Outline:

I. Controversy about the Sabbath (23-28)
II. Jesus heals a man’s hand on the Sabbath (1-6)
III. Large crowds follow Jesus (3:7-12)

I. Controversy about the Sabbath (23-28)

• What accusation did the Pharisees level at Jesus’ disciples?
• Were they accurate in saying that the disciples were breaking the Sabbath?
• What was Jesus’ reply? Does He defend the disciples or agree with them?
• So was David right in taking the food from the house of God for his hungry men?
• Why does Jesus mention this example here? What is His point?
• What do verses 27-28 tell us about the Sabbath? What can we conclude about the purpose of the Sabbath from this passage?

Cross-References

Matthew 12:1-8- A parallel passage with more explanation.

1 Samuel 21:1-6 – This is the original description of what David did.

Deuteronomy 23:24-25 – An individual could pluck grain or grapes from a neighbors’ fields to satisfy his hunger, but not for profit.

Verse by Verse Commentary

The Pharisees always scrutinized Jesus closely. But here we see that this scrutiny didn’t extend only to Jesus. His disciples were under this same microscope because of their close association with Christ. Any Christian who identifies as a follower of Christ in public may also face this same scrutiny.

Pharisees accuse the disciples – The Pharisees accused the disciples of breaking the Sabbath law. The question is, did they? See Exodus 35:2 and Nehemiah 13:15-22. The exact commandment is to have a solemn rest holy to the Lord, and not to do any work. So the question is what does “work” mean? According to physics work = force multiplied by distance. From this definition we all do work every time we move. Did God give us a command that was impossible to follow? And did He really mean not to move at all on the Sabbath? Obviously not. If then the strictest definition is not meant, we have to derive what is meant. For that the passage in Nehemiah is helpful. The people are condemned for using the Sabbath as a day to make profit. The idea is that they are still “going to work” on the Sabbath. They are still working at their occupation for the sake of personal gain. And that is what the OT law prohibits. People already spend 6 days a week on themselves. The seventh is to be a holy day for God. That doesn’t mean that a person cannot lift any objects, but it does mean that a person must not labor at their job. What the disciples were doing did not break the Old Testament law. In fact, Deuteronomy 23:24-25 make it clear that a person could pick grain from fields as they passed through as long as it wasn’t for personal profit (the same problem with working on the Sabbath).

Jesus defended them – Beyond this, we know that the disciples did not break God’s law because Jesus defended them. He would not have defended them if they were breaking it, but would have rebuked them. The disciples probably broke one of the many additional man-made traditions which the Pharisees added on to the Old Testament law, but these they were not required to keep.

Application: Do not add or subtract from the Bible. We must be careful not to add our own traditions onto the teaching of God’s Word. These traditions can cause bondage and legalism instead of a heart to serve God. At the same time, be very careful not to judge others for things which the Bible doesn’t condemn.

Jesus uses the example of David to show that sometimes the spirit of the law is more important than the letter. This doesn’t mean that we can just chuck aside any law which we don’t like at that moment because of a greater heart motivation. Jesus is God and can make this comparison, but we should be careful before doing likewise.

Verses 27-28 – The Sabbath was made for man. This day was not meant as a yoke of bondage where people would sneak around scared of breaking one of the thousands of rules on this day (the Rabbis had come up with many additional rules governing every area of life including how many steps you could take on the Sabbath and forbidding spitting on dirt because when the dirt turned to mud that is work.) The purpose of this day was to rest from their work and spend time learning about and worshiping God as a family and country.

How could a person ever rest it he had to count every step he took during the day, weigh out everything he carried to make sure it wasn’t too heavy, and look before spitting ,etc. These kinds of rules crush people and turn them off from following God. But imagine the other way. Knowing they weren’t supposed to work in the fields, gather grain, or plow, the people could truly rest. They could put aside all of their worries for one day and just enjoy each other and the Lord. God’s commands are not burdensome, but ours very well could be. 1 John 5:3.

II. Jesus heals a man’s hand on the Sabbath (3:1-6)

• What were the Pharisees doing when Jesus first entered the synagogue? Why?
• What do we learn from this passage about their character/hearts?
• What do we learn about Jesus’ character?
• Did Jesus break the Sabbath? Are there any laws in the OT forbidding what He did? So then what was their problem with it?
• From verse 4, what can we learn about God’s intention for the Sabbath?
• What is the difference between God’s intention for the Sabbath and how man kept it?
• Is there any lesson for us today? What application can we make from this passage?
• How did the Pharisees react to this?

Cross-References

1 Samuel 16:7 – God looks at the heart.

Verses on Legalism –

Colossians 2:20-23

Human regulations like do not taste or touch have the appearance of wisdom.

Galatians 5:13-15 – Do not use your freedom as an opportunity for the flesh. Do not bite or devour one another.

2 Corinthians 3:5-6 – The lettet (OT) kills but the Spirit gives life.

Verse by Verse Commentary

They were watching Him – From the very moment Jesus entered the temple people were watching Him, seeking for a chance to accuse Him. At the beginning, they didn’t say anything. They watched in silence. This was typical for Jesus’ entire ministry. The leaders were always seeking a way to trap Him or discredit Him. Can you think of any other Biblical characters who were scrutinized this closely by people seeking to hurt them? Daniel. Paul when he entered Jerusalem after his third missionary journey. Satan prowls around like a roaring lion seeking someone to devour. People under his influence help him in this task. Does this take place in today’s world too? Yes.

