Matthew 12: 1-29, Disputes about the Sabbath

In the previous chapter, Jesus's popularity has skyrocketed.  Everyone knows about him even though at times He has tried to keep the healings secret.  Now Jesus begins to get pushback from the religious leaders.  This begins with disputes about the Sabbath ... and quickly escalates.

Matt 12:1-8
At that time Jesus went through the grainfields on the Sabbath. His disciples were hungry and began to pick some heads of grain and eat them.  When the Pharisees saw this, they said to him, "Look! Your disciples are doing what is unlawful on the Sabbath."

He answered, "Haven't you read what David did when he and his companions were hungry? He entered the house of God, and he and his companions ate the consecrated bread--which was not lawful for them to do, but only for the priests.

"Or haven't you read in the Law that on the Sabbath the priests in the temple desecrate the day and yet are innocent? I tell you that one greater than the temple is here.  If you had known what these words mean, `I desire mercy, not  sacrifice,' you would not have condemned the innocent. For the Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath."

Jesus is making Messianic claims.  The "Son of Man" was often a phrase for the Jewish Messiah.

From the NIV footnotes: In verse 6 the phrase "one greater than ..." could also apparently be interpreted "something greater than the temple..."  (This is also true with the parallel phrases in verses 41 and 42.)

The Old Testament quote in verse 7 is from Hosea 6:6.

Matt 12: 9-14
Going on from that place, he went into their synagogue, and a man with a shriveled hand was there. Looking for a reason to accuse Jesus, they asked him, "Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath?"

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? How much more valuable is a man than a sheep! Therefore it is lawful to do good on the Sabbath."

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. But the Pharisees went out and plotted how they might kill Jesus.

With this healing, and Jesus's refusal to cower to their demands, the Pharisees decide that he is a threat.

Matt 12: 15-21
Aware of this, Jesus withdrew from that place. Many followed him, and he healed all their sick, warning them not to tell who he was. 

This was to fulfill what was spoken through the prophet Isaiah: "Here is my servant whom I have chosen, the one I love, in whom I delight; I will put my Spirit on him, and he will  proclaim justice to the nations.  He will not quarrel or cry out; no one will hear his voice in the streets. A bruised reed he will not break, and a smoldering wick he will not snuff out, till he leads justice to victory. In his name the nations will put their hope."

The quote in verse 21 is from Isaiah 42:1-4.  Matthew makes it clear that this man is indeed the Jewish Messiah, meeting the Old Testament prophecies.

Matt 12: 22-29
Then they brought him a demon-possessed man who was blind and mute, and Jesus healed him, so that he could both talk and see.  All the people were astonished and said, "Could this be the Son of David?"

But when the Pharisees heard this, they said, "It is only by Beelzebub, the prince of demons, that this fellow drives out demons."

Jesus knew their thoughts and said to them, "Every kingdom divided against itself will be ruined, and every city or household divided against itself will not stand.  If Satan drives out Satan, he is divided against himself.  How then can his kingdom stand?  And if I drive out demons by Beelzebub, by whom do your people drive them out? So then, they will be your judges.

But if I drive out demons by the Spirit of God, then the kingdom of God has come upon you. 

"Or again, how can anyone enter a strong man's house and carry off his possessions unless he first ties up the strong man? Then he can rob his house."

The Pharisees dismiss Jesus's power as demonic.  (There seems to be no attempt to dismiss these healings as fakery.)

The disputes with the Pharisees will grow sharper in the next passage of Matthew.

Matthew 9, New wine (a woman, a little girl, two blind men)

Jesus has crossed over the Sea of Galilee (Lake Tiberias) to the eastern side (the modern Golan Heights) and is now preparing to return to Galilee.

Matt 9:1-8
Jesus stepped into a boat, crossed over and came to his own town. Some men brought to him a paralytic, lying on a mat. When Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralytic, "Take heart, son; your sins are forgiven."

At this, some of the teachers of the law said to themselves, "This fellow is blaspheming!" Knowing their thoughts, Jesus said, "Why do you entertain evil thoughts in your hearts?

Which is easier: to say, `Your sins are forgiven,' or to say, `Get up and walk'?  But so that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins...." Then he said to the paralytic,  "Get up, take your mat and go home." And the man got up and went home.

When the crowd saw this, they were filled with awe; and they praised God, who had given such authority to men.

This is a stunning story.  It is elaborated in Mark's gospel, with the men lowering the man down through a roof.  The story displays Jesus's interest in the man's heart, not just the physical ailments.  I like the part where Jesus responds to the thoughts of others around him and says, "Oh, by the way.... Get up...."

