Matthew Chapter 12 Part 1 “Your Disciples Are Doing What Is Unlawful On The Sabbath Or Are They?” Christ The KING Presbyterian Ministries, Pastor Paul
Paul Wallace
Ordained Pastor, Both Conventional & Social Media Ministries, Fire Department Chaplain, Maintenance Worker 1, Certified Safety Professional, Proven Governmental Leader, True Team Builder, You will love all of this resume
Matthew Chapter 12 Part 1
“Your Disciples Are Doing What Is Unlawful On The Sabbath Or Are They?”
A quick explanation, I want to make sure my comments about, say the Pastor I Interned under are not taken as hateful, but only honest observation, and a critique on the Denominational operations of Many Churches.
I am very grateful to Pastor Patterson for bringing me on as an Intern, a position I indeed need to Graduate and become licensed. Though what transpired for myself and my Fellow Intern was mean spirited and a lie later, there really is no need to dig into that now, we are still thankful, and fell in love with the Congregation.
Now our Foundation
Have you ever had thrown at you the laws of the Bible as a club to beat you into submission??
Let’s be honest, the Normal teaching is indeed the reverse of the positive of the Law, and instead how we are disobedient, and yet listen to what our first reading clearly says, and think of just how tough the 40 years in the wilderness must have been.
Ex 16:29 "See, the LORD has given you the sabbath; therefore, He gives you bread for two days on the sixth day. Remain every man in his place; let no man go out of his place on the seventh day."
?30 So the people rested on the seventh day.
The key to the Law is what, to comply or be punished, or to rest?
Yes, to Rest, it is the perversion of the law by the Religious leaders that transpose the Law in to a wooden spoon used to beat into submission, the Law is our tutor, and if followed are to our full benefit, but mostly point to Christ.
Please note, in this passage will be a HUGE example of the Heart of Christ, and The Coldness of Mankind, I do hope you pick up on it. (Hint Look At The Accusations Being Thrown At Jesus And The Apostles By The Religious Leadership, And What They Are Not Offering)
Later in the Chapter we will talk about the needful work on the Sabbath, and will see that advising those who are in medical or even service fields to “find other jobs” is contrary to the spirit of the law.
In our opening passage to Chapter 12 we are of course reminded that the original book of Matthew is not divided in Chapters and verses, and is all one Story about how Jesus’s Rescue Mission is HIS Self-Ordained TRIUNE Rescue, and always has been!
So, as we enter Chapter 12, HOLY SPIRIT please allow to remember all of the Book is about our Rescue, and sadly each Chapter Jesus clash, as I fear today builds with the Religious Leadership!
Let’s run to Worship
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Call To Worship
Revelation 4:8 ? And the four living creatures, each one of them having six wings, are full of eyes around and within; and day and night they do not cease to say, "HOLY, HOLY, HOLY IS THE LORD GOD, THE ALMIGHTY, WHO WAS AND WHO IS AND WHO IS TO COME."
?9 And when the living creatures give glory and honor and thanks to Him who sits on the throne, to Him who lives forever and ever,
Processional
All Glory Laud And Honor
Church of St. Michael’s, Roman Catholic Stillwater, Minnesota
Passing Of The Peace Of Christ
May the Peace of Christ Be With You
ALL: And Also With You!!
Please take a minute to pass the peace of Christ
Hymn
In Christ Alone
Royal Albert Hall, London, England
First Reading
Exodus 16:21-35
21 They gathered it morning by morning, every man as much as he should eat; but when the sun grew hot, it would melt.
?22 ? Now on the sixth day they gathered twice as much bread, two omers for each one. When all the leaders of the congregation came and told Moses,
?23 then he said to them, "This is what the LORD meant: Tomorrow is a sabbath observance, a holy sabbath to the LORD. Bake what you will bake and boil what you will boil, and all that is left over put aside to be kept until morning."
