Matthew 11:25-12:14 Lesson 22

Matthew 11:25-12:14
Lesson 22

Read both the "King James Bible" and the "New Living Translation."

In this Lesson

Jesus' prayer of thanks.

A summons from Jesus (11:28).

Rest for the weary soul (11:28-30).

Jesus heals on the Sabbath (12:9-13).

The Pharisees plot against Jesus (12:14).

By Russian artist Evgraf Semenovich Sorokin (1821-1892)

Study Tip:

Read Bible passages a second time. It is an excellent way to reinforce lessons learned and to catch essential points you may have missed with the first read.

The Gospel According to St. Matthew

The King James Bible

Matthew 11:25-12:14
"I will give you rest."

25 At that time Jesus answered and said, I thank thee, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because thou hast hid these things from the wise and prudent, and hast revealed them unto babes.

26 Even so, Father: for so it seemed good in thy sight.

27 All things are delivered unto me of my Father: and no man knoweth the Son, but the Father; neither knoweth any man the Father, save the Son, and he to whomsoever the Son will reveal him.

28 Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.

29 Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls.

30 For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.

Matthew 12:1-14
The Sabbath

1 At that time Jesus went on the sabbath day through the corn; and his disciples were an hungred, and began to pluck the ears of corn and to eat.

2 But when the Pharisees saw it, they said unto him, Behold, thy disciples do that which is not lawful to do upon the sabbath day.

3 But he said unto them, Have ye not read what David did, when he was an hungred, and they that were with him;

4 How he entered into the house of God, and did eat the shewbread, which was not lawful for him to eat, neither for them which were with him, but only for the priests?

5 Or have ye not read in the law, how that on the sabbath days the priests in the temple profane the sabbath, and are blameless?

6 But I say unto you, That in this place is one greater than the temple.

7 But if ye had known what this meaneth, I will have mercy, and not sacrifice, ye would not have condemned the guiltless.

8 For the Son of man is Lord even of the sabbath day.

9 And when he was departed thence, he went into their synagogue:

10 And, behold, there was a man which had his hand withered. And they asked him, saying, Is it lawful to heal on the sabbath days? that they might accuse him.

11 And he said unto them, What man shall there be among you, that shall have one sheep, and if it fall into a pit on the sabbath day, will he not lay hold on it, and lift it out?

12 How much then is a man better than a sheep? Wherefore it is lawful to do well on the sabbath days.

13 Then saith he to the man, Stretch forth thine hand. And he stretched it forth; and it was restored whole, like as the other.

14 Then the Pharisees went out, and held a council against him, how they might destroy him.

Margin notes:

"Thou hast hid these things from the wise and prudent." (11:25) - "You (God) have hidden the truth from the worldly and arrogant." See also Luke 10:21. God will "destroy" the worldly wise but spiritually foolish (1 Corinthians 1:19).

"Babes." (11:25) - People with childlike faith and humility who are receptive to God's truth.

"Save the Son." (11:27) - "Except the Son."

"Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest." (11:28) - Jesus is calling all who are burdened with sin. All sinners (i.e., everyone) are invited to come to Jesus and find peace and rest.

"Learn of me." (11:29) - "Learn from me."

"For my yoke is easy." (11:30) - "For my commandments are easy." Compared to following the complicated rules, rites, and ceremonies laid down by the Pharisees', following Jesus is easy (1 John 5:3). Also, see "Question Two" below.

"At that time Jesus went on the sabbath day through the corn." (12:1) - "At the time, Jesus walked through a corn field on the sabbath."  The word Sabbath comes from the Hebrew word Shabbath, which means an end to labor or rest.

"Not lawful to do upon the Sabbath." (12:2) - In truth, the Pharisees were wrong. The Mosaic Law did not forbid hungry people from picking food on the Sabbath. It only forbade workers from harvesting crops. Hungry travelers and the poor were allowed to pick crops from the first two rows of a farmer's field. They were forbidden to go beyond the second row or to use farming tools. They could only pick crops with their bare hands and only enough to meet their own needs (Deuteronomy 23:24-25).

"Have ye not read what David did." (12:3) - Jesus is referring to what David did while hungry and on the run from King Saul. You can read about it in 1 Samuel 21:1-6.

"Shewbread." (12:4) - Shewbread (Hebrew Lehem haPanim) was Holy or blessed unleavened bread. Each Sabbath, twelve loaves of unleavened bread (one for each tribe of Israel) were placed on the altar in the Holy Place of the Jewish Temple. They were an offering of thanks to God and could only be eaten by the priests at the end of the week (Exodus 29:32-33; Leviticus 24:5-9).

"The law." (12:5) - The law of Moses, the Mosaic Law.

"In this place is one greater than the temple." (12:6) - Jesus is claiming to be the "One," the Messiah the world has been awaiting. To the Pharisees, this is blasphemy and punishable by death.

"I will have mercy, and not sacrifice." (12:7) - "To obey is better than to sacrifice" (1 Samuel 15:22). Jesus is placing morality over the man-made rules and ceremonies that the Pharisees followed. Jesus is reinforcing his message from verse 9:13 (lesson 16). See also Isaiah 1:11-17 and Hosea 6:6.

"Is it lawful to heal on the sabbath?" (12:10) - This wasn't the only time Jesus asked this question (Luke 14:3).

"Wherefore It is lawful to do well on the sabbath days." (12:12) - "Therefore, it is lawful to do good deeds on the Sabbath." It was not lawful according to the Pharisees. They had taken the law against working on the Sabbath to ridiculous levels.

