Burunche’s Blog

Matthew 12: ⁷ If you had known what these words mean, ‘I desire mercy, not sacrifice,’ you would not have condemned the innocent. ⁸ For the Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath.” ⁹ Going on from that place, he went into their synagogue, ¹⁰ and a man with a shriveled hand was there. Looking for a reason to bring charges against Jesus, they asked him, “Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath?” ¹¹ 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? ¹² How much more valuable is a person than a sheep! Therefore it is lawful to do good on the Sabbath.” ¹³ Then he said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” So he stretched it out and it was completely restored, just as sound as the other. ¹⁴ But the Pharisees went out and plotted how they might kill Jesus.”

So far, the Pharisees refused to believe the teachings of Jesus about the Sabbath. For the Pharisees, the Sabbath had become an idol just as massive as any gold – plated statue that had ever been fashioned. Now Jesus was turning everything they KNEW and BELIEVED about the Sabbath upside down! This upstart! How dare he question them? THEY were the experts! Who did this guy think he was anyway?

But God had ordained the Sabbath as a time of rest and joy and celebration of His goodness, not as a time of misery. And even the Pharisees in all their legalism had made allowances for emergencies that might take place on the Sabbath. If a sheep belonging to a Pharisee fell into a pit, it was legal to save the sheep’s life by lifting it out. And Jesus, finding the loophole in the legalistic reasoning, asks the basic question: “How much more valuable is a person than a sheep?” Surely, at the back of the crowd there must have been some of the common people snickering at this reply. “OOOO! Good one, Jesus! How are they going to reply to that one!”

Having made the point that it was lawful to do good on the Sabbath, Jesus heals the withered hand. Let’s look at that again. For a hand to “wither,” it takes time – months or even years. Tissues don’t just shrivel up over night. So this man’s hand had probably been like that for a long time. And if it was the man’s right hand, it was even more significant. The right hand was the social hand, the hand with which one ate, the hand with which one paid money. The left hand was used to wipe one’s bottom after defecation. If someone in that day lost the use of his right hand, it was a double catastrophe. And in addition, those with physical deformities were barred from entering the synagogue and therefore were cut off from formal worship. But now Jesus healed the man merely by asking him to stretch out his hand. Wow! What a miracle!

Do the Pharisees give glory to God and rejoice because this man has been restored? Nope! Their response was to go out and plot how they could kill Jesus, the man who had just done a miraculous healing.

For the Pharisees, being right was more important than mercy, goodness, or loving kindness. The Pharisees had reduced religion to a series of rules – the old wine skins that Jesus had mentioned previously. Now the Holy Spirit was coming in new ways doing wonderful healings and restorations. The tragedy for many of the Pharisees was that they were so caught up in their rules that they failed to see the new thing God was doing.

PRAYER: FATHER GOD, TODAY MANY OF YOUR CHILDREN ARE IN DANGER FROM COVID – 19. ALL OF THEIR LIVE MATTER! PLEASE, LORD, HAVE MERCY AND HEAL THEM, PROTECT THOSE WHO CARE FOR THEM AND WHO WORK WITH THE PUBLIC, AND STOP COVID – 19. IN THE MIGHTY NAME OF JESUS. AMEN.

Matthew 12: 1- 8 At that particular time Jesus went through the fields of standing grain on the Sabbath; and His disciples were hungry, and they began to pick off the spikes of grain and to eat. 2 And when the Pharisees saw it, they said to Him, See there! Your disciples are doing what is unlawful and not permitted on the Sabbath.”

There was nothing wrong with picking standing grain; in fact, this practice was allowed according to Deuteronomy 23:25; however, the disciples were doing this on the Sabbath! Over the years, the Pharisees had made lots of rules to supplement those given to Moses, and there was a long list of things one could and could not do on the Sabbath. As the years went on and technology developed, the lists of acts forbidden on the Sabbath became longer and longer. One Jewish American who grew up in New York City 100 years ago described the employment of the “Shabbas Goy” – the Sabbath Gentile, who went throughout the apartment building turning on lights, lighting cook stoves, and doing other small acts that the ultra – orthodox considered work and therefore something that could not be done on the Sabbath.

