Matthew 12:15

Matthew 12:15 ESV Jesus, aware of this, withdrew from there.  And many followed Him, and He healed them all.

Matthew 12:14 says that the Pharisees were beginning to plot to kill Jesus.  Today’s verse says that Jesus knew it and went away.  That used to both bother me and confuse me.  It bothered me because it seemed a little cowardly on Jesus part to run away.  It confused me because Jesus knew how He was going to die and I think He knew when.  He should have known it wasn’t His time.  So why did He need to get away from the Pharisees?

Over the years I’ve come to realize that it wasn’t cowardice that caused Jesus to leave, it was prudence and a way to honor God.  When the devil tempted Jesus, one of the temptations was challenging Him to jump from a height which would force God to protect Him.  Jesus answered, “You shall not put the Lord your God to the test” (Matthew 4:6-7). 

Testing God is expecting Him to perform for us.  During Jesus’ earthly ministry, when people tested Him by demanding a miracle Jesus refused (Mark 8:11-13).  God chooses when and how He will work.  We may ask for divine intervention but trying to force or manipulate God into an action is a bad choice.  That is why I’m generally against churches having weekly or scheduled “healing services”.  I believe that God heals.  However, unless God specifically tells a church to do this ministry it is presumptuous and disrespectful to expect God to heal everyone who comes to the church every Sunday evening from 7:00 to 8:00.

The details of Jesus death were already planned and foretold centuries earlier.  These Pharisees could plot all they wanted but they would not have been able to kill Jesus.  I am confident that God would have protected Jesus in some manner.  Passively staying around would have been similar to jumping off the temple during the devil’s tempting.  Jesus would have put God in a place where He would have had to act to keep the prophecies intact.  Jesus took reasonable precautions to keep from forcing God into action.

Sometimes Christians mistake manipulation for faith.  They put God to the test by doing something that they believe will force God to act.  It rarely works as God will not be manipulated and the person comes away disillusioned, thinking God let them down.  I once knew a person who stated they were going to fast until God provided them a spouse.  That is not faith, it is a hunger strike.  They quit the fast after two weeks and were still single.  Another person I knew resigned their job so that God would provide them a better job.  They ended up bankrupt and blamed God for not providing.

There are times when God invites people to test Him (Malachi 3:10).  That is when God calls you to step so far out in faith that if God doesn’t follow through you will fail spectacularly.  This should be done at God’s leading, not by our own agenda.

Thank you Lord for Your for your blessing and allowing me to participate in Your plans.  Let me never test you.  Give me a compliant heart so I will never try to force You into my agenda.