Matthew 12:1-2………Working

Matthew 12:1-2………Working

At that time (Not an exact chronology of events-(New) Spring and harvest season) Jesus went through the cornfields (Grainfields. As a shortcut) on the Sabbath. (4520-Jewish day of rest. Saturday) His disciples were hungry (Having just come off a busy day of ministry-Jesus’ work in Reassuring John the Baptist, Confronting the Pharisees, Pronouncing Woes upon all the Cities.-(Chap.11) Naturally they were tired and hungry.-(New) and began to pick some ears (heads) of corn (Grain) and eat them. (Snack-on) 2 When the Pharisees saw this, (Suggest they were following closely, waiting to catch them doing something wrong.) they said to him, (Jesus being their Rabbi was expected to rebuke them.) “Look! (Expresses outrage. Shaming finger) Your disciples are doing what is unlawful on the Sabbath.” (Was not an accusation of theft, was allowed under O.T. Law-{Deut. 23:25} But rather they were accusing Jesus’ disciples of violating the law against working on the Sabbath. Violation seen as; Plucking the corn constituted “Reaping”. Rubbing the corn in the hands constituted “Threshing”. And blowing the husk away constituted Winnowing. All of which constituted work.)

Extended Sermon Notes

“Teaches those who are legalistic will always be watching you, making sure your following all the rules” ⇒ People who are legalistic will always be nitpicking at every little thing you do. They will try to find things to accuse you, that your not a true Christian if you don’t worship a certain way.

“Teaches how religious people will see everyone else’s as wrong if your not doing it like them.” ⇒ A little religiousism and legalism is not bad when it comes to trying to avoid a particular sin, especially one that you have a problem with. So you add extra guardrails in your life to avoid committing that sin (Intent  filters, accountability partner, Copay, etc.) And you should do that, there’s nothing wrong with it. In fact there’s great wisdom in adding a extra step of removal from that particular thing your struggling with. Even scriptures says “Make no provision for the flesh or fulfill it’s lusts”-(Rom. 13:14) But the way we go wrong here is when we take the extra step that we added for ourselves and find a well meaning Christian who is not following exactly our step and we condemn them by what we added to the text. Therefore we need to be careful by not holding everyone else to the same guardrails and religious observances that we are living by. Not only when comes to sinful avoidances. But also to religious observances, practices, and beliefs as well. Just because you observe the Sabbath or refrain from drinking alcohol, caffeine, and going to the movies. Don’t hold everyone else accountable in doing the same thing.-(Rom. 14:1-23)

“Teaches Traditions will fight any new movement of God; “This is the way we’ve always done it.”⇒………..(To be Continued)

“Teaches how those who are religious are all about rules and regulations in how well you follow God.” ⇒ We can’t be to critical of the Pharisees because there’s a little bit of religion in all of us. As Martin Luther rightly said; “Religion is the default mode of the human heart”. If not careful we can begin to think that by going to church regularly, giving to the offering, singing the songs, praying the prayers, and our devotional time spent reading our bibles makes us right with God. You can’t become right before God by saying certain words, doing certain things, going through certain motions. You can’t become right with God by following certain rules or laws. The only way you can become right with God is by humbling yourself and accepting Jesus as Lord & Savior.

“The Sabbath was to be set apart as a holy day. You could work six days, but the seventh day was to be a day of rest. The Sabbath was to be a day of meditation and reflection on the goodness of God.  But the Pharisees took the day and turned it a burden with their legalistic rules as to what constituted work. The “Mishnah” [Jewish oral traditions] would later record 39 different kinds of work that was forbidden on the Sabbath. No cooking but only warming a meal. No sewing more then two stiches on a torn shirt. No kindling a fire with more than two dry twigs. No carrying anything heavier than a dried fig. No walking more than 1000 yards from your house”. ⇒ You might think that all of this is a bit excessive, and you’d be right. Even if you were to go to Israel today you would still find the same thing. There are hotel’s that have two separate elevators and one is designated as the Shabbat, or Sabbath, elevator. You wouldn’t  get on the Shabbat elevator unless you were a committed Orthodox Jewish person. You see, the Shabbat elevator stopped on every single floor automatically, all the way up and all the way down. “Why,” you ask? Because to press the button to fetch the elevator is considered work by some. The press of a button which sends an electrical current to a control box is work. That was the rule. That was the regulation for the Sabbath day. The Sabbath was originally given by God to Moses in the Ten Commandments.-(Ex.. 20:8-11) Others believe the Sabbath was instituted in the day of creation long before the Law of Moses. Where God Himself followed the pattern of working for six days and then resting on the seventh day.-(Gen.    ) For believers our Sabbath is now Sunday (The Lord’s Day) where we put our lives on hold and take time to reflect, meditate, and celebrate the goodness of God in all He has done in Christ by coming to Church and worshiping Him and fellowshiping with other believers.

