Matthew 12:9-14

Matthew 12:9-14 ESV He (Jesus) went on from there and entered their synagogue.  And a man was there with a withered hand.  And they asked Him, “Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath?” – so that they might accuse Him.  He said to them, “Which of you who has a sheep, if it falls into a pit on the Sabbath, will not take hold of it and lift it out?  Of how much more value is a man than a sheep?  So it is lawful to do good on the Sabbath.”  Then He said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.”  And the man stretched it out, and it was restored healthy like the other.  But the Pharisees went out and conspired against Him to destroy Him.

Would we like Jesus if He were to come again today as He did in biblical times?  In some ways we will have it easier.  When Jesus returns it will be obvious to everyone.  Sometimes I wonder though, would modern Christians find Jesus any more appealing than the Jews did 2000 years ago?

In the passage above, some Pharisees, probably the same ones who accused Jesus’ disciples of working on the Sabbath (Matthew 12:1-8) try to trap Jesus about another Sabbath question.  Then when He gives them an answer they don’t like, they want to kill Him?  We can read this and think how terrible they were, but how much better would we do?

Modern Christians are close to 2000 years removed from the writing of the New Testament.  While no Protestant church has actually added scriptures to the biblical canon, we certainly find ways to disagree about what those scriptures mean.  Considering the variety of interpretation, and assuming that no one group has got it completely correct, it is likely that if Jesus walked among us today He would manage to upset every single church and denomination in America.

The Pharisees were very religious men.    They were dedicated to following the law they believed was from God as strictly as possible.  The problem came when Jesus’ interpretation of the Law was different from theirs.  Over the roughly 1400 years since Moses had written down the Law given by God, numerous rules had been added.  Most of the man-made additions were made with the best of intentions, but they were nevertheless not divinely inspired.  Yet the Pharisees held all of the “laws” equally while Jesus only honored the original 613 that came directly from God.

Just think what would happen if Jesus turned water into wine at a Southern Baptist wedding or performed a healing service at a Methodist church.  What if Jesus scolded the charismatics for putting too much emphasis on spiritual gifts and cessationists for not putting enough.  How would conservative churches react when Jesus asks them about their lack of love for the poor and marginalized or the liberal churches when Jesus explains that God actually meant what He said in the Bible? (I just made some very gross generalizations in this paragraph which are certainly not going to be true of every church in each grouping.  I’m trying to make a point that nobody has it all correct, not criticize whole groups.)

If Jesus were to spend three years, traveling America teaching the absolute true Gospel today, I’m afraid that only a small portion of those who call themselves Christians would actually respond positively.  I’d like to think I would be one of them, but if I’m honest I can’t be sure.  I am not so arrogant to believe that I am the one Christian in America who does not have gaps in their theology.  Therefore, Jesus would likely step on some of my spiritual toes.

I believe there are two takeaways from this.  First, it would benefit all of us to examine our doctrines and theology regularly to be certain everything we believe truly fits with scripture.  By this I mean we should know WHY what we believe fits the literal meaning of the Bible AND the personality of God.  Second, since none of us are likely to have everything fully figured out, we should be more loving and compassionate towards those who believe differently but still exhibit the fruit of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22-24) which indicates one is a Christian.

Lord, You have the perfect truth.  I thank You for giving us Your truth.  Please forgive me for the times when I am too lazy to work at finding Your truth and just settle for what someone has told me.  Grant me insight to recognize Your truth when I see it.