Seeking once again the help of
God, I'd like you to turn with me to the chapter that we read,
Gospel according to Matthew and chapter 12, and the text you'll
find in verse 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? As we looked at last week, the
man who was brought to the Lord Jesus Christ, who was born by
four, he was carried by his friends, to the place where the Lord Jesus
Christ was, and there was a multitude round about the Lord Jesus Christ,
so much so that they could not press through, but they were
not hindered by that crowd. They continued to look for a
way to bring their friend to the Lord Jesus. They had that
true compassion and love. They had that true faith to believe
that the Lord Jesus Christ was able to heal. And we see that
there in that account that Christ first forgives the man of his
sins. He comes straight to the root
of the matter and he is accused then of being a blasphemer. He
is accused of doing something that only God can do. And so
to prove the reality of the forgiveness of the man's sins and that Christ
has the power on earth to forgive sin, that he is God in the flesh,
that he has that right to declare somebody's sins forgiven, He
says to the person, get up and walk and that was then the seal
to the word of God. That was the seal which stamped
the proof of the reality that that man's sins had been forgiven. And so there was a context by
which that miracle took place. And as we go through these miracles
we will see that there is a context to which all these miracles are
done. There is a reason why the Lord
Jesus Christ does these miracles. The context we can say is the
road that leads us to the summit. The summit is the miracle, the
pinnacle of what Jesus is teaching. because a beautiful ring is,
a beautiful stone is set in a ring and so the miracles of Christ
are set in a context by which we are able to dig down deep
and to find out What is the reason Jesus is doing this miracle? Why is he specifically revealing
and teaching in this visual way? And so here in chapter 12 we
have a context and the context is as usual the Pharisees. The Pharisees are accusing the
Lord Jesus Christ of doing something which was contrary to the law,
of doing something which he had no right to do which made him
a sinner. And we saw that later on in the
chapter as he casts out the deaf and the dumb spirit, they accuse
the Lord Jesus Christ of being Beelzebub himself, being Satan
himself. And the power that Christ was
using to deliver was the power of Satan. But we know that it
is the power of God. that Christ is God and he says
if I'm using the power of God know it for sure that the kingdom
of God has come unto you. And so the beginning of the chapter
begins with the disciples of the Lord Jesus walking through
a cornfield and as they walk through the cornfield they begin
to pick ears of the corn and to rub them in their hands. The Pharisees declare that they
were doing what was not lawful to be done on the Sabbath day. According to the law, if a path
passed by the fields, they were able to pick ears of corn to
satisfy their hunger. It was not against the law of
God. They couldn't come in with a
scythe and harvest somebody else's grain, but they could walk by
the road and they could pick off and rub in their hands corn. So they were not doing anything
that was contrary to the law of God. And walking with the
Lord Jesus Christ, we know for sure that he would not allow
them to do anything that was sinful, anything that would violate
the Sabbath day. so they had added to the law
of God and so it was with the Pharisees there was God's holy
law which was clear and laid out in the word of God but then
they come along and they add laws to God's laws They take
over God's perfect law and corrupt it by adding their own laws. And they looked for ways by which
they could get around God's law to please themselves. One account
that I read was of the Sabbath day's journey. There was a specific
length of a journey you could take on the Sabbath day. And
that was from your house a specific distance that you could go and
so what they used to do they used to take something from their
house and walk that distance and then place that something
from their house underneath a rock and then they would say well
this is where my home is and they would move along again and
put something else under a rock and say that they're moving from
home to home and then on their way back they would collect the
things that they were they had placed underneath the rocks just
so that they could get over and get round God's law. But if anybody else did it they
were eagle-eyed to accuse, standing like pharisaical hawks looking
for some prey by which to pounce on. Legalists having no love for the people,
having no love for God, but just loving the letter of the law. And this is exactly what they
were trying to do to the Lord Jesus Christ, always trying to
trip him up, always trying to find fault in his doctrine, always
trying to find fault in his way of living, always trying to find
fault in his apostles and the things that he taught them what
to do. And so they were eagle-eyed.
