Bible Study on Matthew 12, verses 1 to 13, mercy on the sabbath day

 

Matthew 12:1 ¶  At that time Jesus went on the sabbath day through the corn; and his disciples were an hungred, and began to pluck the ears of corn, and to eat. 2  But when the Pharisees saw it, they said unto him, Behold, thy disciples do that which is not lawful to do upon the sabbath day. 3  But he said unto them, Have ye not read what David did, when he was an hungred, and they that were with him; 4  How he entered into the house of God, and did eat the shewbread, which was not lawful for him to eat, neither for them which were with him, but only for the priests? 5  Or have ye not read in the law, how that on the sabbath days the priests in the temple profane the sabbath, and are blameless? 6  But I say unto you, That in this place is one greater than the temple. 7  But if ye had known what this meaneth, I will have mercy, and not sacrifice, ye would not have condemned the guiltless. 8  For the Son of man is Lord even of the sabbath day. 9  And when he was departed thence, he went into their synagogue: 10  And, behold, there was a man which had his hand withered. And they asked him, saying, Is it lawful to heal on the sabbath days? that they might accuse him. 11  And he said unto them, What man shall there be among you, that shall have one sheep, and if it fall into a pit on the sabbath day, will he not lay hold on it, and lift it out? 12  How much then is a man better than a sheep? Wherefore it is lawful to do well on the sabbath days. 13  Then saith he to the man, Stretch forth thine hand. And he stretched it forth; and it was restored whole, like as the other.

 

The religious elite has gone from interpreting the law far too loosely, needing Christ’s correction in chapter 5, to here interpreting it too strictly, missing the point. Remember what Paul will write;

 

2Corinthians 3:6  Who also hath made us able ministers of the new testament; not of the letter, but of the spirit: for the letter killeth, but the spirit giveth life.

 

Mercy and necessity, according to Jesus Christ who was God in the flesh, are acceptable behaviors on the Sabbath Day. While Christians are not under the rule of the Sabbath Day observance there is no crime in our having a meal out on a Sunday unless we were to find that our server was a Christian who was forced to work on that day in which case we have a decision to make.

 

Jesus answers the Pharisees from an event in the life of David.

 

1Samuel 21:1 ¶  Then came David to Nob to Ahimelech the priest: and Ahimelech was afraid at the meeting of David, and said unto him, Why art thou alone, and no man with thee? 2  And

David said unto Ahimelech the priest, The king hath commanded me a business, and hath said unto me, Let no man know any thing of the business whereabout I send thee, and what I have commanded thee: and I have appointed my servants to such and such a place. 3  Now therefore what is under thine hand? give me five loaves of bread in mine hand, or what there is present. 4  And the priest answered David, and said, There is no common bread under mine hand, but there is hallowed bread; if the young men have kept themselves at least from women. 5  And David answered the priest, and said unto him, Of a truth women have been kept from us about these three days, since I came out, and the vessels of the young men are holy, and the bread is in a manner common, yea, though it were sanctified this day in the vessel. 6  So the priest gave him hallowed bread: for there was no bread there but the shewbread, that was taken from before the LORD, to put hot bread in the day when it was taken away.

 

And refers to the command for the priests to offer sacrifices on the Sabbath Day from Numbers.

 

Numbers 28:9 ¶  And on the sabbath day two lambs of the first year without spot, and two tenth deals of flour for a meat offering, mingled with oil, and the drink offering thereof: 10  This is the burnt offering of every sabbath, beside the continual burnt offering, and his drink offering.

 

Then, in verse 6 there is another declaration of His divinity.

 

For verse 7 note this;

 

Hosea 6:6  For I desired mercy, and not sacrifice; and the knowledge of God more than burnt offerings.

 

Micah 6:6 ¶  Wherewith shall I come before the LORD, and bow myself before the high God? shall I come before him with burnt offerings, with calves of a year old? 7  Will the LORD be pleased with thousands of rams, or with ten thousands of rivers of oil? shall I give my firstborn for my transgression, the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul? 8  He hath shewed thee, O man, what is good; and what doth the LORD require of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God?

 

Verse 8 has Christ use the phrase Son of man. I noted before that Christ used this phrase linking His role as the Messiah to Daniel 7:13.

 

Daniel 7:13  I saw in the night visions, and, behold, one like the Son of man came with the clouds of heaven, and came to the Ancient of days, and they brought him near before him.

 

Concerning the man with the withered hand Christ made it clear yet again that acts of mercy and necessity were okay on the Sabbath. Christ also makes it clear that while God approves of mercy to beasts so much the more so should we be willing to show mercy to man, made in God’s image. In fact, one characteristic of evil people is their wanton disregard for the welfare of their animals.

 

Proverbs 12:10  A righteous man regardeth the life of his beast: but the tender mercies of the wicked are cruel.

 

But the point made here is that this healing of this handicapped man is a good thing to be done on the Sabbath. It is not a violation of God’s standard, only man’s self-righteousness.