January 2, 2009 (Matthew 12:1-14)

In today’s reading, we find the Jesus’ disciples growing faint and hungry as they followed Him one Sabbath day. Their hunger became so great that at one point they began to pick and eat ears of grain. The Pharisees protested this by saying that they had violated the law prohibiting “work” on the Sabbath.

Jesus responds by citing examples of others who “worked” on the Sabbath. Under the legalistic interpretation they are using against His disciples, the Pharisees would also have to condemn David and even the priests in the Temple…that is, if they wanted to be consistent. But Jesus realized that the fundamental problem the Pharisees had was not inconsistency. Their inconsistency was a symptom of a deeper problem: their fundamental failure to understand Who God is, and what His law was supposed to be about. He went on to quote from Hosea (Hos. 6:6) and scold the Pharisees for failing to understand the prophet’s message: You would not have condemned My innocent disciples if you knew [or “understood”] the meaning of this Scripture: ‘I want you to show mercy, not offer sacrifices.’ For the [son of man] is lord, even over the Sabbath. (12:7-8)

What Jesus meant was that not all of God’s laws are of equal importance. There is a hierarchy of values. He preached this same message in 22:34-40 in which He famously responded to the question: “What is the most important commandment in the Law of Moses?” It’s worth noting that, even when given a great set-up to do so, Jesus NEVER taught that all of God’s Law was of equal weight. He consistently taught that some things were more important than others. The Pharisees had come to look upon the Old Testament as an end in itself. Jesus taught that it a means to an end. It was God’s tool to help people become more like Himself. But like all tools, it could be used for it’s intended purpose…or it could be used for other purposes. A hammer is meant to drive nails into wood and make things of beauty. It can, however, be used to kill a person. One use is good, the other is evil.

It seems that the application to Christians today is obvious. Many of us take great pride in being “people of the Book.” Whether that’s a good thing, or a bad thing, depends ultimately on what we’re doing with the “the Book”. The Pharisees took great pride in their learning…in the fact that they knew their Bibles backwards and forwards…that they could dot every ‘i’ and cross every ‘t’. The Pharisees knew how to win arguments and get their way in the synagogue and maintain control over the people. Unfortunately, they never moved beyond the level of gathering spiritual information to the more demanding work of spiritual transformation. They knew the Law…but not what it meant. What about us, my brother? Are we any better than they? Do we know what this means: “I want You to show mercy, not offer sacrifices”?

-- Justin