Pharisees, legalists, seeking to obtain the favour of God for
their own salvation yet standing in judgment that anybody else
who dared to put a foot wrong in
their sight. A legalist is somebody who is
seeking to make their own way to heaven. seeking to climb the
ladder by themselves to please God by keeping the law, by looking
at the Ten Commandments like I said the other day and saying
yes I've done that one, yes I've done that one, yes I've done
that one. God now is going to be so pleased with me because
of all of the good things that I have done, failing to recognise
The reason why God gave his holy law was to reveal to us our sin,
our inability, and God's holiness and his greatness. And so the
Pharisees, as Jesus tells us, filled with pride There was no
humility in them. They stood as the judges, twisting
the law to suit themselves and pouncing on anybody else who
dared set a foot wrong. And so they looked at the perfect
spotless son of God and they tried to accuse his disciples
of doing that which was not lawful upon the Sabbath day. And then
Christ turns it back on themselves. Have you not read about David? How when he was hungry he ate
the showbread. He went into the temple as he
was fleeing from Saul and he ate of the showbread. That which
was not lawful, was not normally right, yet because of the need
of the human body, the need for food, he was able to eat and
to be satisfied. Have you not examined the priests,
how on the Sabbath day they profaned the Sabbath day, they break the
Sabbath day by labouring there in the temple. They had to offer the sacrifices
still, they still had to perform circumcision. When the circumcision
fell on that seventh day, whether it was on the Sabbath day, which
law would they break? Would they break the circumcision
law and not circumcise on the seventh day? Or would they break
God's law of the Sabbath? And so they were confused. And
so they broke one to keep another. And Jesus knew exactly what they
were doing and knew exactly why they were trying to find fault
in him. And so he declares to them that
the Son of Man is the Lord of the Sabbath. that he is the creator of it. And so these Pharisees looked
for a way by which they could get the Lord Jesus Christ to
break the Sabbath day by what they thought. So our text says,
and behold him there was a man which had a withered hand and
they asked him saying, is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath
day? You see they had laws about healing
on the Sabbath day. Somebody had a sore throat. You
are not allowed to gargle oil and to spit it out because they
would declare that that was unlawful taking of medicine on the Sabbath
day. But you could take oil and you
could drink it but you couldn't spit it out. So they created
this spider web of confusion for the people and seeking to
trick the Lord Jesus Christ. Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath
day? In Mark chapter 3 there's the same account and here Mark
adds a few more words. And he said unto the man which
sorry and they watched him whether he would heal him on the Sabbath
day that they might accuse him. So here we see them acting with
hawk eyes trying to find a way to accuse the Lord Jesus Christ
and Jesus sees them You can imagine these people are meant to be
the leaders of religion in the Jewish nation. They're the ones
who are meant to be guiding and directing and teaching the people,
yet they're adding laws to the laws of God and they're sitting
there as these hawk-eyed people trying to find fault in everybody
else and yet filled with pride about themselves. And when Jesus
sees them it says, and he looked round about on them which were
with anger. Jesus looked about and saw them
and he was filled with anger being grieved for the hardness
of their hearts. He said unto the man stretch
forth thine hand and he stretched it out and his hand was restored. had no compassion whatsoever,
no concern for this man, no concern for the Lord Jesus Christ, just
wanting to find fault with him that he had broken one of their
added rules. And they sought to accuse him. What had they done? They had taken God's day. and they made it their day. Jesus says that he is the Lord
of the Sabbath. He's the master, the creator
of the Sabbath and they had taken what was beautiful and what had
been made for the benefit of man and they'd made it a slavish,
burdensome day by which they sat as hawk-eyed judges over
the whole of the Jewish nation having no concern for anyone
but themselves. And so Christ created the day. We know that he created it because
all things were created by him and for him and without him was
not anything made. The Sabbath day, the seventh
day, was a day that was set apart right at the beginning of creation
by God himself. He set it aside, he hallowed
it, he sanctified it, and he made it so that man might be
able to rest upon that day. Adam, in his innocent state,
had a Sabbath. The first day after he was created
was a Sabbath. He never actually set foot into
the Garden of Eden, set to work in the Garden of Eden. After
he was created, God gave him his wife. The first day that
they experienced was a Sabbath. They rested. And so God has set aside this
one day in seven for the benefit of the human race. as it were
a bed to lie in. In the six days of toil, the
six days of sweat, the six days of tears, of labour, we have
the seventh day by which to rest. and to come and to worship God. The scripture tells us in Isaiah
that it is a holy day. It is God's day. It is him who
is the master and creator of it. Yet the Pharisees, the legalists,
they robbed it from the Lord Jesus Christ and made it a burdensome
experience for the people of God. That's why Jesus says, as
