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Well, please turn with me in 
your Bibles to Matthew chapter 12. Continue to go through the 
gospel according to Matthew. We find ourselves in verses 9 
to 14 this morning. Matthew chapter 12, I will begin 
reading in verse 1 and read to verse 21 to set this particular 
section or passage in its context. So beginning in Matthew 12, verse 
1. At that time, Jesus went through the grain fields on the Sabbath, 
and His disciples were hungry and began to pluck heads of grain 
and to eat. And when the Pharisees saw it, 
they said to Him, Look, Your disciples are doing what is not 
lawful to do on the Sabbath. But he said to them, Have you 
not read what David did when he was hungry, he and those who 
were with him, how he entered the house of God and ate the 
showbread, which was not lawful for him to eat, nor for those 
who were with him, but only for the priests? Or have you not 
read in the law that on the Sabbath the priests in the temple profane 
the Sabbath and are blameless? Yet I say to you that in this 
place there is one greater than the temple. But if you had known 
what this means, I desire mercy and not sacrifice, you would 
not have condemned the guiltless. For the Son of Man is Lord even 
of the Sabbath. Now when he had departed from 
there, he went into their synagogue. And behold, there was a man who 
had a withered hand. And they asked him, saying, Is 
it lawful to heal on the Sabbath that they might accuse him? Then 
he said to them, What man is there among you who has one sheep, 
and if it falls into a pit on the Sabbath, will not lay hold 
of it and lift it out? Of how much more value then is 
a man than a sheep? Therefore it is lawful to do 
good on the Sabbath. Then he said to the man, Stretch 
out your hand. And he stretched it out, and 
it was restored as whole as the other. Then the Pharisees went 
out and plotted against him how they might destroy him. But when 
Jesus knew it, he withdrew from there, and great multitudes followed 
him, and he healed them all. Yet he warned them not to make 
him known, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Isaiah the 
prophet, saying, Behold my servant whom I have chosen, my beloved 
in whom my soul is well pleased. I will put my spirit upon him, 
and he will declare justice to the Gentiles. He will not quarrel 
nor cry out, nor will anyone hear His voice in the streets. 
A bruised reed He will not break, and smoking flax He will not 
quench, till He sends forth justice to victory, and in His name Gentiles 
will trust. Amen. Let us pray. Our God and 
Father, we thank You for this opportunity to look at the Scriptures 
now. We pray for the ministry of Your Holy Spirit. We pray, 
God, that You would guide us and lead us into all truth, that 
you would help us and affect us with these things in your 
word. We pray for the forgiveness of 
our sins. We know that you are faithful and just to forgive 
those who ask. We praise you and thank you for 
your son, the Lord Jesus, and the provision that we have in 
him for forgiveness and for mercy and for grace. We just pray that 
in all of this you would be glorified, that you would be exalted, and 
that you would be well pleased to bless your people here with 
strength. And we ask through Jesus Christ our Lord, amen. Well, as we saw last week in 
verses 1 to 8, and as we'll see this morning in verses 9 to 14, 
there's conflict concerning the Sabbath. And I think sometimes 
for us as modern readers of the Bible, we don't always see the 
significance of the Sabbath. This is because, first of all, 
we're not Jews and we're not under this Jewish Sabbath law, 
but even within the church over the last 100 or 200 years, there 
has been a decline in appreciation for the fourth commandment. In 
fact, some would say that the fourth commandment of the ten 
is no longer binding upon us today. Obviously we differ with 
that assessment, but suffice it to say we don't always appreciate 
how Israel viewed the Sabbath days. So when we come to a passage 
like this, it's a bit perplexing. Well, the Sabbath was the day 
that God made in the Garden of Eden, according to Genesis chapter 
2, after He finished His work of creation, the Lord God's Sabbath. One man says this was the day 
of enthronement for God, and it set a pattern for Adam in 
the Garden of this six-in-one rhythm. And then at Sinai, God 
gives this fourth commandment to the children of Israel. He 
later explains in Exodus 31 that the Sabbath itself was a sign 
between me and your generations, that it is God who sanctifies 
His people. The Sabbath for Israel became 
sort of a badge of identity. When you see a maple leaf, for 
instance, you think Canada, or most people think Canada. When 
you heard Sabbath, you thought Israel. You thought Israel's 
God, Yahweh. And so what happens here in this 
gospel record is that the Pharisees, who were allegedly sticklers 
to the law, were trying to trip up Jesus. In fact, in Matthew 
chapter 12, we see rising opposition against the Lord. He's accused 
of being a lawbreaker here, with reference to the Sabbath. Later 
on, as we continue in the narrative, after the section we just read 
up to, Jesus is accused of being an agent of Satan. And then later 
on in chapter 12, Jesus is accused of being a self-appointed teacher. And so the Pharisees, the religious 
leaders of His day, are rising in their opposition to Him, and 
it culminates here in verse 14, that they want to destroy Him. 
