Matthew 12:1-8 Mark 2:23-28 Luke 6:1-5
Criticism is always a difficult challenge for us to handle
correctly. It seems some people are
constantly on the lookout for opportunities to criticize others. Usually they do this in order to detract
attention from themselves. However, it
seems that there are some people who just seem to be “out to get” a certain
person and look for any opportunity they can find to tear that person or group
of persons down. This seems to be the
case with the Pharisees. They made it
perfectly clear that they did not like Jesus and tried to do all they could to
discredit Him. It almost seems like they
were a group of “busy bodies” that had nothing better to do with their time
than follow Jesus around and try to find excuses to criticize Him. One of their areas of primary concern was
with the observance of the Sabbath. The
Law prohibited work on the Sabbath as it was to be a day of rest, reflection
and reverence towards the Lord. The
Pharisees had established all kinds of traditions and standards that defined
what was considered as illegal work.
Many of these bordered on the ridiculous; things like spitting on dirt
were considered digging. That which was
intended to be a blessing of rest became a burden of rules and
regulations. Today’s text gives us a
glimpse into how God views this issue.
THE CONFRONTATION: We don’t know how much time lapses
between the healing of the lame man on the Sabbath and the incident recorded in
this passage. Perhaps it was later in
the same day or a week or more passed between the two. John was the only writer to record the
healing of the lame man while all the other Gospel writers cover this
episode. The disciples are walking along
a field of ripe grain on the Sabbath.
They are hungry so they pick a little of the grain as they are walking
by rub the chaff off in their hands and pop the grain in their mouths. They were not harvesting grain and putting it
up for storage; they were just having a snack.
The Pharisees saw it and came running to confront Jesus for not stopping
His disciples from doing this “despicable deed.” It almost seems like they were just watching
and waiting for any kind of slip up.
People are always watching us and making judgments about what they
see. It is important that we find a
balance in the way that we think about the observing eyes that surround
us. On one hand, we want to be good
examples and maintain a good testimony before men. We don’t want to be a stumbling block or
encourage others to sin because of our sinfulness. On the other hand, we don’t want to become
enslaved to the fear of man. Our
priority must always be to please the Lord no matter what men might think or
say. There are times when we simply must
be willing to face criticism and move forward.
THE COMPARISON: Jesus responds to this confrontation by
comparing the actions of His disciples to the actions of David and His men when
they were fleeing from Saul. When they
came to the house of God and asked the priest for food and then learned that
all that was available was the holy bread that was consecrated to the Lord. Only the priests were allowed to eat this
bread. However, on this occasion David
and his men were desperate and they ate the bread with no ramifications. The priests themselves where required to
perform duties in the temple that were considered breaking the Sabbath. Jesus compares the actions of His disciples
to these actions. In essence, Jesus was
saying to the Pharisees that they were getting all bent out of shape for no
good reason. The problem the Pharisees
had with Jesus was that He claimed to have authority superior to their own. This was a treat to them so they wanted to
tear Him down and attack His reputation in order to demonstrate their own
superiority. Had they correctly
identified Jesus as Messiah they would have been far more concerned with
obeying His teachings than they were with criticizing His disciples. God will do or allow things that we might not
understand or desire. When this happens,
we must protect our hearts from complaining and have perfect confidence in the
wisdom and authority of God to always do what is best and right.
THE CONFIRMATION: Jesus confirms that His authority over the
Sabbath was superior to the priest’s authority in the temple or David’s
authority in the house of God. The
Pharisees gave greater importance to their traditions than they gave to
presence of Messiah. The Sabbath was not
observed as a means of gaining favor with God, it was a reminder of our
dependence on God and our need to rest and relate with Him. The few grains of wheat the disciples ate,
the bread David consumed and the work the priests did in the temple were not
actions done out of an independent spirit that sought to rebel against
fellowship with God. Jesus confirms that
they were done in accordance with God’s will and in recognition of God’s
presence and provision. To the
Pharisees, the Sabbath had become Lord.
Jesus wants to make sure they understand that He alone is Lord. It is easy for us to criticize the Pharisees
because of their legalism and blatant disregard for the proof of Jesus being
Messiah. While their actions and
attitudes are certainly worthy of our disapproval, we would do well to search
our own hearts for similar sins. We all
tend to be more drawn to rules than we are to relationships. Our duties and discipline can easily take the place
of our dependence on God. He must always
be more important than our traditions, rituals or preferences.
APPLICATION: Strive to find the delicate balance between
being a good example and being controlled by the fear of men. Recognize God’s control over the
circumstances we face and face them with confidence instead of complaint. Be sure that our relationship with God is the
priority of our lives. Christ must have
the preeminence in our hearts over all of the other affections in our hearts.
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