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But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness Gal 5:22 |
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Dear
Friend,
If you do not already have a habit of gathering daily manna the first thing in the morning (we can look at the example given to us in Exodus 16 and find the pattern for make it a habit. Establish your life and your schedule to allow you the necessary time to do your daily collection first thing every morning to give you the strength to make it through the day. And remember that today’s manna will not be sufficient for tomorrow; tomorrow’s manna must be collected tomorrow morning. Monday, March 14, 2022
Today's Passage : Today's Passage :A Man with a Withered Hand Bible Verse:Matthew 12:9-14 (ESV) "He went on from there and entered their synagogue. 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. 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? Of how much more value is a man than a sheep! So it is lawful to do good on the Sabbath.” Then he said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” And the man stretched it out, and it was restored, healthy like the other. But the Pharisees went out and conspired against him, how to destroy him." Message:
Matthew 12 starts with two successive stories about Christ transgressing the Jewish Sabbath laws, but this incident is quite different from the first, where his disciples were gathering corn to eat. Christ’s defense in the former case was that men doing holy work were exempt. The Pharisees’ interpretation of the law was correct, but they failed to realize that Christ fit under an exception. The theme of Matthew 12:1-8 was Christ bringing people to understand that he was the Son of God.
Here, the lesson is quite different. His reply is that the Pharisees are wrong in their interpretation and enforcement of the law. There is nothing evil or wrong with keeping the Sabbath; to the contrary, the fourth commandment is repeatedly and powerfully required by God in Exodus. Moreover, Christ has affirmed that the law is to be followed. As we saw in Matthew 5:
“For truly, I say to you, till heaven and earth pass away, not an iota, not a dot, will pass the law until all is accomplished. Whoever then relaxes one of the least of these commandments and teaches men so, shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven.” (Matthew 5:18-19)
Jesus healer
Jesus’ crime, to the Pharisees, is that he claims not only a right to interpret the fourth commandment, but also, a right superior to theirs; and, he tells them, they have got it wrong. The Pharisees were not purposefully evil; they were dedicated to finding righteousness before God by following his laws.
They had, however, become strictly legalistic to the point of the tiniest distinctions. In the area of healing, Mosaic law allowed a person to prevent an injury from getting worse on the Sabbath, but not try to make it better. A bandage could be applied to a wound, but not a medicated bandage.
Christ tells them that these petty distinctions have blinded them to the greater messages of the law. But the Pharisees (or at least most of them) were also blind to something much more important: Jesus was the Messiah. Because they refused to recognize the signs, they conspired to destroy Jesus. Their cardinal mistake was failing to recognize Christ for who he was.
God knew they would not. God the Father, and Christ himself, knew that Christ would be executed by the Jews. One might fairly say that the opposition of the Pharisees was part of God’s plan. He had given them the law, knowing that they would not follow it, to show them the sin of their actions; now he has given them a Messiah, knowing that they will reject and ultimately kill him, to show them the sin of their hearts.
On a more practical note, while Christ did not abolish the law, he certainly teaches a new way to interpret and enforce it. Love of our fellow man and service to others must be our guide when we read the law of Moses, second only to love of God. Christ will teach this explicitly later in his ministry, e.g. Matthew 22:34-40.
Meditation : Prayer : Now may the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, and the eternal high priest himself, the Son of God Jesus Christ, build up myself, and all Christians, in faith and truth, and in all gentleness and in all freedom from anger and forbearance and steadfastness and patient endurance and purity. .....Amen |
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