Bible Study series: Matthew 12:9-14. He has a successful healing ministry because he was the Anointed One, the Spirit was on him, and the Father directed him.
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In the next link to the original chapter, I comment more and offer the Greek text. At the bottom you will find a “Summary and Conclusion” section geared toward discipleship. Check it out!
In this post, links are provided for further study.
Let’s begin.
Scripture: Matthew 12:9-14
9 Then he moved on from there and entered their synagogue. 10 And look! A man having a withered! And they inquired of him, saying, “Is it really lawful to heal on the Sabbath?” They asked so that they could accuse him. 11 But he said to them, “Which one of you is there who shall have one sheep and if it falls into a pit on the Sabbath will not take hold of it and lift it out? 12 How much more valuable therefore is a person than a sheep! And so it is lawful to do good on the Sabbath.” 13 Then he said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” And he stretched it out, and it was restored, healthy like the other. 14 But the Pharisees left and took counsel against him, in order to destroy him. (Matt. 12:9-14)
Comments:
9-10:
The rabbis allowed healing to be done on the Sabbath, but only when a life was in danger, a baby was being born, or circumcision on the eighth day. This man’s disability fit none of those exceptions.
“they”: they are the Pharisees (v. 2 and 14).
“heal”: the verb is therapeuō (pronounced thair-ah-pew-oh, our word therapy is related to it), and it means to “make whole, restore, heal, cure, care for.” Here the healing is instant.
“on the Sabbath”: see the comments on vv. 1-2.
“accuse”: The Pharisees and teachers of the law (scribes) were tagging along, inspecting Jesus’s every move.
11-12:
“The Pharisees and most Jewish people accepted the necessity of rescuing an animal on the Sabbath” (Keener, p. 358). Jesus uses a little object lesson to teach the Pharisees a lesson. Of course they would rescue a sheep. It’s a valuable asset. Jesus reasons from the lesser (sheep) to the greater (man).
13:
Jesus was supremely confident in his and his Father’s and the Spirit’s ability to heal, and that’s why he told the man to stand in the middle of them. He was the Anointed One.
I have watched a healing ministry up close, and such ministries generally can get very “messy.” It has to be done right.
Jesus is about to do good on the Sabbath. A third option was to do nothing, or so it seems, but then this is the same as not saving a life, and subsequently letting the life go away and gradually destroy itself. “Therefore, everything that you want people to do to you, in the same way you also do to them.” (Matt. 7:12; see Luke 6:31). This is more commonly known as “Do unto others and you want them to do to you.” The Golden Rule. The law and prophets are summed up on that counsel. Be active in doing good to others.
“healthy”: It could also be translated “sound” “physically well” or “free” from your affliction (Mark 5:34). It can be translated as “undamaged” (BDAG). His hand was made perfectly undamaged and sound.
14:
The Pharisees react badly. They huddle together and hatch a plot. Apparently, they saw Jesus’s growing popularity and his disagreement with them as ruining their stranglehold on their power.
“In fact, for them [the Pharisees] Jesus’ power and growing popularity simply make him all the more dangerous (cf. 12:23-24; Jn 11:48; 12:9-11). In contrast to the predominantly Sadducean aristocracy, the Pharisees were populists, like Jesus; they lacked sufficient political power even to enforce their desire for Jesus’ death. That Jesus appeals to the same popular constituency that traditionally followed them probably threatens the sense of religious security and power they would never admitted they had” (Keener, p. 359).
Quick Reference to Jewish Groups in Gospels and Acts
GrowApp for Matt. 12:9-14
1. Once again Jesus breaks away from religious demands. Have you put traditions and rules above people? How did you correct this? Or has this happened to you? How did you overcome it?
RELATED
9. Authoritative Testimony in Matthew’s Gospel
1. Church Fathers and Matthew’s Gospel
2. Archaeology and the Synoptic Gospels
14. Similarities among John’s Gospel and the Synoptic Gospels
1. The Historical Reliability of the Gospels: Introduction to Series
SOURCES
To see the bibliography, please click on this link and scroll down to the bottom.
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