Matthew 51
Jesus Vs Religion (Part 2)
Haters are going to hate!
Matthew 12:9–14 (NLT)
9 Then Jesus went over to their synagogue,
10 where he noticed a man with a deformed hand. The Pharisees asked Jesus, “Does the law permit a person to work by healing on the Sabbath?” (They were hoping he would say yes, so they could bring charges against him.)
11 And he answered, “If you had a sheep that fell into a well on the Sabbath, wouldn’t you work to pull it out? Of course you would.
12 And how much more valuable is a person than a sheep! Yes, the law permits a person to do good on the Sabbath.”
13 Then he said to the man, “Hold out your hand.”So the man held out his hand, and it was restored, just like the other one!
14 Then the Pharisees called a meeting to plot how to kill Jesus.
Two things are going on here:
One, common sense
Two, people are evil, always have been always will be
Again, we see Jesus having to fight the religious to get to His mission of healing, helping and loving people. And if Jesus is our example, true followers, who are on mission will have to do the same!
The setup!
9 Then Jesus went over to their synagogue,
10 where he noticed a man with a deformed hand. The Pharisees asked Jesus, “Does the law permit a person to work by healing on the Sabbath?” (They were hoping he would say yes, so they could bring charges against him.)
Different is always questioned
· When you are different
· When you go against the normal, religious or not, resistance is sure to follow
· And today, as believers, we are different, true believers are different
· We don’t follow the norms of religious traditions
o And anytime you question or change the norm folks get a little testy
The cost of being right at the expense of them being wrong
· Now the setup, the baiting, hoping for a wrong answer, that’s just hateful!
· I have had that done to me, and I am sure I have done it to others
· And Jesus not only uses Himself as an example of:
o who we should be
o How we should act
o And how we should treat others
· He uses the Pharisees to give us examples of how we shouldn’t be as well!
o Being right is not the end all be all
o Knowledge without compassion = disaster
o We are to be lights to draw people in
o Not darkness to scare them away
Today:
Today in the United States the Religious Right has hijacked the Christian faith and completely disregarded the teachings of the founder of Christianity, Jesus Christ, by supporting racist and discriminatory governmental policies and advocating laws legalizing discrimination against anyone whom they deem as noncompliant with their religious beliefs. They are destroying the tenets of the free practice of religion by attacking those same principles that guaranteed their own freedom of religion. They espouse freedom of religion only if it is their religion.
· Instead of loving their neighbor they fan the flames of hatred toward their neighbors of different skin colors, national origins, and sexual orientation.
· Instead of helping the poor they fight for programs that punish people for being poor and sick.
· They oppose immigrants, even though they are all descendants of immigrants.
· They are staunch advocates of the unborn child but refuse to help feed and clothe those children once they are born.
(Blog Post, Steven Sovie, not a believer)
The answer (the pleas to reason)
11 And he answered, “If you had a sheep that fell into a well on the Sabbath, wouldn’t you work to pull it out? Of course you would.
12 And how much more valuable is a person than a sheep! Yes, the law permits a person to do good on the Sabbath.”
· Jesus tries to use some common sense to help the process along
· Jesus does not hate the Pharisees, He loves them,
o He is frustrated with them
o He is at His wits end with them
o But He loves them, just as much as He loves you and me!
· And He is trying to get them to see the errors of their ways!
· The falsity of their thinking
· To break through to them and have them see what’s really important!
And what is really important?
· He uses a sheep to start, sheep were important then
· We could say, dog, horse, cattle today
· Things that we value
· Breathing living things
· That we love and need in our lives
· And the Pharisees made exceptions for things such as these
And that takes us to rules upon rules added to rules!
· When we start to add to God's rules, we always screw it up
· And before we know it the intent of God's word gets lost
· We start to make it about right and wrong
· Instead of a relationship between a Father and His kids
And then Jesus takes it a step farther, people!
· how much more valuable is a person than a sheep
· HELLO!
· Again, we have lost the intent of the law altogether
Jesus' View of the Sabbath
· You see over the centuries the rabbis (religious Leaders) have added a lot of details to the Sabbath command and have missed the spirit of it as a wonderful gift for man's good.
· So, Jesus slams head-on into these traditions with a very different view than the one shared by the Pharisees.
You Must Have a Loving Heart (John Piper)
What was wrong with the Pharisees? Why couldn't they see the Old Testament the way Jesus did? According to Jesus, the Pharisees could only condemn the innocent because they never had understood Hosea 6:6. He quotes it in verse 7: God says, "I desire mercy and not sacrifice." In other words, the whole law exists for the sake of mercy.
All the law is summed up in this one word: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. The Pharisees couldn't see the true meaning of the Sabbath because they didn't have hearts of love.
Mark 2:27"The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath,". So if your heart isn't a heart for man—if it is not a heart of love—you cannot see the meaning of the Sabbath. For the Sabbath is a gift of love to meet man's need, not an oppressive burden to make him miserable or proud.
Then Jesus demonstrated love!
13 Then he said to the man, “Hold out your hand.”So the man held out his hand, and it was restored, just like the other one!
· When in doubt that’s where we go
o Love
o Mercy
o Compassion
o No questions, we go there
· That’s our default
· That’s our reset
· We show love, we are the salt, we are the light
· We speak truth, but always, in love
And instead of listening
14Then the Pharisees called a meeting to plot how to kill Jesus.
· We still today perceive love, mercy, and compassion as weak
· When sometimes that is the hardest thing to do
· To turn the other cheek
· To walk away
· To show compassion to those that despise you
· They saw Jesus as weak
· They saw Jesus as a thorn, that was questioning their authority, their power
· This is exactly what happens when men take God's role
· They lose sight of the loving God that saved them
· They forget who they were and still are
· That is why we are to be a body, that is constantly self-evaluating
o Our motives
o Our intent
o And our hearts
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