And so what we find here in these Sabbath conflicts really isn't 
ultimately about the details of the Sabbath, rather it's about 
His claims to being the Lord of the Sabbath. In other words, 
it's the authority of Christ that ultimately incenses these 
men and causes them to want to kill Him. Well, as we consider 
this second aspect of Sabbath conflict this morning, we'll 
consider three things. First, the Pharisees' accusation 
in verses 9 and 10, and the Lord's response in verses 11 to 13, 
and then the Pharisees' plot in verse 14. So that's a bit 
of a map where we'll go this morning in our consideration 
of Matthew chapter 12, verses 9 to 14. And as I often say, 
if you miss these introductory bits, I think in many respects 
they are for me to refresh my mind in terms of our context, 
because it's never good to study the Bible in isolation from the 
context. We need to understand what is 
going on in the life, the ministry, and the mission of our Lord Jesus 
Christ. But note, first of all, the Pharisees' 
accusation in verses 9 and 10, the setting. He left the grain 
fields. Chapter 12, verse 1, we find 
Jesus going through the grain fields on the Sabbath. Of course, 
His disciples are hungry, they began to pluck the heads of grain, 
and as a result, the Pharisees accuse Him, or accuse them, of 
being guilty. They bring the charge to the 
Master, because of course he would be responsible for his 
disciples. Your disciples do what is unlawful 
to do on the Sabbath. The Lord Jesus then points them 
to the Scriptures. He gives them a five-fold response 
there with reference to the activity of the disciples. He first highlights 
the example of David. It was not sinful It was not 
wicked, it was not evil for David to go into the house of God and 
to seek food on the Sabbath day, and to eat that showbread which 
was for the priests alone. In other words, if the Pharisees' 
indictment of Jesus' disciples is true, they must also indict 
King David of Israel, and that they're not going to do. Jesus 
then highlights the ministry of the conduct of the priests. 
The priests profane the Sabbath. In other words, the priests get 
up early on the Sabbath day, and they work hard in terms of 
sacrifice. But they're not guilty of breaking 
the law. Jesus then highlights the reality 
that He Himself is superior to the temple itself. He says that 
He is greater than the temple. Later on in this chapter, He 
says He is greater. than the prophet Jonah. He is 
greater than King Solomon. So in each of these instances, 
Jesus is a superior and greater prophet, priest, and king. Jesus 
then highlights the testimony of Hosea the prophet. You need 
to understand what God spoke through the prophet Hosea. I 
desire mercy and not sacrifice. And then he asserts his Lordship, 
his comprehensive Lordship. He is the Lord even of the Sabbath. And so this is the context of 
the Sabbath. He departs from the grain fields, 
now he enters into their synagogue. It's interesting the way it's 
identified here. It's their synagogue. It's not 
his synagogue. Of course, if he's in Capernaum, 
this would be his home synagogue, but there is, as I said, opposition 
rising. There's a contrast building between 
the religious leadership of Israel and the mission and ministry 
of the Lord Jesus Christ. Chamblin says, in this instance, 
the personal pronoun, there, reflects the growing rift between 
Jesus and the nation's leadership, represented here by the Pharisees, 
whose forthcoming action in 1214 is a chilling reminder of 1017. 
Remember what Jesus reminded his disciples concerning. They 
will scourge you in their synagogues. They will destroy you because 
of the cause of Jesus Christ. It's also interesting here, just 
by way of a long sideline note, it's become popular over the 
last, I don't know, hundred years with the emergence of a particular 
book, to ask the question, what would Jesus do? WWJD. May I suggest that Jesus would 
go to church on Sunday. Look at where he is on the Sabbath 
day. There's this growing rift. He 
understands it. There's opposition. He is the 
Lord of glory himself. He is the one, according to the 
apostle, in whom are hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. And yet he submits himself to 
this ecclesiastical authority, and he is found in the synagogue 
on the Sabbath day. We ought to follow his example 
in this area. Now note, secondly, with reference 
to their accusation, the situation. Verse 10, and behold. This is 
Matthew's word. Not just Matthew's, it's a Greek 
word used often by Matthew. Behold. Pay attention. Look at this. Understand. Very 
often it's used to signify when Jesus is going to do a miracle, 
or exercise some power, or majesty. Matthew wants us to pay close 
attention to what is happening in this situation. Behold, listen, 
look, pay attention to this. Give your attention to these 
things. It says that, Behold, there was a man who had a withered 
hand. The word means it's dried, it's 
paralyzed, it's restricted from work. Luke's parallel in Luke 
chapter 6 verse 16 indicates that it's his right hand. Now, 
in a situation where men probably didn't make their living on a 
computer, which I know they didn't, he was probably a laborer. And 
without the aid of his most strong hand, I know lefties have a solidarity 
and they like to think that they're special, and I'm not here to 
tell you you're not special, but more often than not, people 
are right-handed. Right? Jesus sits down at the 
right hand of the majesty of God on high. Now, don't take 
that as a diss if you are left-handed. But Luke highlights, the narrative 
highlights, this guy's in bad shape, but it's not life-threatening. He's not going to die on this 
particular Sabbath day because of a withered hand. And so that's 
setting up the situation here, and that leads then to the particular 
question that the Pharisees ask. And behold, there was a man who 
had a withered hand, and they asked him, saying, is it lawful 
to heal on the Sabbath? This is the same thing we found 
In verse 2, look, your disciples do what is not lawful on the 
Sabbath. The command is given at Sinai. 
It's repeated on the plains of Moab in Deuteronomy 5. It's fleshed 
out in certain details, but not as descriptive as man would want. 
