Today we read Matthew 12 in our Spoken Word Bible Reading Plan. This portion contains a lesson that I believe is vital for the times in which we are living! Verses 3-8:
3 He said to them, Have you not even read what David did when he was hungry, and those who accompanied him— 4 How he went into the house of God and ate the loaves of the showbread—which was not lawful for him to eat, nor for the men who accompanied him, but for the priests only? 5 Or have you never read in the Law that on the Sabbath the priests in the temple violate the sanctity of the Sabbath [breaking it] and yet are guiltless? 6 But I tell you, Something greater and more exalted and more majestic than the temple is here! 7 And if you had only known what this saying means, I desire mercy [readiness to help, to spare, to forgive] rather than sacrifice and sacrificial victims, you would not have condemned the guiltless. 8 For the Son of Man is Lord [even] of the Sabbath.
The disciples of Jesus had just been seen by the Pharisees grabbing some grain as they walked through the fields because they were hungry. This was the answer that Jesus gave to them. He was correcting them for their wrong thinking. THIS was still under the Old Covenant! These Pharisees were so consumed with the letter of the Law and appearances that they could not even recognize the Messiah Himself when He walked among them! With all of the evidence for Who He really was that followed Him and all that He did, they were blinded by their own conceit and self importance! The point that I want to make today is this. Jesus told them that they were condemning the guiltless, even when it looked to them that these disciples were breaking the Law. How much more do born again believers miss it today when they obsess over another believer's life, casting judgment and criticism on them because it "appears" as though they are doing something wrong? This is especially true when it comes to ministers of the Gospel. Notice what Jesus says above in verse 7:
7 And if you had only known what this saying means, I desire mercy [readiness to help, to spare, to forgive] rather than sacrifice and sacrificial victims, you would not have condemned the guiltless.
I hope that YOU know what this means! This is a subject that I feel is important enough to address whenever it comes up because of the rampant use of social media to malign believers, and the results of passing judgment on another person, especially a minister of the Gospel! This is not something that any of us desire, for ourselves or anyone else! Galatians 6:7 says this:
7 Do not be deceived and deluded and misled; God will not allow Himself to be sneered at (scorned, disdained, or mocked by mere pretensions or professions, or by His precepts being set aside.) [He inevitably deludes himself who attempts to delude God.] For whatever a man sows, that and that only is what he will reap.
Add to this Romans 14:4 that speaks of judging another's servant, and 1 Chronicles 16:22; Psalm 105:15 that warns against touching God's anointed, and we have received fair warning that it will not bring pleasant results if we do this! What we SHOULD do is to pray, make sure that WE are doing what God has called US to do and leave the care of our brothers and sisters to our FATHER, Who is WELL able to control His own family! AMEN! Here is a song that I have grown to love by Hillsong UNITED called "Greatest Of These". One of the lines says this: "I won't waste my breath if it's not for love". Something we should ALL declare! AMEN!
Shalom in Him!