But were the disciples wrong in feeding themselves? No. And Jesus goes on to point out that when David was fleeing from Saul and he and his men were hungry, they at the loaves of the showbread that were supposed to be reserved for the priests. (Matthew 12:3-4) Jesus also pointed out out that “in the Law on the Sabbath the priests in the temple violate the sanctity of the Sabbath and yet are guiltless.” (Matthew 12: 5)

The Pharisees were obsessed with rules! They were certain that if they just followed enough rules, they would surely make it into heaven. But they were absolutely wrong! In the beginning, God instituted certain rules so that people would pay attention to Him, so that people would stay healthy, and so that people would get enough rest. Recently there has been an upsurge in the number of books and articles on the benefits of taking regular Sabbaths once a week. Hmm! Who knew that God was so smart?

But the Pharisees had totally lost sight of the reason for the rules in the first place. The rules were not a ladder by means of which people could earn their way to heaven. The rules were to help point people back to a God who loved them so much that He wanted them to stay healthy, to live long and productive lives, and to love Him for Who He was. And that’s where things went wrong.

When I was taking piano lessons as a kid, periodically, we would have recitals. These recitals would start with the little kids hacking their way through beginning compositions, frequently with no sense of rhythm or anything else. Those kids were playing notes all right, but to call it music was a stretch. The same kind of thing can be heard on Karaoke nights at restaurants. Some people who get up to sing should have remained in the audience; their sense of pitch is terrible, their timing is worse, and the tunes get lost from the time they open their mouths! And this is what had happened to the Pharisees.

Now, were all the Pharisees wrong? No! Certainly, among the Pharisees, there were men who truly longed for God and were seeking Him. Nicodemus, who came to Jesus at night (John 3:1-21) was not just a Pharisee, but a leader of the Pharisees. It was to Nicodemus that Jesus disclosed some of the most precious truths about His mission, about the Holy Spirit, and about the love of God for the world. Did Jesus make a mistake? Certainly not! Jesus knew Nicodemus better than Nicodemus knew himself. Jesus knew that Nicodemus had an incredible hunger for God and that he had spent his whole life searching for God and trying to please God. Jesus imparted some of the greatest truths of the kingdom to Nicodemus in the most loving fashion possible.

While all the Pharisees could do was to criticize, Jesus was trying to remind them that “the Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath.” The Sabbath was God’s way of giving people a chance to step back, to reflect, and to rest. Today many families are sheltering due to COVID – 19. Why not look on this as an opportunity to celebrate a Sabbath, to be quiet, to rest, and to reflect. Certainly, there is a lot of stress, but if we allow it, there can also be a lot of peace as well.

PRAYER: Father God, thank you for giving us the Sabbath and for reminding us that this is one of Your good gifts to us. Help us to be quiet and to allow your Holy Spirit to speak to our hearts. In the matchless Name of Jesus. Amen.

Matthew 11: 25 At that time Jesus declared, “I praise You, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because You have hidden these things from the wise and learned, and revealed them to little children. 26 Yes, Father, for this was well-pleasing in Your sight.

27 All things have been entrusted to Me by My Father. No one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and those to whom the Son chooses to reveal Him.

28 Come to Me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. 29 Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me; for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30 For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.”

We are all stressed! If you are one of the critically needed professions, you are working with the fear of COVID – 19 in the back of your mind all the time. Learning to wear a mask and perhaps gloves, learning not to touch your face, and washing your hands as frequently as possible or using hand sanitizer – all of this is stressful. If you are sheltering at home with children and other family members, by now you have realized what a big debt you owe to their teachers! If you are in an area with COVID – 19 cases, you wonder what will happen next. If your area has not yet been hit, you wonder when it will be. Yes. We are all stressed!

In times such as these, we are tempted to think that Jesus lived in a much simpler and safer age and therefore could not possibly understand what we are going through now. WRONG!!!! Actually, Jesus lived in a very dangerous age. First, there were lots of diseases such as malaria and typhoid and other “fevers” that could strike suddenly, killing people within hours. It’s possible that some of these fevers might have been diphtheria, since that really can kill people quickly. Cholera lurked, waiting for someone to drink infected water. And then there were the Romans, the occupiers, the bullies who could force anybody to carry their gear at any time. No. Things weren’t safe in Jesus’ day either.