?24 So they put it aside until morning, as Moses had ordered, and it did not become foul nor was there any worm in it.
?25 Moses said, "Eat it today, for today is a sabbath to the LORD; today you will not find it in the field.
?26 "Six days you shall gather it, but on the seventh day, the sabbath, there will be none."
?27 It came about on the seventh day that some of the people went out to gather, but they found none.
?28 Then the LORD said to Moses, "How long do you refuse to keep My commandments and My instructions?
?29 "See, the LORD has given you the sabbath; therefore He gives you bread for two days on the sixth day. Remain every man in his place; let no man go out of his place on the seventh day."
?30 So the people rested on the seventh day.
?31 The house of Israel named it manna, and it was like coriander seed, white, and its taste was like wafers with honey.
?32 ? Then Moses said, "This is what the LORD has commanded, 'Let an omerful of it be kept throughout your generations, that they may see the bread that I fed you in the wilderness, when I brought you out of the land of Egypt.'"
?33 Moses said to Aaron, "Take a jar and put an omerful of manna in it, and place it before the LORD to be kept throughout your generations."
?34 As the LORD commanded Moses, so Aaron placed it before the Testimony, to be kept.
?35 The sons of Israel ate the manna forty years, until they came to an inhabited land; they ate the manna until they came to the border of the land of Canaan.
This Is The Word Of The LORD
Response By All: Thanks Be To GOD
The LORD’S Prayer & Apostles Creed Read By All
Matthew 6:9 ? And Jesus said "In this manner, therefore, pray:
Our Father in heaven, Hallowed be Your name.
?10 Your kingdom come. Your will be done On earth as it is in heaven.
?11 Give us this day our daily bread.
?12 And forgive us our debts, As we forgive our debtors.
?13 And do not lead us into temptation, But deliver us from the evil one. For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.
Christian What Do You Believe?
I believe in God the Father Almighty,
Maker of heaven and earth:
And in Jesus Christ his only Son our Lord,
Who was conceived by the Holy Ghost,
Born of the Virgin Mary,
Suffered under Pontius Pilate,
Was crucified, dead, and buried:
He descended into hell;
The third day he rose again from the dead;
He ascended into heaven,
And sitteth on the right hand of God the Father Almighty;
From thence he shall come to judge the quick and the dead.
I believe in the Holy Ghost;
The Holy Catholic Church;
The Communion of Saints;
The Forgiveness of sins;
The Resurrection of the body,
And the Life everlasting.
Amen.
The Doxology
Praise GOD From Whom All Blessings Flow: Tune All Creatures of Our God and King
Faith Presbyterian Church, Tacoma, Washington, Organist Mr. Ron Bechtel
Second Reading
Mt 12:1 ? At that time Jesus went through the grainfields on the Sabbath, and His disciples became hungry and began to pick the heads of grain and eat.
?2 But when the Pharisees saw this, they said to Him, "Look, Your disciples do what is not lawful to do on a Sabbath."
?3 But He said to them, "Have you not read what David did when he became hungry, he and his companions,
?4 how he entered the house of God, and they ate the consecrated bread, which was not lawful for him to eat nor for those with him, but for the priests alone?
?5 "Or have you not read in the Law, that on the Sabbath the priests in the temple break the Sabbath and are innocent?
?6 "But I say to you that something greater than the temple is here.
?7 "But if you had known what this means, 'I DESIRE COMPASSION, AND NOT A SACRIFICE,' you would not have condemned the innocent.
?8 "For the Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath."
?9 Departing from there, He went into their synagogue.
?10 And a man was there whose hand was withered. And they questioned Jesus, asking, "Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath?" --so that they might accuse Him.
?11 And He said to them, "What man is there among you who has a sheep, and if it falls into a pit on the Sabbath, will he not take hold of it and lift it out?
?12 "How much more valuable then is a man than a sheep! So then, it is lawful to do good on the Sabbath."
