THE LORD OF THE SABBATH
Matt. 12:1-8
Morning Meditation 10/6/16
Verses 1-8 says, “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. 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. But he said unto them, Have ye not read what David did, when he was an hungred, and they that were with him; 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? 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? But I say unto you, That in this place is one greater than the temple. But if ye had known what this meaneth, I will have mercy, and not sacrifice, ye would not have condemned the guiltless. For the Son of man is Lord even of the sabbath day.”
Since our trip to the Holy Land, I have been trying to retrace the places and events of our Lord. The ministry of Christ began in Galilee (Acts 10:37). This scene begins by saying, “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.” Now that doesn’t seem to be something over which one would get into trouble, does it? But the scribes and Pharisees had appointed themselves a guardians of the truth as they saw it. The truth is what sets men free. But the Jews did not teach the Bible, they taught their interpretations of the Bible. And their interpretations were more important to them than the Scriptures. This is also true among Christians today. Men are fighting today over things that they cannot prove by the Scripture with sound exegesis. One of the identifying marks of a man like this is that he talks a lot and loud (he controls by intimidation) about his subject and discredits the opposition. If you can’t prove what you believe by the Bible, then you either have to change, or discredit those who disagree with you. Therefore, men attack men. And Satan laughs because he wins.
It was the Sabbath day. The Lord Jesus and His disciples were traveling though a field where the grain was ripe and ready for eating. If you didn’t mind eating it without being cooked! They were hungry and did eat. Someone saw them do it. You were not supposed to work on the Sabbath. The Jews were so strict in their interpretation of this, that they were ready to stone someone who failed to keep their interpretation. So Matthew tell us, “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.” Jesus answers them with Scripture. It was Scripture and reasoning that they had no answer for. You can read this in verses 3-7. Then Jesus makes a statement that probably causes the disciples to say, “I wish He hadn’t said that. Now we are really in for it. We just can’t keep Him out of trouble!” Jesus said, “For the Son of man is Lord even of the sabbath day” (vs 8). Then Jesus went into the synagogue and healed a man on the sabbath. This is recorded in verses 9-13. Their response to this is recorded in verse 14: “Then the Pharisees went out, and held a council against him, how they might destroy him.” The word “destroy” translates “apollumi,” and means, “to put out of the way entirely, abolish, to put an end to, to ruin, to kill.” It is an aorist active subjunctive verb. The aorist tense refers to a point of time. They wanted to terminate Jesus. It is subjunctive mood which means that it is potential, i.e., it hasn’t happened but it is in the plans. These men were potential murderers. And all because Jesus violated what they interpreted the Bible to teach.
What did Jesus do when He knew they wanted to destroy Him? He withdrew. He did not change His message. You do not have to change your message if it is the truth. He just moved on out of their way. Then we are told, “. . . great multitudes followed him.” He instructed them not to make Him known. And He gave the Scripture as His reasoning for this. You will find this in verses 15-21. The concluding verse in this passage says, “And in his name shall the Gentiles trust.”
Jesus in not only the Messiah of the Jews, He is the Saviour of the world. Jesus knew His end. He knew that those who opposed Him and His teaching would ultimately kill Him. He came to die on the cross to become the Lamb of God to take away the sin of the world. But the fact that this was God’s will, and that it would ultimately happen, did not remove the responsibility of those who were wilfully ignorant of the facts. They wanted to kill Jesus over things that were clearly allowed by the law but which violated their interpretations.
Verse 15 says, “Great multitudes followed him.” This is also a problem. The Pharisees could not tolerate someone who is this popular contradicting what they teach. Then the people begin to ask, “Is not this the son of David?” The multitudes begin to believe that Jesus might truly be the Messiah. Now watch what happens: “But when the Pharisees heard it, they said, This fellow doth not cast out devils, but by Beelzebub the prince of the devils” (vs 24). What happens when the Pharisees can’t prove the validity of their opposition to Jesus with the Scripture? They attempt to discredit Him. So, they accuse Him of casting out a devil in the power of the devil.
What was Jesus’ response to this false accusation? Verses 25-30 say, “And Jesus knew their thoughts, and said unto them, Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation; and every city or house divided against itself shall not stand: And if Satan cast out Satan, he is divided against himself; how shall then his kingdom stand? And if I by Beelzebub cast out devils, by whom do your children cast them out? therefore they shall be your judges. But if I cast out devils by the Spirit of God, then the kingdom of God is come unto you. Or else how can one enter into a strong man's house, and spoil his goods, except he first bind the strong man? and then he will spoil his house. He that is not with me is against me; and he that gathereth not with me scattereth abroad.”
Jesus definitely claims that the power to cast our devils is the Spirit of God. Remember, Jesus began His public ministry by reading the Scriptures in the synagogue that says, “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised, To preach the acceptable year of the Lord” (Luke 4:18-19).
Jesus says that if I am casting out devils by the Spirit of God, “ . . . then the kingdom of God is come unto you” (vs 28). The words “is come” translate “phthano” and means, “to come before, precede, anticipate.” This is an aorist active indicative verb. Both the meaning of the word and the tense of the verb mean that Jesus told his opposition that the long awaited kingdom had already arrived and it was being manifest in His words and His power to work miracles. What would have happened if the Jews had received Jesus as their long awaited Messiah. Let me just say that they didn’t. When you start trying to answer questions that the Bible has no answer for you get into trouble.
I do know this. We are in a Spiritual kingdom today and it will remain this way until the rapture of the Saints. This is the Lord’s teaching through Paul. Jesus will come at the revelation described in Revelation Chapter 19 and at that time, the nation of Israel will accept Him as their Messiah and will recognize the sin they committed in rejecting Him the first time.
The Jews were religious but lost. Religious lost people have killed more people since Christ than all the wars put together. If they don’t agree with us, kill them.was their motto. The world has not changed its mind. People right here in America hate God and His Word. If that were not true, Bible reading and prayer would still be in the public schools. I can hear someone say, “The majority are still for this.” You are not kidding anybody but yourself. If you are a Christian, you are in a minority. And you will not change the world. You can witness and change some men’s hearts. Thank God for that. It will take the Second Coming of Christ to change the world.
May God bless these words to our hearts.
In Christ
Bro. White