And so in the Jewish Talmud, in the Mishnah, they gave 39 
categories of work that was prohibited by the Fourth Commandment. These 
men are operating not based on the law of God, but based on 
their tradition, based on their interpretation, based on their 
understanding that as we move through the narrative we see 
is faulty. Our foundation for life and ethics 
and doctrine and practice must be the written Word of God. It 
mustn't be our tradition. It mustn't be our addition. And 
in this adding to the Scripture, in putting up these 39 categories, 
people could say, well, you know, they're sticklers for detail. 
They want to make sure they don't violate the law. That's respectable, 
isn't it? No, it's suggesting that God 
doesn't know how to protect His law. It is always wrong, brethren, 
for us to add to the law something that God Himself hasn't spoken. You may think it's a good idea. 
You may think it's a right application. You may be convinced of your 
particular preference. But as much as God the Lord is 
against you taking away from the Word, so God the Lord is 
against you adding to the Word. And that's what's going on in 
the narrative here. Notice that Matthew highlights 
for us their particular motive. They ask the question, is it 
lawful to heal on the Sabbath that they might accuse him? They're not looking for information. 
They're not looking for a theological dialogue. Jesus, by this time, 
is known as a rabbi. He's known as a teacher. He has 
been seen teaching multitudes and peoples. He has been seen 
interacting with these religious leaders. They're not asking Him 
what's His view, what's His interpretation, what's His take. They're challenging 
His assertion in verse 8 that He Himself is the Lord of the 
Sabbath. They want to accuse Him. It's a legal word. They 
want to build their case against Him. They are already growing 
opposed to Him, and they want to get rid of Him. He is a threat 
to their way of life. They are addressing the Lord 
of the Sabbath on a particular interpretation to try and trip 
Him up. That's it. They're not looking 
for information. You ever met those people? They 
come to you and they ask you a question, and you know in the 
way that they phrase it. They're not asking you a question. 
They just want an opportunity to establish their particular 
point. You'll hear this in Christian 
gatherings at times, at the Q&A. You know, the pastor, the scholar, 
the respected doctor is up there and somebody has an agenda. Somebody 
is not looking for information. Somebody just wants to make sure 
that all these poor slobs are being taught the right way through 
his question. That's what these guys are doing. 
to the Lord of the Sabbath, to the one who is greater than David, 
to the one to whom the tabernacle pointed to, the one who is the 
embodiment of mercy himself, the one who has comprehensive 
lordship over all things, They are trying to accuse Him. You've 
got to pay attention. When we move through Matthew's 
Gospel, as you understand this rising opposition, it has to 
jump into your head at a certain point. Why are they against Him? Why do they want to destroy Him? 
Why is verse 14 in this particular section? What is it about this 
Jesus that makes people so angry, that makes them so vehemently 
opposed, that makes them want to destroy Him, and if they can't 
get to Him, they will destroy his people. What is it about 
this Christ? And Matthew wants you to understand 
what it is about this Christ throughout his gospel record. 
Now notice, there's the accusation. Let's look at the Lord's response, 
verses 11 to 13. It's fourfold. Jesus does what 
a rabbi does. He asks them a question. It's 
a good teaching technique when it's done properly, when it's 
Jesus, not them. He asks a question, he establishes 
a contrast, he draws an implication, and then he gives a command. 
That's the fourfold response that Jesus engages here in verses 
11 to 13. Notice, then he said to them, 
what man is there among you who has one sheep, and if it falls 
into a pit on the Sabbath, will not lay hold of it and lift it 
out? There is a growing concern about 
Christ. Verse 8 is sort of the linchpin 
in these two narratives. Verse 8 summarizes or climaxes 
verses 1 to 7, and verse 8 introduces this situation in verses 9 to 
14. So Jesus asks this particular 
question, and it's a good question. What man is there among you? 
He has one sheep. This suggests a poor man. He 
doesn't have a hundred sheep, he has one sheep. Kind of almost 
is analogous to this man with a withered right hand. He's obviously 
poor, he's obviously destitute, he obviously can't work because 
he's in an agrarian society and he's only left-handed now. Probably 
not by birth either. It's a good question. The law 
stipulated mercy to animals. Deuteronomy 22, 4. You shall 
not see your brother's donkey or his ox fall down along the 
road and hide yourself from them. You shall surely help him lift 
them up again. It's probably a property law, 
but nevertheless, when this animal is fallen, help it up. Proverbs 
12 verse 10 describes a righteous man this way, a righteous man 
regards the life of his animal, but the tender mercies of the 
wicked are cruel. Now we don't worship the creature, 
we don't worship nature, we don't run around singing Born Free 
and Berries and Nuts and adoring the animals, but we are not to 
be irresponsible. We are not to be butchers in 
an ungodly manner. The Lord is sovereign over the 
universe. The earth is the Lord's in all 
its fullness. Christian people are to be stewards 
of those things. So Jesus appeals to something 
that they very well have done on the Sabbath day. Which one 
of you? Is there anyone in the synagogue 
today, in Capernaum, who if his sheep was in the... his one sheep 
was in a ditch, wouldn't help him out? Now, interesting, in 
the history of rabbinic interpretation, there were those who said, you 
don't help it out. In fact, the Qumran community, 
the ones where we've gotten the Dead Sea Scrolls from, Qumran 
apparently said that you could feed the beast while it was in 
the ditch, but you couldn't try to work to get it out. Or you could throw something 
into the ditch so that the beast could then grab footing and try 
to work its way out. Do you see what men did with 
the Sabbath that was made for man and not man for the Sabbath? 
