Matthew 12:1-2 and 46-50.

 1 Not long afterward Jesus was walking through some wheat fields on a Sabbath. His disciples were hungry, so they began to pick heads of wheat and eat the grain. 2 When the Pharisees saw this, they said to Jesus, “Look, it is against our Law for your disciples to do this on the Sabbath!” 

3 Jesus answered, “Have you never read what David did that time when he and his men were hungry? 4 He went into the house of God, and he and his men ate the bread offered to God, even though it was against the Law for them to eat it—only the priests were allowed to eat that bread. 5 Or have you not read in the Law of Moses that every Sabbath the priests in the Temple actually break the Sabbath law, yet they are not guilty? 6 I tell you that there is something here greater than the Temple. 7 The scripture says, ‘It is kindness that I want, not animal sacrifices.’ If you really knew what this means, you would not condemn people who are not guilty; 8 for the Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath.” 

9 Jesus left that place and went to a synagogue, 10 where there was a man who had a paralyzed hand. Some people were there who wanted to accuse Jesus of doing wrong, so they asked him, “Is it against our Law to heal on the Sabbath?” 

11 Jesus answered, “What if one of you has a sheep and it falls into a deep hole on the Sabbath? Will you not take hold of it and lift it out? 12 And a human being is worth much more than a sheep! So then, our Law does allow us to help someone on the Sabbath.” 

13 Then he said to the man with the paralyzed hand, “Stretch out your hand.” He stretched it out, and it became well again, just like the other one. 14 Then the Pharisees left and made plans to kill Jesus. 

15 When Jesus heard about the plot against him, he went away from that place; and large crowds followed him. He healed all the sick 16 and gave them orders not to tell others about him. 17 He did this so as to make come true what God had said through the prophet Isaiah: 

18 “Here is my servant, whom I have chosen, the one I love, and with whom I am pleased. I will send my Spirit upon him, and he will announce my judgment to the nations. 

19 He will not argue or shout, or make loud speeches in the streets. 

20 He will not break off a bent reed, nor put out a flickering lamp. He will persist until he causes justice to triumph, 21 and on him all peoples will put their hope.” 

22 Then some people brought to Jesus a man who was blind and could not talk because he had a demon. Jesus healed the man, so that he was able to talk and see. 23 The crowds were all amazed at what Jesus had done. “Could he be the Son of David?” they asked.

 24 When the Pharisees heard this, they replied, “He drives out demons only because their ruler Beelzebul gives him power to do so.” 

25 Jesus knew what they were thinking, and so he said to them, “Any country that divides itself into groups which fight each other will not last very long. And any town or family that divides itself into groups which fight each other will fall apart. 26 So if one group is fighting another in Satan’s kingdom, this means that it is already divided into groups and will soon fall apart! 27 You say that I drive out demons because Beelzebul gives me the power to do so. Well, then, who gives your followers the power to drive them out? What your own followers do proves that you are wrong! 28 No, it is not Beelzebul, but God’s Spirit, who gives me the power to drive out demons, which proves that the Kingdom of God has already come upon you. 

29 “No one can break into a strong man’s house and take away his belongings unless he first ties up the strong man; then he can plunder his house. 

30 “Anyone who is not for me is really against me; anyone who does not help me gather is really scattering. 31 For this reason I tell you: people can be forgiven any sin and any evil thing they say; but whoever says evil things against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven. 32 Anyone who says something against the Son of Man can be forgiven; but whoever says something against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven—now or ever. 

33 “To have good fruit you must have a healthy tree; if you have a poor tree, you will have bad fruit. A tree is known by the kind of fruit it bears. 34 You snakes—how can you say good things when you are evil? For the mouth speaks what the heart is full of. 35 A good person brings good things out of a treasure of good things; a bad person brings bad things out of a treasure of bad things. 36 “You can be sure that on the Judgment Day you will have to give account of every useless word you have ever spoken. 37 Your words will be used to judge you—to declare you either innocent or guilty.”  

38 Then some teachers of the Law and some Pharisees spoke up. “Teacher,” they said, “we want to see you perform a miracle.” 