?13 Then He *said to the man, "Stretch out your hand!" He stretched it out, and it was restored to normal, like the other.
?14 ? But the Pharisees went out and conspired against Him, as to how they might destroy Him.
?15 But Jesus, aware of this, withdrew from there. Many followed Him, and He healed them all,
?16 and warned them not to tell who He was.
?17 This was to fulfill what was spoken through Isaiah the prophet:
?18 "BEHOLD, MY SERVANT WHOM I HAVE CHOSEN; MY BELOVED IN WHOM MY SOUL is WELL-PLEASED; I WILL PUT MY SPIRIT UPON HIM, AND HE SHALL PROCLAIM JUSTICE TO THE GENTILES.
?19 "HE WILL NOT QUARREL, NOR CRY OUT; NOR WILL ANYONE HEAR HIS VOICE IN THE STREETS.
?20 "A BATTERED REED HE WILL NOT BREAK OFF, AND A SMOLDERING WICK HE WILL NOT PUT OUT, UNTIL HE LEADS JUSTICE TO VICTORY.
?21 "AND IN HIS NAME THE GENTILES WILL HOPE."
?22 ? Then a demon-possessed man who was blind and mute was brought to Jesus, and He healed him, so that the mute man spoke and saw.
?23 All the crowds were amazed, and were saying, "This man cannot be the Son of David, can he?"
?24 But when the Pharisees heard this, they said, "This man casts out demons only by Beelzebul the ruler of the demons."
?25 And knowing their thoughts Jesus said to them, "Any kingdom divided against itself is laid waste; and any city or house divided against itself will not stand.
?26 "If Satan casts out Satan, he is divided against himself; how then will his kingdom stand?
?27 "If I by Beelzebul cast out demons, by whom do your sons cast them out? For this reason they will be your judges.
?28 "But if I cast out demons by the Spirit of God, then the kingdom of God has come upon you.
?29 "Or how can anyone enter the strong man's house and carry off his property, unless he first binds the strong man? And then he will plunder his house.
?30 "He who is not with Me is against Me; and he who does not gather with Me scatters.
?31 "Therefore I say to you, any sin and blasphemy shall be forgiven people, but blasphemy against the Spirit shall not be forgiven.
?32 "Whoever speaks a word against the Son of Man, it shall be forgiven him; but whoever speaks against the Holy Spirit, it shall not be forgiven him, either in this age or in the age to come.
?33 "Either make the tree good and its fruit good, or make the tree bad and its fruit bad; for the tree is known by its fruit.
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?34 "You brood of vipers, how can you, being evil, speak what is good? For the mouth speaks out of that which fills the heart.
?35 "The good man brings out of his good treasure what is good; and the evil man brings out of his evil treasure what is evil.
?36 "But I tell you that every careless word that people speak, they shall give an accounting for it in the day of judgment.
?37 "For by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned."
?38 ? Then some of the scribes and Pharisees said to Him, "Teacher, we want to see a sign from You."
?39 But He answered and said to them, "An evil and adulterous generation craves for a sign; and yet no sign will be given to it but the sign of Jonah the prophet;
?40 for just as JONAH WAS THREE DAYS AND THREE NIGHTS IN THE BELLY OF THE SEA MONSTER, so will the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.
?41 "The men of Nineveh will stand up with this generation at the judgment, and will condemn it because they repented at the preaching of Jonah; and behold, something greater than Jonah is here.
?42 "The Queen of the South will rise up with this generation at the judgment and will condemn it, because she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon; and behold, something greater than Solomon is here.
?43 "Now when the unclean spirit goes out of a man, it passes through waterless places seeking rest, and does not find it.
?44 "Then it says, 'I will return to my house from which I came'; and when it comes, it finds it unoccupied, swept, and put in order.
?45 "Then it goes and takes along with it seven other spirits more wicked than itself, and they go in and live there; and the last state of that man becomes worse than the first. That is the way it will also be with this evil generation."