They put up all these artificial things. They put up all these 
details. They put up all these issues. 
Jesus strips it all away and says it's lawful to do good on 
the Sabbath. That's it. You don't need to 
make it that hard. You don't need to make it that 
convoluted. You don't need to make it that 
difficult. God gave this for the good of 
man. He himself was enthroned on this 
Sabbath day. Adam would see this as a rhythm 
of one and seven, wherein he would rest and be blessed and 
worship his God. And certainly on that day, Adam 
could fetch his sheep out of the ditch if it fell into a hole. But the rabbinic interpretation 
probably was not held to that strictly. In other words, though 
the Qumran community and though some of these rabbis made these 
stipulations, the garden variety man in Israel fetched his sheep 
out of the ditch on the Sabbath. Manson says, "...the form of 
the question suggests that Jesus is not appealing to rule, but 
to the actual practice of his hearers. The question is addressed 
to men as men, and ordinary humanity is expected to supply the answer." 
This is one of those questions that's set up in this way. If 
you, for instance, didn't like to eat liver, and I were to say 
to you, you don't like liver, do you? What's the expected response? Well, of course I don't like 
liver. You don't like hitting your thumb with a hammer, do 
you? Well, no, of course I don't. 
That's what he's doing here. Which man of you on the Sabbath 
doesn't fetch his one sheep out of the ditch? Of course we do. This is common. This is Proverbs 
12. This is Deuteronomy 22. This 
is being a normal human being. This isn't being the most righteous 
law keeper in Israel. This is just being a decent, 
normal person. The parallel passages in Mark 
and Luke's gospel, Jesus says, is it lawful on the Sabbath to 
do good or to do evil, to save life or to kill it? Of course 
to save life. Of course to do good. Luke 6, 
is it lawful on the Sabbath to do good or to do evil, to save 
life or to destroy it? Now what man is going to stand 
up and say, you need to do evil on the Sabbath day. You need 
to destroy sheep. You need to destroy men. You 
need to leave men with withered hands alone. It doesn't matter 
that they can't work. It doesn't matter that they can't 
exercise their power. It doesn't matter that they can't. 
You just leave them alone because it's the Sabbath day. It's crazy, 
isn't it? Again, it's very easy for us 
to see it with the Pharisaic misinterpretation of the Sabbath 
command, and miss it with reference to our issues, and miss it with 
reference to our additions. I'll just quote him now. Charles 
Hodge makes this statement. It is a common saying that every 
man has a pope in his own bosom. That is, the disposition to lord 
it over God's heritage is almost universal. Men wish to have their 
opinions on moral questions made into laws to bind the consciences 
of their brethren. That is precisely what the Pharisees 
are doing, and Jesus is systematically ripping it apart. Note his contrast. Note the contrast in verse 12. Of how much more value, then, 
is a man than a sheep? In chapter 6, verse 26, Jesus 
says, look at the birds of the air. Are you not of more value 
than they? Chapter 10, verse 31, do not 
fear, therefore, you are of more value than many sparrows. Again, 
we ought not to engage in an irresponsible use of the creation. 
You don't take baseball bats and beat animals up for a thrill. The Bible is clear, man is more 
valuable. God would have us to fight more 
for baby humans than baby whales. God is concerned with His image 
bearer, and that's the backdrop of Jesus' statement when He says, 
of how much more value is a man over a sheep. Jesus is thinking, 
Genesis 1, God made man in His own image, in the image of God 
He made man. He breathed the spirit of life 
into man. We have a soul, we have rationality. You know, I always wonder, I 
often amuse on this, I think about this on Sunday mornings. 
One of the animals will jump up in my lap. When I say animals, 
I don't mean elephant, I mean a cat or a dog. And I've thought 
about that before. I'm sitting here reading my Bible 
or reading something and I realize they can't do that. They will 
never be able to do that. Why? Because they're not image 
bearers of God. They were not created with knowledge 
and righteousness and holiness. They were not given dominion 
over the creatures. What we have here with this man 
with a withered hand, that these Pharisees are all upset about, 
is it lawful to heal him on the Sabbath day? These self-same 
Pharisees would fetch one sheep out of a ditch. They would have 
steamed a sheep over an image-bearer. So Jesus is ripping down their 
defenses, and now Jesus draws out this implication. Notice, 
in verse 12, therefore it is lawful to do good on the Sabbath. The fourth commandment was made 
for man. Of course it is lawful to do 
good for man on the Sabbath. And if it's lawful to do good 
on the Sabbath, then look how he's answering the question. 
It is certainly lawful to heal on the Sabbath. You see what 
he's doing? He's silencing his opponents. 
He is shutting their mouths. He is stripping away their defenses. 