39 “How evil and godless are the people of this day!” Jesus exclaimed. “You ask me for a miracle? No! The only miracle you will be given is the miracle of the prophet Jonah. 40 In the same way that Jonah spent three days and nights in the big fish, so will the Son of Man spend three days and nights in the depths of the earth. 41 On the Judgment Day the people of Nineveh will stand up and accuse you, because they turned from their sins when they heard Jonah preach; and I tell you that there is something here greater than Jonah! 42 On the Judgment Day the Queen of Sheba will stand up and accuse you, because she traveled all the way from her country to listen to King Solomon’s wise teaching; and I assure you that there is something here greater than Solomon! 

43 “When an evil spirit goes out of a person, it travels over dry country looking for a place to rest. If it can’t find one, 44 it says to itself, ‘I will go back to my house.’ So it goes back and finds the house empty, clean, and all fixed up. 45 Then it goes out and brings along seven other spirits even worse than itself, and they come and live there. So when it is all over, that person is in worse shape than at the beginning. This is what will happen to the evil people of this day.” 

46 Jesus was still talking to the people when his mother and brothers arrived. They stood outside, asking to speak with him. 47 So one of the people there said to him, “Look, your mother and brothers are standing outside, and they want to speak with you.” 

48 Jesus answered, “Who is my mother? Who are my brothers?” 49 Then he pointed to his disciples and said, “Look! Here are my mother and my brothers! 50 Whoever does what my Father in heaven wants is my brother, my sister, and my mother.”

 In the first verses the Pharisees accuse the disciples of breaking the law. According to the rabbinic interpretation they were breaking the fourth commandment to keep the Sabbath holy.

 There are flaws in their thinking. First, the Pharisees believed their interpretations of scripture were equal to scripture. And just as bad they were giving weight to their thoughts and traditions and their ways and ignoring Jesus’ authority. “They were right. Jesus was wrong.” 

 The Pharisees were putting all their marbles in the legal basket. Salvation was for the Jews who measured up to their standards. The disciples didn’t and Jesus was contributing to their doom.

 In the last verses when Jesus’ mother and brothers come to visit, Jesus says something remarkable. He says the disciples are his brothers and sister and mother because they were doing the will of his father (50).

 This was not the view of the Pharisees. Jesus statement had discounted their Jewish traditions and their rabbinic interpretation of scripture. It was like John said: For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ (1:17).  Grace and truth are like the pickup reel. The Pharisees thought they were standing on their own but no one can do that. [Overhead.]

 From accusation to defense, how did Matthew get us there? Let’s take a look at the heart of this chiasm. Verses 15-21.

 Isaiah had two pictures of the coming Messiah: 1. A ruling king and 2. A suffering servant.  For example, Isaiah 52:3 calls Jesus a man of sorrows, and familiar with suffering.  This passage is from Isaiah 42 and it also describes the servant side.

 There are similarities here to Jesus and the disciples. God chose his servant. Jesus chose his disciples. God promised to put his Spirit upon his servant. Jesus promised that the Spirit would be with them in their labors. Jesus would proclaim justice to the Gentiles. The disciples would proclaim the Kingdom of heaven is at hand (10:7).

 The setting is the same for both: laboring in the harvest. His methodology remains the same: gentle and humble. But there is a big difference. When he sent the twelve out it was with specific instructions to only go to the Jews. But that was only a temporary restriction. The permanent and full intent of the gospel is seen in verse 21 and in his name the Gentiles (all peoples) will hope.

 This chapter is about who makes up the harvest.  It’s about the universal nature of the gospel. Salvation is not just for the Jews. And the Gentiles’ hope is in Jesus and not in the law. God’s harvest will include every kind of person.

 Next lets take a look at the two healing stories. Verses 9-14 and 22-37.

 In the first story Jesus heals a man’s hand. It shows how distorted the Pharisees have become in their thinking. Their misguided beliefs have made them lose touch with reality. They’re sincere and but blind to the truth. They don’t understand how valuable people are to God. Because of that they put crime scene tape around the harvest field to keep laborers away from it. Jesus decimates their best efforts to take a religious approach to God with one statement: So it is lawful to do good on the Sabbath (12). And then to show his authority to say that, he heals the man’s hand instantly.

