The Pharisees keep popping up in the ministry of Jesus. It always seems to me that they follow Jesus and His disciples so they can catch them doing something that they don’t think is right…it’s almost like they are religious stalkers! There are two incidents mentioned in this passage that center on the Pharisee’s idea of what can and can’t be done on the Sabbath. Remember they had added 39 of their own laws to the “keeping the Sabbath day holy” law. These extra laws were not given by God but were created by “religious men” who viewed spirituality as something that you do rather than somebody that you are. In the first so-called violation, the Pharisees accused Jesus’ disciples of eating from the grain fields because they were hungry (12:1-8). The Pharisees point out to Jesus that it is not lawful for His disciples to pluck grain on the Sabbath, but Jesus draws their attention to two Old Testament illustrations when men did something contrary to ceremonial law. David and his men were hungry so he entered the temple of God and ate the bread which was only lawful for the priests to eat (1 Samuel 21:4-6). Jesus also said that the priests would be in violation of Pharisaical law because they worked on the Sabbath (12:5). God never intended for His ceremonial laws to be bondage to His people. Jesus leaves this situation and enters the synagogue on the Sabbath where He meets a man with a withered hand (12:9-13). The Pharisees pose a question to Jesus about whether or not it is permissible to heal on the Sabbath (they wanted to accuse Him). He responds by explaining the value of a person and then heals the man’s hand (12:12-13). Jesus didn’t care about their religious rules, He cared about people! In great disgust, the Pharisees leave and Jesus withdraws in order to avoid more conflict. Crowds of people follow Him from the synagogue because they knew He cared about them. Jesus healed all of the people who needed it (12:15). We should care more about people than adhering to a religious system we’ve created in our mind. Keep in mind that Jesus never brought the moral law into question, but only things that pertained to the ceremonial law. He does not want us to find our spirituality in the rituals but in carrying out the moral law, which centers on loving God and loving others.
Dear God, help me to love You and love others. May I not find comfort in simply obeying rules, but in caring about the needs of others.
