man’s authority.

The pharisees could see no good in what Jesus was doing - he was an imposter, a loose teacher, a friend of the common people, the tax collectors and sinners.

But what they missed was that Jesus came to show more than just a time of joy and healing, Jesus came as God’s Servant, God’s Son, and to reveal the heart of God’s character to the world, starting with his own people.

Jesus is the Beloved Servant and Son who reveals, teaches, and redeems according to the mercy and goodness of God.

1. He is the Lord who reveals Kingdom priorities - Vs. 1-8

In these first 9 verses, we read an interesting account. The words we ended with last week, “my yoke is easy and my burden is light” are now illustrated by Matthew as he records this interaction that Jesus has with the Pharisees.

Imagine the scene - Jesus and his followers were itinerant, they were a bit nomadic at times. They travelled, taught, preached, healed, and seemed to be always busy with this work. We get a zoomed-in view of this Sabbath day, but I would imagine it to be a picture of many of the Sabbath days they spent together.

The scene places them walking near the grainfields, in a rural area, where agriculture ruled the day. We know from Israel’s history, that gleaning from grainfields was not only allowed, but it was expected. Deuteronomy and Leviticus both outline ways that farmers were to leave the edges of their fields unharvested for the hungry. Perhaps the most well-known picture of this practice was the story of Ruth, who was gleaning in the field of Boaz who became her husband and redeemer.

So, the controversy was not over the gleaning and the picking, but over the timing.

Vs. 2 - “look, your disciples are doing what is not lawful to do on the Sabbath.”

Now, we are not told specifically that Jesus was also picking and eating the ears of grain, but as the leader, as the teacher, he was responsible for his disciples actions in the Pharisees’ mind. And surely, they had him caught here!

In the introduction I mentioned the Mishnah, and the thousands of additional regulations that were added to the Scriptures. Well, there are hundreds of them simply concerning the Sabbath.

The Mishnah Shabbat

The generative categories of acts of labor [prohibited on the Sabbath] are forty less one:

B (1) he who sews, (2) ploughs, (3) reaps, (4) binds sheaves, (5) threshes, (6) winnows, (7) selects [fit from unfit produce or crops], (8) grinds, (9) sifts, (10) kneads, (11) bakes;

C (12) he who shears wool, (13) washes it, (14) beats it, (15) dyes it;

D (16) spins, (17) weaves,

E (18) makes two loops, (19) weaves two threads, (20) separates two threads;

F (21) ties, (22) unties,

G (23) sews two stitches, (24) tears in order to sew two stitches;

H (25) he who traps a deer, (26) slaughters it, (27) flays it, (28) salts it, (29) cures its hide, (30) scrapes it, and (31) cuts it up;

I (32) he who writes two letters, (33) erases two letters in order to write two letters;

J (34) he who builds, (35) tears down;

K (36) he who puts out a fire, (37) kindles a fire;

L (38) he who hits with a hammer; (39) he who transports an object from one domain to another—

M lo, these are the forty generative acts of labor less one.

Now, again, these specific regulations did not come from God’s revelation of his law - these were additions, explanations, to give people specifics on how to keep the law.

Now, that’s just one section on one simple command - what started as, remember the sabbath to keep it holy, had turned into “here is what exact, perfect righteous behavior looks like to the t.” Was it intended to be that from the beginning? I don’t think so - it probably started as very practical. But it turned into a heavy burden. These are one part of the regulations from one simple command - now imagine keeping up with the thousands of regulations from the other commands.

What was “not lawful” according to the Mishnah, was reaping a harvest, and preparing a meal. But were the disciples reaping a harvest and preparing a meal? By the letter, perhaps. But Jesus is going to show us that the letter, especially that of the Mishnah, was not the point at all.

Vs. 3-4

Jesus gives, as he almost always does, an example. Now, what he is doing here is utilizing a common Rabbinic teaching tool - arguing from the less to the greater. We saw him doing this in the sermon on the mount when he said things like “you have heard it said…but I say unto you.”

What is the structure of his argument? Well, in this case it is two examples. First, the example of David in the Temple, eating the consecrated bread, which was, by law, only for the priests.

This was a provision for the priests to be cared for. That bread, part of the temple services, was a symbolic reminder of God’s provision for his people. The letter of the law said, it is only for the priests. But in this case, the example of David, the letter of the law was not used against David and his men - the spirit of the Law, that the bread was symbolic of God’s provision, was actually strengthened.