we looked at the other Sunday evening, Come unto me, all ye
that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take
my yoke upon you and learn of me, for I am meek and lowly in
heart. And ye shall find rest for your souls, for my yoke is
easy and my burden is light. The Pharisees being yoked together
with the Pharisees was a burdensome task. always seeking to accuse,
no mercy, no love. Remember when they brought that
lady who had committed adultery to the Lord Jesus Christ? What
did they want? Accusation. They wanted judgment. They wanted her to be dealt with. But half was missing. You see for somebody to commit
adultery there must be two. And according to the law of God
both should have been brought for stoning. But they only chose
the woman. So they twisted the law when
they wanted to and yet they stood as harsh, uncompassionate judges
when they also wanted to. So they stood in judgment against
the Lord Jesus Christ accusing his apostles of breaking the
Sabbath day and then setting him up to see if he would show
mercy upon somebody who was afflicted upon the Sabbath day. And so
they loved the letter of the law rather than
the writer of the law They didn't understand the spirit
by which God gave the law They separated the writer from
the writings if they were to read of the nature and character
of God. They would understand that God
is holy and just. They would understand that he
is also kind and merciful and loving, abounding in mercy and
compassion, that his hand is stretched forth in mercy. They would look at the letter
and say, do not break the Sabbath day. But if they looked at the hand
that wrote that, they would see that that hand wrote it in love
for the benefit and good of the human race. And that to heal
somebody upon the Sabbath day was not breaking the Sabbath
day but it was fulfilling the spirit of the Sabbath day, the
spirit by which the law was written. And so Jesus says to them, You people, if your sheep falls
into a pit, you quite happily pull it out on a Sabbath day. And so Jesus says to them, How much then is a man better
than a sheep? Wherefore, or because of this,
it is lawful to do well on the Sabbath day. Jesus understood the reasons
why he set aside this day. We see his character and his
nature in the Gospels. We see him filled with compassion,
moved with tears for the conditions of those people around about
him. So he says, of course, it's right
to do good on the Sabbath day. to satisfy the body, to help
those in need upon the Sabbath day, but to stand in judgment
as a legalist and find fault with everybody else rather than
examining yourself. That is where the problem lies. These people, they were all law and no grace. All law and no
grace makes for a dull place. And it was a dull position to
be in as a Pharisee, slaving away law, law, law, and law. And then to come face to face
with the glorious Christ, the unspotted Son of God, and seek
to find fault in him for breaking one of their added commandments. And so Jesus demonstrates to
them the true spirit of God's law. The Bible tells us that
God's law is good. Romans chapter 7. from verse 7. It says, What shall
we say then? Is the law sin? God forbid. No, I had not known sin, but
by the law. I had not known lust, except
the law saith, Thou shalt not covet. But sin, taking the occasion
by the commandment, wrought in me all manner of concupiscence,
that is, all grievous sin. For without the law sin was dead. For I was alive without the law
once, but when the commandment came sin revived and I died.
and the commandment which was ordained to life I found to be
unto death. And so Paul, having been a Pharisee
of the Pharisees, seeking to obtain a righteousness by his
own works, standing in judgment of everybody else, believing
that he was able to fulfill this law, then when he saw himself
in in the true sense before the
law of God he says, the law revived and I died. The law suddenly
came to life and I saw myself before the holy law of God that
I was not able to obtain the standard of righteousness that
God requires. Though I stood as a Pharisee,
as a judge declaring that everybody else was sinful and I was right,
when I actually looked at the law itself I saw my sin and I died. The commandment which I ordained
to be for life, living in obedience to the law, I found to be a commandment
of condemnation. I saw that the law is holy and
the commandment is holy and just and good. he saw himself to be exceedingly
sinful and he sees himself and he declares oh wretched man that
I am. See the difference. Self-examining. Instead of outward looking at
everybody else saying they're not doing this, they're not doing
that, they're going there, they're doing this the eye is turned
within. And he sees the law for its real
purpose not to gloat at how good you are but to see how sinful
you are in the sight of a holy God. The spirit of the law, the spirit
by which the law was written by our holy God. Christ sums
that law up into these two points. to love God with all of our heart,
soul and mind and to love our neighbor as ourselves. And the
Sabbath day in the midst of the Ten Commandments is there as
a benefit for ourselves, for the Lord's people, but also for others. To love God. and to love others as ourselves. If the Pharisees had that true
mindset that they're to love their neighbor as themselves
then what would they wish? If their hand was withered would
they wish that their perfect doctor would pass by them because
it was a Sabbath day? If it was them, it was the other
side of the coin. If they were the ones that were
struggling and finding things difficult, unable to provide
for their family, we read in Mark that it was his right hand.