Those living in darkness still hate the light because their deeds are evil. They seek to extinguish the guilt in their hearts by finding a problem in believers so that they can justify their own sin by saying that everyone is the same. At the same time, Satan takes true pleasure in bringing down Christians. People are watching us. Not all are watching out of evil desire. Some are watching out of curiosity. They want to know what a Christian is and does. What should we do? We must follow the teaching in Titus 1:6a. Daniel was an amazing example because the only thing they could find to accuse him of was praying to God too much. Wouldn’t it be great if after close scrutiny someone could say the same thing about us?

Is it lawful to do good or to do harm on the Sabbath? Here Jesus implies an important purpose of the Sabbath. The Sabbath is a day to do good to others. It is a day to heal. It is a day to share God’s love. It could easily be argued that there is no better day to show God’s power and love by healing someone than on the Sabbath day. This fulfills the purpose of the Sabbath as a day to rest from our pursuit of profit and take time apart to worship and glorify God together with other believers. Rabbitical tradition taught that healing could not be done on the Sabbath. I wonder how many thousands of people died because of this human tradition not to treat the sick. Sick people do not take a break from getting sick on the Sabbath either.

They kept silent – As normal, the Jewish leaders could find nothing to say to refute Jesus. His logic was undeniable. But were their hearts changed? No. Jesus “bested” them in this “debate.” He showed them clearly they were wrong. But they didn’t, they wouldn’t, admit it. Not once in Jesus’ entire ministry do we see the religious leaders admit their wrong view and correct it. They never say, “Oh, we never thought of it from that angle before. You are right, Jesus.” Instead each and every time Jesus shows them they are wrong they stubbornly shut their mouths, lock their jaws and begin thinking of something else they can argue with Jesus about.

Application 1:. We don’t always have to be right in every discussion. It is better to be humble and teachable than to be right. Be willing to admit your mistakes and learn from others instead of “going down on a sinking ship” every time.

Application 2: These people’s hearts weren’t changed even when Jesus defeated them in debates. Don’t think that by debating people you can win their hearts for God. It is probably useful to spend more time praying for them instead of arguing with them (On a side note, Jesus had to respond to them in many cases because of the crowds around them so the “debate” was not necessarily for their benefit so much as for the others who were watching who were truly seeking the truth. It is good to be able to discern the difference between the two types of people.)

Jesus was grieved at their hardness of heart – Their hardness of heart is the real issue. This is what prevented them from admitting that they were wrong and agreeing that Jesus should heal this man. We can see in verse 6 just how hard their heart was. After Jesus healed this man, they angrily left the synagogue and began conspiring how to destroy Jesus. Jesus healed a man. This is the best day in the man’s life.

Everyone should be happy and excited and filled with awe. But the Pharisees aren’t. They are instead trying to kill Jesus for it. Never in this passage do we see even one iota of concern for this sick man. There is no compassion. There is no congratulations when he is healed. To the Pharisees, he is merely a pawn in their chess match. His own life and feelings are of no consequence to them at all. This is a sad reflection of the state of peoples’ hearts without God.

What do we learn about Jesus from this passage?

• Jesus did have compassion.
• Jesus cared more about what was right than appearances.
• Jesus did what was right regardless of the consequences. He knew that healing this man would stir up the anger of the leaders. He knew they would even try to kill him for it. He could have tried to find an alternative such as asking this man to come back the next day. But He didn’t look for the easy way out. Jesus did what was right even when it brought personal danger to Himself.

III. Large crowds follow Jesus (3:7-12)

Discussion Questions

• What motivated the crowds to follow Jesus?
• What are some wrong motivations for going to church today?
• What are some right motivations?
• Why did Jesus forbid the unclean spirits from speaking about Him?

Cross-References

John 2:23-25 - Now when he was in Jerusalem at the Passover Feast, many believed in his name when they saw the signs that he was doing. But Jesus on his part did not entrust himself to them, because he knew all people and needed no one to bear witness about man, for he himself knew what was in man.

Verse by Verse Commentary

1. The crowd followed Jesus – The signs and wonders Jesus was doing attracted a large audience. Within such a large crowd there would have been people with many different motivations. Some likely faced ailments and sought healing. Others wanted healing for their friends. Many were likely curious. There was no television at that time so there were few sources of entertainment. Watching Jesus would be an interesting way to spend the afternoon. Also, there was no good way to get news except by personal observation.

Some would have been genuinely interested in the message Jesus was preaching. No one had ever taught like He did. His teaching was filled with authority (Mark 1:21-28).

However, the crowds were fickle and easily influenced. At times, massive numbers of His followers fell away. At Jesus’ trial in front of Pilate, the crowds were demanding His execution.

Application – Those in ministry should not emphasize numbers. It can be easy to think success is equal to crowds. Jesus’ primary ministry was focused on the disciples. Their numbers were few, but their lives were changed and they were the ones who impacted the world after Jesus’ ascension. If you are ministering to others, keep an even keel and pay attention to invest deeply in those who are hungry and teachable. Don’t get too up when the crowds or there or too down when they aren’t. Do what God has called you to do.

Also, evaluate your own motivations for going to church. It should not be a social club or merely a habit. We should be motivated out a desire to worship God and learn better how to follow Him.

2. Jesus commanded the demons not to talk about Him – It is an interesting instruction. Jesus knew that the demons would not share about Him out of good will. They were like their father and their goal was to kill, steal, and destroy (John 10:10).

It was very important to Jesus to reveal things about Himself at the right time, in the right way, and to the right people. The unclean spirits were not interested in any of that. They were the authors of chaos and sought to oppose Jesus wherever possible. By revealing things at the wrong time and in the wrong way, they attempted to disrupt His ministry.

Quite simply, He didn’t allow it. This salvation mission was planned from ages past and He would not allow it to be derailed by His enemies.