By appealing to this story, especially with the words ‘have you not read,’ Jesus was challenging tradition with the actual revelation of God and his character. Of course, these religious leaders had read it - but had they understood it? Had they seen past the letter, and seen into the character of God within the pages of scripture?

The second example is maybe a little less familiar. The story and example of David was one instance - but in verse 5, Jesus gives a continual instance and a reminder that the letter of tradition is not always the intent of the law.

Numbers 28:9–10 ESV

“On the Sabbath day, two male lambs a year old without blemish, and two tenths of an ephah of fine flour for a grain offering, mixed with oil, and its drink offering: this is the burnt offering of every Sabbath, besides the regular burnt offering and its drink offering.

Now, that action that the priests took every sabbath - killing the lambs, working with the flour and grain, mixing them with oil, and completing all this work - these were all things prohibited by the Mishnah and its regulations. But were the priests breaking God’s law? Of course not! They were serving God by their action, and in commemorating the Sabbath with this special offering, they were keeping it Holy.

Now, I said Jesus was arguing from the lesser to the greater - and here is why.

Vs. 6 - Something greater than the temple is here. In both instances, the temple was in the picture. David taking the shewbread for he and his men, and the priests sacrificing in the temple on the sabbath.

Really, when you add them up, you have two insurmountable greats - the temple, and King David. Both of those would have been highly revered, never questioned by the Pharisees. So when Jesus says “something greater than the temple is here,” that was a shocking statement - and it probably didn’t earn Jesus any more favor with these men.

What was there that was greater than the Temple? Well, we could perhaps say it was the Kingdom coming in, or the mighty works being wrought, or the message - but verse 8 really clears it up for us. Jesus is arguing from the lesser to the greater, because he is arguing from David and the Temple up to Himself - Jesus, the Son of Man, is Lord of the Sabbath - he is greater than the Temple, and he is greater than the Sabbath.

You see, in their rigorous keeping of traditions and regulations, and in their heaping of heavy burdens on the peoples’ shoulders, the Pharisees had gotten the cart before the horse.

In Mark’s gospel, these controversies over the Sabbath start sooner. And one of Jesus’ responses gives some great light here.

Mark 2:27 ESV

And he said to them, “The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath.

Notice that - the Sabbath was made - by who? The Lord, of course. And Jesus says, here, that he is Lord of the Sabbath. Do you see the authority, and do you see the care?

God’s laws were created for good - not for the sake of law, not for the sake of impingement, but for the sake of good and blessing and flourishing.

The traditions had turned God’s laws into anything but blessing and flourishing - they had turned them into sheer burden, burden that nobody could bear.

Jesus, in verse 7, quotes from Hosea 6:6

Hosea 6:6 ESV

For I desire steadfast love and not sacrifice, the knowledge of God rather than burnt offerings.

Now, did God command sacrifices? And burnt offerings? Of course - but they were never to be sacrifices for sacrifices sake. They were to point to mercy - steadfast love and the knowledge of God.

God wants us to know Him, his goodness, and his love, through His commandments and his Word. Scripture is not primarily a rulebook or manual - it is a revelation. When we read the Bible, we read about our God and what he is like.

Jesus is bringing them back to these priorities - I’ve called them Kingdom priorities, but really they are God’s priorities in all time. His goodness, his mercy, his character revealed. What the letter of human regulations blurred and shaded and hid, Jesus came to reveal and clarify and proclaim.

Do you see the Bible as a burdensome book of rules, an outdated moral guide that is behind the times? I implore you to look again. Read and see the heart of the Creator within, who reveals himself for the good of his creation, who calls us to himself, through His Son, and promises blessing rather than burden.

2. He is the Teacher who shows true righteousness - Vs. 9-14

The next example that Matthew gives is really an illustration of what Jesus just taught in several ways. It illustrates his Lordship, it illustrates Goodness and mercy, and it illustrates true “lawfulness” or righteousness.

Matthew’s account reads as if this happened on the same day - I like to imagine that it did. We at least know that it happened again, on a Sabbath day. This time, in stead of it being in the rural area, Jesus enters the Pharisees arena - as it were - into the synagogue. Now, this was a public place, a teaching place. Jesus probably frequented the synagogues, as Paul would in the book of Acts sharing the Gospel. We know that Jesus, in the synagogue in Capernaum, had read that great passage from Isaiah indicating that he was the Messiah indeed.

