Ep. 230. Matthew 12 | Lord of the Sabbath
EPISODE 230
LORD OF THE SABBATH: MATTHEW 12
This text offers us our second reference to Micah 6 in just a few chapters, "I desire mercy and not sacrifice." In this instance, the Pharisees are angry that the disciples of Jesus are plucking and eating heads of grain as they make their way through a field. The Pharisees insist doing so constitutes a violation of the Sabbath. When Jesus quotes the Micah text, he says that God has greater joy in mercy than in sacrifices. The Pharisees would certainly disagree with that assessment and place more value on the sacrificial system than on the merciful character of the person. The religious leaders of the day misunderstood the purpose of the Law and, specifically, in this case at least, the Sabbath. I have been excited to talk to you about the Sabbath at length, but we will get there in Hebrews.
The narrative continues with Jesus healing a man on the Sabbath day and, of course, offending the Pharisees. But Jesus points out that it is right and lawful to "do good on the Sabbath."
Of course, blasphemy of the Spirit is the most crucial section of this chapter, seeing that those who blaspheme the Spirit will not be forgiven. Jesus is healing the crowds who come to him by the power of the Spirit within him. For the religious leaders to say that these signs are by the power of Satan is to deny the testimony of the Holy Spirit that Jesus was the Messiah. Remember from Matthew 8 that Jesus was healing all the people to fulfill the prophecy from Isaiah 53. The Messiah was supposed to come in power and do things no one had seen before. Jesus was the epitome of that, working by the power of the Spirit, and the Pharisees blaspheme the Spirit's work by calling it the work of the Devil. To put it simply, the Holy Spirit is the one who reveals to the heart that Jesus is the Savior. To deny the message and ministry of the Spirit is to deny the gospel he proclaims, and that can't be forgiven.
ADDITIONAL READING: Deuteronomy 23:24-25; 1 Samuel 21:1-6; Micah 6:6; Isaiah 42:1-4; Matthew 6:10; John 5:30-40; Matthew 3:7; John 6:30; Jonah 1:17; Luke 11:24-26; Matthew 7:21-23