Matt. 12:9-21 – Lord of the Sabbath, Part II
Sensing the growing tension Jesus goes to the synagogue and is confronted there. I am amazed at what happens here. I know that I’ve thought about it and I’m sure that others have longed for the days when miracles would be just a common part of life, you pray for something and it just happens. How much greater would our faith be. How much more indisputable would the Gospel be to those around us. But that completely ignores the fact that we do not have faith because of the miracles, but because we have faith we can see and appreciate all the miracles all around us. In this passage is a perfectly good example of how blind we can be when our hearts are closed and our expectations are pointed in the wrong direction. Here God comes in and does something miraclous and the only thing that the Pharisees can see is that Jesus has ignored their interpretation of what it means to honor the Sabbath. One of their fellow worshippers is healed and made whole and the only thing that they see is a reason to plot against Jesus. How blind can we be?

So then Jesus leaves the synagogue and begins to minister to those around him, not going out and attracting a crowd and creating a scene but quietly being the gentle servant of God. Matthew ends the passage by pointing out that Jesus’ ministry, begun in the synagogue and rejected by the leaders, will be shared with the whole world. How unlike our tele-evangelists and how much more powerful is Jesus’ example. JBB 7/1/2004