Mercy for the Bruised and Broken

Please turn with me in your Bibles to Matthew chapter 12.

Matthew 12 · chapter mention

If you don't have a Bible, please raise your hand and we'd love to give you a copy for you to have.

Use while you're here and you can take it home with you.

Matthew chapter 12, verses 1 to 21.

Matthew 12:1–21

Let me pray for the reading and preaching of God's word.

Heavenly Father,

you are the author, the ultimate author of this word.

And so Lord, speak to us in and through your word and expound to us the true meaning of this passage.

Teach us what it means to find soul rest in Christ.

Teach us what it means to relate to Jesus our Lord.

Lord, who is gentle and lowly, who does not break a bruised reed or quench a smoldering wick.

Help us to see Jesus and worship Jesus and relate to him and love Jesus the way he actually is.

The way your word reveals him to us.

Rather than according to our own prejudices and fancies.

Rather than according to how the world portrays him.

So draw us nearer to Christ this morning through your word.

It's in his precious name we pray.

Amen.

If you are able, please stand.

Join me as I read from Matthew 12, 1 to 21.

At that time, Jesus went through the grain fields on the Sabbath.

His disciples were hungry and they began to pluck heads of grain and to eat.

But when the Pharisees saw it, they said to him,

Look, your disciples are doing what is not lawful to do on the Sabbath.

He said to them,

Have you not read what David did when he was hungry and those who were with him?

How he entered the house of God and ate the bread of the presence,

which it was not lawful for him to eat, nor for those who were with him, but only for the priests?

Or have you not read in the law how on the Sabbath the priests in the temple profane the Sabbath and are guiltless?

I tell you, something greater than the temple is here.

And if you had known what this means, I desire mercy and not sacrifice,

you would not have condemned the guiltless.

For the Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath.

He went on from there and entered their synagogue.

And a man was there with a withered hand.

And they asked him,

Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath?

So that they might accuse him.

He said to them,

Which one of you who has a sheep,

if it falls into a pit on the Sabbath,

will not take hold of it and lift it out?

Of how much more value is a man than a sheep?

So it is lawful to do good on the Sabbath.

Then he said to the man,

Stretch out your hand.

And the man stretched it out,

and he was restored, healthy like the other.

But the Pharisees went out and conspired against him how to destroy him.

Jesus, aware of this, withdrew from there,

and many followed him,

and he healed them all,

and ordered them not to make him known.

This was to fulfill what was spoken by the prophet Isaiah.

Behold,

Behold,

my servant whom I have chosen,

my beloved with whom my soul is well pleased.

I will put my spirit upon him,

and he will proclaim justice to the Gentiles.

He will not quarrel or cry aloud,

nor will anyone hear his voice in the streets.

A bruised reed he will not break,

and a smoldering wick he will not quench,

until he brings justice to victory.

And in his name,

the Gentiles will hope.

This is God's holy and authoritative word.

Please be seated.

The English idiom,

Missing the forest for the trees,

speaks of a human tendency

to focus on small individual details

in such a way

that we fail to see the larger,

more important picture.

By fixating on an individual tree,

we lose sight of the forest.

We lose perspective

and fail to grasp the bigger picture.

For example,

a couple can get so lost

in the hundreds of small details

in their wedding planning

that they fail to take a step back

and process adequately

the gravity of the wedding vows

and the significance

of the marriage covenant

that they are entering into.

Similarly,

sometimes Christians,

like the Pharisees in this passage,

can be too focused

on the minutiae

of religious rules

and rituals

that they miss

the weightier matters

of Christian obedience.

For example,

there are pastors and priests

who are more concerned

about the precise wording

of a liturgy

than about the purity

of the gospel

that they preach.

And there are,

in certain churches,

church members

who are more concerned

about making sure

that their committee

in the church

is sticking to the letter

by all the church bylaws

than about actual obedience

to the commands

of scripture themselves.

I don't say this to discount

the importance of liturgies

or bylaws.

They're not unimportant.

However,

we also must maintain

proper proportion

in our belief,

in our obedience.

In art,

it's not just about

getting the shapes right

or the colors right,

but it's also important

to get the proportions right

for your art to look good.

In figure drawing,

in order to make

a drawing of a human

look realistic,

you need to follow

the eight heads tall rule,

or that's what I hear,

right?

You have to make them

as tall as about eight heads,

otherwise they will not

look proportional.

Likewise,

in photography,

people often speak

of the rule of thirds.

You divide the frame

into thirds,

horizontally and vertically,

and then you're trying

to fit the subject

into one of those lines

or where they intersect

in order to create

a more balanced composition

or a composition

that looks more

artistically interesting.

In interior design,

people speak of

the 60-30-10 rule,

decorating your house

or your room

with 60% of the room

in the primary color

and the 30%

in a secondary color

and 10%

in the accent color

in order to create

a balanced

and cohesive

color scheme.

