(Read Matthew 12:1-14)
This morning we continue our series “Grace that is Simply Amazing.” For the last couple of weeks we have been looking at the way Jesus dealt with people day-to-day and I hope you can see the difference between His grace-filled methods and the graceless religion of the Pharisees. It is sad to admit, but I would have to say that modern day Christianity might resemble the Pharisees more than Jesus. This is not an indictment against the entire universal church, because many churches are preaching the gospel of grace and reaching the hurting, but it has been my experience that some churches are filled with people who, with good intentions, have attempted to “live right before God,” while at the same time looking down at those who are not living up to their standard. Grace is easy to welcome when you are on the receiving end, but not always easy to dish out when you are on the distribution end.
Let’s get into the lesson for this morning. Matthew 12 opens with Jesus and His disciples traveling through grain fields on the Sabbath. His disciples were hungry so they picked heads of grain, cracked them open, and ate the grain. I guess once could accuse the disciples of stealing someone else’s grain, but a group of Pharisees watching what happened instead accused them of working on the Sabbath. To me they were not working, they were eating. The Father did not require people to starve on the Sabbath. But for whatever reason, the Pharisees accused the disciples of breaking the Judaic Law. Jesus, their leader, spoke up for the disciples and claimed to be “The Lord of the Sabbath” (v.8). The Pharisees, of course, did not like that statement. In their eyes Jesus was adding Blasphemy to their charge sheet and they decided to follow Jesus into town.
Since it was the Sabbath, once they arrived in town Jesus and his gang went to worship. There Jesus noticed a man with a withered hand. The Pharisees who had followed the group into the temple immediately knew what Jesus was thinking, so they asked, “Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath?” Jesus replied, “If any of you has a sheep and it falls into a pit on the Sabbath, will you not take hold of it and lift it out? How much more valuable is a man than a sheep! Therefore it is lawful to do good on the Sabbath.” While this theological debate was going on there was still a man with a withered hand. So Jesus diverted His focus from the Pharisees to the man and said, “Hold out your hand.” The man did and it became as healthy as the other one. This was a mighty miracle, but because it was performed on the Sabbath, sadly the Pharisees left the synagogue and began to plot how they might kill Jesus.
So what does this mean to you today? A few things:
1. As you grow in God you should develop in many areas, but you should never develop self-piety.
2. The closer you truly get to God the less you will think of yourself and the more gracious you will be towards others.
3. Never put ritual or tradition above people. Your love for God is proven in your love for people.
4. Be willing to expose your issue to Jesus. Think about the man with the withered hand for a moment. What if the man was so self-conscious about his withered hand that he kept it hidden? Or, when asked to hold out his hand, what if he held out the good one? If we fail to expose our issue to God, whatever the issue might be, we will fail to receive our breakthrough. We like to show our ‘good hand’ to people, but we must be willing to expose our ‘withered hand’ to God! When we do, His grace and power are manifested.
Closing Confession: Father, I know You are a God of compassion. You love me and care for me more than I can comprehend. It is because of Your love that I continually come to You and trust You to move in my life in ways I don’t deserve. I release my faith over my family and me today. I believe that You can and will empower us to succeed in every plan, meeting, conversation, and activity we engage in today; not because we are perfect – because we are far from that – but because of Your goodness, grace, and mercy towards us. I am also willing to expose myself completely to You. I open up every issue, every hurt, every pain, every sin, and I ask You to cleanse me afresh. Once again, not because I deserve it, but because You are so good! Thank You Father for Your grace and help me to never look down on others in self-righteousness. In Jesus’ name. Amen!
This is Today’s Word! Apply it and Prosper!
