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Observations from today’s readings and today’s S-WOD, Monday, 15 January 2024:
Matthew 12:1 – At that time Jesus went through the grainfields on the Sabbath. His disciples were hungry, and they began to pluck heads of grain and to eat.
Don’t miss this point: On mission with Jesus, the disciples were so hungry, they were plucking and eating heads of grain. They had been so focused on the ministry they hadn’t eaten; now they were famished but had no food for themselves. That is full commitment and radical discipleship. They were all in. Are much will you give to share Christ with others?
Matthew 12:2 – But when the Pharisees saw it, they said to him, “Look, your disciples are doing what is not lawful to do on the Sabbath.”
While Jesus and the disciples were living without even basic essential needs for the Gospel, the rich, comfortable religious leaders could only criticize them in the name of religion. In complete discomfort while doing what is right, how do you respond to criticism and mistreatment from those who are clearly wrong and self-righteous? Do you get emotional and strike back at them, or do you graciously speak truth to them in pursuit of reconciliation. What truly motivates your behavior will come out eventually. When tests, trials, and temptations expose in you areas in your life which aren’t yet conformed to the image of Christ, confess it, trust in God’s grace, and draw closer to Jesus. Remember, you don’t become more Christlike by focusing on your failures. You become more Christlike by focusing on Him and walking with Him from the point of failure onward. If you could do it without Him and His grace, you wouldn’t need the Gospel, wouldn’t be excited about the Gospel (only sinners get excited about the Gospel), and you wouldn’t give anything and everything to share the Gospel.
Matthew 12:7 – “And if you had known what this means, ‘I desire mercy, and not sacrifice,’ you would not have condemned the guiltless.”
The followers of the law who talked about godliness from a self-centered perspective criticized Jesus’s disciples who had truly surrendered themselves to Jesus and walked with Him in truth. While others practiced religion, the disciples obeyed Jesus wholeheartedly.
Matthew 12:7 – And if you had known what this means, “I desire mercy, and not sacrifice,” you would not have condemned the guiltless.
God wants people who truly follow Jesus, not those who just perform acts of religion as it suits them. Again (as in Matthew 9:13), Jesus partially quotes Hosea 6:6, “For I desire mercy, not sacrifice, and the knowledge of God rather than burnt offerings (KJV).” God desires true “knowledge” of Him (John 17:3), and the more you know Him and appreciate His love, mercy, and grace, the more you will naturally show love, mercy, grace, kindness, and compassion to others.
Matthew 12:8 – For the Son of Man is lord of the Sabbath.
When you are truly with Jesus, you have Sabbath rest within your soul.
Matthew 12:10 — Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath?
People are always looking for excuses to not show the love and mercy to others that God requires, and often, they will use religion or misapplied, out of context, Bible verses to justify their hard-heartedness.
Matthew 12:11, 12 – 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.”
God’s laws can only be rightly applied from the context of love. When we approach God’s laws in a self-centered, self-serving, and self-righteous way, we will apply them inappropriately. Justice, mercy, and grace go together, and only the Spirit can reveal how to rightly apply both together.
Matthew 12:14 – But the Pharisees went out and conspired against him, how to destroy him.
Often Christians are more persecuted from within the ‘church’ than from outside the church.
Matthew 12:18 — I will put my Spirit upon him.
Matthew 12 contrasts the Spirit-filled life with the outwardly religious, self-righteous, works-based life (as Jesus opposes the Pharisees and their teachings). First, the Pharisees unlovingly challenge the legality of the disciples eating grain on the Sabbath. Why were the disciples eating grain? Because they were famished. Anyone who has ever plucked heads of grain by hand knows how difficult it is to get your fill that way – this signals real hunger. Why were the disciples so hungry? Because they had completely depleted themselves healing and preaching the kingdom. Jesus had just previously sent them out under his authority to “freely give” to the “lost sheep of Israel” with instructions not to take along any provisions. He had sent them out “like sheep among wolves.” (Matthew 10) Jesus told them, “He who receives you receives me.” Relying on the hospitality of the homes and towns visited, the disciples returned famished (unsupported). Meanwhile, the Pharisees, from their positions of comfort, wealth, and self-righteousness, studied the Scriptures like legal documents or text books looking for a way to condemn those who were actually doing the will of God. By reminding the Pharisees of when David ate the consecrated bread, he is also indirectly placing the Pharisees in the position of Saul who chased David and killed the priests of the Lord (1 Samuel 22). Remember, Saul was the king of Israel by legal authority, but he had lost his morale authority and anointing by God; whereas David lacked earthly authority as king but had the anointing of God. Likewise, the Pharisees where the recognized, positional leaders of the ‘church’ but lacked the authority of the KING. While the Pharisees attempted to use their religious knowledge to justify themselves before men, Jesus used the power of God to heal, revealing the truth of his faith and displaying the mercy and grace of the Father so that the Father would be glorified. (Matthew 12:9-14) The Pharisees not only lacked the authority of God, they lacked a genuine heart for God, the Spirit of God, and therefore, the power of God. In fact, Jesus said to the Pharisees, “You know neither the Scriptures nor the power of God.” (Matthew 22:29) Jesus describes the Pharisees as empty houses, “swept, and put in order,” more appealing to homeless unclean spirits than those who are not self-righteous legalists. Their good works were motivated by the flesh, not by the Spirit; so, they actually worked against the plan of God, and scattered what was to be gathered – “Whoever is not with me is against me, and whoever does not gather with me scatters.” Jesus ends the chapter with the proof of a Sprit-led, true disciple: “Whoever does the will of my Father in heaven.”