It's not just about

having the right

materials

or the right colors,

but also about

having them

in the right proportions.

The same is true

for Christian life

and doctrine.

It's not enough

merely to believe

all the right things.

We have to believe

them in the right proportions.

For I deliver to you

as of first importance

what I also received,

that Christ died

for our sins

in accordance

with the scriptures,

that he was buried

and he was raised

on the third day

in accordance

with the scriptures.

This,

the gospel of Jesus Christ,

1 Corinthians 15,

3-4 tells us,

is of first importance.

For this reason,

if we get more exercise

about what people believe

concerning the end times

and the millennial kingdom

of Revelation 20,

though they are not

unimportant,

then about the gospel,

whether they believe

the gospel of Jesus Christ

or not,

then something is amiss

in our proportion.

Jesus will later denounce

the scribes

and the Pharisees

as hypocrites

in Matthew 23, 23

and he'll say to them,

you tithe mint

and dill and cumin

and have neglected

the weightier matters

of the law,

justice,

mercy,

and faithfulness.

These you ought

to have done

without neglecting

the others.

The Pharisees

were right to tithe

their herbs.

Jesus says

that they should not

neglect to tithe them.

However,

their proportions

were off.

They focused

on tithing

their herbs faithfully

while neglecting

the weightier matters

of the law,

justice,

and mercy,

and faithfulness.

The same thing

is happening here

in Matthew 12.

These Pharisees

were meticulous,

punctilious

about keeping the Sabbath,

but they were neglecting

the weightier matters

of the law,

namely mercy.

This passage

presents Jesus

as the counterexample

to the Pharisees

and shows us

that Jesus

is the merciful Lord

who attends

to the bruised

and the broken.

We're going to first

see how Jesus

is the Lord

of the Sabbath

in verses 1-14

and how he is

the hope of the Gentiles

in verses 15-21.

Here we see

two Sabbath controversies

between Jesus

and the Pharisees

in verses 1-14.

In the first one,

Jesus' disciples

are hungry.

And so as they go

through the grain fields

on the Sabbath,

they pluck some heads

of grain

and they start

to eat them.

But it says

in verse 2,

when the Pharisees

saw it,

they said to Jesus,

look,

your disciples

are doing

what is not lawful

on the Sabbath.

The Jews

observed a day

of rest,

of Sabbath rest

from Friday sundown

to Saturday sundown,

and according

to the commands

of Scripture,

it's commanded

in the Old Testament.

It might seem

to us like

a peripheral command,

something that's

not very important.

However,

for the Jews,

for the observant Jews,

Sabbath was

a part of,

really an essential

part of Jewish identity,

their national identity,

and Jewish piety,

their worship.

It was one

of the ten,

the great ten commandments

found in Exodus 20

and Deuteronomy 5,

which commands

God's people

not to do any work

on the Sabbath.

In Exodus 31,

13-16,

God specifically says,

Above all,

you shall keep

my Sabbath,

for this is a sign

between me and you

throughout your generations,

that you may know

that I,

the Lord,

sanctify you.

You shall keep

the Sabbath

because it is

holy for you.

Everyone who profanes

it shall be put

to death.

Whoever does

any work on it,

that soul shall be

cut off from

among his people.

Skipping a little ahead,

therefore,

the people of Israel

shall keep the Sabbath,

observing the Sabbath

throughout their generations

as a covenant

forever.

High-handed violation

of the Sabbath

was punishable

by death

in the Old Testament,

and the person

so executed

would not be counted

as one of God's

chosen people.

They were cut off

from the promised line.

Why is God

so insistent

on people

keeping his Sabbath?

Because,

as he says

in that passage,

it is a sign

between me

and you,

God says.

It was by the Sabbath

that the Lord

sanctified Israel,

his people.

Sanctified meaning

set them apart.

This was the way

God distinguished

the nation of Israel

from all the other

nations of the earth.

The Sabbath

was the sign

of the Mosaic covenant

that God made

with his people.

It marked them

as his own

special possession.

This is why

Sabbath was a point

of national pride,

and to profane

the Sabbath

in effect

was to disown

the Lord God

himself,

saying,

I don't want

anything to do

with him.

I don't want

the mark

of being set apart

for him.

So the Pharisees

were not wrong

to take the

Sabbath commandment

very seriously,

and Jesus

nowhere in this

passage suggests

that they should

stop keeping

the Sabbath

because it's

not all that

important.

It's not what

Jesus says.

However,

the Pharisees

were wrong

in a couple

of different ways.

One,

they were wrong

in their interpretation

of the Sabbath

law,

and two,

they were wrong

in their biblical

proportion,

the biblical proportion

that they gave

to Sabbath keeping.