So now, in the Synagoge, in public, this discourse happens and it serves to teach - perhaps some of the most riveting teaching this synagogue had ever had.

Vs 10 - the scene starts with a man. A man with a withered hand. Atrophied muscles, disability, Luke tells us that it was his right hand. This was not a deadly condition, but it was a true impairment. It would have made it difficult for this man to do any work. We might safely assume that he was a man who needed mercy, probably in more than the healing. Disabilities were often misunderstood, seen as indication of sin or uncleanness, or even demon possession. Who knows what ridicule this man had faced.

We don’t get much of the workup to this account here - had he asked Jesus to heal? Had Jesus indicated that he would heal him? Something sparked the question from the Pharisees, though, and perhaps it was a trap as they often tried to set.

“is it lawful to heal on the sabbath?”

The word lawful is important - it means more than just legal or permissible - althogh it doesn’t mean less than that. And perhaps that’s how they were using it, but Jesus will use the same word and show its full intent in a moment.

Jesus appeals now, not to scripture, but to common experience.

Vs. 11 - If indeed this situation was a setup, that the Pharisees wanted to “catch” Jesus in this little predicament, then what Jesus does is almost numerous - because he sets up his own predicament for them to consider.

Livestock was money - livestock was value. Nobody would want to lose one of their heard. The Jewish people showed incredible care for their animals, especially sheep with their ritual significance. Of course, they would rescue the sheep from the pit on the Sabbath! And the idea seems to be, well that’s an obvious act of necessity.

Jesus again uses the “lesser to the greater” argument here. Again, we’ve seen it before in the Sermon on the mount with the sparrows, and earthly fathers. The question “how much more does your heavenly father care for you?”

Well, here the question is “how much more valuable is a man than a sheep!” What seemed obvious to the crowd, that they certainly would rescue a sheep, was met with what should be even more obvious! Helping someone, a person, made in God’s image, no matter how lowly or despised, was much more important than saving a sheep!

Do you see how far the lens of human regulations had taken them from the intent of the Sabbath command?

Exodus 20:8–11 ESV

“Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days you shall labor, and do all your work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the Lord your God. On it you shall not do any work, you, or your son, or your daughter, your male servant, or your female servant, or your livestock, or the sojourner who is within your gates. For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested on the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy.

A Holy day of rest - do you see the intent there? A day of rest for you, your family, your servants, and even your livestock. It was never intended to be burdensome - rather merciful!

This is what happens when we elevate human tradition and idea above God’s revelation in scripture. We turn what God intended to bless and reveal into burden and distress. We take a command that was meant for holiness and blessing and turn it into exclusion and weight.

Jesus statement really tells the whole story

Vs. 12 - “it is lawful to do good on the Sabbath.”

Is healing good? Yes, yes it is. Is helping someone in need good? Yes, yes it is. Showing mercy and even breaking a sweat, not for personal gain but for kindness, love, and justice, doesn’t profane the commandment - it actually bolsters it. This man with the withered hand had the most “rest” on a Sabbath he had ever experienced, for he was made whole.

It is “lawful” to do good. Again, that doesn’t mean simply legal - the word has deeper reaches which I think Jesus intended. It means right and proper.

It is right to do good on the Sabbath. We could say, it is Righteous to do good on the Sabbath.

The Pharisees were experts on what not to do - but what they had missed in all their regulations was what to do, and that was to do good. In all their regulations and heaping those on others, they had emptied the Law of God of its fulness and goodness.

Isaiah 1:13–17 ESV

Bring no more vain offerings; incense is an abomination to me. New moon and Sabbath and the calling of convocations— I cannot endure iniquity and solemn assembly. Your new moons and your appointed feasts my soul hates; they have become a burden to me; I am weary of bearing them. When you spread out your hands, I will hide my eyes from you; even though you make many prayers, I will not listen; your hands are full of blood. Wash yourselves; make yourselves clean; remove the evil of your deeds from before my eyes; cease to do evil, learn to do good; seek justice, correct oppression; bring justice to the fatherless, plead the widow’s cause.

“vain offerings” - that word means empty. Empty offerings, empty religion. That was the indictment. They kept the sabbaths, they kept the festivals, they made the sacrifices - but there was none of God’s heart of goodness in their works.