Matthew 12:22 – A demon-oppressed man who was blind and mute was brought to him.
Let’s not lose sight of the fact that this man was demon-oppressed when he was brought to Jesus – he was unclean. Subconsciously, we are often tempted to set conditions on who we are willing to share Jesus with, as if some are not good enough to hear about Jesus. We might not be as compelled to share Jesus with someone who has offended us or whose lifestyle offends us. In this account, the man had no ability, apart from the Holy Spirit, to accept Jesus, yet others brought him to Jesus in hope. Who will you bring to Jesus?
Matthew 12:28 – But if it is by the Spirit of God that I cast out demons, then the kingdom of God has come upon you.
Wherever God is, there is the Kingdom. If you have the Holy Spirit within you, you are part of the Kingdom and bring the Kingdom wherever you go. Much like a US ship on international waters is considered US sovereign territory, you are God’s sovereign territory, and attack on you is an attack on the Kingdom of God.
Matthew 12:30 – Whoever is not with me is against me, and whoever does not gather with me scatters.
Jesus forces everyone to decision – you are either all in or not in at all. You are either working with God or against Him. All of your ‘good deeds’ done in any name other than the name of Jesus are offering people an ‘answer’ other than Jesus. If you are not clearly pointing them to Jesus, you are not really helping them.
Matthew 12:34 – You brood of vipers! How can you speak good, when you are evil? For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks.
First, note that Jesus did not mince words here. Jesus spoke very harshly to the self-righteous. Second, note that you can know and preach the Bible without knowing Jesus and leading others to Him. You can’t really show people what you don’t really know, and you can’t give others what you don’t have. We must proclaim what we really know (experientially) to be true and give grace from a position of total reliance on grace as we testify to the grace of God. Eventually, you will communicate (through attitudes, words, and deeds) what is really in your heart.
Matthew 12:36 – People will give account for every careless word they speak.
Careless words, within the context of this chapter, involve speaking the truth with an untruthful heart, speaking the truth but not living the truth – You know God’s words, but in practice, you couldn’t ‘care-less’. You must walk your talk. When we speak the truth but don’t live it, our own words condemn us. (v37)
Matthew 12:39 — An evil and adulterous generation seeks for a sign.
Those that need a sign do not have the heart to accept the truth of God they have already seen, and no amount of evidence will be enough because the problem is not proof, it is the heart.
Matthew 12:41 – The men of Nineveh will rise up at the judgment with this generation and condemn it, for they repented at the preaching of Jonah, and behold, something greater than Jonah is here.
Jesus Himself stood face-to-face with them, yet they could not see Him. Jesus is the Truth that is self-evident. If a person cannot see Him, they don’t desire to see Him.
Matthew 12:43-45 – “When the unclean spirit has gone out of a person, it passes through waterless places seeking rest, but finds none. Then it says, ‘I will return to my house from which I came.’ And when it comes, it finds the house empty, swept, and put in order. Then it goes and brings with it seven other spirits more evil than itself, and they enter and dwell there, and the last state of that person is worse than the first. So also will it be with this evil generation.”
We are totally dependent on God’s continual grace and His Spirit within us for real life change. The more we try to clean up our own lives through our own power, the more prideful we become and the more susceptible we become to sin. The more we grow in Christ, the more we grow in humility. Behavior modification is not a substitute for heart change.
Matthew 12:46-50 – While he was still speaking to the people, behold, his mother and his brothers stood outside, asking to speak to him. But he replied to the man who told him, “Who is my mother, and who are my brothers?” And stretching out his hand toward his disciples, he said, “Here are my mother and my brothers! For whoever does the will of my Father in heaven is my brother and sister and mother.”
This statement from Jesus is a bit shocking. But no more shocking than some of His other similar statements regarding family –
– Matthew 10:37 – “Whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me, and whoever loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me.”
– Matthew 8:21, 22 — Another of the disciples said to him, “Lord, let me first go and bury my father.” And Jesus said to him, “Follow me, and leave the dead to bury their own dead.”
– Mark 10:29-30 — Jesus said, “Truly, I say to you, there is no one who has left house or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or lands, for my sake and for the gospel, who will not receive a hundredfold now in this time, houses and brothers and sisters and mothers and children and lands, with persecutions, and in the age to come eternal life.
