True Messiah called demonic
Key Verses: 2, 4, 7, 8, 12, 16, 25, 30, 33, 39, 50
“Made in China” has taken on a meaning of its own in recent years. So has “Made in the USA”! But sometimes we can focus so much on one thing that we miss the most important. We start this chapter with the religious leaders focusing on Jesus’ disciples ‘working’ on the Sabbath. They were harvesting grain. We look at this and think, “What’s the big deal?” For the Pharisees, keeping every minute detail of the Law had become an obsession. They were convinced that their ticket to heaven came when they kept every law perfectly. And they were proud of their accomplishment!
Jesus gives them an example of someone they would have looked up to, David. David broke the Law and yet was accepted by God. David understood mercy and the Pharisees didn’t. They were focused on an outward action; Jesus focused on the heart. Mercy is much more important than the keeping of merely outward expressions of the Old Testament Law. Jesus is the One in charge of the Sabbath. And He proves it by healing the man’s hand. The religious leaders want to find an excuse for killing Jesus (a very righteous thing to do :>)), and Jesus continues to do right even in the face of this opposition. It would have been easy for Jesus to not make waves, but doing God’s will doesn’t yield to false expectations.
Jesus’ ministry did not require any PR campaign. In fact, He didn’t want publicity. But the more He continued to minister, the more desperate His opponents became. Their arguments against him became more and more illogical. Jesus uses their illogic to drive home His point. You can’t sit on the fence with Jesus. You either recognize that He is God, or you don’t. Either you acknowledge His authority over your life, or you don’t. Either Jesus rose from the dead or He didn’t. And if you reject these truths, things get worse, both in your life, and in society at large.
Even Jesus’ family had a hard time understanding and believing.
The Arnold Journey 