It says in Exodus

Exodus 20:8–10

20,

verses 8 to 10,

remember the Sabbath

day to keep it holy.

Six days you shall

labor and do all

your work,

but the seventh

day is a Sabbath

to the Lord your God.

On it you shall

not do any work.

Neither you nor

your son or daughter

or your male servants

or your female servants

or even your animals.

The original

biblical command

regarding the Sabbath

was pretty straightforward

and simple.

Don't do

what you normally

do six days

of the week.

Don't do

your regular

work

that you're

employed to do.

Exodus 34,

21 specifies

a little bit further.

It says,

six days you shall

work,

but on the seventh

day you shall rest.

In plowing time

and in harvest

you shall rest.

Even in

the extremely

time-sensitive

periods for farmers

of plowing

and harvesting,

the Israelites

were commanded

to observe the Sabbath.

Now,

this is where

the controversy

lay with the Pharisees

in this passage.

By the first century

there had been

over a millennia

of complicated

Jewish debate

over the nuances

of the Sabbath command

trying to define

precisely

what exactly

constitutes work.

And by this point

Pharisees had agreed

upon a list

of 39 categories

of activities

that they believed

should be classified

as work

and therefore

forbidden on the Sabbath.

And they were

so complicated

sometimes

and difficult

that even

the Jewish

rabbi notes

in the Mishnah,

which is a collection

of Jewish

oral traditions,

he says this,

the rules about

the Sabbath

are as mountains

hanging by a hair.

For the teachings

of Scripture

thereon is scanty

and the rules

many.

So they're

hanging a mountain

on a hair

of Scripture.

Mountains of regulations.

Because harvesting

was explicitly forbidden

in Exodus 34-21,

the Jewish rabbis

considered reaping

and threshing

as two of the

39 activities

that were forbidden.

Now we can see

why the Pharisees

were upset

at the disciples.

The disciples

were not doing

anything wrong

in terms of

going through

the grain fields

and plucking heads

of grain

and eating them

even though

it was not

their field

because the

Old Testament

specifically

allowed for that.

In Deuteronomy

23, 24-25,

it specifically

said the poor

may go through

other people's

grain fields

and pluck

heads of grain

and eat them.

If they took

a sickle

and started

harvesting

other people's

field,

it would be

considered

thievery.

But if they

just plucked it

with their hands

and ate

because they

were hungry,

it would be

considered

charity.

So the disciples

had the right

to do

what they

were doing.

The problem,

however,

for the Pharisees

is that it

was happening

on the Sabbath.

They pluck

a head of grain.

Hey,

that's harvesting.

You're reaping.

And then they

start rubbing

it in their hands

to get the chaff

off so they

could eat the

grain.

They say,

no,

you are reaping.

No,

you are threshing.

Reaping and

threshing,

they're both

forbidden activities.

Two of those

39 categories.

And so you

are breaking

the Sabbath

because you

are harvesting.

But they're

being overly

fussy about

the Sabbath

requirement,

as we can

see,

because the

commands were

quite simple

in its original

context,

and the

disciples weren't

really working

because they're

not farmers.

They're not

over-eager

farmers who

are trying to

sneak in a

little bit of

overtime work

during the

Sabbath to get

some extra

cash.

They're

itinerant

preachers.

They don't

get to

feast every

day.

They're

hungry,

and they're

taking some

heads of

grain and

eating them.

This is why

later in

verse 7,

Jesus tells

the Pharisees

that they

have condemned

the guiltless.

So we know

that Jesus

disagrees with

the Pharisees'

interpretation of

the Sabbath

law.

But note that

that's not the

point that

Jesus presses.

He doesn't

argue with them

by saying,

well, what

my disciples

are doing

don't actually

count as

work because

they're not

farmers, and

plucking some

heads of grain

and eating

them does not

constitute

harvesting.

Jesus doesn't

say that,

even though

that's true.

If Jesus

argued that,

then he

would have

gotten enmeshed

in the

rabbinical

debates about

what constitutes

work and

what the

category should

be, and

he would

have played

right into

the Pharisees'

obsession with

the letter

of the law.

So instead,

Jesus turns to

address the

legalistic heart

of the Pharisees

by pressing a

much more

fundamental question

about the

spirit of the

law.

He questions the

Pharisees in

verses 3-4,

have you not

read what David

did when he was

hungry and those

who were with

him, how he

entered the

house of God

and ate the

bread of the

presence, which

it was not

lawful for him

to eat, nor

for those who

were with him,

but only for

the priests?

Jesus is

alluding to

1 Samuel 21

1 Samuel 21:1–6

verses 1-6.

After finding out

from his friend

Jonathan that

King Saul is

bent on killing

him, David

flees, and

during his

flight, he

comes to

Ahimelech, the

high priest, the

priest of Nob, and

then he asks for

loaves of bread.

