January 29, 2015
Today’s reading from Encounter with God

The Power of Service

Please see the links to our EXTRA Bible Study notes at the bottom of the page.

Opening Prayer

Gracious Lord, beneath Your rule I live my life, and within Your grace I stand. With all that is within me, I bless Your name.

Read Matthew 12:1-21

For additional translations of the passage, use this link to Bible Gateway.

[1] At that time Jesus went through the grainfields on the Sabbath. His disciples were hungry and began to pick some heads of grain and eat them. [2] When the Pharisees saw this, they said to him, “Look! Your disciples are doing what is unlawful on the Sabbath.” [3] He answered, “Haven’t you read what David did when he and his companions were hungry? [4] He entered the house of God, and he and his companions ate the consecrated bread-which was not lawful for them to do, but only for the priests. [5] Or haven’t you read in the Law that the priests on Sabbath duty in the temple desecrate the Sabbath and yet are innocent? [6] I tell you that something greater than the temple is here. [7] If you had known what these words mean, ‘I desire mercy, not sacrifice,’ you would not have condemned the innocent. [8] For the Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath.” [9] Going on from that place, he went into their synagogue, [10] and a man with a shriveled hand was there. Looking for a reason to bring charges against Jesus, they asked him, “Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath?” [11] He said to them, “If any of you has a sheep and it falls into a pit on the Sabbath, will you not take hold of it and lift it out? [12] How much more valuable is a person than a sheep! Therefore it is lawful to do good on the Sabbath.” [13] Then he said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” So he stretched it out and it was completely restored, just as sound as the other. [14] But the Pharisees went out and plotted how they might kill Jesus. [15] Aware of this, Jesus withdrew from that place. A large crowd followed him, and he healed all who were ill. [16] He warned them not to tell others about him. [17] This was to fulfill what was spoken through the prophet Isaiah: [18] “Here is my servant whom I have chosen, the one I love, in whom I delight; I will put my Spirit on him, and he will proclaim justice to the nations. [19] He will not quarrel or cry out; no one will hear his voice in the streets. [20] A bruised reed he will not break, and a smoldering wick he will not snuff out, till he has brought justice through to victory. [21] In his name the nations will put their hope.”

Scripture taken from the THE HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION, NIV Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

Reflect

“Jesus would demonstrate the quiet, strong serenity of one who seeks to conquer by love” (William Barclay, 1907-1978). This is the servant heart we need to have.

Matthew links two incidents to show how Jesus threatened the inconsistent attitudes of the religious leaders through his being and his actions. In the first scene the Pharisees were quick to point out the perceived misdemeanor of Jesus’ hungry disciples, who picked and ate corn on the Sabbath. Jesus strongly defended them, using the examples of David and his men eating consecrated bread, priests working on the Sabbath, mercy being more important than sacrifice, and the Son of Man being Lord of the Sabbath. The second incident was in the synagogue, when Jesus’ opponents used a man with a disabled hand to try to trap Jesus. He showed that if they could rescue a suffering animal on the Sabbath they should also do good to a disabled man. His opponents left and began to plot his death. They heard his claim of being greater than the Temple and all their man-made laws, but they were blind to the truth.

How often we as Christians can apply our man-made rules and, in doing so, are blind to God working in the lives of others, especially those who are different! There is a danger we will not recognize God when we encounter his working, or, worse still, we will oppose what he is doing.

Jesus, aware of the plot to kill him (14), withdrew from the area, but the crowds still followed him, and the healings continued (15). He did not want the common messianic expectations to be placed on him, so he ordered the crowds not to make him known. His mission would be vastly different from that of a popular deliverer but rather the fulfillment of Isaiah 42 concerning the Servant of the Lord (17-21; Isa. 42:1-4). He would not make a big noise, but his servant ministry would ultimately lead to the cross, suffering that we might live (Isa. 52:13–53:12).

Apply

What new thing are you having difficulty coming to terms with? How will you test if God is in it?

Closing prayer

Merciful Lord, I confess there are times when I would rather be served by others than serve them. Sometimes I find it tiring to serve. Help me with this, and create a serving heart within me.

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