You know, Mark tells us something interesting in this section as 
well. Remember, the authors are not contradictory. Matthew, Mark, 
and Luke are historians. They're recording the record 
of the doing of the Lord Jesus Christ and His earthly ministry, 
but they're theologians. They're putting together their 
narratives to set forth the theology of who Christ is. And Mark indicates 
something interesting about the humanity of Christ in his record 
of this instance. It says, "...and when He, Jesus, 
looked around at them with anger." He looked around at them with 
anger, being grieved at the hardness of their hearts. It was a righteous 
anger. Jesus was holy, harmless, and 
undefiled. Don't necessarily take this text 
and say it's okay for me to jump on my horn and scream at the 
guy in front of me when he slows me down on Yale Road. It's probably 
not righteous anger. But in this instance where people 
are showing more esteem for a sheep than a man, where people are 
more concerned with their pharisaic details than with the law of 
God, when people have missed by this much the entire point 
of the fourth word, Jesus is angry with them, He is grieved 
with them, because they are hard in their hearts. This is what 
happens to the legalist. This is what happens to a man 
who does not treat God's law appropriately. appropriately 
and responsibly. It doesn't make God happy. It 
doesn't make God joyful. He doesn't say, isn't that wonderful 
that you've added all those stipulations that were born out of your own 
heart. No, leave my law alone. I am able to speak to issues 
dealing with matters of faith and practice. I am able to so 
structure my word that everything you need for the glory of God 
and the salvation of your souls is there and revealed. Jesus 
is upset at these men because of their attitude. Now notice 
fourthly and finally the command. Verse 13, then he said to the 
man, stretch out your hand. It's interesting because this 
is all somewhat incidental. This fellow woke up on a Sabbath 
day. He got himself out of bed, he ran a comb through his hair, 
he made his coffee or whatever the equivalent was, he had his 
breakfast and he marched his way to the synagogue on the Sabbath 
in Capernaum. What is the point of the passage 
is not necessarily the healing of this man, though as wonderful 
as that is, I'm sure that man would say that's the point of 
the passage. But you remember back in chapter 9? Remember when 
Jesus is teaching in that house that's packed with people, and 
these four men bring their paralyzed friend, and they can't come in 
because there's so many people. So they open up the roof, and 
they lower this man down. And when Jesus sees the man, 
he says, son, be of good cheer, your sins are forgiven you. And 
the Pharisees there are wondering in their own heads, who does 
this man think he is? Only God alone can forgive sins. 
So Jesus asks the question, which is easier, to say to the man, 
your sins are forgiven, or take up your bed and walk? Well, everybody 
would say it's easier to say your sins are forgiven, because 
we don't know if that happens. But if I make the pronouncement, 
take up your bed and walk, the proof is in the pudding. If he 
doesn't take up his bed and walk, then I do not have power. But 
what does Jesus say? but that you may know that the 
Son of Man has power on earth to forgive sins." He looked at 
the paralyzed man and he said, take up your bed and walk. The 
miracle of His taking up the bed and walking pointed to, confirmed, 
and affirmed the greater miracle that Jesus forgave Him of His 
sins. In this instance, the same thing 
is at play. It's verse 8 that's the issue. 
His assertion of being the Lord of the Sabbath. When He tells 
this man with a withered hand to stretch forth his hand, and 
the man does it because the Christ who gave the command has the 
power to enable him to comply with the command. It affirms 
verse 8. Jesus is the Lord of the Sabbath. Jesus is God's Son. Jesus is King of Kings. Jesus is Lord of Lords. It also points backwards to the 
immediate context. He is David's greater son. He 
does exceed the priesthood of Old Covenant Israel. He is the 
one to whom the tabernacle pointed. He is the embodiment of mercy, 
according to Hosea 6.6. And He is the one that exercises 
sovereignty over the Sabbath. Again, you've got to remember, 
if you weren't here last week, we looked at a few passages. 
How many times in the Old Testament Scriptures does God, Yahweh of 
Israel, call the Sabbath, My Sabbath? You see, verse 8 is 
a claim concerning the Fourth Commandment, to be sure, but 
it's a claim concerning His deity, concerning His Lordship, concerning 
His Godhood, concerning the fact that He is the Second Person 
of the Trinity. come into this world, sinners 
to save. As well, on the human level, 
Chamberlain says the Lord of the Sabbath does not stand aloof 
from frail and fallen human beings. Instead, as the meek and humble 
servant of Yahweh, He addresses their affliction and bears their 
burdens. Remember, the immediate context 
of all of these conflicts concerning the Sabbath is Jesus' pronouncement 
in Matthew 11, 28-30. Come to me, all you who labor 
and are heavy laden, and I will give you what? Sabbath! I will 
give you rest. I will free you from those burdens, 
I will free you from those labors, I will free you by my grace, 
and I will give you the rest that God held forth in that fourth 
word. truly is beautiful. And that 
brings us to consider finally the Pharisees' plot, verse 14. 
Matthew tells us in verse 13, He stretched it out, and it was 
restored as whole as the other. I mean, it'd be enough to say 
it was restored, or it was as whole as the other, but Matthew 
wants you to really know this man was healed. This man was 
really healed. He went home with the use of 
both hands. He called his boss, or he mailed his boss, or he 
texted his boss and said, I'll be in work tomorrow morning. 
This brother was happy. This man was thrilled. What does 
the scripture say to us in Romans 12? We are to rejoice with those 
who rejoice. Look at these men, verse 14. Then the Pharisees went out and 
plotted against him, how they might destroy him. In Luke's 
parallel in 6.11 it says, they were filled with rage. Do you 
imagine that? They're filled with rage. Jesus 
is right to be angry with them. Jesus is right to be grieved 
with them over the hardness of their hearts. But in this instance 
where the Lord of the Sabbath tells a man to reach out his 
withered hand, and it's whole, and it's restored, and it's just 
like the other one, It is wrong and wicked and vile for these 
men to be filled with rage. Instead of marveling at the power 
of God, instead of rejoicing that this man is now healed, 
instead of wondering at the reality that the Lord of Sabbath is standing 
right before their eyes, they're filled with rage. It's truly 
amazing, isn't it? If men ever wonder about the 
situation facing the world today, it isn't economics, it isn't 
politics. Those may be contributing factors 
and may find some way to hurt men in some small way. It is 
sin. It is the reality that these 
men are upset at the fact that Jesus Christ just healed a man. 
