Greater Than!

(Back to Study Home Page)   Sermon December 14, 2003
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December 14, 2003, Matthew 12.1-8

Open It

  1. What do you like to do on your day off?

  2. What are some ways laws or rules are twisted to hurt the very people they were designed to help?

  3. What makes certain people in authority behave insensitively or rudely to the very people they ought to be serving?

Explore It

  1. Where were Jesus and his disciples when they were eating? (12:1)

  2. What difference did the day of the week make? (12:1)

  3. What activity were the disciples involved in? (12:1)

  4. How did the Pharisees react when they saw the disciples eating? (12:2)

  5. What biblical precedent did Jesus cite to justify the actions of his followers? (12:3-4)

  6. What, according to Jesus, did the law say about priests and the temple and the Sabbath? (12:5)

  7. Over what honored religious symbol did Jesus claim superiority? (12:6)

  8. What did Jesus accuse the Pharisees of failing to understand? (12:7)

  9. What did Jesus claim about himself? (12:8)

Get It

  1. What kinds of lawful behavior are Christians often quick to condemn in others?

  2. How do you need to be more compassionate and merciful in your relationships with others?

  3. How do you use God to justify wrong attitudes such as snobbery, jealousy, prejudice, or selfishness?

  4. Why are we unwilling to bend rules for others but quick to rationalize when the rules adversely affect us?

  5. What are some man-made symbols or traditions (like the Pharisee's views on the Law, the temple, and the Sabbath) that we value more than people?

Apply It

  1. In what specific ways can you show mercy and compassion to a hurting person today?

  2. Without being showy, how can you demonstrate today to a non-Christian friend the freedom that you have in Christ?

NOTES

Matthew 12:1-2 The Pharisees had established 39 categories of actions forbidden on the Sabbath, based on interpretations of God's law and on Jewish custom. Harvesting was one of those forbidden actions. By picking wheat and rubbing it in their hands, the disciples were technically harvesting, according to the religious leaders. Jesus and the disciples were picking grain because they were hungry, not because they wanted to harvest the grain for a profit. They were not working on the Sabbath. The Pharisees, however, could not (and did not want to) see beyond their law's technicalities. They had no room for compassion, and they were determined to accuse Jesus of wrongdoing.

Matthew 12:4 This story is recorded in 1 Samuel 21:1-6. The bread of the Presence was replaced every week, and the old loaves were eaten by the priests. The loaves given to David were the old loaves that had just been replaced with fresh ones. Although the priests were the only ones allowed to eat this bread, David's need for food was more important than the priestly regulations. Jesus was saying, "If you condemn me, you must also condemn David," something the religious leaders could never do without causing a great uproar among the people. Jesus was not condoning disobedience to God's laws. Instead he was emphasizing discernment and compassion in enforcing the laws.

Matthew 12:5 The Ten Commandments prohibit work on the Sabbath (Exodus 20:8-11). That was the letter of the law. But because the purpose of the Sabbath is to rest and to worship God, the priests were allowed to work by performing sacrifices and conducting worship services. This "Sabbath work" was serving and worshiping God. Jesus always emphasized the intent of the law, the meaning behind the letter. The Pharisees had lost the spirit of the law and were rigidly demanding that the letter (and their interpretation of it) be obeyed.

Matthew 12:6 The Pharisees were so concerned about religious rituals that they missed the whole purpose of the temple-to bring people to God. And because Jesus Christ is even greater than the temple, how much better can he bring people to God. God is far more important than the created instruments of worship. If we become more concerned with the means of worship than with the One we worship, we will miss God even as we think we are worshiping him.

Matthew 12:8 When Jesus said he was Lord of the Sabbath, he claimed to be greater than the law and above the law. To the Pharisees, this was heresy. They did not realize that Jesus, the divine Son of God, had created the Sabbath. The Creator is always greater than the creation; thus Jesus had the authority to overrule their traditions and regulations.

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