Matthew 12:1 - Meaning and Application

The Jewish teachers had twisted many of God’s commands by making them looser than they were meant to be. Christ corrected that in the Sermon on the Mount (chapter 5). But with the fourth commandment, they went too far the other way and made it too strict. People with corrupt hearts often try to make up for bad morals by being very strict about rituals and outward religion. Yet God curses those who add to his words, as well as those who take away from them (Revelation 22:16, Revelation 22:19; Proverbs 30:6).

What Jesus teaches here is that works of necessity and mercy are lawful on the Sabbath. The Jews were trained to treat many such acts as wrong. Christ’s careful explanation of the fourth commandment shows that it still had lasting force, calling for one day in seven to be kept as a holy Sabbath. He would not be explaining a law that was about to end. Instead, he was settling a matter that would matter for his church in every age. This also teaches us that our Christian Sabbath, while guided by the fourth commandment, is not bound by the extra rules of the Jewish elders.

People often explain a law by deciding real-life cases. In the same way, this law is made clear here through two stories that happened at different times and in different ways, but both serve the same purpose. First, Christ defends his disciples for plucking grain on the Sabbath, showing that works of necessity are lawful that day. The disciples were walking with their Master through a grain field on a Sabbath day. They were likely on their way to the synagogue (Matthew 12:9), and they were hungry. Let it not seem wrong that Christ’s household had no special feast. Perhaps they had spent so much time in morning worship that they had no time for breakfast, because they did not want to come late to the synagogue.

God had arranged that they should pass through the grain field, and there they found food. God has many ways to provide for his people when they need help. He will especially care for them when they are on the way to worship, as he once did for those who went up to Jerusalem to worship (Psalm 84:6, Psalm 84:7). While we are doing our duty, let us trust Jehovah-jireh, the Lord who provides. Since they were in the grain fields, they began to pluck the heads of grain. God’s law allowed this (Deuteronomy 23:25), teaching people to be kind and not overly strict about small property rights when someone else could benefit. It was a simple meal for Christ and his disciples, but it was what they had, and they were satisfied.

The Pharisees took offense at this. It was only a plain breakfast, yet they would not let them eat it in peace. They did not object because the disciples were taking another man’s grain, since they were not especially concerned with justice. They objected because it happened on the Sabbath. In the tradition of the elders, rubbing grain in the hands was banned because it looked like reaping. It is nothing new for the harmless actions of Christ’s disciples to be condemned as unlawful, especially by those who strongly support their own human rules. The Pharisees complained to Jesus that his disciples were doing what was not lawful. Those are no friends of Christ and his followers who call unlawful what God has not forbidden.

Christ answered their criticism with a careful defense. The disciples could say little for themselves, especially since their accusers seemed to have the stricter view of Sabbath holiness on their side, and it is usually safest to err in that direction. But Christ came to free his followers, not only from Pharisaic corruption, but also from rules that God had not given. So he speaks for them and justifies what they did, even if it broke the human rule.

He first defends them by examples the Pharisees already accepted. He points to David, who in a time of need did what he normally should not have done (Matthew 12:3, Matthew 12:4). Had they not read how David ate the showbread, which by law was set apart for the priests? (Leviticus 24:5-9). It was “most holy” for Aaron and his sons, and a stranger was not to eat it (Exodus 29:33). Yet the priest gave it to David and his men. The reason was not David’s rank, as if kings may do whatever they want. Uzziah, a king who tried to take the priest’s place in pride, was struck with leprosy for it (2 Chronicles 26:16 and following). The reason was hunger.

The greatest people are not to have their desires indulged, but the needs of the lowliest are to be considered. Hunger is a natural need that cannot be ignored. It must be met with food, and nothing else will do. We say that hunger will break through stone walls. God is concerned for the body, and he allowed even his own ceremonial command to give way in a time of distress. Then surely the tradition of the elders could also give way. What may not be done at one time may be done in a real necessity. Necessity has a law of its own. People do not despise, but pity, a thief who steals food to satisfy his hunger (Proverbs 6:30).