Like little children, like little babies. The Pharisees went out 
too, don't miss that. It's like the child who's upset, 
so he takes his marbles and he runs home. I'm not playing with 
you anymore. This is their synagogue, and 
in the midst of it, the Lord of the Sabbath exercises His 
sovereignty. He heals this man, and so they 
walk out filled with rage. We're not going back there. Like 
little babies. Again, it's not bad for babies 
to be babies. It's not bad for little children 
to be little children. Be little children. Be babies. 
If you're five, or if you're two, or if you're one. If you're 
a religious leader in Israel and you're filled with rage and 
you walk out of there like a baby, that's just wicked. It's terrible. It's bad. It's evil. So they 
went out and they plotted against Him how they might destroy Him. See, it's here we need to remind 
ourselves of where we've been in Matthew's gospel. How does 
Matthew begin? This is the book concerning Jesus, 
the son of Abraham, the son of David. He then details genealogy 
to verify this fact, that Jesus is the seed of Abraham, Jesus 
is the seed of David. We see the naming narrative. 
Joseph is told, you shall call his name Jesus, for it is he 
who will save his people from their sins. That sets the stage. That's programmatic. That's what 
the book of Matthew is about. It's about Jesus saving his people 
from their sins. We get to chapter 2, after the 
birth narratives, and what do we find? We find Herod enraged 
against Jesus, and he plots how he might destroy him. Why all these people wanting 
to destroy Jesus? Why all these people wanting 
to kill Jesus? What is the point behind the 
madness? Why the animosity? Why no love 
for the Lord of the Sabbath? This is the first time in Matthew's 
Gospel that we have read there's hints of opposition, there is 
suggestions of opposition. Jesus speaks in Matthew 9.15 
of the days coming when the bridegroom will be taken away from them 
in the naming of the twelve disciples of the twelve apostles in Matthew 
10.4. It speaks of Judas, and it gives us that parenthetical 
note, who would betray Him. So we're understanding, as I've 
said, there's animosity rising and growing, and here it comes 
to fruition. These men are plotting how they might destroy Him. This will take up much of the 
book from here on out. Several times in the narrative, 
the Lord Jesus will rehearse the fact that He must go to Jerusalem. Why must He go to Jerusalem to 
be tried, to be delivered up, to be crucified at the hands 
of godless men? Jesus knew exactly what He was 
doing. Jesus understood everything. 
Jesus was not mixed up. Jesus was not confused. Jesus 
didn't just meander down the road wondering what thing was 
going to happen to him today. There was a consciousness and 
a reality that he knew what was looming ahead for him. Jesus 
didn't come first and foremost to start a new religion. Jesus 
didn't come first and foremost to start a new philosophical 
school. Jesus didn't come first and foremost 
to do good things to people. Jesus didn't come first and foremost 
to heal the sick, and to feed the poor, and to raise the dead. 
All of Matthew's gospel is pointing to this reality. These Pharisees 
plotted how they might destroy him. And we need to come to grips 
with that. Why? Does 12.14, why would man, 
looking at the Lord of the Sabbath himself, want to kill him? The 
word's actually much severer than kill. It's not just kill, 
it is to destroy. It's one thing to kill something, 
it's another to destroy it, to rip it apart limb from limb. 
They would not be happy until it culminates and away with him, 
away with him, crucify him. Now these several Pharisees in 
Capernaum could not do the deed itself. It would ultimately be 
when he'd go to Jerusalem and face the High Council, the Sanhedrin. It would be them that would render 
the death warrant upon him. because they didn't have authority 
under the Roman government. They had to seek out Rome's assistance. 
They had to engage in harlotry. They had to engage in horda. 
They had to come up to these men in the Roman magistrate and 
get them to give this verdict. Why? What's the deal? Calvin 
says, it is truly monstrous and shocking that the most distinguished 
teachers of the law who are entrusted with the government of the church 
are engaged like robbers in contriving murder. Don't miss that. These 
are the religious leaders. These are the guys that should 
know better. These are the guys that should be operating according 
to mercy. And just look at just how foolish 
it is. Have you followed the argument? 
What are they upset for? He healed a man with a withered 
hand on the Sabbath day, which, incidentally, Jesus did not break 
the Sabbath, even by their own restrictions. He didn't lift 
up his hand. He didn't reach out his hand, 
he didn't touch the man, he didn't hug the man, he didn't comfort 
the man, he spoke a word, and the man reached out his hand 
and it was healed. So even by their own Mishnah, even by their 
own restrictions, he did not break the Sabbath. But consider 
this, they're upset, they're filled with rage in their heart, 
and they're plotting how they might destroy him because he 
healed a man on the Sabbath. Is it lawful to plot the destruction 
of another human being on the Sabbath? You see how foolish 
legalism is? You see how perverse it is? You 
see how whacked out we can get? There's an interesting thing 
later on in the gospel accounts when they come to the Pretoria. 