How can we find Jesus? How can we find this rest that He has promised? It’s actually as simple as asking. People who make a mystery of prayer are wrong. Prayer is a conversation with God, not a one – way recitation. Find a quiet place away from other people – your closet or the bathroom or the laundry room, if you have one. (Laundry rooms are good; how many family members are going to follow you there?) And then tell Jesus what’s going on, how you are feeling, your hopes and your fears. Then be quiet. And in the stillness, you might not hear any words, but the peace will come.

PRAYER: Jesus, today, we need your peace! We need rest! We need help! Please help us to get quiet before you and to feel the peace that you want to give us. We ask this in your precious Name. Amen.

Matthew 11:20 “Then Jesus began to denounce the cities in which most of His miracles had been performed, because they did not repent. 21“Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! For if the miracles that were performed in you had been performed in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes. 22 But I tell you, it will be more bearable for Tyre and Sidon on the day of judgment than for you. 23 And you, Capernaum, will you be lifted up to heaven? No, you will be brought down to Hades! For if the miracles that were performed in you had been performed in Sodom, it would have remained to this day. 24 But I tell you that it will be more bearable for Sodom on the day of judgment than for you.”

For hundreds of years, the Jews had looked down on Tyre and Sidon. After all, those two cities belonged to the Philistines and were dedicated to the worship of idols. And if Tyre and Sidon were anathema, Sodom and Gomorrah were even worse! After all, Sodom and Gomorrah were so evil that God literally rained fire from heaven down upon those two cities to destroy them. Chorazin, Bethsaida, and Capernaum are all clustered together on the north shore of the Sea of Galilee. Within a short time after Jesus’ pronouncements, all three villages sank into oblivion, their actual locations forgotten. Today Bethsaida and Capernaum have been largely preserved due to monuments and churches of various kinds; however, Chorazin is little more than basalt ruins inhabited by rock badgers.

Why were Jesus’ predictions so harsh? These three villages were the scenes of some of Jesus’ greatest miracles, and yet, the people failed to repent. They were willing to follow Jesus for entertainment, but their hearts were hard and their spiritual eyes were blind. Never since the days of Elijah and Elisha the prophets had anyone been raised from the dead or healed of leprosy! Jesus was preaching and teaching about the kingdom of God, using parables that should have spoken to the hearts of all his hearers. When Jonah finally obeyed God and went to Nineveh to preach, everyone in the entire city, including the king, fasted, dressed themselves in sack cloth, and sat in ashes and repented. Jesus observed that had he preached in Tyre and Sidon, demon – ridden as they were, their inhabitants would have copied the example of the Ninevites and repented.

Folks in the rural southern United States are fond of saying, “Even a blind hog can find an acorn once in awhile.” This means that even if someone is not very bright, if they keep trying, they can still find what they are seeking or succeed at the task they have attempted. If the people of Chorazin, Bethsaida, and Capernaum had actually been hungry for more of God, they would have immediately recognized Jesus as the miracle – working Messiah foretold in Scripture and would have repented. As it was, these unfortunate people were worse off than the proverbial blind hog searching for acorns.

Today the world is convulsed over the COVID – 19 pandemic. The things that people valued so highly have proven to be worthless. COVID – 19 does not regard social position, wealth, fame, or professions. Even Prince Charles and Boris Johnston have tested positive for COVID – 19. But while people are caught up in fear; meanwhile, God is doing great things throughout the world. Health care givers are sacrificing, ordinary people are doing great acts of kindness. While some people are dying from COVID – 19, there are also people who are recovering. God is still working; it is high time we paid attention! The people of Chorazin, Bethsaida, and Capernaum had no idea that they were standing on the brink of eternity. Today, we are in a similar position; none of us has been guaranteed tomorrow. Joshua told the Children of Israel, “Choose this day whom you will serve.” Today we have the same choice. Jesus Christ came as a man, died for the sins of the world, and conquered death and the grave. Will you follow Him today?

PRAYER: Lord Jesus, today we are terrified of the possibility of death for us or for our friends and families. But you conquered death and the grave. We admit that we are sinners and are helpless. Lord, we cannot save ourselves. Save us, Lord, and help us to follow hard after you all the rest of our lives, however long or short they might be. In your Name, Jesus. Amen.