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The Pharisees and some clergy members today consider themselves to be above their people. They have one standard for priests or pastors and another for the members of their church. One such example is the accepted practice where church leaders sin by gossiping about others (2 Cor. 12:20 ) in order “to deal with people issues.” The Pharisees ignored the obvious with their own Sabbath rules.
The 3rd Reply. Then Jesus dropped a bomb on them when He said,
But I say to you that something greater than the temple is here. (NASB) Matt. 12:6 The “something that is greater” was and still is Jesus Himself. In our last study Jesus had told them that He was God. If He was God, He could change the rules. So why were these Pharisees questioning God?
The 4th Reply. The fourth response to the Pharisees is a quote of Hosea 6:6.
But if you had known what this means, ‘I DESIRE COMPASSION, AND NOT A SACRIFICE,’ you would not have condemned the innocent. (NASB) Matt. 12:7 The Pharisees supposedly accepted the sacred scriptures. How did they respond to the fact that God desired compassion and not their burdensome Sabbath laws? Why did God allow David and his men to escape punishment? Why were the priests required to work extra hard on the Sabbath? The answers to both questions are that God was compassionate towards His people. His laws were imposed for our good and not to make our lives more difficult. God has told us that we need to believe in Jesus; otherwise, we are headed to an eternity of punishment. His loves us.
The 5th Reply. Jesus’ final response to them was the most shocking statement of all.
For the Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath. (NASB) Matt. 12:8 Jesus declared that He was the Lord of the Sabbath. He was the authority over the Sabbath. He established the rules, and therefore He could break them. There was no one greater, including the Pharisees who were standing before Him.
The Pharisees must have been furious, outraged, and angry. He had rebuked them, destroyed their argument, declared Himself to be above them, and said that He was the Lord over the Sabbath. Jesus was either very arrogant or exactly what He declared He was. They could not deny the excellence of His teaching or His skillful mastery of the Old Testament. He was never trapped by their questions. They could not deny His miracles, signs, or healings. They just decided to ignore them and planned His death. If you are not better than another person, then destroy his/her character or somehow remove him/her. That principle is still practiced in politics both within and without the church. Slander the person’s character or do as these religious leaders planned - murder Jesus. We will find in the next section that they are building their case and preparing to remove Him.
Another Sabbath. Now the gospels apparently jump to the next Sabbath and take us to another struggle between Jesus and these religious leaders. Luke records,
On another Sabbath He entered the synagogue and was teaching; and there was a man there whose right hand was withered. (NASB) Luke 6:6 |
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| Life & Heart of Jesus | ||||||