"The Pharisees went out, and held a council against him." (12:14) - The Pharisees plotted against Jesus, just as predicted centuries earlier in Psalm 2:2.

To read additional accounts of Jesus challenging the Pharisees and healing the withered hand, see Mark 3:1-6 and Luke 6:6-11.

New Living Translation

Matthew 11:25-12:14
Jesus' Prayer of Thanksgiving

25 At that time Jesus prayed this prayer: "O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, thank you for hiding these things from those who think themselves wise and clever, and for revealing them to the childlike.

26 Yes, Father, it pleased you to do it this way!

27 "My Father has entrusted everything to me. No one truly knows the Son except the Father, and no one truly knows the Father except the Son and those to whom the Son chooses to reveal him."

28 Then Jesus said, "Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest.

29 Take my yoke upon you. Let me teach you, because I am humble and gentle at heart, and you will find rest for your souls.

30 For my yoke is easy to bear, and the burden I give you is light."

Matthew 12:1-14
A Discussion about the Sabbath

1 At about that time Jesus was walking through some grainfields on the Sabbath. His disciples were hungry, so they began breaking off some heads of grain and eating them.

2 But some Pharisees saw them do it and protested, "Look, your disciples are breaking the law by harvesting grain on the Sabbath."

3 Jesus said to them, "Haven't you read in the Scriptures what David did when he and his companions were hungry?

4 He went into the house of God, and he and his companions broke the law by eating the sacred loaves of bread that only the priests are allowed to eat.

5 And haven't you read in the law of Moses that the priests on duty in the Temple may work on the Sabbath?

6 I tell you, there is one here who is even greater than the Temple!

7 But you would not have condemned my innocent disciples if you knew the meaning of this Scripture: 'I want you to show mercy, not offer sacrifices.'

8 For the Son of Man is Lord, even over the Sabbath!"

Jesus Heals on the Sabbath

9 Then Jesus went over to their synagogue,

10 where he noticed a man with a deformed hand. The Pharisees asked Jesus, "Does the law permit a person to work by healing on the Sabbath?" (They were hoping he would say yes, so they could bring charges against him.)

11 And he answered, "If you had a sheep that fell into a well on the Sabbath, wouldn't you work to pull it out? Of course you would.

12 And how much more valuable is a person than a sheep! Yes, the law permits a person to do good on the Sabbath."

13 Then he said to the man, "Hold out your hand." So the man held out his hand, and it was restored, just like the other one!

14 Then the Pharisees called a meeting to plot how to kill Jesus.

The "New Living Translation" (Tyndale House, Publishers, Wheaton, Illinois) is a paraphrase and not an accurate word-for-word translation of the Bible. However, it is a helpful tool when read with the "King James Version."

Today's Questions:

1. What do we learn from verse 11:27?

2. Why use the yoke, a symbol of work and submission, to depict rest? (11:29)

Salvation is by God's grace. God's grace is an undeserved gift to mankind.

Answers: (Do you agree?)

1. Verse 11:27 tells us that the only way to know God is through Jesus Christ.

2. A strange paradox: people already overburdened invited to take another yoke onto their shoulders. In verse 11:29, Jesus is telling us there is no need to be burdened with sin or the laws, rites, and ceremonies of the Mosaic Law (Acts 15:10). Christians can find rest, love, healing, and peace when they "yoke" themselves to God and trust their souls and burdens to Him.

Application thought for the day:

The Pharisees put their man-made religious rules above Gods. Following their rules, rites and ceremonies took the place of a meaningful relationship with our creator. Be careful not to worship or pray on automatic pilot. You may miss God.

Thanks to the writings and commentary of John Wesley and Adam Clarke. Also, "The Layman's Bible Study Notebook" by Irving Jensen, published by Harvest House Publishing, Irvine, California; the "Life Change Series" published by NavPress books, Colorado Springs, Colorado; "Robertson's New Testament Word Studies;" "The MacArthur Bible Commentary" by John MacArthur, published by Thomas Nelson, Nashville, Tennessee; "Wisdom of the Bible" CD by Topics Entertainment, Inc., Renton, Washington for their inspiring pictures; "My utmost for His Highest" by Oswald Chambers, published by Barbour Publishing, Inc., Uhrichsville, Ohio; The "Treasury of Scriptural Knowledge" by Reuben Archer Torrey; "Hope For Each Day" by Billy Graham, published by J. Countryman, a division of Thomas Nelson, Inc., Nashville, Tennessee; "Easton's Bible Dictionary" by Matthew George Easton; "Unger's Bible Dictionary" by Merrill F. Unger, published by Moody Press, Chicago, Illinois; "Atlas of the Bible" edited by Joseph L. Gardner, published by Readers Digest, Pleasantville, New York; "Halley's Bible Handbook" by Henry H. Halley, Zondervan Publishing House, Grand Rapids, Michigan; "The Everyday Bible" published by World Wide Publications, Minneapolis, Minnesota; "The New Testament" Recovery Version published by Living Stream Ministry, Anaheim, California; "The Living New Testament" published by Tyndale house, Wheaten, Illinois; "The New Living Translation" published by Tyndale House, Wheaten, Illinois; "The New Testament" translated from the Latin Vulgate, published by Guild Press, New York, New York; the "Life Application Study Bible" published by Tyndale House Publishing, Carol Stream, Illinois; the "Quest Study Bible" published by The Zondervan Corporation, Grand Rapids, Michigan; "The New Scofield Reference Bible" published by Oxford University Press, New York, New York; BibleGateway.com for all their wonderful links; and of course, the "King James Bible." All were critical in putting these lessons together.
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