God’s Mission in Matthew

1. God’s Mission in Matthew

2. God’s Mission in Matthew At that time Jesus went through the grainfields on the Sabbath. His disciples were hungry and began to pick some heads of grain and eat them. When the Pharisees saw this, they said to him, "Look! Your disciples are doing what is unlawful on the Sabbath."  He answered, "Haven't you read what David did when he and his companions were hungry? He entered the house of God, and he and his companions ate the consecrated bread—which was not lawful for them to do, but only for the priests. Or haven't you read in the Law that on the Sabbath the priests in the temple desecrate the day and yet are innocent? I tell you that onegreater than the temple is here. If you had known what these words mean, 'I desire mercy, not sacrifice,' you would not have condemned the innocent. For the Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath."  Going on from that place, he went into their synagogue, and a man with a shriveled hand was there. Looking for a reason to accuse Jesus, they asked him, "Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath?"

3. God’s Mission in Matthew 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 man than a sheep! Therefore it is lawful to do good on the Sabbath."  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. But the Pharisees went out and plotted how they might kill Jesus. Matthew 12:1-14 (NIV)

4. God’s Mission in Matthew What does one do about the Sabbath?

5. God’s Mission in Matthew What does one do about the Sabbath? Of course, keeping the Sabbath is one of the ten commandments.

6. God’s Mission in Matthew What does one do about the Sabbath? Of course, keeping the Sabbath is one of the ten commandments. It is probably one of the commandments readily ignored by most of us.

7. God’s Mission in Matthew What does one do about the Sabbath? Of course, keeping the Sabbath is one of the ten commandments. It is probably one of the commandments readily ignored by most of us. For the Jews, the Sabbath started at sundown Friday and went to sundown Saturday.

8. God’s Mission in Matthew What does one do about the Sabbath? Of course, keeping the Sabbath is one of the ten commandments. It is probably one of the commandments readily ignored by most of us. For the Jews, the Sabbath started at sundown Friday and went to sundown Saturday. The Pharisees had developed a number of rules guiding what could and could not be done on the Sabbath.

9. God’s Mission in Matthew At that time Jesus went through the grainfields on the Sabbath. His disciples were hungry and began to pick some heads of grain and eat them. When the Pharisees saw this, they said to him, "Look! Your disciples are doing what is unlawful on the Sabbath."  He answered, "Haven't you read what David did when he and his companions were hungry? He entered the house of God, and he and his companions ate the consecrated bread—which was not lawful for them to do, but only for the priests. Or haven't you read in the Law that on the Sabbath the priests in the temple desecrate the day and yet are innocent? I tell you that onegreater than the temple is here. If you had known what these words mean, 'I desire mercy, not sacrifice,' you would not have condemned the innocent. For the Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath."  Going on from that place, he went into their synagogue, and a man with a shriveled hand was there. Looking for a reason to accuse Jesus, they asked him, "Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath?"

10. God’s Mission in Matthew If you enter your neighbor's vineyard, you may eat all the grapes you want, but do not put any in your basket. If you enter your neighbor's grainfield, you may pick kernels with your hands, but you must not put a sickle to his standing grain. Deuteronomy 23:24-25 (NIV)

11. God’s Mission in Matthew What were the Pharisees doing out in this field?

12. God’s Mission in Matthew What were the Pharisees doing out in this field? They appear to be looking for something against Jesus.

13. God’s Mission in Matthew Jesus responded to the objections of the Pharisees by pointing to the Old Testament.

14. God’s Mission in Matthew At that time Jesus went through the grainfields on the Sabbath. His disciples were hungry and began to pick some heads of grain and eat them. When the Pharisees saw this, they said to him, "Look! Your disciples are doing what is unlawful on the Sabbath."  He answered, "Haven't you read what David did when he and his companions were hungry? He entered the house of God, and he and his companions ate the consecrated bread—which was not lawful for them to do, but only for the priests. Or haven't you read in the Law that on the Sabbath the priests in the temple desecrate the day and yet are innocent? I tell you that onegreater than the temple is here. If you had known what these words mean, 'I desire mercy, not sacrifice,' you would not have condemned the innocent. For the Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath."  Going on from that place, he went into their synagogue, and a man with a shriveled hand was there. Looking for a reason to accuse Jesus, they asked him, "Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath?"