It was his right hand that was withered. Most people are right-handed. I would be okay. But they were
not interested. There was no love to anybody
else other than themselves. They were not loving their neighbours
themselves. They were not loving God. They
were just interested in the letter. And so when Jesus says in Luke
10 about the Good Samaritan In verse 25, behold a certain
lawyer stood up and tempted him saying, you see how it is with
Jesus, they're constantly on at him all the time, trying to
accuse him, trying to tempt him, trying to get him to slip up
so they have something against him. Yet there was nothing, they
find no spot in him, they cannot. What shall I do to inherit eternal
life? And he says unto him, what is
written in the law, how do you read? And he answers and said
thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thine heart and
with all thine soul and with all thy strength and with all
thy mind and thy neighbor as thyselves. He takes it from Deuteronomy
and Leviticus that to love God with all of a heart soul of mine
and flowing over that then comes to our neighbor as ourselves. The Pharisees missed it. And
so Jesus then gives him an illustration of what that really means. He
believes that he had done it, that he had loved God from the
moment he was born perfectly and he'd loved his neighbor from
the moment he was born or able perfectly. That Christ comes
down and shows him that he hadn't done so because he was holding
prejudice in his heart. the Pharisees, the Levites, the
priests, all passed by that man on the other side of the road.
They had no concern for him whatsoever. They had no spirit of the law
in them. They had no love for their neighbor. They were more concerned with
ceremonial cleanness than dealing with the material needs, the
physical needs of somebody else. And so Jesus as a Samaritan comes. Someone who they despised. Somebody
who they would pass by their city and have nothing to do with
them whatsoever. The Samaritan goes and shows
the true nature of what is to be expected from someone who
loves God and who loves God's law. He went and he showed compassion
on him. That is what was missing. Compassion. Legalists are filled with judgment. Legalists have no compassion. The Pharisees, it's just about
accusation. There was no compassion. The
disciples were hungry But it doesn't matter. They should remain
hungry because it's the Sabbath day. The man has a withered hand. It doesn't matter. He should
remain with a withered hand because it's the Sabbath day. He doesn't
deserve to be healed upon the Sabbath day. Come back tomorrow.
No compassion. Passing by on the other side
of the road. It's not my business, nothing
to do with me. It's going to make me late, it's
going to contaminate me. But the Samaritan came where
he was and when he saw him he had compassion on him. How often
do we read of the Lord Jesus Christ being moved with compassion
for the multitudes, for the people that were around about him, being
touched with the physical situations of the people before him, even
the leper, who everybody else would have moved far, far away
from, yet Christ goes to him, being filled with compassion
for him. He doesn't pass by on the other
side. The Samaritan went to him, bound
up his wounds, pouring in oil and wine, and set him on his
own beast, and brought him to an inn, and took care of him.
And on the morrow, when he departed, took out two pence, and gave
them to the host, and said unto him, Take care of him, and whatsoever
thou spendest more when I come, I will repay thee. Which now
of these three thinkest thou was neighbor to him that fell
among thieves? And he said unto him, He that showed mercy on
him. Then Jesus said unto him, Go
and do thou likewise. That is what it is to love your
neighbor as yourself. It is to put yourself into the
position of the person before you and how would you like to
be treated if you were that person? You're lying at the side of the
road. Would you like to be passed by? Or would you like somebody
to come and help you and to provide for everything that you need? How difficult it is, often, to
love as we would like to be loved. To love our neighbour as ourselves. How impossible it is to love
God with all of our heart, soul and mind for every moment of
every day that we live. But how wonderful it is that
God sent his son, the Lord Jesus Christ, into the world to do
what we could not do. To love God with all of his heart,
soul and mind. To love his neighbour as himself. to rebuke when rebuke was needed
and yet to be filled with compassion at the material needs and the
desperate situations of those people who were round about him. And so Christ took away that
impossibility of us ever fulfilling the law of God and fulfilled
it himself. Every line and every dot of the
law of God has been completed in Christ Jesus and those who
are found in Christ Jesus are no longer under that law but
they are under the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ. He has fulfilled
the law for them. He has provided them with a robe
of righteousness. They are justified in the sight
of God before God's holy law. They're clothed in a righteousness
that is not their own because Christ has fulfilled the whole
law of God. What shall we say then? He says.
Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound? God forbid. The corrupted mind would think
because God has fulfilled the law, because we are yoked together
with Christ and under grace, therefore we can live as we want
to live. The law has no rule over us therefore
I do what I want to do. Paul says God forbid. Though
we have been dead to the law we've been made alive in Christ
Jesus. Paul says I delight in the law
of God after the inner man. If you love me, you will keep
my commandments. Love God with all of your heart,
soul and mind and love your neighbour as yourself. This is the whole
scope of the law. The whole spirit of the law is
to drive us to see our own sin and to drive us to the Lord Jesus
Christ. and to live a life in reflection
of all that Christ has done. He says to the man, stretch forth your hand. He didn't say, I can't. Maybe that's what you're saying.
