The opposition to Jesus had begun earlier in chapter 9 of Matthew but from chapter 12 onwards we see the rejection of Jesus Christ gathering momentum until His death. The bitter hostility moved into open hostility. Jesus attacked the regulations that were traditions rather than God’s laws. It was what Jesus has to say about the Sabbath that caused the legalists to hate Him.

1 – The incident regarding the Sabbath (vs. 1)

The observance of the Sabbath had been expanded by the legalists. It had become a day of burden rather than rest. They had regulation after regulation. You could walk 3,000 feet from your home on the Sabbath but if you had a rope that stretched further you could go ahead and walk. You could not light a fire, have a bath or pick something to eat on the Sabbath. There were hundreds of these regulations. It was harder to keep the Sabbath days than the days of work!

2 – The indictment regarding the Sabbath (vs. 2)

The disciples had been eating on the Sabbath but they come to Jesus to complain. The Pharisees are the self-appointed guardians of the Sabbath. The disciples were not breaking God’s laws but man-made laws. They were placing their own traditions in front of God’s laws. Our traditions or convictions should not be placed on par with God’s laws or forced upon other people.

3 – The instruction regarding the Sabbath (vs. 3-8)

Jesus has listened but now he gives them instruction regarding the Sabbath.

• The Sabbath laws were not given to prevent times of emergency. (vs. 3-4) David had eaten the showbread that broke God’s law but he was never chastised for it. It was more important to feed a hungry soul than the observance of this law. If David broke God’s law when he was hungry then it is okay for the disciples to break man-made laws when they are hungry. The laws of the Sabbath were not given to keep you from doing the necessities of life.
• It is not to restrict service to God. (vs. 5-6) The priests were required to do many things on the Sabbath day that broke the laws of the Sabbath. The legalists didn’t see this as wrong. Legalists will make things up as they go along.
• The Sabbath was not to restrict acts of mercy. (vs. 7-8). Jesus quotes from Hosea 6:6. God is a compassionate God. God will break his own law in order to show compassion. That is why we can be saved! Jesus is Lord of the Sabbath and we do not live under the regulations of the Sabbath which were under the old covenant. It was a shadow of the rest that we will receive when Jesus come back. We don’t need the shadow anymore.

4 – The indignation regarding the Sabbath (vs. 10-14)

It is so strong that they have murder in mind. It has more to do with Jesus making them look bad.

• Jesus is hounded – The religious leaders had now come to the point of dogging His steps, to collect material for a charge of impiety against Him.
• To heal or not to heal? – Jesus leaves them speechless as he gives them this startling alternative: “Not to do good, when it is in the power of our hand to do it, is to do evil; not to save life, when we can, is to kill”–and must the letter of the Sabbath rest be kept at this expense? The guidance that Jesus gives concerning the Sabbath reflects that our God is a reasonable God, not interested in us showing our devotion through meaningless ritualistic exercises. There is a great danger when anyone adds to God’s perfect law. They run the risk of misrepresenting God, thus skewing people’s understanding about the nature and personality of God. We have a loving God, a caring God, and a reasonable God. The teachings of the Pharisee’s did not reflect that. Thank God that He sent His Son to represent Him perfectly, that we may know, through the character of Jesus Christ, the true nature of God.
• They conspire to kill Jesus – This is the first explicit mention of their murderous designs against Jesus. See Luke 6:11 “they were filled with madness, and communed one with another, what they might do to Jesus.” But their doubt was not, whether to get rid of Him, but how to arrange it! See Mark 3:6, “The Pharisees went forth, and straightway took counsel with the Herodians against Him, how they might destroy Him.” These Herodians were supporters of Herod’s dynasty, created by Caesar–a political rather than religious party. The Pharisees regarded them as untrue to their religion and country. But here we see them combining together against Christ as a common enemy. Sadly it was the issue of the Sabbath that led them to this murderous conclusion.

Categories: Matthew