Peter Barnes | Matthew 12:1-4
SERMON NOTES
JESUS AS LORD OF THE SABBATH, part 1
1 Samuel 21:1-9; Matthew 12:1-4
– Jesus and the Pharisees on Sabbath burdens (recall 11:28-30).
1. The deed in question.
– 12:1; this is allowed in Deut.23:24-25.
2. The Pharisees’ accusation.
– 12:2; Ex.34:21. In the days of the Maccabees (2nd century B.C.) the Jews allowed themselves to be slaughtered rather than supposedly break the Sabbath. That is contrary to God’s law (note Josh.6:3-4 which took in a Sabbath).
– Charles Simeon:
They will in effect argue thus: I do not walk out on a Sabbath-day; therefore an artisan may not walk out into the fields for an hour on that day. They forget that the poor man is confined all the rest of the week, which they are not; and that they themselves will walk in their own garden, when the poor have no garden to walk in.
3. Moral laws take precedence over ceremonial laws.
– 12:3-4; 1 Samuel 21:1-6; Lev.24:9.
– Christ is not saying that to be compassionate, we can set aside God’s clear commandments. 1 Samuel 21 is from the Old Testament!