Matthew 12:1-21

Controversy over Sabbath

Sabbath is the Jewish holy day of rest. Some denominations believe it is on a Saturday others Sunday. I'm not here to make an argument but do see Exodus 20:8-11 for more information.

It happened to be a Sabbath day when Jesus disciples were hungry and decided to pluck heads of grain to eat. The Pharisees claimed this was a form of laboring and therefore unlawful to do according to the laws of the Sabbath. Now briefly who are the Pharisees? In short they are a group of legalists. They were more concerned about following traditions and laws. But their devotion were so extreme and limited to certain parts of the law that when Jesus, the Messiah came they did not accept his teachings. Hence when Jesus healed a man in the synagogue, they were quite upset and regarded him as being against the law of Moses. Jesus responded to their accusations as such. He cited examples of people like David and the priests for defiling the Sabbath. He mentions a text in Hosea 6:6 that says, "I desire mercy and not sacrifice." (12:7) This means that God is more concerned about the well being of his people rather than sacrifice, a legalistic ritual observance. Of course the Pharisees were not having that so they plotted against Jesus. Knowing this Jesus withdraws to avoid more conflicts.

Life Application: Laws are created for a reason. But when it comes to obeying the law and putting the needs of others first, God would prefer if we chose the latter. Of course, pray for discernment in any situation that you may be faced with.

Dear God, help me to have a heart for people as you did and not simply be concerned about following some rules.