I was asked to teach life group tomorrow, sort of at the last minute. I am blessed to have a good educational background in Bible study and close reading.
A Pivotal Point in the gospels, Matthew 12:1-14
I am going to start differently today, and this is not to take up time. When you start to read the New Testament, you realize there is repetition in Matthew, Mark, and Luke. They tell some of the same stories, and they tell unique ones. Only Luke tells the story of Zacchaeus and the two men on the road to Emmaus who meet Jesus, for example. But all three tell about the feeding of the five thousand, as does John’s gospel. But when you read them carefully and slowly, you see that these are not just cut and paste, but they tell the accounts with different details and purposes.
Last week we read Mark 2:23-3:6 as part of the lesson about the disciples, but this lesson is about the same story in Matthew. We are going to read it three times so we can see how they are different. I know that’s odd, but there is a purpose, and the account is very important to who Jesus is and what he came to do that it won’t hurt us. When we read through them, please note how they are different.
*Mark 2:23-3:6
Matthew 12:1-14
Luke 6:1-5.
The three accounts teach about the Sabbath, the Temple, and the motivations of our hearts.
The Pharisees seem to be a pain in the neck, but much more is going on. Some wanted to serve God, some wanted to get rid of Roman rule by any means, and some wanted power and influence; some wanted all three. They feared Jesus because they believed Rome would crack down on them (John 11:48), because of His claims to be the Messiah and Son of God, and because of His claims to “destroy the Temple” and to be more important than the Temple.
The Temple was the center of everything. It was the sign of the presence and favor of God. Briefly: Solomon’s Temple, 900 BC, destroyed by Babylon
Zerubbabel's Temple, 516 BC
Herod’s Temple, 183 BC and enhanced, destroyed 70 AD by Rome
This account is a turning point because it is the beginning of the Pharisees’ plan to “get rid of” Jesus and because of its radical teaching about the law, focusing on the Sabbath.
The Sabbath is a symbol for us today of God’s rest for us. It doesn’t mean to stop action or work, but to “cease from striving” (Psalm 46:10-- “be still”). To cease from effort to please God and to live in faith and grace.
Matthew 11:28-30. Jesus is not saying, take a permanent vacation from human life, but to cease from trying to live on your own strength, following rules, impressing God and other people.
Do we allow rules to keep us from doing good? To keep us from enjoying God and His world? Do we think God wants to punish us? Jesus says, “turn to me and turn from your striving to do it on your own.”
The final answer to this passage is Revelation 21:1, 5, 22-27. There will be no need for a temple, or Sabbath, or law, because of Jesus' presence. That is the whole point of eternity.
*Answers, some of them. Matthew mentions the temple and the superiority of Jesus over the temple, and quotes an Old Testament scripture, Hosea 6:6 and I Samuel 15:22. he adds more to the idea that the Sabbath is not an excuse for allowing evil to continue.
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