?46 ? While He was still speaking to the crowds, behold, His mother and brothers were standing outside, seeking to speak to Him.
?47 Someone said to Him, "Behold, Your mother and Your brothers are standing outside seeking to speak to You."
?48 But Jesus answered the one who was telling Him and said, "Who is My mother and who are My brothers?"
?49 And stretching out His hand toward His disciples, He said, "Behold My mother and My brothers!
?50 "For whoever does the will of My Father who is in heaven, he is My brother and sister and mother."
(NAS95)
The Holy Gospel Of Our LORD Jesus Christ
Response: All Glory To YOU LORD Christ
“Your Disciples Are Doing What Is Unlawful On The Sabbath Or Are They?”
?1: Isn’t The Law Clear, They Are Not To Work?
2: What Is The Purpose Of The Law?
3: Imagine Asking, And Remember Who Asks It, “Is It Lawful To Heal On The Sabbath?
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Mt 12:1 ? At that time Jesus went through the grainfields on the Sabbath, and His disciples became hungry and began to pick the heads of grain and eat.
?2 But when the Pharisees saw this, they said to Him, "Look, Your disciples do what is not lawful to do on a Sabbath."
?3 But He said to them, "Have you not read what David did when he became hungry, he and his companions,
?4 how he entered the house of God, and they ate the consecrated bread, which was not lawful for him to eat nor for those with him, but for the priests alone?
?5 "Or have you not read in the Law, that on the Sabbath the priests in the temple break the Sabbath and are innocent?
?6 "But I say to you that something greater than the temple is here.
?7 "But if you had known what this means, 'I DESIRE COMPASSION, AND NOT A SACRIFICE,' you would not have condemned the innocent.
?8 "For the Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath."
?9 Departing from there, He went into their synagogue.
?10 And a man was there whose hand was withered. And they questioned Jesus, asking, "Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath?" --so that they might accuse Him.
?11 And He said to them, "What man is there among you who has a sheep, and if it falls into a pit on the Sabbath, will he not take hold of it and lift it out?
?12 "How much more valuable then is a man than a sheep! So then, it is lawful to do good on the Sabbath."
?13 Then He *said to the man, "Stretch out your hand!" He stretched it out, and it was restored to normal, like the other.
?14 ? But the Pharisees went out and conspired against Him, as to how they might destroy Him.
“Your Disciples Are Doing What Is Unlawful On The Sabbath Or Are They?”
?1: Isn’t The Law Clear, They Are Not To Work?
As we dig into the passage, remember the Sabbath Context, and answer just what the Disciples did that was so wrong?
They took a couple of heads of grain and ate them as they walked along the roadway, so exactly what law did they break???
Were they actually working?
Of Course not, but in the world of the legalist, or self-righteous, they desperately look for anything they can accuse a congregant or outsider of doing.
If we are honest with ourselves, we have each (I know I have) been guilty of being legalist, and pointing out our Brother or Sister’s “great” transgressions.
Let’s see if we can name a few:
A; Meeting on a Saturday night and not Sunday (yes when Rome first went to Saturday Night services this was a charge), and how strange that the Seventh Day Adventist Charge us with the reverse.
B: Having a Fund-raising dinner
C: Their Too Liberal, or Conservative
D: Don’t Use The Right Bible Translation
E: Dunk, Sprinkle at Baptism
There are so many more, but for time let’s think a second about the “Woke” community and their intolerance of Conservative Christianity and yes, it’s very real and radical.
If you happen to have a religious degree, you may find yourself Blackballed, and filling our over 6,000 applications before someone will give you a chance, as they truly are the most hateful people we have encountered, that is outside of the Church Demographic “Experts”.
What is sad is Jesus tells us what should be our view in verse 7 "But if you had known what this means, 'I DESIRE COMPASSION, AND NOT A SACRIFICE,' you would not have condemned the innocent.