They come to the Gentiles. when they come to get the ruling 
wherein Christ will be delivered up and crucified. They don't 
want to go into the praetorium because it was a holy day and 
they didn't want to defile themselves. Are you kidding me? You are plotting 
the murder of the only innocent man that's ever lived and you 
want to maintain your ceremonial ritual. They are outraged, they 
want to murder, they want to destroy the Lord Christ, because 
He heals a man with a withered hand on the Sabbath. Are you 
seriously telling me that on the Sabbath day it's lawful to 
plot the destruction of the Lord of the Sabbath? It's absolutely 
amazing, and it highlights, as I've said, sin. That's why they 
want to plot to destroy Him, because of sin. It's not so much, 
again, the Sabbath and its details. It is the authority of Christ. 
This first mention, this is Carson, of a plot to kill Jesus springs 
from disputes not about the legality of various Sabbath activities, 
but about Jesus' authority. The Sabbath conflicts are not 
the cause of the plotting, but its occasion. Therefore, Sabbath 
disputes were not mentioned at Jesus' trials. In themselves, 
they were never as much an issue. as Jesus claimed to be the Sabbath's 
Lord. That's what they're upset about. 
That's what they're enraged about. It's verse 8. So what do we learn from this 
passage? I think we learn a lot of things, but we won't be here 
for a lot of things. We'll learn just a couple of 
things. The first, again, this is in an attempt to educate our 
congregation with reference to our confessional standard. We 
do not believe the Second London Baptist Confession of Faith is 
on par with the Scripture, but we do it serves as an accurate 
summary of those things most surely believed among us. And 
one of those things is the perpetuity, that means the abiding reality, 
of the Fourth Commandment. In the Old Covenant, it was as 
a result of God's creation activity that was observed on the seventh 
day. In the New Covenant, it is due to Christ's re-creative 
activity, and therefore it is on Sunday. If you're interested 
in developing that particular argument, come this Wednesday 
night. We're going to do a biblical theology of the Sabbath. It abides. How is it the case that we think 
nine of the Ten Commandments are for us? How could we possibly 
conceive of such a thing when in 4.9 of Hebrews it says, there 
remains therefore a Sabbath rest for the people of God. We have 
seen in our studies last week works of necessity are okay. I don't even like the language 
of some commentators. Works of necessity, works of 
piety or works of mercy override the Sabbath. No, they don't. 
They are consistent with the Sabbath. It is lawful to do good. It is lawful to worship God. It is lawful to be merciful. Normal, decent human beings get 
this. Why the Pharisees stumbled, I'll 
never know. A statement made by a man in 
terms of the Sabbath command, Gilfelon, he says, Christ was 
careful to clear it from Jewish corruptions. He was careful to 
clear it from Jewish corruptions, and if there was any precept 
more particularly vindicated by him and honored than another, 
it was that requiring the Sabbath day to be kept holy. He makes 
this observation, it is not the practice of a wise man to repair 
a house which he is about to pull down. Why go about and vindicate 
the Sabbath only to say it's done? Gilfillan's right. You see, brethren, it's not unlawful 
to do works of necessity. It's not unlawful to do works 
of piety or to do works of mercy. This jumps out from the passage. We cannot miss this. It is lawful 
to do good on the Sabbath day. Secondly, we have seen, as I 
hope you have seen, the folly or the foolishness of legalism. These Pharisees plot to murder 
Jesus on the same Sabbath that they get upset that he healed 
a man from his withered hand. This is one of those things, 
we see it in others, we don't see it ourselves. A man once 
preached on pride and he said, ''Pride is like bad breath. Everybody 
knows you have it but you.'' People are constantly handing 
you breath mints and gum. Take them. Legalism's sort of like that, 
isn't it? As Hodge says, we got a pope in our bosom. That is 
the propensity, the desire, and the zeal to make our preferences 
other people's laws. Chesterton well said, if men 
will not be governed by the Ten Commandments, they will be governed 
by the 10,000 commandments. Oh, how I love your law, the 
psalmist says. That ought to be the expression 
of the redeemed heart. Not our whacked-out interpretations 
of that law, but the law itself. 1 John tells us the commandments 
are not grievous, they're not burdensome. The Christian shouldn't 
hear that God wants a day where you rest. God wants a day where 
you worship. God wants a day that you sanctify 
for His use and for His glory. That shouldn't be a burden. It 
shouldn't be, oh, how I hate your law. It is my consternation 
all the day. I can't stand it. It's grieving. 