Christ also points to the daily work of the priests, which the Pharisees read about in the law and saw in regular practice (Matthew 12:5). The priests in the temple did much work on the Sabbath. They killed, skinned, and burned the animals offered in sacrifice, work that would count as Sabbath breaking in ordinary life. Yet it was never treated as a sin, because temple service required it and made it right. This shows that work needed for the support of life, and especially for the worship of the day, is lawful on the Sabbath. That includes things like ringing a bell to call people together or traveling to church. Sabbath rest is meant to help Sabbath worship, not block it.

If the temple service could justify what the priests did in their work, then Christ’s service would much more justify the disciples in their attendance on him. The Jews had a deep reverence for the temple. They said it gave holiness to the gold, and Stephen was accused of speaking against that holy place (Acts 6:13). But Christ, even in a cornfield, was greater than the temple, because in him God’s presence was not shown in symbols only, but all the fullness of God lived bodily.

So, if we do anything in the name of Christ and for him, God will graciously accept it, even if people criticize and complain about it. God wants mercy, not sacrifice, (Matthew 12:7). Ceremonial duties, outward religious rules, must give way to moral duty, and the natural, royal law of love and self-preservation must come before ritual observance. This comes from (Hosea 6:6). Jesus had used this same truth before to defend mercy toward souls (Matthew 9:13), and here he uses it to defend mercy toward bodies.

The Sabbath rest was given for man’s good, especially for the body (Deuteronomy 5:14). No law should be understood in a way that clashes with its own purpose. If the Pharisees had understood what these words meant, and had known what a merciful spirit is, they would have been sorry that the disciples had to do this because they were hungry. They would not have condemned the innocent. Ignorance leads us to make hasty and unfair judgments about our brothers and sisters. It is not enough to know the Scriptures, we must also work to understand what they mean. “Let the reader understand.” And ignorance of Scripture’s meaning is especially shameful in those who teach others.

The Son of Man is Lord even of the Sabbath day (Matthew 12:8). That law, like all the rest, has been put into Christ’s hands, to be changed, enforced, or set aside as he sees fit. It was by the Son that God made the world, and by him he first appointed the Sabbath in Eden. By him God gave the Ten Commandments at Mount Sinai, and as Mediator, the one who stands between God and people, he has been trusted with setting up ordinances and making whatever changes he thought best. As Lord of the Sabbath, he was authorized to make such a change in that day that it became the Lord’s Day, the day of the Lord Christ.

If Christ is Lord of the Sabbath, then it is right that the day and all its work be given to him. By his authority, Christ here teaches that works of necessity are lawful on the Sabbath, if they are truly necessary and not just excuses we invent for ourselves. This explanation of the law also shows that the Sabbath was meant to continue. The exception confirms the rule.

After Christ had silenced the Pharisees and moved on from them (Matthew 12:9), he went into their synagogue, the synagogue of these Pharisees, where they had authority and where he was already heading when they raised this dispute. We must be careful that nothing happening on the way to worship makes us unfit for, or distracts us from, our duty. We should keep going in the path of obedience, despite Satan’s tricks. He works through the twisted arguments of corrupt minds and many other means to upset and unsettle us. We must also not let private feuds or personal grudges keep us from public worship. Even though the Pharisees had attacked Christ in this cruel way, he still went into their synagogue. Satan gains a great advantage if, by stirring up division among brothers and sisters, he can drive them from the synagogue and from fellowship with believers.

Christ then showed, by healing the man with the withered hand on the Sabbath, that works of mercy are lawful and proper on that day. The disciples had done a work of necessity, and Christ defended them. Now he does a work of mercy himself, and for him works of mercy were works of necessity. Doing good was his food and drink. “I must preach,” he says, (Luke 4:43). This healing is recorded especially because it happened on the Sabbath.

The poor man’s trouble was that his hand was withered, so he was fully unable to earn his living by working with his hands. Jerome says that the Hebrew Gospel used by the Nazarenes and Ebionites adds that the man was a bricklayer, who came to Jesus and said, “Lord, I am a bricklayer, and I have earned my bread by my labor. Please restore the use of my hand, so I will not have to beg for my food.” This poor man was in the synagogue. Those who can do little, or who have little to do in the world, must do even more for their souls, as the rich, the elderly, and the weak should.