This sounds very simple but IS not well practiced, and is evident in our passage today, as you should also have noticed another thing Jumping off the Page, can you guess?
The Religious Leadership Scolded Jesus & HIS Hungry Disciples, and did NOT invite Jesus and HIS Disciples to have a meal with them on the Sabbath, the Tax Collectors and “Sinners” DID!
The Religious Leadership were looking as today to accuse!!
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2: What Is The Purpose Of The Law?
There are two crystal clear purposes of the Law,
1st the Law causes us to FAIL OVER, & OVER again, and since we “Ro 3:23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,” All have indeed failed to meet the necessary Standard to be Saved,?as We are to be “Le 11:4 'For I am the LORD your God. Consecrate yourselves therefore, and be holy, for I am holy. And you shall not make yourselves unclean with any of the swarming things that swarm on the earth.
When we take a sober look at this for real, the Law actually sets before us and impossible task, and NO the LORD is not teasing us, but kindly without bluntness showing us, that as the Satanic Lie of Genesis 3 was NEVER possible, “You will be like GOD, knowing Good & Evil” was Impossible for us, GOD is also again laying out exactly what being Holy as IAM Holy really looks like.
When a awaken by the HOLY SPIRIT our eyes now See, “We Can NEVER be like GOD, nor can We EVER Be HOLY as IAM Holy, so this must drive us to our knees, KNOWING we can NEVER be Clean of our own strength, but indeed also awakens us to WHO Came finding us, and is, and Has always been right there.
Jesus Rescues us, HE comes to us, NONE of us are capable to come to HIM!
The Religious Leadership can never get their Heads around how incapable we, and They are to rescue themselves, and the Third point in 90% (being conservative as I have never heard one) the “Teaching Elders” sermons, NO matter the Denominations, of Religious Practice, Tell us “How We must Change”.
So, in our Passage, who is actually wrong here, Jesus & HIS Disciples for grabbing a little grain on their walk, or the Religious Leaders who never had compassion, saw they were hungry nor did they offered to take them home to a Meal, a courtesy The “Tax Collectors And Sinners” extended?
Our next point is perhaps saddest, and YES alive in many “Orthodox” (?The definition of orthodox is?someone or something that strictly adheres to religious beliefs or the conventional, normal way of doing things or normal accepted standards.) circles as they view the “Correct or Normal understanding of the Scriptures as a Strict adherence book, without acknowledging We have in the Old Testament, and In the New Testament, been utter failures at self-compliance.
3: Imagine Asking, And Remember Who Asks It, “Is It Lawful To Heal On The Sabbath?
So, when we see the Religious Leadership asking such a Question of Jesus, I have actually witnessed a Pastor who for years badgered a Woman into giving up Her dream of being a Nurse, because She had to work on the sabbath, Oh yes indeed this happened.
She found a Monday through Friday job, no longer as a Nurse, as this hack never grasped this passage, did he?
Quick Reminder, Seminary Trained, DOES NOT EQUATE to Bible, Trained, but Simply a reader of Books, and writer of Papers!
“9 Departing from there, He went into their synagogue.
?10 And a man was there whose hand was withered. And they questioned Jesus, asking, "Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath?" --so that they might accuse Him.
?11 And He said to them, "What man is there among you who has a sheep, and if it falls into a pit on the Sabbath, will he not take hold of it and lift it out?
?12 "How much more valuable then is a man than a sheep! So then, it is lawful to do good on the Sabbath."
?13 Then He *said to the man, "Stretch out your hand!" He stretched it out, and it was restored to normal, like the other.
?14 ? But the Pharisees went out and conspired against Him, as to how they might destroy Him.”
So, was it right for the Woman, following what She thought the LORD had called Her to, to Be a Nurse, work in Hackettstown Hospital and have a Sabbath Shift??
You Answer it, Please, as I know My answer?