15. God’s Mission in Matthew "Take fine flour and bake twelve loaves of bread, using two-tenths of an ephah for each loaf. Set them in two rows, six in each row, on the table of pure gold before the LORD. Along each row put some pure incense as a memorial portion to represent the bread and to be an offering made to the LORD by fire. This bread is to be set out before the LORD regularly, Sabbath after Sabbath, on behalf of the Israelites, as a lasting covenant. It belongs to Aaron and his sons, who are to eat it in a holy place, because it is a most holy part of their regular share of the offerings made to the LORD by fire.“ Leviticus 24:5-9 (NIV)

16. God’s Mission in Matthew David went to Nob, to Ahimelech the priest. Ahimelech trembled when he met him, and asked, "Why are you alone? Why is no one with you?"  David answered Ahimelech the priest, "The king charged me with a certain matter and said to me, 'No one is to know anything about your mission and your instructions.' As for my men, I have told them to meet me at a certain place. Now then, what do you have on hand? Give me five loaves of bread, or whatever you can find."   But the priest answered David, "I don't have any ordinary bread on hand; however, there is some consecrated bread here . . . So the priest gave him the consecrated bread, since there was no bread there except the bread of the Presence that had been removed from before the LORD and replaced by hot bread on the day it was taken away. I Samuel 21:1-7 (NIV)

17. God’s Mission in Matthew At that time Jesus went through the grainfields on the Sabbath. His disciples were hungry and began to pick some heads of grain and eat them. When the Pharisees saw this, they said to him, "Look! Your disciples are doing what is unlawful on the Sabbath."  He answered, "Haven't you read what David did when he and his companions were hungry? He entered the house of God, and he and his companions ate the consecrated bread—which was not lawful for them to do, but only for the priests. Or haven't you read in the Law that on the Sabbath the priests in the temple desecrate the day and yet are innocent? I tell you that onegreater than the temple is here. If you had known what these words mean, 'I desire mercy, not sacrifice,' you would not have condemned the innocent. For the Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath."  Going on from that place, he went into their synagogue, and a man with a shriveled hand was there. Looking for a reason to accuse Jesus, they asked him, "Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath?"

18. God’s Mission in Matthew 'On the Sabbath day, make an offering of two lambs a year old without defect, together with its drink offering and a grain offering of two-tenths of an ephah of fine flour mixed with oil. This is the burnt offering for every Sabbath, in addition to the regular burnt offering and its drink offering. Numbers 28:9-10 (NIV)

19. God’s Mission in Matthew At that time Jesus went through the grainfields on the Sabbath. His disciples were hungry and began to pick some heads of grain and eat them. When the Pharisees saw this, they said to him, "Look! Your disciples are doing what is unlawful on the Sabbath."  He answered, "Haven't you read what David did when he and his companions were hungry? He entered the house of God, and he and his companions ate the consecrated bread—which was not lawful for them to do, but only for the priests. Or haven't you read in the Law that on the Sabbath the priests in the temple desecrate the day and yet are innocent? I tell you that onegreater than the temple is here. If you had known what these words mean, 'I desire mercy, not sacrifice,' you would not have condemned the innocent. For the Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath."  Going on from that place, he went into their synagogue, and a man with a shriveled hand was there. Looking for a reason to accuse Jesus, they asked him, "Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath?"

20. God’s Mission in Matthew We need to understand with great care what Jesus says here.

21. God’s Mission in Matthew We need to understand with great care what Jesus says here. The temple was were God’s Spirit and presence dwelt.

22. God’s Mission in Matthew We need to understand with great care what Jesus says here. The temple was were God’s Spirit and presence dwelt. God had commanded the Sabbath.

23. God’s Mission in Matthew We need to understand with great care what Jesus says here. The temple was were God’s Spirit and presence dwelt. God had commanded the Sabbath. For Jesus to say that he was greater than the temple, and Lord of the Sabbath, meant that he was saying he was God.

24. God’s Mission in Matthew At that time Jesus went through the grainfields on the Sabbath. His disciples were hungry and began to pick some heads of grain and eat them. When the Pharisees saw this, they said to him, "Look! Your disciples are doing what is unlawful on the Sabbath."  He answered, "Haven't you read what David did when he and his companions were hungry? He entered the house of God, and he and his companions ate the consecrated bread—which was not lawful for them to do, but only for the priests. Or haven't you read in the Law that on the Sabbath the priests in the temple desecrate the day and yet are innocent? I tell you that onegreater than the temple is here. If you had known what these words mean, 'I desire mercy, not sacrifice,' you would not have condemned the innocent. For the Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath." Going on from that place, he went into their synagogue, and a man with a shriveled hand was there. Looking for a reason to accuse Jesus, they asked him, "Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath?"

25. God’s Mission in Matthew 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 man than a sheep! Therefore it is lawful to do good on the Sabbath."  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. But the Pharisees went out and plotted how they might kill Jesus. Matthew 12:1-14 (NIV)

26. God’s Mission in Matthew What does one do about the Sabbath?

27. God’s Mission in Matthew  Then he said to them, "The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath. Mark 2:27 (NIV)

28. God’s Mission in Matthew What does one do about the Sabbath? We should view the Sabbath as God’s gift to us.

29. God’s Mission in Matthew What does one do about the Sabbath? We should view the Sabbath as God’s gift to us. The Pharisees wanted the power to interpret God’s law. Thus they had the power to impose their will on the society.

30. God’s Mission in Matthew What does one do about the Sabbath? We should view the Sabbath as God’s gift to us. The Pharisees wanted the power to interpret God’s law. Thus they had the power to impose their will on the society. Jesus claims that he controls how the law will be interpreted. Such a claim puts him on a collision course with the Pharisees.

31. God’s Mission in Matthew