Peter Barnes | Matthew 12:9-14
SERMON NOTES
JESUS AS LORD OF THE SABBATH, part 3
Proverbs 12:1-10; Matthew 12:9-14
– Jesus heals a man with a withered hand (Mark 3; Luke 6).
1. Unbelievers cannot live consistently with their own views.
– 12:10-14; Luke tells us that it was his right hand (Luke 6:6). The Pharisees wanted to trap Him (see 19:3; 21:23-27; 22:15).
– The Mishnah: if a person broke a limb on the Sabbath, it could be made comfortable but not set. The Damascus Document: ‘No man shall assist a beast to give birth on the Sabbath day. And if it should fall into a cistern or pit, he shall not lift it out on the Sabbath.’
– Jesus’ says that most could not live with their own views. Richard Dawkins says we are selfish genes who wonder!
2. Human beings are made in God’s image.
– 12:11-12. See Matt.6:26; 10:31; Spurgeon said that there were some in his day who became more indignant about the killing of a fox than at the starving of a pauper.
3. The unbelieving heart can be very hard.
– 12:13-14. Unbelief is irrational – see John 11:45, 53.
– ‘Today, if you will hear His voice, do not harden your hearts’ (Heb.4:7).