1722 | Matthew 11:25
The Father Revealed in the Son
11:25-27pp — Lk 10:21,22
25 At that time Jesus said , “ I praise you , Fa ther , m Lord of heaven and earth , be cause you have hid den these things from the wise and learned , and re vealed them to lit tle chil dren . n 26 Yes , Fa ther , for this is what you were pleased to do .
27 “ All things have been com mit ted to me o by my Fa ther . p No one knows the Son except the Fa ther , and no one knows the Fa ther ex cept the Son and those to whom the Son chooses to re veal him . q
28 “ Come to me , r all you who are weary and bur dened , and I will give you rest . 29 Take my yoke upon you and learn from me , s for I am gen tle and hum ble in heart , and you will find rest for your souls . t 30 For my yoke is easy and my bur den is light .” u
Jesus Is Lord of the Sabbath
12:1-8pp — Mk 2:23-28 ; Lk 6:1-5 12:9-14pp — Mk 3:1-6 ; Lk 6:6-11
At that time Jesus went through the grain fields on the Sab bath . His dis ci ples were
12 hun gry and be gan to pick some heads of grain v and eat them . 2 When the Phar i- sees saw this , they said to him , “ Look ! Your dis ci ples are do ing what is un law ful on the Sabbath .” w
3 He an swered , “ Haven ’ t you read what Da vid did when he and his com pan ions were hungry ? x
4 He en tered the house of God , and he and his com pan ions ate the con se crated bread — which was not law ful for them to do , but only for the priests . y 5 Or haven ’ t you read in the Law that the priests on Sab bath duty in the tem ple des e crate the Sab bath z and yet are innocent ? 6 I tell you that some thing greater than the tem ple is here . a 7 If you had known what these words mean , ‘ I de sire mercy , not sac ri fice ,’ a b you would not have condemned the innocent . 8 For the Son of Man c is Lord of the Sab bath .”
9 Go ing on from that place , he went into their syn a gogue , 10 and a man with a shriv eled hand was there . Look ing for a rea son to bring charges against Jesus , they asked him , “ Is it law ful to heal on the Sab bath ?” d
11 He said to them , “ If any of you has a sheep and it falls into a pit on the Sab bath , will you not take hold of it and lift it out ? e 12 How much more valu able is a per son than a sheep ! f There fore it is law ful to do good on the Sab bath .”
13 Then he said to the man , “ Stretch out your hand .” So he stretched it out and it was com pletely re stored , just as sound as the other . 14 But the Phar i sees went out and plot ted how they might kill Jesus . g
11:25 m Lk 22:42 ; Jn 11:41 n 1Co 1:26‐29
11:27 o Mt 28:18 p Jn 3:35 ; 13:3 ; 17:2
q Jn 10:15
11:28 r Jn 7:37
11:29 s Jn 13:15 ; Php 2:5 ; 1Pe 2:21 ; 1Jn 2:6 t Jer 6:16
11:30 u 1Jn 5:3 12:1 v Dt 23:25
12:2 w ver 10 ; Lk 13:14 ; 14:3 ; Jn 5:10 ; 7:23 ; 9:16
12:3 x 1Sa 21:6 12:4 y Lev 24:5 , 9
12:5 z Nu 28:9 , 10 ; Jn 7:22 , 23
12:6 a ver 41 , 42
12:7 b Hos 6:6 ; Mic 6:6-8 ; Mt 9:13
12:8 c Mt 8:20
12:10 d ver 2 ; Lk 13:14 ; 14:3 ; Jn 9:16
12:11 e Lk 14:5 12:12 f Mt 10:31
12:14 g Mt 26:4 ; 27:1 ; Mk 3:6 ; Lk 6:11 ; Jn 5:18 ; 11:53 a 7 Hosea 6:6
11:25 – 30 Jesus beautifully summarizes the biblical balance between divine sovereignty and human responsibility . God initiates , revealing himself to his Son and thus to “ those to whom the Son chooses to reveal him ” ( v . 27 ), and humans must respond — “ Come to me ” ( v . 28 ). Those who think themselves too wise for God lose out to those who know their true need . 11:25 Those who esteem themselves “ wise and learned ” will often find God ’ s truth hidden from them . Those who recognize their dependence on God , just as little children depend on adults , will discover he has revealed himself to them . 11:27 Cf . John 14:6 . Jesus is the only way to the Father , and God reveals himself to his chosen people through Jesus . 11:28 – 30 All who are weary and burdened may come to Christ for rest . His is not the yoke of the law ( a common rabbinic expression ), which made demands without adequate empowerment for obedience . Jesus also offers a yoke ( commands that restrict and guide ), but with the greater demand comes a greater empowerment through the Spirit , so that his “ yoke is easy ” and his “ burden is light ” ( v . 30 ).
12:1 – 14 Both plucking grain and healing a man whose life was not at risk violated the
Pharisaic laws that had sprung up around Sabbath-keeping . Jesus justifies his behavior by claiming that he is “ Lord of the Sabbath ” ( v . 8 ), a claim that makes sense only coming from one who is divine . 12:1 – 8 Pharisees considered plucking grain to be work , because it was a form of harvesting and led to the preparation of a meal . These were two of the many activities that the Pharisees decided involved work , which the Scriptures forbade on the Sabbath , the seventh day of the week ( Exod 20:10 ). 12:3 – 4 Jesus , the greater son ( descendant ) of David , justifies his disciples ’ lawbreaking behavior by appealing to the OT example of David eating the sacred bread of the Presence when his men were hungry and nothing else was available ( 1 Sam 21:1 – 6 ). 12:5 – 6 For a second OT example of justifiable lawbreaking , and one that even involved the Sabbath , Jesus reminds his critics that priests who administered the sacrificial rites in the temple on the Sabbath ( e . g ., Num 28:9 – 10 ) were at work but were not considered to be sinning . Now “ something greater than the temple is here ” ( the kingdom and Jesus ’ ministry of ushering it in ), so he has even greater authority to determine what does and does not violate the Sabbath . 12:7 I desire mercy , not sacrifice . Hos 6:6 shows the priority of moral law over ritual law . Applied to the behavior of Jesus ’ disciples , satisfying hunger takes precedence over adhering to unwritten Sabbath traditions . 12:8 Lord . Need not mean more than “ Master ,” but who has sovereignty over God ’ s law but God himself ? So Jesus may be indirectly pointing to his deity as well . 12:9 – 14 This time certain Pharisees provoke the controversy by asking if it is “ lawful to heal ” ( v . 10 ) on the Sabbath , the day of rest . Jesus answers by another “ from the lesser to the greater ” argument and then heals a man whose hand is either atrophied or paralyzed (“ shriveled ,” v . 10 ). 12:11 – 12 Although the Dead Sea Scrolls community at Qumran forbade rescuing animals on the Sabbath , all other Jews permitted it . So they should be all the more concerned to heal a human being on God ’ s holy day . it is lawful to do good on the Sabbath . This statement opens the door for sweeping changes in the understanding of this day because there are countless forms of helpful , constructive behavior that can be seen as doing good . 12:14 Legalists of all eras put obedience to rules above love for people . In extreme instances , this misguided passion leads to murderous rage . Matthew may hint here at their hypocrisy as they condemn Jesus for doing good on the Sabbath but are willing to plot his death on the same day .