Matthew 12:1-14

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Introduction

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Jesus Is Lord of the Sabbath

12 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.

This week we start in on chapter 12, now we’re still presumably in Capernaum, Jesus’ hometown of ministry, but this time we find Jesus with his disciples walking through the nearby grainfields on the Sabbath. And Matthew tells us that his disciples were hungry and began to pluck the heads of grain to eat.

Barley & Wheat

Now, some of us may or may not be familiar with this practice of eating grain straight from the head of a barley or wheat stalk, but if you’ve ever removed the head of a wheat or barley stalk then you might recall that the head is made up of little seeds. These seeds contain the grain, and so what the disciples would have done would have been to pluck the heads and rubbed the husks of the seeds between their hands to expose the grain inside, and at that point they would have been able to eat the grain freely. Many of do this with sesame seeds, we’ll get them in a bag at the store and break open the husks either with our hands or our mouths before eating the seeds inside.

Not stealing

Now, it’s also important to point out that the disciples were not stealing by doing this. Within the OT we read in that,
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25 If you go into your neighbor’s standing grain, you may pluck the ears with your hand, but you shall not put a sickle to your neighbor’s standing grain.

In fact, it was even expected that the farmers would leave the edges of their fields unharvested so that the poor and those traveling would have something to eat. We read in ,
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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.”

This is why here in chapter 12 Jesus doesn’t end up having to defend his disciples against an accusation of theft, they’re doing precisely what would have been typical and even biblical.

Sabbath controversy

However, what does spark an accusation from the Pharisee is the fact that they’re doing this on the Sabbath. And so we read there in verse 2,

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.”

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So on the outset, the Pharisees seem to be concerned that Jesus’ disciples are breaking God’s law concerning the Sabbath.
Now, many of us are likely familiar with the 4th commandment but let’s take some time to look at again together, turn with me to starting in verse 8,

8 “Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. 9 Six days you shall labor, and do all your work, 10 but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the LORD your God. On it you shall not do any work, you, or your son, or your daughter, your male servant, or your female servant, or your livestock, or the sojourner who is within your gates. 11 For in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested on the seventh day. Therefore the LORD blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy.

This is the text, at least partially, from which the Pharisee’s objection springs. I say ‘at least partially’ because at this time in history the Pharisees had further expanded the law given here in . They had expanded it to include extra-biblical regulations, in other words, they had developed a tradition that included hundreds of regulations describing in detail what it looked like for a person to cease from their work on the Sabbath.

Authority to interpret the law

And so what we’ll see happen here in the verses that follow in is a couple of things, first, we’ll see a tension between whether Jesus has the right to define what is and is not forbidden on the Sabbath, or whether the Pharisees have the right to define what is and is not forbidden on the Sabbath. It’ll come done to a matter of authority as we’ll see here in a little bit.

The intent of God’s law

The second thing that we’ll see happen here in the verses that follow is the issue of priorities. Multiple times Jesus will make clear the intent of the OT law, which will put his interpretation of the law at odds with the Pharisee’s interpretation of the law. In other words, what we’re going to see is that Jesus will use the intent of the law to rightly understand the letter and application of the law. Whereas, the Pharisees constantly ignore, neglect, and even suppress the intent of the law in their interpretation of it.

The letter of God’s law

And it’s important for us to remember that one of the central problems that the Pharisees have is being overtly concerned with the letter of the law, even to the neglect of the spirit, or intent, of the law. We find them almost always concerned with only the outside of the cup, but neglecting the inside of the cup. It’s why Jesus will later say in ,
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27 “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs, which outwardly appear beautiful, but within are full of dead people’s bones and all uncleanness. 28 So you also outwardly appear righteous to others, but within you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness.

Missing the point of God’s law

And because the Pharisees were so overtly concerned with mere external conformity to the law, they almost always missed the point of the law. And their great sin was that in the final analysis they were not concerned with the point of the law. Which is the opposite of how you and I, as followers of Christ, are to be. We ought to be like David in the Psalms who says, “your law is my delight.”
Instead, for the Pharisees, the law served a different purpose, which was to proclaim, “I’m right with God and you are not!” Which is precisely the tone there in verse 2,
Instead, the law served a purpose for them, and that purpose was to proclaim, “I’m right with God and you are not!” Which is precisely the tone there in verse 2,

“Look, your disciples are doing what is not lawful to do on the Sabbath.”

