The Problem With A Religion Of Rules Series

- We have two stories here that both look into the rules the religious leaders had back in Jesus’ day concerning the Sabbath.

THE PROBLEM WITH A RELIGION OF RULES:

1. WE ARE SELECTIVE ABOUT WHICH RULES WE PAY ATTENTION TO.

- Matthew 12:1-5, 9-11.

- The Pharisees considered themselves to be the ones who took the Law more seriously than anyone else. That, in fact, was their pride and joy.

- This is what makes what Jesus brings out here something that they would have found deeply aggravating.

- Let’s take the two stories in turn.

- In the first story, the Pharisees accuse Jesus’ disciples of violating the Sabbath by picking and eating heads of grain.

- One might expect Jesus to respond by saying, “You’ve misinterpreted the Law by adding additional teaching and here are the rules that are applicable.” But He doesn’t approach it in that way.

- In v. 2 His disciples are accused of doing what is not Lawful. Look at Jesus’ response in vv. 3-5. What is He saying here? Let me paraphrase it: “You’re saying what My disciples are doing is absolutely unlawful and so you object to it. But David did something similar and I don’t hear you condemning him. The priests do something similar all the time and you don’t have a peep to say about them. So why are you selective about which rules you pay attention to and then act like you’re serious about the Law?”

- The situations are not exactly the same – neither of Jesus’ named examples are walking through a grain field, but they are similar in both eating things that under a strict interpretation of the Law they shouldn’t have been and in how the Pharisees didn’t condemn those involved.

- He’s pointing at the thing they pride themselves most in (their strict interpretation of and dedication to the Law) and saying they’re hypocrites.

- In the second story, we have a related but different example.

- A question arises about healing a man’s shriveled hand. The Pharisees are emphatic again: no working on the Sabbath and that would be work. But Jesus brings up the fact that if they had a sheep in a pit they would all go and get it out on the Sabbath. Again, Jesus points out their hypocrisy: “You say that you won’t do any work ever on the Sabbath, but even for a sheep you would make an exception to that rule.”

- In both examples, the point is clear. Jesus points out to them that they are quick to make exceptions when it suits them, but then they adamantly oppose exceptions when it doesn’t fit their agenda.

- Do we do this today? A couple examples:

a. “Keep the Sabbath.”

- We get aggravated sometimes that businesses are open on Sunday. “It should be a day of rest.” Yet often Sunday is the busiest day on the church calendar, with believers involved in hours of activity.

b. Sanctity of marriage.

- We are quick to condemn homosexual marriage as ruining the “sanctity of marriage,” but then we barely utter a word about the prevalence of divorces within the church.

2. WE FOCUS ON CONDEMNING PEOPLE RATHER THAN HELPING THEM.

- Matthew 12:7, 12.

- It’s crucial to look closely at the main point Jesus makes in each story.

- In the first, we find it in v. 7. Jesus says, “I desire mercy, not sacrifice.” There’s a lot more going on in His statement in vv. 3-8, but that is the heart because He explicitly says that this is His desire.

- This is crucial to the overall statement here because so much of what the Pharisees did concerning Sabbath observance was focused on sacrifice. “Look how seriously we’re taking the Sabbath!” “Look at all the special rules we’ve made to make sure we’re religiously observing the Sabbath!” “We make this more important than everyone else!” Their many rules were an act of sacrifice – inconveniencing themselves for the sake of honoring God (in their minds).

- Yet Jesus says that’s not supposed to be the focus of what He wants. He wants mercy, not sacrifice.

- This is not to say that sacrifice will never be involved in the life of a Christ follower. Other passages make it abundantly clear that it will. But the point of emphasis is not sacrifice for the sake of sacrifice. Jesus wants us to have a heart of mercy.

- In the second story, we find the main point in v. 12. Jesus says, “Therefore it is lawful to do good on the Sabbath.” The previous verses put this statement in context. Jesus heals a man’s hand, much to the objection of the Pharisees. Jesus notes that any of them would have gotten a sheep out of a pit. In a similar way, it’s within the law to do good to someone on the Sabbath. Jesus then “does good” by actually healing the man.