Matthew 12:1-14--Lord of the Sabbath

​Matthew 12:1-14 English Standard Version (ESV)
LISTEN:  www.biblegateway.com/audio/mclean/esv/Matt.12.1-Matt.12.14
Jesus Is Lord of the Sabbath
12:1 At that time Jesus went through the grainfields on the Sabbath. His disciples were hungry, and they began to pluck heads of grain and to eat. 2 But when the Pharisees saw it, they said to him, “Look, your disciples are doing what is not lawful to do on the Sabbath.” 3 He said to them, “Have you not read what David did when he was hungry, and those who were with him: 4 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? 5 Or have you not read in the Law how on the Sabbath the priests in the temple profane the Sabbath and are guiltless? 6 I tell you, something greater than the temple is here. 7 And 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 of the Sabbath.”

A Man with a Withered Hand
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.

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From this point forward, we are going to see much conflict between the Pharisees (and other religious leaders) and Jesus, mostly questioning by what authority He says and does certain things, but even at times trying to ask Him questions to trap Him into answering a question in such a way that might disqualify Him.  However, since they couldn't pin down Jesus very often, they would go for the second-best thing....his disciples.  They would wait to catch them doing something that they perceived to be against the Law of Moses and then come back to Jesus and ask for an explanation on why the disciples "broke the Law" with the implication that Jesus was responsible for their choices and that it was His bad teaching that was the reason for their bad choices.

In this case, the disciples were hungry and were walking by a grainfield and they picked some heads of grain, rubbed them in their hands to separate the kernels of wheat from the chaff, blew the chaff away and then ate the kernels of wheat.  Let's just look at a few verses--first those that in favor of what the disciples were doing and then a few verses that the Pharisees thought said that what the disciples were doing was wrong.

Verses that Allowed the Disciples to Eat the Grain Along the Side of the Road
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Leviticus 19:9-10 English Standard Version (ESV)
9 “When you reap the harvest of your land, you shall not reap your field right up to its edge, neither shall you gather the gleanings after your harvest. 10 And you shall not strip your vineyard bare, neither shall you gather the fallen grapes of your vineyard. You shall leave them for the poor and for the sojourner: I am the Lord your God.​

Leviticus 23:22 English Standard Version (ESV)
​22 “And when you reap the harvest of your land, you shall not reap your field right up to its edge, nor shall you gather the gleanings after your harvest. You shall leave them for the poor and for the sojourner: I am the Lord your God.”

Verses that Prohibit Harvesting on the Sabbath
​Exodus 34:21 English Standard Version (ESV)
21 “Six days you shall work, but on the seventh day you shall rest. In plowing time and in harvest you shall rest.

Leviticus 23:3 English Standard Version (ESV)
3 “Six days shall work be done, but on the seventh day is a Sabbath of solemn rest, a holy convocation. You shall do no work. It is a Sabbath to the Lord in all your dwelling places.

So, where do we stand at this point?  Are we at an impasse? Jesus doesn't directly answer their question about harvesting grain, but instead points to another point in time where a revered figure, King David, took his army into the temple and asked for the priests to feed them with the Showbread that was consecrated to the LORD and that no one was supposed to eat other than the priest--and then only under very special conditions.  But the priests fed the men with this bread so that they wouldn't starve.  The implication is made here that this situation is similar and that the disciples were starving and it was permissible for them to eat whatever food was available, even if it broke some Law.  Notice we don't see Jesus participating, so Jesus is not breaking the Law Himself, nor is He actually teaching them to break the Law, but just saying form a position of authority that a man is not guilty of breaking the Sabbath by feeding himself when he is starving by means that would be otherwise lawful if it was okay for King David to feed his men by a means that was always unlawful.

Jesus then added a little "zinger" as He often does reminding the Pharisees that the priests definitely work in the temple on the Sabbath as part of their ministry to God and are not guilty.  Jesus said that He is greater than the temple--God actually making His dwelling ("tabernacling") among us and infers that His disciples are just about the business of performing their "priestly duties."  Then Jesus hits at the heart of the matter when He tells them to read and understand the Old Testament (not just the Law, but the Prophets now) where God says that He desires mercy, not sacrifice and if they had understood this principle then they would not find guilt where none existed.  Then Jesus lowers the boom on them and says that He is the Lord of the Sabbath, meaning it was going to be up to Him to judge those who broke the Sabbath later and if He declared the disciples guiltless, then the discussion was over (and it was).

The Pharisees were not satisfied with this, so they moved on to new tactics where they instead tried to set Jesus up in public where all the people could see Jesus ignoring the traditions of the elders regarding how to keep the Sabbath (which is not the same as breaking the Law itself).  Either way though, we've already hinted at the fact that it's impossible for God to break the Sabbath because the Sabbath is something that He created to give rest to us and the Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath (see Mark 2:27).

The Pharisees knew where Jesus would have to go to synagogue to worship as people were restricted by how far they could travel on the Sabbath, so they were ready to meet Jesus there and set up a trap for Him by bringing a man with a withered hand into the congregation to see if just perhaps Jesus would heal Him in front of the everyone in attendance.  Notice that the Pharisees instigated the confrontation (and at "church" nonetheless) asking Jesus if it was proper to heal on the Sabbath with this man standing right next to them.

Jesus again doesn't answer "Yes" or "No" like they want, but instead changes the scenario on them to show the principle at work.  He asked them if they were a shepherd responsible for their flock of sheep and one of them fell into a hole on the Sabbath, would they wait until the next day to retrieve the sheep?  Of course not!  Then Jesus points out that men have much more value than sheep and seems to tell us that it is always good to do good on the Sabbath.  Then Jesus answers their question with actions.  He commands the man to stretch out His hand and it was immediately made whole just like the man's other hand that was not withered.

The Pharisees had been beaten and they knew it, and they went out mad and plotting among themselves on how they were going to destroy Jesus--maybe by destroying His reputation, or maybe by killing Him.  They haven't committed to that yet, but they will soon.  It will not be long when they will feel like their only option is to kill this man which endangers their authority and their system of governance and their control over the people.