 In the next story he casts out a demon and a man who was blind and mute could see and speak. What could be better than that? But the Pharisees, the guys stuck on their own religion, cry foul. They say Jesus cast out the demon by power from the prince of demons. In doing so they blasphemed the Holy Spirit, the source of Jesus’ power. 

 The Pharisees are educated. People looked up to them and followed their teaching. But they were cut off from the truth. Unlike the crowds who were like sheep without a shepherd, the Pharisees were anti-Jesus and evil. They were opposed to the harvest and tried to turn people away from Jesus.

 There’s one more verse about the harvest [overhead]: 30 “Anyone who is not for me is really against me; anyone who does not help me gather is really scattering.“ This of course refers to gathering in the wheat. John the Baptist had said of Jesus:

  His winnowing fork is in his hand, and he will clear his threshing floor, gathering his wheat into the barn and burning up the chaff with unquenchable fire (Matthew 3:12).”

 John the Apostle recorded this statement:

“My food,” said Jesus, “is to do the will of him who sent me and to finish his work. I tell you, open your eyes and look at the fields! They are ripe for harvest. Even now the reaper draws his wages, even now he harvests the crop for eternal life. (John 4:34-36).

 The harvest is serious business. If we’re not laboring in it, we might as well be scattering it. Spreading the gospel has the priority because the harvest is ready. From the day a person is born till the day they die, it is never inappropriate or insensitive to talk to someone about Jesus and their salvation. It is God’s will for us to witness. That’s what Jesus was commending his disciples for in verse 50 when he pointed them out as those doing the will of God.  Weird people have given gathering a bad name, but we must not throw out the baby with the bathwater. We are laboring in the harvest with Jesus or we’re not. There is no neutral ground.

 Now let’s look at the two teaching passages. Verses 3-8 and 38-45. [Overhead.}

 The Pharisees had misread the Old Testament, misunderstood God and were misleading the people. They believed that the temple was God’s permanent dwelling place. It was their pride and joy. It gave them a feeling of ownership – of God. It dulled their expectation of God’s continuing work.

 Jesus is greater than the temple and they failed to see it. [Overhead] Their religious rules were more important to them than mercy. They didn’t understand the Sabbath. They didn’t know Jesus was Lord of the Sabbath. In every area of dispute Jesus held the trump card. He is Lord of the Sabbath. He is Lord of the harvest.  He is Lord of everything.

 In the next passage, the scribes and Pharisees wanted a sign that he was the Messiah.  He said the only sign they’d receive was his death and resurrection. He said he was greater than Jonah and Solomon. Greater than Jonah because he rose after three days from the grave and because Jonah’s harvest was one city. Jesus’ harvest field is the world. And greater than Solomon because Jesus’ wisdom will produce a labor force of disciples to send into the harvest.

 It’s safe to say that Jesus has a passion for the harvest. The harvest is people, people of all ages, races, nationalities and religions. They are like sheep without a shepherd, cast down and dying. Their hope is the gospel but the only way they are going to here the gospel is through his disciples spreading his word.  

 Jesus still walks through the grain fields and he wants us along side him.

 Youth Message

How do you read the Bible?

 How many of you are learning to read? How many of you like to have someone read you a story? Great. That’s great because it means you can read the Bible or have someone read it to you.

 So I want to talk to you about how to read the Bible.

1. The first thing to do is pray and ask the Holy Spirit to speak to you and help you understand what you are reading. Can you do that?

2. The second thing is to have a plan that includes when, where and what.

3. The third thing you need to do is pick it up, open it and start reading. Read just like you would any other book: left to right, paragraph by paragraph, front to back, and going back to reread your favorite parts or parts you want to retain or review.

4. The fourth thing you need to do is pray and ask God what you need to do about what you just read.

Let’s give it a try. Let’s read Luke 18:15-17:

1. Pray.

2. One day some parents brought their little children to Jesus so he could touch and bless them. But when the disciples saw this, they scolded the parents for bothering him. Then Jesus called for the children and said to the disciples, “Let the children come to me. Don’t stop them! For the Kingdom of God belongs to those who are like these children. 1 I tell you the truth, anyone who doesn’t receive the Kingdom of God like a child will never enter it.”

3. Pray and use.

Through Jesus

everyone who believes

is justified from everything

you could not be justified from

by the law of Moses.

Acts 13:39