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It’s why Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount was so relevant, because the Pharisees had in many respects distorted God’s law, and therefore Jesus had to spend much of his ministry correcting that distortion. It’s why Jesus would often preface what he taught by saying, “You have heard that it was said … but I say to you...”
Their aim was not to uphold God’s law out of a heart that loves God, but rather they were attempting to leverage God’s law to promote themselves.

The issue of authority

And so Jesus answers them there starting in verse 3,

“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?

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Now, to give you some background, when the Tabernacle was setup, while the Israelites were wondering in the wilderness, God instructs Moses to take flour and bake 12 loaves of bread, and to pile the bread onto a table within the Tabernacle. This bread was known as the bread of the Presence, and only the priests that served in the Tabernacle were permitted to eat of it, which symbolized Israel’s dependence upon the abiding presence of God.

The authority of David

And what Jesus is referencing here in is a point in history when David, the king of Israel, was running from king Saul. This was a time of dangerous transition between Saul, who had been rejected by God, and David who had been recently anointed the new king over Israel. Saul was still ruling and was pursuing David’s life, so while David is fleeing from Saul he comes upon Ahimelech the priest and asks him for bread, but Ahimelech doesn’t have any common bread, only the leftover bread of the Presence, so David asks for it. But before giving him the bread Ahimelech asks David if he and his men have kept themselves holy, and after David says yes, Ahimelech gives David the bread that would otherwise normally be unlawful for them to eat.
Now, the Pharisees would have been well acquainted with this story, so what Jesus does here is point to this story in order to show them that there are those, because of their position of authority, who are sometimes permitted to do what others might not do.

The authority of the priests

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And Jesus further reinforces this point when he says there in verse 5,

5 Or have you not read in the Law how on the Sabbath the priests in the temple profane the Sabbath and are guiltless?

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Jesus points out to them that they themselves had regular duties that were to be performed in the Temple on the Sabbath, work that would otherwise be condemned in others who were not priests. In other words, they break God’s law and their own regulations by performing Temple duties on the Sabbath, and yet they are guiltless!

The authority of Jesus

Then Jesus says to them in verse 6, and

6 I tell you, something greater than the temple is here.

In it’s context this statement is incredible. And many often ask why Jesus wasn’t more verbally forthcoming of his identity as the Messiah or the divine Son of God, but I suspect we only ask those questions if we haven’t felt the full weight of statements like these. In verse 3 Jesus equates his authority with King David, in verse 5 he equates his authority with the priests of the temple, and here in verse 6 he go so far as to claim that he is even greater than the temple itself! At this point if you’re listening to Jesus you two options, either 1) he’s the Messiah, and the divine Son of God, or 2) he’s a blasphemer.
And what Jesus is doing with all three of these arguments is demonstrating that the basis for any of the exceptions mentioned above is the authority of that person, whether it’s the king of Israel, the priests in the Temple, or the one who is greater than the temple. Therefore, if Jesus wants to permit his disciples to pluck heads of grain to eat, then he can. Why? Because as he says there in verse 8 that he’s the lord of the Sabbath!

Mercy, not sacrifice

Jesus also concludes by saying there in verse 7,

7 And if you had known what this means, ‘I desire mercy, and not sacrifice,’ you would not have condemned the guiltless.

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Two things Jesus’ points out here, first, he condemns the attitude of the Pharisees that we saw back in verse 2 when they accusingly said, “Look, your disciples are doing what is not lawful to do on the Sabbath.” In essence he tells them that they were being unmerciful in their application of the law. That their use and intention of the law was not in accord with God’s use and intended application of his law. God’s laws are not intended to destroy us, they’re intended to point us to Christ, to point us to the Gospel. However, these were not the intentions of the Pharisees.

Do not condemn the guiltless

And second, he indicates that his disciples are guiltless, that they haven’t in fact broken God’s law by plucking heads of grain and eating. It appears that Jesus may very well be addressing the error of their extra-biblical regulations and traditions. Telling them that their attempt to define the words ‘work’ and ‘labor’ through their hundreds of regulations was in error, and thereby bringing condemnation to the guiltless.
We too need to hear these words from our Lord, that we might not use God’s law to destroy one another, to destroy our children, or those closest to us. That we should not use it to condemn the guiltless. And we shouldn’t use God’s law as an occasion for hypocrisy, or self promotion, but that obeying God’s law ought to be our delight, because God is our delight. We ought to see the good and the intent behind God’s law, we ought to see that it points us to Christ, that it’s intended to drive us to Christ, and cause in us an unspeakable joy for the good news offered to us in the Gospel.

Prayer

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