Read Matthew Chapter 12:8-14
Don’t Put So Much Emphasis On Being A “GOOD CHRISTIAN” That You Miss Loving Jesus with all your HEART, SOUL, MIND, and STRENGTH.
Once again, Jesus was accused of “Working on the Sabbath” because of showing compassion for a man with a crippled hand. The Pharisees asked Jesus if it was lawful to work on the Sabbath by healing this man’s hand? Jesus replied, if your sheep fell into a pit on the Sabbath, you would work to get it out, so this man’s crippled hand is more valuable than the sheep, so shouldn’t I show compassion on him and heal him even though it’s the Sabbath?
But Jesus went one step further by saying in verse 8, “For the Son of Man is the Lord of the Sabbath.” In other words, Jesus was declaring himself as Deity, the Son of God. He was declaring his authority even over the Sabbath. He was declaring his authority over the interpretation of the law of the Sabbath. And that we should heed his message of compassion.
I go back to verse 6 when Jesus said, “Something greater than the temple is here.” Let us be careful that we don’t put so much emphasis on being a “GOOD CHRISTIAN” that we miss loving Jesus with all our HEART, SOUL, MIND, and STRENGTH. Think about this:
Jesus declared himself greater than the temple.
1. The temple was to be admired with love and wonder so shouldn’t we not admire Jesus all the more.
2. The temple was joyfully visited so we should come to Jesus with even more joy. Do we?
3. The temple was honored as a holy place therefore should we honor Jesus in our act of holiness?
4. The temple was a place of sacrifice and service, therefore we should be willing to make sacrifices more so for Jesus and serve him even more faithfully!
5. The temple was a place of worship, therefore we should even be more excited to worship Jesus.
PRAYER: Jesus, show us our pious ways that conflict with your command to show love for you and others. May we change our ways so that you get the devotion you deserve: our whole heart! Amen!
