Powerful Moments that Change Your Life Forever (Matt. 12:9-14)

“Powerful Moments that Change Your Life Forever”
Matthew 12:9-14

INTRODUCTION:
What is a pivotal moment in your life that changed you forever? I had a friend at FHU named Les Bonnett. He and I preached together in Vienna, IL while we were graduate students. Les heard that a congregation north of FHU, in Milan, TN, was looking for an associate minister so he talked a few of us friends into going to that congregation one Wednesday night so he could give his resume to the elders. There were four of us: Les, Todd, Chester, and me.

That Wednesday night, Les ran into another student from FHU, named Joanna Tarbet. Joanna and her friend were working with the church during the summer, going door-to-door asking for Bible studies. The six of us went out for ice cream after Bible class. We had a good time, talking and laughing. I thought Joanna’s friend was attractive; she laughed and smiled in a way that all of her teeth showed.

Earlier that night, Les, my friend, saw another student from FHU at that congregation whom he had dated. So, the following Wednesday night, Les decided he wanted to go back to that congregation in Milan to see if he could stir up an old flame with that girl. We all went back up to Milan - it was about a 45 minute drive. The girl was not interested in Les. So the four of us and Joanna and her friend, Rachel, all went out again for ice cream and we sat and talked and laughed. Les is a big cut up. He is the type of person who is the life of the party wherever he is. At that point, one of the other guys, Chester, asked Rachel for her phone number.

On the way home, we were talking about the night and Chester commented that he was not planning to call Rachel. We asked him why not, and he said he was just being friendly. So, I said, “Give me her phone number! I’ll use it!” The rest, as they say, is history.

Powerful moments that change your life forever. It was roughly four months later when Rachel and I were at a missions club meeting at Glen Henton’s house. Glen was a missionary, a former missionary, to Argentina, and he was speaking that night on doing mission work as a team. After that meeting, a friend of mine with whom I was in graduate school, Eric Welch, asked if I would be interested in being a part of a mission team. Powerful moments that change your life forever.

Think about the different people involved in these two encounters and the decisions that each one of them made that eventually brought Rachel and me together and then took us to the mission field. We never know what type of influence or impact we can have on other people, as simple as our decisions might be. That’s why it is so important for us to direct people to Jesus as best we can in all that we say and do because it might just be our influence that contributes in a profound way to blessing their lives. Powerful moments that can change our lives forever.

Tonight, I want to take an event from the life of Jesus when He touched a man’s life and, no doubt, changed that man forever. We will also see that one repercussion of Jesus’ behavior toward that man will also change Jesus’ life forever. Let’s study Matthew 12…

THE BACKGROUND - 11:28-30; 12:1-8:
In 11:28-30, Jesus called on those “having been burdened” to come to Him for a light and easy yoke to carry and they will find “rest.” Chapter 12 illustrates the burden Jews had, living under the strict and dominant traditions of the Pharisees. When Jesus refuses to submit to the Pharisees’ traditions, it motivates them to begin seeking a way to destroy Him. The source of controversy was not what the Bible actually said relative to the Sabbath day “rest” (see Gen. 2:1-2; Exo. 20:11; Deut. 5:15). It was over what the Bible did not say; the traditions of men which had grown up around the Sabbath law. The Jews took their Sabbath-day traditions so seriously that in the days of the family of the Maccabees (1 Macc. 2:31-38), they allowed themselves to be slaughtered rather than fight on the Sabbath day.

The first time, according to Matthew’s gospel, that Jesus is challenged by the Jewish leaders is in 9:3. These were the scribes who said Jesus blasphemed when He forgave the sins of the man who was paralyzed. In that same chapter, the Pharisees criticize Jesus because He ate with tax collectors and sinners. Again, in that same chapter (9:34), the Pharisees will accuse Jesus of casting out demons by the power of Satan.

Now, the Pharisees do not show up in the ministry of Jesus in chapters 10 and 11 but they come back here in chapter 12, where they accuse Jesus’ disciples of violating the Sabbath law because they pluck ears of grain of the Sabbath in order to eat. The word “Sabbath” is used in 12:1 for the first time in Matthew’s gospel. Out of the 10 times Matthew uses “Sabbath,” 8 of those times are here in chapter 12.