What did they neglect? ceasing evil, doing, good, seeking justice, correcting oppression, bringing justice to the fatherless, pleading the widow’s cause.

It is lawful - good - righteous, to do good. Why? Because God is good. It is lawful - righteous - to show mercy. Why? Because God is merciful.

13-14

And while Jesus showed his goodness, the Pharisees dug their heels in. This is the fist indication of intent that we read in Matthew. We will see it again, but by this point, as a group, their minds and hearts are totally hardened against God and His Servant-Son Jesus Christ.

3. He is the Servant who compassionately redeems the despised - Vs. 15-21

The man with a withered hand serves as a picture, an image of a lowly person. A despised person. A disability, a disadvantage, a humble condition. And what did Jesus do? He showed mercy even amid great resistance.

Vs. 15-16 And he kept doing it - he withdrew from there and many followed him, and he healed them all.

You might be thinking, Yeah, Jesus! Stick it to those Pharisees! Show them you don’t care about their opinions! But That’s not what Jesus was doing.

He wasn’t showing off, he wasn’t making a point, he wasn’t boasting or gloating in his freedom. He was simply showing mercy.

He healed them all - and he told them not to tell. Why, we ask? Well, Matthew answers that question with a quote from Isaiah 42.

If you read the passage in Isaiah 42, verse 1-4, you will notice that it is a little different. We believe that Matthew’s Gospel is inspired, the Word of God. The differences are not nefarious, but purposeful. Matthew is showing us two things - Jesus fulfills this prophecy, and this is how he fulfills it.

Jesus is God’s beloved Servant and Son. We see the Servant part here, we saw the Son part in the first story.

He is the promised one, the promised Servant that we see all through Isaiah’s latter half - the redeemer, the messiah. God’s Spirit upon Him, and he will be unique.

Though he will bring justice, he will not be quarrelsome or boastful - we see that in his secrecy, in his discretion. He didn’t want to “show up” the pharisees, he wanted them to see and believe, to repent.

We see it in his words - I am gentle and lowly in heart.

But mostly, we see his mercy.

Vs. 20

A bruised reed. A reed was a hollow blade of grass, but it was used as a tool. Mostly, it was used for a writing quill. When a reed was “bruised,” it would become limp and slack, not firm. This would happen after a lot of use, many times dipped in the ink, or perhaps by damage or dropping it. Either way, it was typically deemed useless and as something to be cast down and replaced.

A smoldering wick, of course, was part of a lamp. But when the wick - usually flax - was low, it wouldn’t burn brightly, but rather would produce a dark smoke that was pungeant and painful to the eyes. It was not only useless, but annoying.

Do you see the image?

The used up and the useless, the despised and the broken, the worn-out and the annoying, the lowly and the left out, this Servant of God, this Messiah would not trample, would not break, would not throw away - but rather, he would redeem!

The Tax collectors and sinners, who were unable to bear the burdens of the Pharisees traditions, well they were bruised reeds and smoking wicks in their eyes - but Jesus, rather, redeemed them, healed them, and would die for them.

And this mercy, this goodness, would extend far beyond the reaches of Capernaum, or Galilee, or even Israel - in the name of this Humble, Lowly, but powerful and victorious Servant, the nations would hope.

That is you and me. We are the nations that hope in Jesus Christ, our redeemer. We, according to law and tradition, are the bruised reeds and the smoking wicks - but by the mercy and goodness of God, we are redeemed.

Do you see how Jesus reveals God’s heart, his character, in a way that was missed in the Pharisees heavy burdens? God’s intent in revelation was to show who he is - and He does so chiefly in the person of Jesus Christ. That Jesus whom the Pharisees were now plotting to destroy and kill, would indeed be killed - but even in that, it would be for mercy, for redemption.

Psalm 51:15–17 ESV

O Lord, open my lips, and my mouth will declare your praise. For you will not delight in sacrifice, or I would give it; you will not be pleased with a burnt offering. The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise.

Are you broken, cast down, one of the bruised reeds and smoking wicks? God does not despise you in your brokenness - Jesus does not cast you down further in your despair. Rather, as we saw in the last chapter, he says “come unto me.”

Jesus is the Beloved Servant and Son who reveals, teaches, and redeems according to the mercy and goodness of God.