What does the passage clearly tell us, OF COURSE IT’S OKAY TO HEAL ON THE SABBATH, and For GOD’S Sake, Downright Evil NOT TO!!!!
We also collide with Providence here, and to my Presbyterian Brethren, shame on You!
As I sat in the seminary Building in Fort Lauderdale, I remember being asked, and Yes, I do believe this happens, as it does to me over and over, by the HOLY SPIRIT, “You Believe in Providence, correct?” I answer Yes, I Really do, again “You Really Believe in Providence, correct?”, Yes, I Really Do, “So You Really Believe in Providence, What about the People who have to Work on Sunday, was that in GOD’S Providence?”
That was the Day the HOLY SPIRIT opened my eyes to how Mean-spirited Sunday only worship services are, as it suggests bluntly that these people, just trying to feed their families, need to make room somehow for Sunday.
It also reminds us that Jesus sure did heal the man, and instead of being over joyed at the healing, the Religious Leadership wanted to Destroy Jesus!
I want to close this lesson with another true account, as Pastors actually view Sunday Worship as work for them, instead of the opportunity to corporately worship, and fellowship with their GOD Given Flock.
You will find so many completely cut off from their Congregation on their day off, while thinking Nothing of their Congregation coming on a Saturday to work on the Church building, you know the Congregants Day off.
They also cram so much into the Sunday Schedule, that the Congregation is exhausted, going to Sunday School at say 9:00, and leaving after Church around 12:00 Noon, only to return for say a Practice at 5:00PM and finishing up this Day of Rest at 7:00 to 7:15PM, but why not the Pastors don’t have to work on Monday, and actually get their Day of Rest.
Please, Don’t think what happened before, during Jesus Earthly Ministry, isn’t Sadly Still going on today, and if you think not, Just ask the Pastor for His schedule, and perhaps a few changes to it.
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In Christ Alone
Pastor Paul
Hymn
To GOD Be The Glory
Royal Albert Hall, London England
The LORD’S Feast
We Sit and Use Raised Bread and A Full Cup of Grape Juice (not wine do to the amount) as Christ has Completed the Work, and has called us NOT to Stand shoes on, staff in our hand ready to flee, but in HIS finished work, HE commands us to Have a Seat, take your shoes off, relax, no need to rush, let the bread dough rise.
1Co 11:23 ? For I received from the Lord that which I also delivered to you, that the Lord Jesus in the night in which He was betrayed took bread;
?24 and when He had given thanks, He broke it and said, "This is My body, which is for you; do this in remembrance of Me."
?25 In the same way He took the cup also after supper, saying, "This cup is the new covenant in My blood; do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of Me."
?26 For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord's death until He comes.
?27 Therefore whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner, shall be guilty of the body and the blood of the Lord.
?28 But a man must examine himself, and in so doing he is to eat of the bread and drink of the cup.
?29 For he who eats and drinks, eats and drinks judgment to himself if he does not judge the body rightly.
When I serve Communion I serve a Raised Roll on Purpose, and a Cup of Grape Juice (4 oz) can you guess why?
Yes, The Lord’s Table we are to have a Seat, take your shoes off, no need the rush, Jesus has indeed Finished the Work.
Hymn During The Meal
Just As I am
The Episcopal Cathedral Church Of St. Peter & St. Paul, Washington National Cathedral, Washington D.C.
The LORD’S Benediction
Jude 1:24 Now to Him who is able to keep you from stumbling, and to make you stand in the presence of His glory blameless with great joy,
?25 to the only God our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, dominion and authority, before all time and now and forever. Amen.
(NAS95)
Let Us Go Forth As Those Who Love And Proclaim Our Risen LORD And Savior Jesus Christ
Response By All: Thanks Be To GOD, Alleluia, Alleluia, Alleluia, AMEN
Recessional
LORD Dismiss Us With THY Blessing
?St. Bartholomew’s Episcopal Church, New York City, New York??