The priest

answers David,

I have no

common bread on

hand, but there

is holy bread.

According to

Leviticus 24, 8-9,

every Sabbath

day, the high

priest was to

set out 12

freshly baked

loaves of bread

inside the

temple, and

then he was

supposed to

take out the

old batch from

the previous

week, and

then he and

his sons, other

priests, were

supposed to

consume that

week-old bread

in the holy

place, and they

were the only

ones who were

allowed to eat

it.

The bread of

the presence

literally means

in Hebrew, the

bread before the

face, because

it's the bread

that sits before

the face of

God in the

temple of the

Lord.

It represents

the presence of

God, the living

God, dwelling with

his people and

having fellowship

with them.

That's why there's

12 loaves,

representing the

12 tribes of

Israel, communing

with God

himself.

This is also

called the show

bread in

different parts of

the Bible, because

it's displayed or

shown inside the

temple.

people.

So these 12

loaves that are

taken out, it

was a Sabbath

day when David's

visiting, and so

this old batch has

been taken out, and

Ahimelech gives

them to David to

eat.

And because

Leviticus 24, 9

says that this

bread must be

eaten in the

holy place,

presumably David

and his men

entered the holy

place to eat it,

which is what Jesus

says in this

passage, he

entered the

temple to eat

it.

And yet, nowhere

in Scripture is

David or Ahimelech,

the priest, condemned

for this infraction.

By sharing the

story, Jesus is

exposing the

blindness of the

Pharisees.

Aren't your

Scriptures your

final authority?

Have you not

read what David

did when he was

hungry and those

who were with

him?

It was not

lawful for David

to eat that

bread, nor for

his men to eat

that bread.

And yet, God

did not condemn

them for that

illegal activity.

Note the

repetition of the

phrase, not

lawful.

It was not

lawful, they

said, for the

disciples to eat

the grain on

the Sabbath.

And then Jesus

said it was not

lawful for David

to eat the

show bread.

So what's the

point that Jesus

is driving at?

Note the

repetition also of

the word hungry

in verse 1.

Matthew told us

that Jesus'

disciples were

hungry.

And then Jesus

tells us in

verse 3 that

David and his

men were hungry.

The hunger and

need of the

disciples at that

time seems to be

one of the points

that Jesus is

making.

In the parallel

account in Mark

2, 23, 28,

Jesus makes this

point explicitly by

saying that David

was in need and

was hungry, he and

those who were

with him.

Now please don't

hear what I'm not

saying.

Jesus is not

saying that the

various dietary

restrictions of the

Old Testament all

go out the window as

soon as you're

hungry.

Right?

He's not saying

that the law of

God can be bent

and broken for all

kinds of self-perceived

extenuating

circumstances.

But what Jesus is

getting at and

he's doing is to

get the Pharisees to

examine their own

hearts and consider

the implications of

their overly strict

application of

Sabbath law.

What if the poor

are hungry and in

need on the

Sabbath day?

Never mind the

farmers who have

jobs and who have

fields and they

should rest on the

Sabbath day after

working for six

days.

But what about the

poor who don't have

a farmland and

they're hungry?

Can they pluck some

heads of grain and

eat them?

Are you really

honoring God by

your rigorous

application of

Sabbath preventing

them from taking

plucking some heads

of grain and eating

them?

This is Jesus'

point in verse

seven.

You're getting the

proportions wrong.

He says, if you

had known what this

means, I desire mercy

and not sacrifice,

you would not have

condemned the

guiltless.

He's citing Hosea

6 there.

For I desire

steadfast love and

not sacrifice the

knowledge of God

rather than burnt

offerings, which he's

already quoted once

before in Matthew

9, 13.

God cares about the

heart, not just the

appearances.

God cares that you

keep the spirit of the

law, not just the

letter of the law.

If you neglect the

love of neighbor to

keep the minutia of

Sabbath regulations,

then you have the

proportions of

Scripture wrong.

Jesus is also making

another point about his

identity and his

authority.

Try to put yourself in

the Pharisee's shoes for

a moment.

Jesus just came up with

this amazing comeback

of the story of David.

What would be your

comeback to Jesus

mentioning the story of

David?

The first thing that

comes to my mind in

the shoes of the

Pharisee is, well, that

was David.

He's no ordinary chap.

He's the anointed one.

He is the future king

of Israel.

In fact, he is the

greatest king in the

history of Israel.

Surely the high priest

made an exception for

him.

Ah, so you do admit

that for certain cases

the law makes

exceptions.

When David is invoked

in the Gospels, we

have to pay attention.

Matthew, in

particular, mentions

David more frequently

than any other New

Testament writer.

In the genealogy of

Jesus in chapter 1,

Matthew took pains to

know repeatedly that

Jesus is the son of

David, descendant of

David from the royal

house.