Is Jesus showing disdain for His own family or family in general? Is he being uncaring or unloving? How could Jesus say such things?
First, Jesus is not communicating a lack of love for His own family. Throughout His life, Jesus honored His family, and on the cross, one of Jesus’ dying concerns was for the care of His mother – “When Jesus saw his mother and the disciple whom he loved standing nearby, he said to his mother, ‘Woman, behold, your son!’ Then he said to the disciple, ‘Behold, your mother!’ And from that hour the disciple took her to his own home.” (John 19:26-27)
Neither is Jesus de-valuing the importance of family in general. The Book of Mark records that Jesus sharply rebuked the Pharisees for violating the Fifth Commandment – “You have a fine way of rejecting the commandment of God in order to establish your tradition! For Moses said, ‘Honor your father and your mother’; and, ‘Whoever reviles father or mother must surely die.’ But you say, ‘If a man tells his father or his mother, Whatever you would have gained from me is Corban’ (that is, given to God)— then you no longer permit him to do anything for his father or mother, thus making void the word of God by your tradition that you have handed down. And many such things you do.” (Mark 7:9-13) And Jesus inspired the writings of the New Testament authors who made very clear the importance of honoring family —
– Ephesians 6:1 – Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right.
– 1 Timothy 1:8 — But if anyone does not provide for his relatives, and especially for members of his household, he has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever.
Jesus is not downplaying the importance of family and our responsibilities to family but rather is highlighting the greater significance of our spiritual family as brothers and sisters in Christ. Throughout this chapter (Matthew 12) and before, Jesus had been attacked by the Jewish religious leaders who trusted in their blood lineage and adherence to the Law for their righteousness and salvation. And when these proud Jewish religious leaders conspired against Him, Jesus reminded them of Isaiah’s prophecy concerning Him – “I will put my Spirit upon him, and he will proclaim justice to the Gentiles…. and in his name the Gentiles will hope.” (Matthew 12:18-21) Jesus is making a vital point that God’s family is a spiritual family rather than a blood family, and that righteousness and salvation is not transferred from person to person or earned through merit or works but come only through faith in Jesus Christ. To be born into God’s family, a person must be born again, born from above, or born of the Spirit through faith in Jesus Christ — “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.” (John 3:3)
When we were saved through Christ and born again, we were born into a spiritual family and become heirs to His Kingdom:
– John 1:12 — But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God,
– Galatians 3:29 — And if you are Christ’s, then you are Abraham’s offspring, heirs according to promise.
– 1 John 3:1 — See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God; and so we are. The reason why the world does not know us is that it did not know him.
– Romans 8:29 — For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers.
– Acts 17:29 — Being then God’s offspring, we ought not to think that the divine being is like gold or silver or stone, an image formed by the art and imagination of man.
– Ephesians 1:5 — He predestined us for adoption to himself as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will,
– Galatians 4:5 — to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons.
– 1 John 3:2 — Beloved, we are God’s children now, and what we will be has not yet appeared; but we know that when he appears we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he is.
– Hebrews 2:11 — For he who sanctifies and those who are sanctified all have one source. That is why he is not ashamed to call them brothers,
– Romans 8:15-17 — For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the Spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we cry, ‘Abba! Father!’ The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, provided we suffer with him in order that we may also be glorified with him.
So how close are you to your spiritual family (your brothers and sisters in Christ)? Do you honor your spiritual family? Do you pray for your spiritual family? Do you prioritize time with your spiritual family? Do you take care of your spiritual family, and do they take care of you? What do your relationships with members of your church (your God-given spiritual family) reveal about your relationship with God?
– 1 John 4:7-12 — Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God. Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love. In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live through him. In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins. Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. No one has ever seen God; if we love one another, God abides in us and his love is perfected in us.
– John 17:20-23 — I do not ask for these only, but also for those who will believe in me through their word, that they may all be one, just as you, Father, are in me, and I in you, that they also may be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me. The glory that you have given me I have given to them, that they may be one even as we are one, I in them and you in me, that they may become perfectly one, so that the world may know that you sent me and loved them even as you loved me.
Finally, how much you truly love your blood family is mostly revealed by your concern about whether or not they are part of your eternal spiritual family. If your family members have not accepted Jesus Christ as their LORD and Savior and have not entered into eternal life, what else matters for them of higher import? Who in your own family, which was placed in your life by God, needs to hear the Good News from you or needs to be further discipled by you?
– 1 Timothy 5:8 — But if anyone does not provide for his relatives [including spiritual provision], and especially for members of his household, he has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever.
“Cross” Fit S-WOD (Spiritual Workout of the Day) – 15 January 2024: Today, pay attention to what your countenance, your attitudes, your words, and you deeds reveal about what you really believe about Jesus. When you notice your life doesn’t honor and glorify God as God, repent, pray, and draw closer to Him, focusing on Him and not your flaws and mistakes.
– 2 Corinthians 3:18 — And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit.
Defenders Bible Reading Plan 