“Religious rules and rituals are not all bad. Some offer stability and familiarity. But when they become ridged to God’s leading. Or when it hinders God’s work it becomes evil.” ⇒ When you start creating rules and forcing them on people you can actually start to discreating true works of God and actually get in the way of the work of God. Are rituals wrong? No, not inherently. Empty ritual is wrong, as is any ritual that replaces, obscures, or detracts from a vibrant relationship with God. There is no New Testament mandate to include recitations, ceremonial objects, or symbolic physical gestures in our worship today. Our devotion is to the Lord Jesus, not to various rituals or liturgies. All churches have a format that they typically follow, and this can be thought of as a “ritual.” Some rituals include things like communion, fasting, prayer, penance, alms-giving, serving in the community, and generally doing good. Of course, it is good for everything to be done “in a fitting and orderly way”-(1 Corin. 14:40), and having a procedure to follow is not wrong. Many traditions provide people some comfort and growth. But, if a church is so liturgical and its structure so rigid that the Holy Spirit is not able to freely operate, liturgy has gone too far. Are rituals and traditions commanded in the church? No, except for baptism and communion. God sees the heart, and He seeks those who worship Him “In the Spirit and in truth”-(John 4:24). Rituals can be beneficial, but external rules and rituals should never replace inner devotion. The Mosaic Law prescribed a set of rituals for Israel’s worship of God. There were many ceremonial laws for them to observe. Some of those laws were very specific and involved the sprinkling of water, the sprinkling of blood, the waving of grain, or the washing of clothes. The Mosaic Law was fulfilled in Christ-(Matt.  5:17). The rituals of the Old Testament were never intended to be a permanent part of worship, as Scripture clearly teaches: “The gifts and sacrifices are only a matter of food and drink and various ceremonial washings—external regulations applying until the time of the new order”-(Heb. 9:10). The “external regulations” are not binding on us today.

More Notes & Applications

Some point out the hypocrisy of the Pharisees, here they were following Jesus around on the Sabbath recording everything He does. But doesn’t that constitute work itself! Aren’t they now, themselves, working on the Sabbath! Or better yet, if they were so concerned about keeping the disciples from doing any work on the Sabbath, isn’t it interesting that they didn’t just offer them food instead. Why didn’t they say to the disciples; “Here, here, fellas! Don’t work on the Sabbath. Look; we have brought our lunch! It’s all prepared! We’ll share.

While we don’t keep the literal Sabbath anymore as a religious observance. Yet we should remember the Sabbath principle in taking time to rest, remember, refresh, and rejoice.

We may not fall into a religious legalism. But we can turn cultural rules, among others, into a sort of “Cultural legalism” that enslaves us to spend our leisure time serving the god of self, instead of the true God. Sometimes we’re more like the Pharisees than we realize. They tried to protect their tradition and their people. In like manner, we too try to preserve our lives in various ways, but when we allow the ways of the world to become our ways—we need to seek afresh God’s ways.

According to the Law of Moses people were allowed to pluck grain or grapes by hand from a neighbor’s field or vineyard, so long as one did not harvest the grain with a sickle or put the grapes in a bag (Deut. 23:24–25). This allowed those who were poor to find food in the harvest season without taking too much from the profits of their neighbors. This was a Jewish form of welfare where owners of fields are told not to harvest everything, or to harvest the farthest corners of their fields, but leave some for the poor.-(Lev. 23:22) By doing this shows how poor and desitude the disciples were. And that Jesus didn’t work a miracle and produce food every time they were hungry. But instead made them trust God to meet their needs. It also shows how heartless the Pharisees were. They cared less that these poor people were moving through the grain fields and filling their empty stomachs with a few heads of grain. The only thing they saw was a violation of the law against working on the Sabbath.

SIGNS YOU MAY BE A LEGALISTIC PHARISEES…….

• Do you make rules equal to the bible that are outside the bible

• Do you beat yourself up when you don’t keep your rules

• Do you care more about rules than loving others

• Do you get angry when people break your rules or who have different rules

• Do you think your a good Christian and everyone else is a bad Christian

• Do you force your convictions and observances on others

• Do you care more about religious observances & practices then about relationships and fellowships

• Do you try to find acceptance with God by what you do rather than by grace

• Do you read the bible and go to church to win brownie points with God

• Do you define your spirituality by how disciplined you are

• Do you refuse to forgive even though God forgave you

• Do you love the praise of men more than the praise of God

• Do you have more concern on keeping people out than inviting them in

• Do you respond with anger when someone corrects you or reproves you

• Do you have a critical or unloving attitude towards others

• Do you appoint yourself as judge over other people

• Do you put more importance on outward conformity

If you see any of these signs in your life, invite the Holy Spirit to set you free from legalism. Stop striving, repent of pride and ask God to open your eyes to the reality of His amazing grace.