THE MAN IN NEED - 12:9-10:
For Mark’s parallel, see 3:1-6; for Luke’s, 6:6-11. As we get the whole picture, we see that Jesus called for the man to stand in the presence of the Pharisees and Jesus turned the question against them: Is it lawful to do good or to do harm on the Sabbath, to save a life or to kill?” But the Pharisees kept silent.

Mark tells us (3:4) that Jesus looked at them with anger, grieved at their hard hearts. That’s when the account picks up with Matthew at verse 13.

The Law of Moses forbid work on the Sabbath day in the Ten Commandments: Exo. 20:8-11. Earlier, God had emphasized how important the Sabbath law was: Exo. 16:23ff. “Sabbath” is found in the Hebrew OT 111 times, beginning in Exodus 16. The Law also required Israelites to be considerate of their neighbor’s animals: Exo. 23:4-5; Deut. 22:4.

The controversy over the Sabbath day is not over at 12:8. On a Sabbath day (another Sabbath, according to Luke 6:6), Jesus entered their synagogue. There was a man there whose hand was unusable; it was paralyzed or atrophied from some illness. The adjective “paralyzed” or “withered” (ver. 10) is used only here and 23:15 in Matthew, out of 8 uses. It might also simply be a hand whose muscles have atrophied.

The Pharisees are the “they” in verse 10; they ask Jesus if it is authorized to heal on the Sabbath. The traditions said “no,” unless the healing was necessary to save a life. Here, Matthew gives us insight into their motivation: they wanted to accuse Him. Their animosity toward Jesus has been evident at least since 9:34. But that animosity has been growing so that now, they are wanting to take Jesus into court, before the Sanhedrin.

JESUS’ MESSAGE - 12:11-13:
Luke tells us that Jesus “knew what they were thinking” (Luke 6:8). Jesus responds to their challenge, to their lack of mercy, by asking if any of them, having a sheep fall into a pit on the Sabbath day, would not remove the sheep from the pit. That was actually an action the traditions would allow, so the Pharisees would respond “yes.” Yet, a human being is more valuable than a sheep. Therefore, Jesus answers their question, “Yes, it is authorized [by the Law, by God] to heal someone on the Sabbath day.”

To emphasize that Jesus knew the Law and knew how to interpret the Law, that He was the “Lord of the Sabbath” (ver. 8), He tells the man to extend his hand. Nothing is said about the man’s faith but he extended his hand and it was “whole” or “healthy,” in the same condition as the other one.

THE REPERCUSSIONS - 12:14:
The hatred of the Pharisees for the Son of God reached a pivotal point in verse 14 as the Pharisees went out, to consult with one another, how they might destroy (“kill”) Jesus. Luke tells us (6:11) that the Pharisees and scribes were filled with rage as they discussed what they might do with Jesus. It will take some time for them to lay out their plan, but it will happen. Mark tells us the Pharisees joined together with the Herodians (3:6) to destroy Jesus. That is ironic because the Pharisees and Herodians were political enemies. The Pharisees were against Roman rule and the Herodians apparently supported Herod who was the Romans’ puppet king.

The word “Sabbath” is mentioned 12 times after the Gospel accounts; 10 are in the book of Acts as the Christians have interactions with the Jews. In 1 Corinthians 16:2, the word is used for a “week,” as Paul discusses the worship assembly of Christians which would take place on the first day of the week, rather than the last day (the “Sabbath”). The word “Sabbath” is never used tor refer to the day of Christian worship.

In Colossians 2:16-17, Paul writes that the Sabbath and other aspects of the Law of Moses were a shadow, indicating the the Son of God was coming. Therefore, since Christians no longer celebrate the Sabbath, they should not feel concerned about the Jews “judging” them for that behavior.

It is ironic that the Pharisees are critiquing Jesus for not observing their traditions but then they take counsel for premeditated murder, which was forbidden under the Law: Gen. 9:5-6; Num. 35:29-34; Deut. 21:1-9. They were preparing to break the sixth commandment because Jesus was “violating” the fourth!

Take home message: We touch peoples’ lives on a daily basis - for good or bad. Let us do our best to make it “for good.” Who knows… we might change a life forever.