Jesus is frequently

addressed by that title

son of David throughout

the Gospel of Matthew.

And if David and his

men could eat the bread

of the presence, which

only the priests were

allowed to eat, is it a

problem that the

disciples of the son of

David, the Messiah, are

plucking and eating some

grain on the Sabbath.

Though Jesus doesn't say

this explicitly here, he

is implying that something

greater than David is

here.

That's the recurring

thrust of chapter 12.

Jesus will make this point

explicitly in verse 6,

where he says, I tell you

something greater than the

temple is here.

He'll say it again in verse

41.

Something greater than Jonah

is here.

And again in verse 42,

something greater than

Solomon is here.

In fact, Jesus will later

make this point in Matthew

22, 41 to 46, that he is

in fact greater than David.

He is David's Lord.

This is the point that Jesus

presses home in verses 5 and

6.

Or have you not read in the

law how on the Sabbath the

priests in the temple profane

the Sabbath and are guiltless?

I tell you something greater

than the temple is here.

Jesus is making the good

observation that the priests

are working all through the

Sabbath.

In fact, according to Numbers

28, they work twice as hard

on the Sabbath because they

have to make double the number

of sacrifices that they

normally make on regular days.

By doing this, they profane the

Sabbath, Jesus says.

Treat the Sabbath like the

other days in some sense.

And yet they are guiltless, as

Jesus says in verse 5.

How can this be?

There were special categories

of work that were allowed

even on the Sabbath.

And one of them was work

inside the temple.

In John 7, 19 to 24, Jesus

brings up another example of

this kind.

When the Jewish leaders give

him a hard time about healing

a man on the Sabbath, Jesus

brings up the fact that even

they circumcise their infants

on the Sabbath day, if it

falls on the eighth day when

they're supposed to circumcise

their infants.

So he says, if on the

Sabbath a man receives

circumcision so that the law

of Moses may not be broken,

are you angry with me because

on the Sabbath I made a man's

whole body well?

Do not judge by appearances,

but judge with right judgment.

The Pharisees were missing the

forest for the trees.

They were so fixated on keeping

the letter of the law that

they were missing the spirit

of the law entirely.

What was the purpose of the

Sabbath anyway?

God intended it to be a

blessing to his people.

God intended it to give them

rest from their labors.

And yet, ironically, because of

the many accretions of rules

and regulations over centuries

and millennia that the Jews

had added to the Sabbath command,

instead of being restful,

it became burdensome.

Sabbath was intended to be by

God an expression of our love

for neighbor because masters

were required to let their

servants and let their children

and even their animals rest

on the Sabbath day.

But by their over rigorous

application of the Sabbath,

the Pharisees were discouraging

and preventing people from doing

good deeds, which are expressions

of the love of neighbor on the

Sabbath.

Such as letting poor people

pluck and eat some grain or

letting the sick receive healing.

When the rubber meets the road,

Jesus is saying in verse 7,

I desire mercy, not sacrifice.

This doesn't mean that sacrifices

are not important.

Read the book of Leviticus.

It's all about sacrifices.

Nonetheless, showing mercy to your

neighbor is even more important.

That is the weightier matter of the law.

To press this point home further,

Jesus performs a miracle of healing

in the following passage in verses 9 to 14.

On the Sabbath, seeing a man

with the withered hand,

the Pharisees in the synagogue

pick a theological fight with Jesus.

Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath?

The Jewish oral tradition allowed the work

of healing on the Sabbath,

but only under extenuating circumstances.

For example, if there's a life-threatening injury

or if a woman is giving birth to a child,

then they were allowed to work

and assist in that labor.

The man that has a withered arm

is an entirely different story.

If he has a withered arm,

most likely he probably has

some form of paralysis in his arm.

And when you don't get to use your arm

for a long time,

the muscles atrophy and it withers.

And so he has this.

But this is a permanent condition.

It's a chronic condition,

one that he may have had

for a very, very long time.

And certainly, it won't do him

that much harm to wait just one day

so that he can be healed

on what's not the Sabbath.

That's the point that the Pharisees are making.

But Jesus makes an even better point

in verses 11 to 12.

Which one of you who has a sheep,

if it falls into a pit on the Sabbath,

will not take hold of it and lift it out?

Of how much more value is a man than a sheep?

So it is lawful to do good on the Sabbath.

Jesus appeals to the common sensical

and popular sentiment of his day

that most Jews,

even the Pharisees apparently,

subscribe to,

that if on the Sabbath day

your sheep falls into the pit,

then they would not hesitate

to pull the sheep out of the pit.

Surely the animal could wait there

until the next day.

But instead, they pull the animal out.

If helping out your animal

is permissible on the Sabbath,

why not helping a fellow human?

