| September 17, 2000 |
Vol. III, No. 20
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In Matt. 12:1-2, Matthew tells us that “Jesus went through the grain fields on the Sabbath. And His disciples were hungry, and began to pluck heads of grain and to eat. But when the Pharisees saw it, they said to Him, ‘Look, Your disciples are doing what is not lawful to do on the Sabbath.’”
First, let it be noted that Jesus did not violate God’s Sabbath law nor encourage His followers to do so. Jesus never sinned, Heb. 4:15; 1 Pet. 2:22. God’s law did indeed forbid all normal work on the Sabbath, Ex. 20:10. But God apparently intended to leave it up to each individual Israelite to use common sense in applying that law. Certain necessary activities were not disallowed. Even the Pharisees’ minute man-made restrictions allowed for circumcision of eight-day-old boys on the Sabbath, and allowed a person to do what was necessary to care for farm animals on that day, John 7:22; Luke 13:15.
Now, let us look briefly at Jesus’ answer to the Pharisees’ accusation in Matthew 12. In verses 3-4, Jesus points to the inconsistency of the Pharisees. They tended to defend David’s actions in 1 Sam. 21, which were a technical violation of the Law, while they charged Jesus’ disciples with sin when they had not violated God’s Law. The disciples were not harvesting a crop, but simply relieving their hunger. This was no more than the Pharisees themselves would have done for their own farm animals.
In verse 5, Jesus pointed out that it was the duty of the priests to work twice as hard on the Sabbath as on other days. See Num. 28:9-10. If Jesus’ disciples violated the Sabbath by pulling and eating grain, surely the priests must be guilty of profaning the Sabbath by offering sacrifice. (Note, Jesus was NOT accusing the priests of sin, but was simply showing the inconsistency of the rules the Pharisees were trying to enforce upon all the Jews.)
In verses 6-7, Jesus shows that God intended the Sabbath to be a blessing to His people, not a burden. See also Mark 2:27.
Then in verse 8, Jesus claimed to be Lord of the Sabbath. By this claim, Jesus was showing that He Himself was in a better position to know and determine what was lawful or unlawful on that day, than were the Pharisees who were accusing Him.
Finally, let us note that these questions regarding the observance of the Jewish Sabbath, which was on Saturday, ended after Jesus’ death on the cross. Beginning with the establishment of the New Testament church in the book of Acts, Jesus’ followers met regularly on the first day of the week (Sunday) instead of on the Jewish Sabbath (Saturday). The apostle Paul admonishes us to let no one judge us with regard to the keeping of the Sabbath and other observances of the Old Testament Law, Col. 2:12-14.
--CRJ
The Bible says that King Herod, when he learned of the birth of Jesus, feared that his crown was in jeopardy and gave orders for all the male children in and around Bethlehem two years old and younger to be executed. Joseph, foster-father of Jesus, was warned in a dream to take Mary and Jesus and flee to Egypt. After Herod’s death, Joseph, Mary, and Jesus returned to Palestine. Matthew tells us in Matt. 2:15 that Jesus’ coming out of Egypt was a fulfillment of Hosea 11:1. A study of Hosea 11:1 in its original context shows us that the prophet Hosea had in mind particularly the nation of Israel, and how God had brought Israel out of bondage in Egypt. But Matthew shows us that even though these events transpired almost 1,500 years before the birth of Christ, God already had in mind the events that would take place in Bethlehem during the reign of Herod.
There is, in the study of grammar, what is called “type” and “antitype.” Webster defines a “type” as “a figure or representation of something to come.” The “antitype” is the fulfillment . To be a type, a thing has to be real, not just a vision or dream. God really did bring His “son” Israel out of Egypt -- but that event was not only a historical reality, it was also a TYPE or likeness of something else God intended to do later in time; something of even greater significance. He would bring His only begotten Son out of Egypt, where He had sent Him for protection against the murderous schemes of Herod.
Not every similarity between Old Testament persons and events and New Testament persons and events constitute a type/antitype relationship. To be a type, the Old Testament person or event must have been intended to represent the New Testament person or event it foreshadows. We know by the explanation of Matthew that the event alluded to by the prophet Hosea was intended to foreshadow the event in the life of Jesus. Matthew says that the event of Matt. 2:15 happened in order to fulfill the statement of the Old Testament prophet.
The prophet’s statement stands alone as a fact of history regarding the nation of Israel, but it was also meant to look forward to an event in the life of God’s only begotten Son, thus it had to be fulfilled, and when the time was right, it was.
–CRJ
I’ve often heard your question: This is my answer.
You are concerned about the hungry in the world, millions who are starving, and you ask, “What can I do?” Feed one.
You grieve for all the unborn children murdered every day, and you ask, “What can I do?” Save one.
You’re haunted by the homeless poor who wander city streets, and you ask: “What can I do?” Shelter one.
You feel compassion for those who suffer pain, sorrow and despair, and you ask:” “What can I do?” Comfort one.
Your heart goes out to the lonely, the abused and the imprisoned, and you ask: “What can I do?” Love one.
Remember this, My child, two thousand years ago the world was filled with those in need, just as it is today, and when the helpless and the hopeless called out to Me for mercy, I sent a Savior. Hope began with only one!
--B.J. Hoff via Gospel Roads
When Jesus and His disciples "had come to the multitude, a man came to Him, kneeling down to Him and saying, 'Lord, have mercy on my son, for he is an epileptic and suffers severely; for he often falls into the fire and often into the water, so I brought him to Your disciples, but they could not cure him.' Then Jesus answered and said, '0 faithless and perverse generation, how long shall I be with you? How long shall I bear with you? Bring him here to Me.' And Jesus rebuked the demon, and he came out of him; and the child was cured from that very hour. Then the disciples came to Jesus privately and said, 'Why could we not cast him out?' So Jesus said to them, 'Because of your unbelief; for assuredly, I say to you, if you have faith as a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, "Move from here to there," and it will move; and nothing will be impossible for you. However, this kind does not go out except by prayer and fasting."' (Matthew 17:14-21).
This is the only recorded case of Jesus' apostles failing in an attempt to work a miracle. This incident is also recorded in Mark 9:14-29, where we learn that the demon which possessed this boy not only cause epileptic seizures, but also caused the boy to be deaf and mute. Jesus, of course, had absolutely no trouble at all healing the boy and casting out the demon. But the apostles had not been able to do so.
Many today claim to have the same healing powers given by God to the apostles, but they experience a multitude of failures. When asked for a reason why their attempts are often unsuccessful, the answer is inevitably that there was a shortage of faith on the part of the person to be healed. Note that in the Bible there was only one failure, and Jesus plainly said it was caused by a shortage of faith -- on the part of the would-be healers. Though faith was sometimes required on the part of the person to be healed, it was not always so. Jesus and the apostles were not limited in their healing abilities by someone else's lack of faith. The only failure to heal came when the apostles' faith fell short.
In the days before the New Testament had been put into written form, miracles were the credentials of the inspired speakers. When they taught what had been revealed in Old Testament times, they simply affirmed, "It is written." When they revealed new truth not yet written into the Scriptures, the miracles served as the proof that their message was from God, Mark 16:20.
Those apostles could have moved mountains with a word. Such abilities became known as "the signs of an apostle" (2 Corinthians 12:12). After Jesus ascended to heaven, no man had such abilities except His apostles and those to whom the apostles had imparted spiritual gifts by laying on of apostolic hands, Acts 8:18.
--CRJ