People First | Matthew 12
Matthew 12
Please comment below with your conversation with God and/or insights from today’s Scriptures.
You can answer the following:
What are your overall thoughts about the chapter?
What are your thoughts about the Pharisee?
Can you find yourself nit-picking things that either don’t really matter or don’t fully understand?
What is your prayer to God brought on by this chapter?
Don’t forget to join us Tuesdays and Thursdays at 7pm on FB.com/waterschurchnyc. Join the conversation about the Scriptures and topic at hand.
Chapter Notables:
The Lord tells the Pharisees, the religious group of that time, that He is the Lord of the Sabbath (The Lord of the Rest) - verses 1-14
Jesus and His “low key” ministry - verses 15-21
The Pharisees says Jesus’ power was coming from Satan - verses 22-27
The principles of deliverance - verses 28-29; 43-45
The unforgivable sin - verses 30-32
You bring out what you have inside - verses 33-37
Jesus’ prioritizes spiritual connections greater than physical ones - verses 46-50
It’s About People | Lemuel Ayudtud
Some people that think they be “woke” are some of the most blind and some of the most educated can be the most ignorant.
Jesus said what He said.
The Pharisees were a sect of religious people who made a job of following the laws of Moses. They were the “holier than thous” of that day. They made sure that they looked the part of being pious and devoted. Jesus nor His cousin, John, were too fond of them.
It’s not that righteousness and holiness, or separation from the world, is not what Jesus desires; it’s not that these guys were not following what God had instructed Moses to have people follow; it’s not because of any of their pious deeds—Jesus actually tells people to exceed their righteousness; it’s because they were going all in on the laws without understanding why they were written and for whom it was written.
The Pharisees thought that they were such scholars of the Torah or the Laws of Moses, that they attempted to discredit Jesus by them. For instance, they cited the law of the Sabbath to point out to Jesus the flaws of the disciples. Matthew writes in this chapter how the disciples had taken some grain from some field to eat. To the Pharisees, they were not supposed to work on the Sabbath. That was the law. By plucking the grain the disciples had worked and therefore were lawbreakers. They asked Jesus, “Why do You let Your disciples do what’s unlawful during the Sabbath?” Well, Jesus put them in their place.
These Pharisees did not understand the Scriptures or the ways of God. Jesus informed them of the time when David was hungry and ate the holy bread. That bread was for the priest only, yet David and his men were given them to eat. Or that during the Sabbath day the priest would “work” yet were counted guiltless. Was Jesus saying that David and the priests were right? Maybe, maybe not, but what Jesus was pointing out was the way the “work” was being defined by those who were in charge. The reality is man was and is not in charge of the day: God is. And what God desires is not the consumption or food or the performing of tasks, what God desire is mercy when people need it. It appears that it was not even the work that the disciples had “done” that Jesus was concerned about, but it was the mistake of the Pharisees in not realizing that people are first.
Jesus doubles down the idea of people first with Matthew’s record of Him healing on the Sabbath day—Jesus heals a man with a withered arm. Prior to Jesus healing the man, He asks the Pharisees if any of them would help any of their animals if it had fallen in a pit during the Sabbath. It was a rhetorical question. Everyone’s answer was “yes”. Jesus takes that supposed story and points out the Pharisees lack of understanding of God and His laws: man is greater than an animal. Man is more valuable than any animal. To the Pharisees healing a man (unlawfully during the Sabbath) was work, but to Jesus it was worth.
The Pharisees were so close to the laws that they had become too far to see the intentions of God for the laws. They were so entrenched in their desire to follow the letter of the law that they had distanced themselves from the Lord who created the laws. They hated Jesus working the way He worked because it was contrary to the way they saw God. To them God was a god of precepts, but to Jesus He was a God of people.
The laws of God are not for Himself. He didn’t give the word to Moses so that He can better Himself. He is God with or without us. He is God whether we obey or not. He is not concerned about us following a list of laws so that we can know He’s in charge. Apparently, to the Pharisees, the laws was about God, but to Jesus it was about people.
Study the Scriptures and we’ll find that God did not give the laws for Himself. He shared His laws to keep and protect us. The laws were given to bring us into communion with Him. They were given to help us understand the depth of God’s holiness and once we understand that, then we can understand the beauty of His laws. Furthermore, to the dismay of some ultra religious people like the Pharisees, the obedience of laws don’t make us “holy”—God makes us holy. Apart from Him we are sinful, filthy people, but with Him we are perfect, godly, divine. So we submit to the laws of God not so we can be, we submit to His word and laws because we are. We weren’t created for the laws, the laws were created for us. That’s why Jesus says, “I’m the Lord of the Sabbath.” If we consider it deeper, maybe Jesus was saying: the law is not the Lord of people, I am.
Matthew brings us to the close of this chapter by sharing with us the moment Jesus’ mother and His brothers approach Him. Naturally those that knew the family tell Jesus that they were there. Surprisingly, Jesus seemingly disses them all by not concerning Himself with their presence. Instead of getting up and minding Mary and His brothers, He turns to the people and asks them, “Who is my mother and my brothers?” He follows that question with His own answer, “Those who follow the will of My Father is my brother and sister and mother.” Whoa! That’s offensive, right? Would you have been offended? Many would have. But Jesus did not actually disrespected them. What He was showing us was the importance of the divine over the fleshly, even the natural laws of man.
In the same way that growing up in church doesn’t make one a Christian, being related to Jesus in the flesh doesn’t make one His mother and brother and sister. In the same way the Pharisees were not godly because they followed the law to a “t”, is the same way that you and I are not godly because we look or act the part. Going to church don’t make one a Christian nor following the laws the way the Pharisees did make one accepted by God.
The real connection between us and God are not laws set by man or nature. The real connection between us and God are bound in who we truly are. We are God’s children not by the laws we follow; we are His children because He makes us His children. We submit not because we have to (because it’s written), we submit because we are connected to Him. Religiosity or piousness or outward appearances doesn’t connect us to God. The Pharisees lifted the observance of the law above relationship with God to people. To the Pharisees laws were the most important, not so to God. To God people are the most important.
We at times make programs and processes and policies so important that we become as accusatory as the Pharisees of old. We think we’re “woke” because we see people’s imperfections. We think we know when we’re really being ignorant. When people mess up or don’t meet the policies, we can find ourselves devaluing them. We get so pressed to “please” God by making sure we’re doting our i’s and crossing our t’s and looking “the part” that we forget who God made the laws for and condemn people. That’s the curse of being uber religious, we start to judge people by their lack instead of treating them with God’s love.
So while those around Him fussed about Jesus’ connection to His mother and brother by the flesh, Jesus fussed about the connection we have in Him through the divine, that is obeying the will of the Father. And the will of the Father is not to treat people in light of their adherence to the law, but their admitted need for Him.
Lord, teach me to love people. Help me not to be so caught up in being a “Christian” that I lose being Christ-like. Help me to truly love people in their needs. Help me to love people even and especially when they’re imperfect. Let me reach those who maybe violating a “law” and realize they’re need for You, Lord. I ask this in Your splendid Name, Jesus, amen.
