Daily Bread 2011 - Matthew 12
Daily Bread Together – Monday – Matthew 12
Verse of the Day: 12:11-12
“He said to them, “If any of you has a sheep and it falls into a pit on the Sabbath, will you not take hold of it and lift it out? How much more valuable is a person than a sheep! Therefore it is lawful to do good on the Sabbath.”
What Does This Mean? As Jesus continues his ministry of preaching the Word about God’s kingdom, and then revealing it through healing and many other works of power, the Pharisees start to get very suspicious of him. The Pharisees were the ones who were in charge of making sure that the Jewish Law was kept. But the problem was they were so steeped in legalism, they missed the true purpose of the Law, which was to give life not take it away.
Jesus uses examples of the disciples eating when they were hungry on the Sabbath, and his own healing of a man who had a shriveled hand to illustrate how far their legalism had gone. Jesus points out there own erroneous thinking by using the example of a sheep that falls into a pit that they would surely try to rescue. Why would they then be opposed to a man being healed on the Sabbath?
The problem with legalism (seeing our relationship with God based on how well we keep the rules) is number one, no one can truly measure up to God’s laws, and secondly the basis for our spirituality is what we are doing for God and not for what He has already done for us.
What Does This Mean For Us?
Although it is easy to accuse the Pharisees, what are the temptations we have in the church today to become like the Pharisees? Whenever our spiritual striving becomes more about us, and a barrier for ordinary people to experience God’s transforming grace, then we are headed down the road of the Pharisee. Whenever our faith becomes more about a rule than a relationship, we should be wary of going down this slippery slope.
Most people know when they have done wrong, they just need to know that God is for them and not against them, and He has provided a way out through the Son. God’s commandments are to protect us from our sinful nature and to lead us to Christ, so that we can experience true transformation from within not from without. The next time you are tempted to respond like the Pharisee, remember the amazing grace that God gave you when you were lost like the sheep that fell into the pit. God reached out his hand and pulled you out just because He loved you!
Jesus like the sheep that fell by the side of the road, you reached out to grab us when we need a lift out of the pit. Help us to be on guard for thinking like the Pharisees and making it about what we do and not about what you have done for us. In Your name, Amen.
Verse of the Day: 12:11-12
“He said to them, “If any of you has a sheep and it falls into a pit on the Sabbath, will you not take hold of it and lift it out? How much more valuable is a person than a sheep! Therefore it is lawful to do good on the Sabbath.”
What Does This Mean? As Jesus continues his ministry of preaching the Word about God’s kingdom, and then revealing it through healing and many other works of power, the Pharisees start to get very suspicious of him. The Pharisees were the ones who were in charge of making sure that the Jewish Law was kept. But the problem was they were so steeped in legalism, they missed the true purpose of the Law, which was to give life not take it away.
Jesus uses examples of the disciples eating when they were hungry on the Sabbath, and his own healing of a man who had a shriveled hand to illustrate how far their legalism had gone. Jesus points out there own erroneous thinking by using the example of a sheep that falls into a pit that they would surely try to rescue. Why would they then be opposed to a man being healed on the Sabbath?
The problem with legalism (seeing our relationship with God based on how well we keep the rules) is number one, no one can truly measure up to God’s laws, and secondly the basis for our spirituality is what we are doing for God and not for what He has already done for us.
What Does This Mean For Us?
Although it is easy to accuse the Pharisees, what are the temptations we have in the church today to become like the Pharisees? Whenever our spiritual striving becomes more about us, and a barrier for ordinary people to experience God’s transforming grace, then we are headed down the road of the Pharisee. Whenever our faith becomes more about a rule than a relationship, we should be wary of going down this slippery slope.
Most people know when they have done wrong, they just need to know that God is for them and not against them, and He has provided a way out through the Son. God’s commandments are to protect us from our sinful nature and to lead us to Christ, so that we can experience true transformation from within not from without. The next time you are tempted to respond like the Pharisee, remember the amazing grace that God gave you when you were lost like the sheep that fell into the pit. God reached out his hand and pulled you out just because He loved you!
Jesus like the sheep that fell by the side of the road, you reached out to grab us when we need a lift out of the pit. Help us to be on guard for thinking like the Pharisees and making it about what we do and not about what you have done for us. In Your name, Amen.
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