The Pharisees then asked Jesus a spiteful question when they saw the man. “Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath?” We are not told that the poor man asked Christ for help here, but the Pharisees saw that Christ had begun to notice him. They knew he often showed favor to those who were not even seeking him, so they acted with malice and turned the situation into a trap. They used this as an obstacle in the way of doing good. Whether physicians were allowed to heal on the Sabbath was debated in their books, but surely it should have been beyond dispute that prophets could heal, especially one who showed divine power and goodness in all his works and proved that he came from God. No one would ask whether it is lawful for God to heal, or to send his word and heal.

It is true that Christ had voluntarily placed himself under the law, but he was never placed under the traditions of the elders. Asking whether an action is lawful is a good thing, and we should bring such questions to Christ. But here they asked, not to learn, but to accuse. If he said healing was lawful on the Sabbath, they would say he broke the fourth commandment. The Pharisees had become so strict about Sabbath rest that, except when life was in danger, they would not allow any medical treatment on that day. If he said it was not lawful, they would accuse him of favoritism, since he had recently defended his disciples for plucking grain on the same day.

Christ answered them by appealing to their own opinion and practice (Matthew 12:11, 12:12).

Suppose a sheep, even if it were only one, and its loss would not be great, fell into a pit on the Sabbath. Would they not lift it out? Of course they would, because the fourth commandment allows such an act of mercy. In fact, they would feel obliged to do it, since a kind person cares for the life of his animal, and they would do it rather than lose a sheep. Does Christ care for sheep? Yes, he does. He preserves and provides for both people and animals. But he says this for our sake (1 Corinthians 9:9, 1 Corinthians 9:10), and from it he draws this conclusion, how much more is a person worth than a sheep?

Sheep are harmless and useful creatures, and people value and care for them for that reason. Yet a human being is far more valuable than they are. A person is much better than the best of the animals because people can think, love, and give glory to God. For that reason, a sheep’s sacrifice could never make up for the sin of a soul. Some people do not think this through. They care more for the training, safety, and feeding of their horses and dogs than for God’s poor people, or even for people in their own household.

From this, Christ brings out a truth that sounds plain and kind at first glance, it is lawful to do good on the Sabbath days. They had asked whether it was lawful to heal, and Christ shows that doing good is lawful. Let anyone judge whether healing, as Christ healed, was not doing good. There are many ways to do good on the Sabbath besides the duties of direct worship. Caring for the sick, helping the poor, and aiding those who fall into sudden trouble and need quick help, these are good works. They must be done from love and kindness, with humility, self-denial, and a heaven-minded spirit. That is doing well, and it will be accepted (Genesis 4:7).

Christ then healed the man, even though he knew the Pharisees would take offense at it (Matthew 12:13). They could not answer his arguments, but they still clung to their prejudice and hatred. Christ went on with his work anyway. Duty must not be neglected, and chances to do good must not be missed because we fear offending people.

The way he healed the man is also important. He said to him, “Stretch out your hand,” meaning, use what strength you have and do what you can. The man did so, and his hand was restored, completely healed. This miracle, like others Christ performed, pointed to spiritual truth. By nature, our hands are withered. We are completely unable on our own to do anything truly good. It is Christ alone, by the power of his grace, who heals us. He gives life to the dead soul and works in us both the desire and the power to do what is right.

To be healed, the man was commanded to stretch out his hand. In the same way, Christ calls us to make use of the strength we have and to do as well as we can. We are to stretch out our hands in prayer to God, in faith to take hold of Christ, and in holy effort to obey him. The man could not have stretched out his withered hand by himself any more than the crippled man could rise and carry his bed, or Lazarus could come out of the grave. Yet Christ still commanded him to do it.

So God’s commands to us, even when we cannot do the duty by ourselves, are no more unfair or unreasonable than this command to the man with the withered hand. Along with the command, God gives grace through his word. “Turn at my reproof, and I will pour out my Spirit” (Proverbs 1:23). Those who are lost are as blameworthy as that man would have been if he had refused to try and stretch out his hand, and so had not been healed. But those who are saved have nothing to boast about. They contributed no more to their salvation than that man contributed to his healing. They are just as much dependent on Christ’s power and grace as he was.