Something Greater than the Temple

What the Prophets Foretold
Jesus and the Davidic Covenant
Jesus Cleanses the Temple

Matthew 12:1-8

The Message

In Charge of the Sabbath

12 ^1-2 One Sabbath, Jesus was strolling with his disciples through a field of ripe grain. Hungry, the disciples were pulling off the heads of grain and munching on them. Some Pharisees reported them to Jesus: “Your disciples are breaking the Sabbath rules!”

^3-5 Jesus said, “Really? Didn’t you ever read what David and his companions did when they were hungry, how they entered the sanctuary and ate fresh bread off the altar, bread that no one but priests were allowed to eat? And didn’t you ever read in God’s Law that priests carrying out their Temple duties break Sabbath rules all the time and it’s not held against them?
^6-8 “There is far more at stake here than religion. If you had any idea what this Scripture meant—‘I prefer a flexible heart to an inflexible ritual’—you wouldn’t be nitpicking like this. The Son of Man is no lackey to the Sabbath; he’s in charge.”

 
For Reflection

Christianity rarely seems to be a single religion.  The variations in interpretation, dogma, ritual and faith are widely divergent across denominations with many intrademonimational variances.  I think it would be well to remember Jesus reference and adopt " a flexible heart".  While Christians worship God and believe in Christ as the son of God and the prime example for practicing Christianity, we tend to inflate and bolster the differences  in denominational tenets and nitpick; forgetting that, as stewards of the Kingdom of God, compassion, forgiveness, and justice is paramount.  Love guides action.

 

Pray

that you will live as Christ loved.  Pray for the unity of the church.  Pray for all who profess Christian faith, that they will remain obedient to God's will for living a life engrossed in compassion, mercy, and forgiveness.