Matt 9:9-13
As Jesus went on from there, he saw a man named Matthew sitting at the tax collector's booth. "Follow me," he told him, and Matthew got up and followed him.  While Jesus was having dinner at Matthew's house, many tax collectors and "sinners" came and ate with him and his  disciples.

When the Pharisees saw this, they asked his disciples, "Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and `sinners'?"

On hearing this, Jesus said, "It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick.  But go and learn what this means: `I desire mercy, not sacrifice.' For I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners."

The quote in verse 13 is from Hosea 6:6.  Jesus emphasizes the appearance of a new covenant, one for sinners, for the depressed, the downtrodden.  The tainted Roman collaborator, Matthew, falls into this group.

Matt 9:14-17
Then John's disciples came and asked him, "How is it that we and the Pharisees fast, but your disciples do not fast?"

Jesus answered, "How can the guests of the bridegroom mourn while he is with them? The time will come when the bridegroom will be taken from them; then they will fast.

"No one sews a patch of unshrunk cloth on an old garment,  for the patch will pull away from the garment, making the tear worse.  Neither do men pour new wine into old wineskins. If they do, the skins will burst, the wine will run out and the wineskins will be ruined. No, they pour new wine into new wineskins, and both are preserved."

New wine, which must sit and mature, goes into new wineskins which, by their very newness, have the flexibility required to last through the fermentation process.  With these "word pictures", these active metaphors, Jesus insists that there are things appropriate for their times.  The time of Jesus's ministry is a time of new wine, of a new covenant with God.

I am reminded of Ecclesiastes 3:1-8, on the appropriate seasons, and the song "Turn! Turn! Turn!" by Pete Seeger (made popular by The Byrds) which has a very similar interpretation.

Matt 9:18-26
While he was saying this, a ruler came and knelt before him  and said, "My daughter has just died. But come and put your hand on her, and she will live."

Jesus got up and went with him, and so did his disciples.  Just then a woman who had been subject to bleeding for twelve years came up behind him and touched the edge of his  cloak.  She said to herself, "If I only touch his cloak, I will be healed."

Jesus turned and saw her. "Take heart, daughter," he said, "your faith has healed you." And the woman was healed from that moment.

When Jesus entered the ruler's house and saw the flute players and the noisy crowd, he said, "Go away. The girl is not dead but asleep." But they laughed at him.

After the crowd had been put outside, he went in and took the girl by the hand, and she got up.  News of this spread through all that region.

A series of short miracles occur here, very rapidly.  This is the golden time of Jesus's ministry, when he has "gone viral" and everyone is talking about him.  But these miracles are motivated by compassion and Jesus is quick to respond to these requests.

Here, just after Jesus had called Matthew (the writer of this gospel), he is approached by a "ruler", presumably one with wealth and power, whose daughter has died.  The ruler believes that maybe Jesus can do something, even after death. And Jesus responds.  But as he travels, another event occurs; a woman reaches out and touches Jesus cloak, hoping to somehow get some of this power that he has.  Again, Jesus responds.  Then, calmly, Jesus explains to the weeping family that the girl is "just sleeping" and proceeds to "wake her up." This event is recorded in the Gospel of Mark also (Mark 5:41) where Mark (via Peter) recalls Jesus's brief words, "Little girl, get up!"

Matt 9:27-31
As Jesus went on from there, two blind men followed him, calling out, "Have mercy on us, Son of David!" When he had gone indoors, the blind men came to him, and he asked them, "Do you believe that I am able to do this?"  

"Yes, Lord," they replied.

Then he touched their eyes and said, "According to your faith will it be done to you"; and their sight was restored. Jesus warned them sternly, "See that no one knows about this."

But they went out and spread the news about him all over that region.

Once again (following almost every miracle) there are instructions "Tell no one."  Why are these people not to speak?  It seems to be an issue of timing – Jesus is trying to avoid the overwhelming crowds this will bring.

Matt 9:32-24
While they were going out, a man who was demon-possessed and could not talk was brought to Jesus.  And when the demon was driven out, the man who had been mute spoke. The crowd was amazed and said, "Nothing like this has ever been seen in Israel."

But the Pharisees said, "It is by the prince of demons that he drives out demons."

The Pharisees are not happy.

Matt 9:35-38
Jesus went through all the towns and villages, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the good news of the kingdom and healing every disease and sickness.  When he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd.

Then he said to his disciples, "The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few.  Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field."

Jesus is overwhelmed with work and needs the disciples to see the opportunities around them.

Matthew is now about to move to a new portion of Jesus's ministry, another series of discourses on the kingdom of God.  That part begins in the next chapter.