Day 29: February 25

SCRIPTURE READING: MATTHEW 12:1-14

SCRIPTURE HIGHLIGHTS: 
OBSERVATIONS:
The Pharisees saw Jesus and his disciples eating some grain which they picked and the Pharisees accused them of violating the commandment to honor the Sabbath.

Jesus responded with two examples from the OT, to show that there are times when the commandments can be set aside for legitimate reasons.

In addition, the commandment to honor the Sabbath did not necessarily prohibit picking a few heads of grain to satisfy one’s hunger. Jewish interpretation of the Sabbath commandment had become full of rigid requirements that went way beyond the heart of the commandment and made the Sabbath a burden to the people rather than the blessing that the Lord intended it to be. (See Mark 2:27)

If David was exempt from the laws of the Temple as God’s anointed one, and if the priests were exempt from the law prohibiting work on the Sabbath because of their divine responsibility, then certainly Jesus could pick grain since he is greater than the Temple and the Law!

Following this conflict with the Pharisees they continued to look for a reason to accuse Jesus of violating the Sabbath Law. On another Sabbath in the synagogue they challenged Jesus with the question of whether it was permissible to heal a man's deformed hand. They had arrived at their own interpretation that it was permissible to heal on the Sabbath if a life was at stake. In this case, according to their own rules healing a deformed hand would not be justified on the Sabbath. Jesus’ response exposed their hypocritical application of their rules.
 
APPLICATION:
This passage deals with the Pharisees' attempts to exploit the law in order to charge Jesus with sin. Jesus exposed the shameful and despicable manner in which they perverted the heart of the Sabbath commandment by turning it into a vehicle of oppression rather than as a blessing to God’s people. Worst of all, they attempted to exploit the Law and a physically disabled man in order to malign and destroy Jesus. The darkness of their hearts becomes pronounced in juxtaposition to the love in Jesus' heart. Jesus heals a man and their response is to plot to kill Jesus. When someone being healed makes you so mad you want to kill the healer, you are seriously in the grip of Satan!
 
PRAYER:
Dear Lord, Thank you for showing us that the greatest commandments are to love you with all our being and to love others as we love ourselves. Help me to never allow a rigid application of any of your commands supersede these two great commandments. Help me to apply all of your principles and commands revealed in scripture in a way that truly expresses love for you and others.