Of how much more value is a man than a sheep?

The Sabbath was intended to offer rest

and relief for people.

So if the Sabbath is keeping you

from doing that for people,

then you are missing the very point

of the Sabbath.

So Jesus concludes,

it is lawful to do good on the Sabbath.

And note the utter blindness of the Pharisees.

He says in verse 14,

the Pharisees went out and conspired against him

how to destroy him.

Here they are faulting Jesus

for doing good on the Sabbath

while they themselves are plotting murder

against Jesus on the Sabbath.

See how far they have strayed

from the true intent of the law.

When the law of God that we obey

and the command,

and that we teach to others,

when that law becomes

not a means to give life to people,

but instead a means to bludgeon people.

If the law of God that we preach

does not spring from humble love for people

and rather from self-righteous legalism,

then we are missing the forest for the trees.

Applying Jesus' positive, broad principle here,

it is lawful to do good on the Sabbath,

would have radically transformed

the way the Jews were observing the Sabbath

at the time.

Jesus is not saying don't ever rest.

He does call his disciples to come away

and rest time to time.

But why does Jesus think

that he has the authority

to transform the Sabbath in this way?

Who is he to make such an authoritative pronouncement

about the law of God?

So let's go back to understand that

to verse 6 and verse 8.

Jesus said in verse 6,

I tell you,

something greater than the temple is here.

That's an audacious statement.

The temple is the focal point of Jewish worship.

It's the very dwelling place of God.

Yet Jesus says,

I am greater than the temple.

He can say that because he is the new temple of God

who in his flesh makes the once for all sacrifice for sin

and in so doing fulfills the entire law of God

and brings about the end of the entire sacrificial system.

This is why Jesus repeats that word guiltless in verse 7

to refer to his disciples.

The priests who work inside the temple on the Sabbath are guiltless.

Well then, so are my disciples, Jesus says,

because they are following and attending to me.

And that work is even more important

than the temple duties that continue in the Sabbath.

This is a staggering claim about Jesus' identity and authority.

Jesus is greater than the temple

because he's not merely the dwelling place of God.

He is the dwelling of God himself,

God in human flesh.

Jesus makes a similar point in verse 8.

For the Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath.

He's saying, I am the master of the Sabbath.

How?

This too is a claim to divinity.

In several places in the Old Testament,

Exodus 31, 13, Leviticus 19, Isaiah 56, verse 4,

Isaiah 56:4

Yahweh, the Lord God, describes the Sabbath as my Sabbath.

They're his.

This is my Sabbath.

They belong to me.

And Jesus is saying here, Sabbath is mine.

I am the Lord of the Sabbath.

The Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath.

Jesus is not merely a law keeper.

He is the law giver.

He is the Son of Man prophesied of in Daniel chapter 7.

Daniel 7 · chapter mention

He is the messianic king who has cosmic divine authority.

The Sabbath itself exists to serve Jesus.

It exists to do Jesus' bidding.

It exists to point to Jesus.

How does it do that?

Now we see why this passage follows on the heels of the preceding passage,

Matthew 11, 25 to 30, that we looked at last week.

Look at verse 1.

At that time, Jesus went through the grain fields on the Sabbath.

That phrase, at that time, links this passage to the preceding passage,

where Jesus promised to his followers in chapter 11, verse 28,

Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.

The purpose of the Sabbath was to give rest to God's people.

And it's not a coincidence that this passage is followed by two Sabbath controversies.

Jesus is saying, in essence, what he said earlier in Matthew 5, 17,

I have not come to abolish the law, but to fulfill them.

I am the fulfillment of the Sabbath.

Just like how Jesus is the Passover lamb who is sacrificed for sin,

so he's the fulfillment of the Passover feast,

just as Jesus is the fulfillment of the Feast of Tabernacles,

which commemorated the time that the Israelites lived in tents in the wilderness,

drinking water from the rock that God provided for them.

And in that context of celebrating the Feast of Tabernacles,

what did Jesus say in John 7, 37 to 38?

If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink.

Whoever believes in me, as the scripture has said,

out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.

I am the fulfillment of the Passover.

I am the fulfillment of the Feast of Tabernacles.

I am the fulfillment of the Sabbath,

and therefore I am able to give you rest for your souls.

The Sabbath that the Pharisees taught was wearisome and burdensome.

They tie up heavy burdens, Jesus said in Matthew 23, 4.

They tie up heavy burdens, hard to bear, and lay them on people's shoulders,

but they themselves are not willing to move them with their finger.

But instead, Jesus says,

Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.

Take my yoke upon you and learn from me,

for I am gentle and lowly in heart,

and you will find rest for your souls.

For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.

This is why Hebrews 4 teaches that the only way we can enter

that eternal Sabbath rest that God has promised to his people

is through Jesus Christ, the great high priest,

who is greater than David,

who is greater than the temple.

