Matthew 12:1-23 January 23, 2012

Matthew 12:1-23

So, have you ever had somebody tell you that you’re not supposed to do something?  Maybe it’s swearing or drinking.  Maybe it’s something more, like working on the Sabbath or hanging around a certain kind of people.  Maybe you’ve even told somebody (or yourself) that you’re not supposed to do something if you are a “real Christian.”  I have.  I’m not proud of it.

That’s what this passage is about.  It’s called legalism and it’s a trap that the Pharisees fell into in Jesus’ time, and one that I sometimes fall into.  The Pharisees are too busy following rules to see mercy.  They are more worried about the disciples picking grain on the Sabbath (verses 1-2) than they are about the fact that if the disciples didn’t do that they wouldn’t eat.  Following rules is more important than life for them.  Jesus gives some examples from the Old Testament of people breaking the Sabbath rules (verses 3-5), then follows up with this:

⁷And if you had only known what this saying means, I desire mercy [readiness to help, to spare, to forgive] rather than sacrifice and sacrificial victims, you would not have condemned the guiltless.^(D)

Mercy.  Once again, Jesus brings it all back to love.  Loving people is never wrong.  Jesus says over and over again that He didn’t come to do away with the Law, so it isn’t about that.  It’s about loving first.  How am I loving people by pointing out their rule breaking?  Well, I’m probably not.  Jesus loved people first, then told them to turn from their sins.  Maybe I need to take a page from His book.

Then, Jesus makes an example of the Pharisees, by healing a man on the Sabbath (verses 10-14).  How, I ask, can doing the work of God on the Sabbath be against “the rules?”  It shouldn’t be, but if you are legalistic, you follow the letter of the Law, but you often miss the spirit of the Law.  Jesus calls them out in verse 11, though, saying that they would do work on the Sabbath if they thought it absolutely necessary (like in the case that you would lose your livelihood by not saving your one and only sheep).  I think His point is that we should think that doing good is absolutely necessary, even on the Sabbath.

So, Jesus goes on to heal more people (verses 15 and 22), despite the fact that He knows the Pharisees are plotting against Him (verses 14-15).  I’m so apprehensive about doing good.  If somebody questioned me about something I was doing, I would quit doing it, but Jesus keeps doing what He knows is right.  Mercy.  Love.  I think more about myself than I do about others, that’s the bottom line.

So, legalism.  There are a lot of things that some Christians want to call fundamentals that are really just extras.  Jesus + ____ = real Christian.  Fill the blank with whatever you want to.  Bible reading, prayer, politics, works, the right friends, homeschooling . . . the list could go on forever.  The truth is, though, that if you are relying on anything other than Jesus alone, then you’re missing the point.  I guess I would say Jesus + LOVE, but since God is Love, that’s really Jesus + Jesus.  I’m far from perfect in this.  I add things to Jesus all the time and, if you’re honest with yourself, you probably do, too.  It’s something that I think we all need to work on.

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