Matthew 12:1-14; Psalm 99

I hope you had a wonderful Christmas this year. I so appreciated the great reminders of God's ancient plan to save us from our sins. The birth of Jesus is a beautiful part of that plan. I apologize for neglecting this blog. The only thing to do when you've dropped the ball is to pick it up and go again! So here we go!


Matthew 12:1-14
In this passage, we see the Pharisees trying to maneuver Jesus into breaking the Pharisee's "laws," which were really man-made traditions added to the Old Testament law. In fact, Jesus deliberately violated these "rules" to teach that He is Lord of the Sabbath. The law says that Israel was to keep the Sabbath holy which meant they were to rest from their regular work and worship God. The Pharisees had interpreted this to include a long list of forbidden actions. This was their idea of the letter of the law. But we can easily see from the examples that it clearly violated the spirit of the law.

We should view any religious rule with suspicion if it does not include mercy toward people! Watch out for people who are so concerned about keeping religious rules that they don't show love and compassion. Look at Jesus' actions here. The disciples were hungry so He let them pick grain and eat it. The man in the synagogue was suffering with a withered hand so Jesus healed him. People are what is important to Jesus! What an example for us!

In v. 8, when Jesus declared Himself "Lord of the Sabbath," He was declaring Himself equal with God the Father, and this enraged the Pharisees so much that v. 14 tells us "...the Pharisees went out and plotted how they might kill Jesus."

Psalm 99
We can look at the psalms from various directions. This one is a hymn lifting up God as He deserves. Let's see exactly what actions are appropriate for us as we worship Him.

• v. 1 "The Lord reigns, let the nations tremble; he sits enthroned between the cherubim, let the earth shake." I don't think this is talking about an earthquake. I think it means that the people of the nations and the earth should fear and respect God. Though He is a merciful and loving heavenly Father, He is still high and lifted-up and awesome, not to be trifled with! Let us have the highest possible respect for Him!
• v. 3 We should praise His great and awesome name for He is holy.
• v. 5 We should exalt the Lord--lift Him up--and worship at His footstool, for He is holy.
• vv. 6-8 We should follow the example of some of the Old Testament saints such as Moses, Aaron, and Samuel and call on the Lord in prayer. He is the same God who answered them, and He will hear and answer us. 
• We should obey the word of the Lord just as Moses, Aaron, and Samuel did.

For our meditation: v. 9 "Exalt the Lord our God and worship at his holy mountain, for the Lord our God is holy."