Post Pandemic Preaching

The Lord of Shabbat

"At that time Yeshua went through the grain fields on Shabbat. His disciples became hungry and began to pluck heads of grain and eat them. But when the Pharisees saw this, they said to Him, “Look, Your disciples are doing what is not permitted on Shabbat.”

But He said to them, “Haven’t you read what David did when he became hungry, and those with him? How he entered into the house of God, and they ate the showbread, which was not permitted for him to eat, nor for those with him, but only for the kohanim? Or haven’t you read in the Torah that on Shabbat the kohanim in the Temple break Shabbat and yet are innocent? But I tell you that something greater than the Temple is here. If you had known what this means, ‘I desire mercy, not sacrifice,’ you wouldn’t have condemned the innocent. For the Son of Man is Lord of Shabbat.”

Leaving from there, He went into their synagogue. A man with a withered hand was there. And so that they might accuse Him, they questioned Yeshua, saying, “Is it permitted to heal on Shabbat?”

He said to them, “What man among you will not grab his sheep and lift it out, if it falls into a pit on Shabbat? How much more valuable then is a man than a sheep! Therefore it is permitted to do good on Shabbat.”

Then He said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” And he stretched it out and it was restored, as healthy as the other. But the Pharisees went out and plotted against Him, how they might destroy Him."

Matthew 12 :1-14 in the Tree of Life Version

[This is the 2nd lesson of this series]

Matthew the tax collector wrote the Book of Matthew which became the 1st book of the Christian Scriptures. It was written with the Jewish people as the reader in mind.

In those days, the Pharisees and their religious leaders lord it over the Jewish people and place on their shoulders religious rules and regulations (yokes and burdens). These people turned God's eternal economy into their own personal earthly agenda, wanting to become gods themselves worthy of worship and adoration.

When Jesus (Yeshua) came into the scene, John the Baptizer and others waiting for the Messiah realized who Jesus is. While these Pharisees who knew more about the Christ, refused to accept who Jesus is and instead schemed against Him because He was breaking all the humannade rules they have come up with, like in this instance, making impractical dos and dont's on the Shabbat (Sabbath Day, the day of rest, the Lord's day). The Jewish laws forbade working on the Lord's day, they just forgot that the Lord is the lord of the Sabbath.

When Jesus did works of mercy or practical and good deeds on the Sabbath, He undermined their rules and their teachings and made them look like fools to the Jewish people.

Schemers

So in the end they plotted evil plans, involved other people into their ploys and they devised evil plans to have Jesus eliminated. Because for them, even the Messiah Himself cannot stop them from promoting and carrying out their agenda.

Compassion

Jesus desires mercy, kindness, goodness, healing and compassion over sacrifice and offerings.

In the Message Paraphrase Version it says He desires a flexible heart rather than an inflexible ritual.

Humankind and the leaders they made for themselves have reduced God into religion, one of empty rituals and meaningless sacrifices.

God is saying He came to give us mercy and His mercy begets mercy. He loved us first so we can love Him back and love and have compassion with others.

Religious people begets religion or rigid rituals without a heart, without a soul. It makes people blind and mute, incapable of compassion for others. Their god is themselves or whatever personal agenda they have.

God's Representatives

As Christians when we reflect the compassion of Christ towards others, in place of the rigidity of religious people, then we know and acknowledge Christ. And we become His ambassadors to our dark world.

Note: With the pandemic, people had to do church or church services in their homes. Some people have frowned about this and labeled this as foolish. We cannot assume what agenda they have and of course many have used the pandemic as an excuse to not go to church.

But if we apply mercy, or compassion we can see Christ smiling at how we have given a chance to those who have legitimate reasons to not be able to attend church services to do so.

Doing church meetings in homes is not new. In fact, the first church met in homes and for the first churches this was the common practice. If anything we just got an opportunity to get back to how it was supposed to be. Remember flexible heart over inflexible ritual.