You're saying, I can't. Christ gives the strength to
do what he has commanded you to do. As that man walked into
the synagogue, his hand was withered. It had no strength. It was obvious
for all to see. And yet Christ says to him, stretch
forth your hand. to stamp his authority upon his
statement as lord of the sabbath that he is able to heal on the
sabbath day no matter what the scribes and the pharisees have
to say stretch forth your hand. He didn't say I can't but he
stretched his hand and it was restored whole like the other. You see how angry the Pharisees
become. You see one way in which we can
examine ourselves if we are a legalist or if we are a Pharisee is how
angry other people doing what we think they should be doing
make us. Every family has their rules. every country has its rules it
has to there is a way by which you govern you have to govern
with rules. When you look at others and you
say well they should be doing what we're doing fills you with
anger then you've lost the spirit of the law The Pharisees were filled with
anger and rage by what Jesus was doing. Jesus knew the reason
why the Sabbath day was created, was created for man, for his
benefit, for his good, and that it was right for Christ to heal
and for the benefit of that man upon the Sabbath day. And on
the Monday, or for them it would have been the Saturday he could
have gone off on back to work again and provided for his family,
done what was right in the sight of God. Stretch forth thine hand
and it was restored whole like the other. Maybe you feel that
your hand of faith is withered just like this man. You don't have the strength.
You don't have the ability. And you don't. Without Christ, you can do nothing.
That's what the scripture tells us. Yet I can do all things through
Christ that strengthens me. And so the man stretches forth
his hand, not in his own strength, but in the strength of Christ.
Christ gives him the strength and the ability that he needs
to do what that the Lord Jesus had commanded him to do. And
in doing so, he sees his hand is made whole. We looked at these
other miracles of Jesus. Often they are to do with obedience. That when the person obeys, then
they see the miracle come about. If this man had said, I can't,
his hand would have remained withered. But because he did
what Christ told him to do, his hand was restored. I can do all things through Christ
that strengthens me. And so the law of God was given
to declare the holiness and the greatness of God but written
with a finger of love so that those who see that law will see
themselves in its reflection as sinners and then be driven
to the perfect law keeper of the Lord Jesus Christ. We are
not saved by works of righteousness which we have done. No matter
how many laws we add to the law of God to try and keep just makes
it worse and worse. We are saved by the works of
the Lord Jesus Christ he fulfilled the whole law and yes you are
not able your hand is withered yet Christ says stretch forth
your hand your withered hand and lay hold of the Lord Jesus
Christ and you will see it will be restored. will find salvation
in the Lord Jesus Christ. He gives the ability to do what
he has commanded you to do. Behold there was a man which
had his hand withered, and they asked him, saying, Is it lawful
to heal on the Sabbath day, that they might accuse him? Then saith
he unto the man, Stretch forth thine hand, and he stretched
it forth, and it was restored whole like the other. May the Lord add his blessing.
Amen. For our final hymn this morning,
let's turn to Gadsby's and sing hymn number 1,105. 1,105. Jesus, engrave it on my
heart that thou the one thing needful art. I could from all
things parted be, but never, never lord from thee. Hymn 1,105,
tune 292. ? So I'll forgive for not ? ? I
would for more things not have been ? ? But never, never look
for me ? ? But never, never look for me ? Be full of love, full praise
to him. Faithful to help me every day. Faithful to help me every day. ? Faithful is thy ? ? O Empty Lord
? ? Faithful is thy ? ? Endowed and kind ? ? Faithful thy hope
? ? With faith and rest ? ? Faithful thy hope with faith and rest
? ? Presence there is all ? ? True
peace and comfort to the whole ? ? Ye who by promise to him
loved ? Gratia by heart, fresh life and
vigor to thy love. ? I so can say ? ? Through all
life's dark and thorny way ? ? In death the world must meet for
me ? ? When I hear the ? My soul to Thee ? ? When I've
healed up my soul to Thee ? ? Beful of Thou to rest my dust ? ? In
shining glory ? To proud and true, present we
hail. To proud and true, present we
hail. Almighty God, we do thank Thee
for Thy Word that has been given to us and for Thy beloved Son,
the Lord Jesus Christ, who is the end of the law and do righteousness
for Thy dear people. We pray, Lord, that Thou help
us to live then in reflect of that great salvation which we
have experienced. For he who has had much forgiven,
the same loveth much. I do then, Lord, dismiss us,
we pray, with thy blessing. Now may the grace of the Lord
Jesus Christ, and the love of God the Father, with the fellowship
and communion of the Holy Spirit, to be with you each now and for
evermore. Amen.