I want to go do my thing. God promises a special blessing 
from those who cease from their own thoughts, those who cease 
from their own ways, those who call the Sabbath a delight in 
Isaiah 58. A third thing, and I've already 
alluded to it, We need to appreciate in this passage the glory of 
Jesus Christ. The glory of Jesus Christ. For 
verse 3 to work in chapter 12, Jesus must be greater, or on 
equal par, or greater than David. He's greater. For the section 
on the priests to work, Jesus himself must be on the level 
with or above them. Jesus is better, greater than 
the tabernacle. This passage sets forth for us 
in glorious, vivid detail, the majesty and the excellency of 
the Lord Jesus Christ. And then fourthly, let's ask 
the question, why did they plot to destroy him? Kids, children, 
young people, I'm sure that in your young years, you've heard 
reference to some of those Old Testament books like Exodus or 
Leviticus or Numbers or Deuteronomy. Maybe you haven't read them cover 
to cover, which I suggest that you do. But one of the things 
you'll notice, especially in that book of Leviticus, is that 
God the Lord, who tells man, you shall have no other gods 
before me, prescribes the way that man is to worship Him. And 
man is to worship Him, according to those Old Testament books, 
through sacrifice. Why is that? Because God's holy. God's righteous. God has no impurity. There's no sin or evil in God 
whatsoever. You see, man is sinful. The Bible says, in Adam all died. The wise men said that God made 
man upright, but they sought out many devices. It's not important 
for us to know all of the particular sins that man commits, but to 
realize that every man commits sin. And so in order for a sinful 
man to stand in the presence of a holy God, according to the 
book of Leviticus, you need to bring a lamb, you need to bring 
a bull, or you need to bring some other animal to the tabernacle, 
or to the house of God. And the priest is to take his 
knife, and he's to cut the throat of that animal. The priest is 
then to take that animal, and he is to burn it, as unto the 
Lord. You say, that's kind of weird 
and that's kind of odd and that's kind of strange. God is holy 
and man is sinful and the only way that we breach the chasm 
is through sacrifice. So here's why Jesus had to die. Those bulls, those lambs, those 
animals that were sacrificed could never take away sin. They 
pointed forward to something. They pointed forward to the Lord 
Jesus Himself. In fact, you've all heard of 
John the Baptist. When he saw Jesus, what did he say? He said, 
Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. The 
Lamb of God? Yes! He is God's perfect Son. In order for sinful man to stand 
before a holy God, someone has to obey God's law. Jesus. Someone has to take the penalty 
due for sinners, Jesus. So when we see here that they 
went out and plotted against Him how they might destroy Him, 
to be sure, man is involved. To be sure, He is nailed to the 
cross by lawless hands. To be sure, that mob cries out, 
away with Him, away with Him, crucify Him. But it's all according 
to the plan of the Father. You see, the prophet Isaiah announced 
that the Lord was pleased to bruise him. The prophet Daniel 
said that Messiah Christ would be cut off. Psalm 22 is the psalm 
of the cross, long before crucifixion was even on the scene. And when 
we get to the New Testament authors and they interpret for us this 
death of Christ, one of the men in Hebrews 9 says, without the 
shedding of blood, there is no forgiveness. So when we see here 
that they plot how they might destroy him, learn, of course, 
the wickedness of man. How in the world could man deliver 
up a man that was righteous is only a sign of his wickedness. 
But realize that God the Father is orchestrating this. Realize 
the Father is behind this. Realize that the Father, in His 
plan to save His people from their sins, sends His Son to 
live and to die and to rise again. Without the shedding of blood, 
there's no forgiveness. That means with God, I can forgive 
you without you sacrificing, because I'm not only like God. 
But in order to approach a holy God, we have to be forgiven. We have to be cleansed. That's 
why Christians sing about the blood of Jesus. It's not because 
we have some ghoulish, macabre interest in the actual blood 
of Jesus. We have a spiritual and theological 
interest in the blood of Jesus. It is that which washes, it is 
that which purifies, it is that which cleanses, it is that which 
frees us from the guilt of sin. blood of Christ, the Son, that 
redeems us from all unrighteousness. In this gospel, Jesus will later 
say in Matthew 20, 28, the Son of Man did not come to be served, 
but to serve and to give his life a ransom for many. See, 
he was conscious of this fact. He understood the reality such 
that when he went into the Garden of Gethsemane, he is bleeding 
drops of blood. Not because men are going to 
nail him to the cross. Certainly that was no walk in 
the park. But he understood something about the wrath and fury of God. 
You see, on the cross, we see an expression of love. On the 
cross, we see an expression of grace. On the cross, we see an 
expression of mercy. But on the cross, we see an expression 
of righteousness. God, according to Paul, is able 
to be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus 
Christ. Because our sin wasn't just sent 
away, our sin was punished in the Lord Christ. That's why he 
had to die. That's why he came into this 
world. Sinners to save. And so you see, 
any attempt to try and buy God's favor through our good works, 
or to try and attempt to buy God's favor through anything 
other than His specified way, is going to end in futility. 
It is Christ alone to whom we must come. It is Christ alone 
who not only heals withered hands, but heals withered souls. It is Christ who takes away sin. It is Christ who gives the righteousness 
that avails with God. It is Christ that answers to 
everything that we stand in need of. That's why Jesus came to 
die. He didn't die and stay dead. 
He rose again on the third day. Isn't that beautiful? Paul says 
He was delivered up because of our offenses, and He was raised 
for our justification. He is not still on the cross. 
He is not still in the tomb. He rose on the third day. He 
ascended on high. He sits enthroned at the right 
hand of the majesty of the Father. And He says all those who believe 
on Him will have everlasting life. And in this, we rejoice. Well, let us pray. Our Father, 
we thank You for Your Word, and we thank You for the fact that 
Christ is Lord of the Sabbath. We just pray that you would encourage 
our hearts with these things, that you would build us up in 
our most holy faith, and that you would be glorified in these 
times together. We just thank you, Lord, for 
your mercy. We thank you for the ministry of the Lord Jesus 
Christ. We thank you for the forgiveness of sins that we have 
through him. And we pray in his most blessed name. Amen.