That's why in Colossians 2, 16 to 7, Paul writes,

Therefore let no one pass judgment on you

in questions of food and drink,

or with regard to a festival, or a new moon, or a Sabbath.

These are a shadow of the things to come,

but the substance belongs to Christ.

The Sabbath was merely a shadow of the substance,

the real thing that was to come.

The Sabbath was merely a servant of the Lord Jesus Christ,

who was to come,

because Jesus is the one who fulfills the Sabbath

and offers us eternal life and soul rest.

This is why I don't teach that observing a physical Sabbath

is no longer...

I don't teach that the physical Sabbath

is a legal requirement for Christians.

Though certainly there can be wisdom in the practice of regular rest.

The sole rest that Jesus offers

is for all those who rest from their works,

recognizing that no amount of the good works that they do

can earn their salvation,

but instead believing in the finished work of Jesus Christ on the cross,

the good news that Jesus died for our sins

and was raised for our justification,

so that all of his righteous deeds

are counted on behalf of those who have put their faith in him.

This is how Jesus is the Lord of the Sabbath.

And because Jesus is the Lord of the Sabbath,

he is also the hope of the Gentiles.

Aware that the Pharisees are plotting to kill him,

Jesus withdraws from the synagogue

and then continues his ministry of healing

to those who follow him.

But as he does that, interestingly,

he orders them not to make him known,

he says in verse 16.

This is, again, a consistent pattern

that we've noted so far in the Gospels, right?

In chapter 8, verse 4,

after cleansing a leper,

Jesus told him to say nothing to anyone.

In chapter 9, verse 25,

when Jesus raised a ruler's daughter from the dead,

he first made sure that the crowd had been put outside.

In chapter 9, verse 30 to 31,

after healing the two blind men,

he sternly warned them,

see that no one knows about it.

And then later in Matthew 16, 19 to 21,

when Peter confesses that Jesus is the Christ,

the promised messianic king,

Jesus strictly charges his disciples

to tell no one that he is the Christ.

And he says the same thing again

after his transfiguration in chapter 17, verse 9.

Until the right time,

Jesus keeps his identity under wraps,

until it is time for him to go die on the cross

as the atoning sacrifice for sin,

Jesus avoids full-on confrontation with these Pharisees.

And this humility and this modesty of Jesus' ministry,

according to Matthew,

is a fulfillment of the prophecy of Isaiah 42, 1 to 3,

which he cites in verses 18 to 21.

Behold,

behold,

my servant whom I have chosen,

my beloved with whom my soul is well pleased,

I will put my spirit upon him,

and he will proclaim justice to the Gentiles.

He will not quarrel or cry aloud,

nor will anyone hear his voice in the streets.

A bruised reed he will not break,

and a smoldering wick he will not quench,

until he brings justice to victory,

and in his name the Gentiles will hope.

This is a fairly loose translation of Isaiah 42,

but the translation serves Matthew's purposes,

because verse 18 closely echoes

what God the Father pronounced over his son

when Jesus was baptized in chapter 3, verse 16 to 17.

As the heavens opened,

he saw the Spirit of God descend upon him like a dove

and come to rest on him,

and then the voice from heaven,

the Father's voice pronounced,

this is my beloved son with whom I am well pleased.

So he's describing those same intimate terms,

my beloved with whom my soul is well pleased,

I will put my spirit upon him.

Jesus, unlike the Pharisees,

has the Father's signature.

Jesus' ministry is not the loud,

brash, attention-seeking, self-centered ministry,

but a quiet, humble, faithful,

and God-centered ministry.

Jesus' ministry not one

where he lays heavy burdens on people,

but rather one where he lifts the burdens off of people.

Look at how tenderly Jesus is described in verse 20.

A bruised reed he will not break,

and a smoldering wick he will not quench,

until he brings justice to victory.

A reed in those days was used for measuring things like a ruler,

or for supporting things.

But a bruised reed is not sturdy enough for either of those purposes.

It's good only for being snapped off,

and used for fodder for the fire.

But Jesus is a gentle and lowly Lord,

who will not break a bruised reed.

Instead, he will tape it up,

nurture it,

in hopes that the fibers will grow stronger again,

and that it will grow tall,

and strong,

and straight,

and be a useful reed.

Likewise,

back in those days,

people used strips of linen cloth

as lamp wick,

and if it began to smoke,

then it was not very useful

as a lamp,

or as forgiving light,

because the smoke could only impede visibility,

and pollute the air.

A smoldering wick is a wick that is weak,

that's about to go out.

It has small bits of amber burning on it,

but no real flame that gives off light and heat.

Most people would at that point

just wet their fingers,

and snuff out the fire.

But because Jesus is gentle,

and lowly,

the Lord will not quench the smoldering wick.

