Matthew 12:9-13 - What is Lawful on the Sabbath?

Translation & Sermon by Nate Wilson for Christ the Redeemer Church, Manhattan, KS, 06 May 2012

Translation

12:9 Then, transitioning from there, He came into their synagogue.

12:10 And, look, there was a man, his hand in a withered condition.

And they questioned Him in order that they might bring charges against Him, saying, “Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbaths?”

12:11 Then He said to them, “Is there a man from among y’all who, if he has one sheep, and if that one happens to fall into a pit on the Sabbaths, is it not so that he will grab hold of it and lift up?

12:12 Therefore, how much more value does a man carry than a sheep?

Thus it is lawful on the Sabbaths to be doing good.”

12:13 Then He said to the man, “Start stretching out your hand,”

and He stretched it out, and it was restored – as healthy as the other!

Review

Last week, we looked at the origin and role of law. We saw that:

  1. God is the origin of law, and Jesus is the ultimate lawgiver and judge, so He has authority to define and interpret law as God.
  2. The role of law is to bless and lead to freedom. We saw this applied to the Sabbath law, “The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath.”
  3. Therefore we must fight the urge to pervert the use of law to condemn and control people. WE fight that urge by:

 

This week, I want to delve deeper into how to fulfill the law. What can we actually do to be pleasing to God in regards to the demands of His law? I will be applying this particularly to the 4th Commandment, “Remember the Sabbath Day to keep it holy…” And we will be using Jesus’ handling of the issue of Sabbath observance as our example.

 

But before we get into that passage, I want to offer a general template for obeying God in any area - not just for the Sabbath: In Malachi 6:8, we are told what the good things are that the Lord God requires of us:

  1. Do justice – figure out what is right and do it, never yielding God’s holiness to compromise
  2. Love mercy – Forgive, show compassion, and seek for God to be merciful when confronted with evil and the fallout of sin.
  3. Walk humbly with God – Never attempt to do justice and love mercy by your own wisdom and effort, but rather maintain your personal relationship with Jesus Christ, following in His footsteps, drawing on His wisdom and His power.

 

 

Mat 12:9 Then, transitioning from there, He came into their synagogue.

και μεταβας εκειθεν ηλθεν εις την συναγωγην αυτων

 

Mat 12:10 And, look, there was a man, his hand in a withered/shrivelled condition. And they questioned Him in order that they might [accuse] bring charges against Him, saying, “Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbaths?”

και ιδου ανθρωπος [ην την-א,B,C,W,Vulg.] χειρα εχων ξηραν[1] και επηρωτησαν αυτον λεγοντες ει εξεστιν τοις σαββασιν θεραπευειν[2] ινα κατηγορησωσιν αυτου

Overview on the Biblical law of the Sabbath

 

 

Mat 12:11 Then He said to them, “Is there a man from among y’all who, if he has one sheep, and if that one happens to fall into a pit on the Sabbaths, is it not so that he will grab hold of it and lift up?

ο δε ειπεν αυτοις τις [εσται-C,L,F13] εξ υμων ανθρωπος ος εξει προβατον εν και [εαν-D,f13] εμπεση τουτο τοις σαββασιν εις βοθυνον ουχι κρατησει αυτο και εγερει

 

Mat 12:12 Therefore, how much more value does a man carry than a sheep? Thus it is lawful on the Sabbaths to be doing good.”

ποσω ουν [μαλλονΘ,f13,lat.] διαφερει ανθρωπος προβατου ωστε εξεστιν τοις σαββασιν καλως ποιειν

 

Mat 12:13 Then He said to the man, “Start stretching out your hand,” and He stretched it out, and it was restored – as healthy [wholeKJV/ normalNAS/ soundNIV] as the other!

τοτε λεγει τω ανθρωπω εκτεινον την χειρα σου και εξετεινεν και αποκατεσταθη[4] υγιης ως η αλλη

 

Let us pause here, but in the next section, I want to tie up some loose ends (such as why the Christian Sabbath shifted to Sunday) and draw some more practical conclusions about how we should fulfill the law of the Sabbath.



[1] This word is mostly used to describe dry land, but there are a few other instances: dry bread (Josh. 9:5), Dried hands (Isa. 37:27), eunuchs (Isa 56:3), dry breasts (Hos. 9:14), dry bones (Ezek. 37), dry tree (luke 23:31), and infirm (John 5:3).

[2] Some old Greek manuscripts render this verb in the Aorist tense (א,D,L,W), but it doesn’t make a difference in translation.

[3] Gary North, Institutes of Biblical Law (p. 824ff)

[4] This word is used to describe Moses’ hand being restored from a leprous condition (Ex. 4:7) and typifies God’s work in restoring mankind (Job 33:25, Hos. 11:11, Ezek. 16:55, Jer. 15:19, 16:15, 23:8, 24:6, 50:19, Mal 4:6, Mark 9:12).