Matthew 12

Today we're going to do something a little different. Instead of a single writer, we decided to have each of the staff members give a brief thought from Matthew 12.

Bobby Pruitt

"The Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath."

Jesus drops this theological bomb on a group of Pharisees. Mark's Gospel account includes the instructive statement, "The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath." Taken together in the context of the passage, what do these two statements mean? Jesus is, once again, rebuking religious people for completely missing the point of the law. Jesus's Papa gave this command FOR US - the Sabbath is a gift to be enjoyed, not a burden to be endured. In addition, as Lord of the Sabbath, Jesus gets to be the one who determines what obedience looks like and what really will bring us the kind of rest we genuinely need. Personally, I have found that I am a terrible judge of my own needs and the solutions to those needs. I need the light of God's Word, the voice of the Holy Spirit and the encouragement of the Bride of Christ to guide me to the green pastures and still waters.

Debbie LoSurdo

Growing up in a church that was based on following rules and rituals, I find Matthew 12 very freeing. I remember sitting on a Sunday morning in church with a Kleenex pinned to my head because I had forgotten to wear a hat. The rule was that as a female, I had to have my head covered whenever I was in church. It wasn’t what was in my heart that counted, it was what my outside looked like that mattered. Having a tissue stuck to my head felt like having a scarlet letter stuck to my chest. I couldn’t pay attention because I felt sure everyone was staring at me and condemning me for my lack of reverence. I now know that who I needed to please was Jesus and not the rules of the church. How often we can get wrapped up trying to make ourselves look religious versus being faithful. The Pharisee’s were judging the outward actions of people and not the hearts of people. I have to remember to evaluate all rules through the eyes of Jesus. Are they there to help me draw closer to Him, or are they an obstacle to being in His presence? My prayer is that I will no longer allow a tissue on my head to distract me from worshipping the One who matters just to please the people around me!

Spencer Roth

Matthew 12:33-37 sound like something we are familiar with. How many times have you thought to yourself, "Gosh, if they could only hear what they sounded like"? Or been shocked to find out what YOU sounded like? This section of scripture should be a reminder that there is not much room, if any, for throw away phrases. We will eventually reveal the state of our heart if we keep on talking. If we spout off gossip, and hateful words, and then try to share the good news of what God has done for us, it just sounds like we are lying. We must be thoughtful and not careless with our words or else we might just make the gospel seem ineffective, and irrelevant.

Sean Chandler

Matthew 12
9 Going on from that place, he went into their synagogue, 10 and a man with a shriveled hand was there. Looking for a reason to bring charges against Jesus, they asked him, “Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath?”

11 He said to them, “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? 12 How much more valuable is a person than a sheep! Therefore it is lawful to do good on the Sabbath.”

13 Then he said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” So he stretched it out and it was completely restored, just as sound as the other. 14 But the Pharisees went out and plotted how they might kill Jesus

The Pharisees continually astonish me. Jesus is looking to help a deformed man, and they are looking for reasons to condemn Him. Worse! Once He’s healed the man, they’re so offended that he violated the fourth commandment (Remember the Sabbath), that they start plotting to violate the sixth commandment (Do not murder). The level of disconnect in these thoughts is astonishing to me, and they don’t see it at all. They’re so fixated on their narrow religion that they can justify murder for violating one of their rules, but offer no grace for someone violating a rule to help someone.

But isn’t this the way we all function at times? Well hopefully not to this extreme level, but we all have times that we make a really big deal out of someone else’s small sin while having a bigger sin in our own life.

Matthew 7

3 “Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother’s eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye? 4 How can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when all the time there is a plank in your own eye? 5 You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye.

Jeanene Hill

WHERE DID THAT COME FROM?

"For the mouth speaks what the heart is full of. A good man brings good things out of the good stored up in him, and an evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in him."

I wish this wasn't the portion of our chapter that stood out to me today but unfortunately it is. I wish I could say that only good things flow from my mouth but that would be a complete lie. I want it to be true, but it's just not. Often times I even surprise myself when, without a second thought, something impatient and unkind comes quickly flying out of my mouth. I even think to myself "Where did that come from?" Sadly, it comes from my heart; my broken, sinful nature. Oh how precious is the grace of God that covers all my sin! I am so glad that God is not content to leave me as I am but is ever working in be to become more like Him.

Prayer:

Father I thank you for loving me and saving me. I thank you for giving me the power of the Holy Spirit to change me from the inside out. Help me to be careful with my words; slow to speak, slow to anger. Help me daily to empty myself and fill me with You.

"Holy Fire burn away my desire, for anything that is not of You and is of me, I want more of You and less of me, Empty me! Empty me! And fill …won't You fill me with You? With You!"