Instead,

He will shield it.

He will blow on it.

Fan it back until it's aflame again.

Beloved brothers and sisters,

children of God,

do you feel like you're a good-for-nothing bruised reed this morning?

Barely holding on to the tree of Christ,

do you feel like a smoldering wick?

There's more smoke in your life than fire and light,

barely burning the lamp of Christ.

Do you feel weak,

blemished,

poor,

and needy?

Well, then this is encouragement to us

that our Savior does not break a bruised reed,

and He does not quench a smoldering wick.

We don't need to hide our weaknesses.

We don't need to hide our wounds from our head,

Jesus Christ,

or from His body,

the Church of Christ.

We can instead,

as it says in Hebrews 4, 15-16,

come to the throne of God with confidence.

Because Jesus is the high priest

who sympathizes with our weaknesses,

knowing that we will receive mercy

and find grace to help us in our time of need.

Do you see other bruised reeds around you?

Do you see smoldering wicks all around you?

Then seek to imitate the compassion and mercy

of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Aim to see good in people.

Instead of fixating only on the smoke,

only on the bruises,

and saying,

oh, look at all those bruises.

Look at all that smoke.

And then being inclined to write them off

and dismiss them offhand.

Labor to see what is good in them

as Jesus does for us.

Labor to see that tiny ember

that is still there burning.

And fatten into flame with encouragement.

Cover up their bruises with love.

Bandage it with the love of Christ

that you have received from him.

I want to recommend to you a book

by a 16th century English pastor

named Richard Sibbes.

It's called The Bruised Read.

It's based on this passage.

And in it he says this,

Men must not be too curious

in prying into the weaknesses of others.

We should labor rather to see

what they have that is for eternity,

to incline our heart to love them,

than into what weakness

which the Spirit of God

will in time consume to estrange us.

Some think it's strength of grace

to endure nothing in the weaker,

whereas the strongest are readiest

to bear with the infirmities of the weak.

Do you see it as a mark of your strength

and maturity and discernment

to harp on any weaknesses

and bruises you see

and smokes you see in other believers?

I'm not saying that there's no place

for correction or admonishment.

Scriptures give ample evidence

that that's what we're supposed to do

as well in the body of Christ.

However, I'm afraid that I've failed

in many ways in this regard

and that many of us fail in this regard

to be as compassionate and merciful

as our Savior toward one another.

And this is what gives hope for the Gentiles.

Isn't that interesting in this passage?

That Jesus is in controversy

with the Jews and the Pharisees

and then in the passage that follows,

it describes him as the one

who proclaims justice to the Gentiles

in verse 18.

And in verse 21, it says,

in his name, the Gentiles will hope.

The Gentiles are not people

that are usually in the in crowd

in the Gospel of Matthew.

In Matthew 5.47, Jesus,

if you greet only your brothers,

what more are you doing?

Do not even the Gentiles do the same?

Matthew 6.7, the Gentiles heap up empty phrases

when they pray, thinking that they will be heard by God.

In Matthew 18.17, when your fellow Christian brothers and sisters,

instead they refuse to repent of their sin

and continue in their sin,

it says to dissociate from them

and treat them like a Gentile.

Gentiles are people who are excluded.

Gentiles are the people who don't belong

to the covenant community of God.

So how is it that Jesus is the hope of the Gentiles?

He proclaims justice to the Gentiles

because Jesus is the Lord of the Sabbath.

Remember, what is the covenant mark

that sets the Jews apart from the Gentiles?

It's the Sabbath.

It's the Sabbath that sets them apart.

And Jesus says, I am the Lord of the Sabbath.

I have come to fulfill the sign of the Sabbath.

And so I will die on the cross

for the sins of all people, Jews and Gentiles,

so that all those who repent of their sins

and trust in me,

in me they will find the rest that they seek,

the life that they seek,

the eternal soul rest that only I can give.

I give even to Gentiles

because I have fulfilled justice.

I have fulfilled the righteousness of God.

I receive the just wrath of God

and the judgment of God on the cross

so that I can extend mercy without end

to all those who come to me.

That's why Jesus is the hope of the Gentiles.

So brothers, sisters, let's learn from this.

And I want to close with this blessing from Jude

and exhortation from Jude,

which talks about showing mercy to the bruised and the broken.

Amen.

Keep yourselves in the love of God,

waiting for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ

that leads to eternal life.

And have mercy on those who doubt.

Save others by snatching them out of the fire.

To others, show mercy with fear,

hating even the garment stained by the flesh.

Now to him who is able to keep you from stumbling

and to present you blameless

before the presence of his glory with great joy.

To the only God, our savior,

through Jesus Christ, our Lord,

be glory, majesty, dominion, and authority

before all time and now and forever.

Amen.

Amen.