Matthew 12:9-14 - "Rest For Needy Sinners"

Matthew 12:9-14

"And when he was departed thence, he went into their synagogue: And, behold, there was a man which had his hand withered. And they asked him, saying, Is it lawful to heal on the sabbath days? that they might accuse him. And he said unto them, What man shall there be among you, that shall have one sheep, and if it fall into a pit on the sabbath day, will he not lay hold on it, and lift it out? How much then is a man better than a sheep? Wherefore it is lawful to do well on the sabbath days. Then saith he to the man, Stretch forth thine hand. And he stretched it forth; and it was restored whole, like as the other. Then the Pharisees went out, and held a council against him, how they might destroy him."

Christ came to save sinners, and no ceremony of men could keep Him from delivering those He came to save! He is the LORD of the Sabbath, the Lawgiver Who came into the world to fulfill the law, proving Himself to be the One Who gives rest to sinners that the Father gave Him to redeem. The Sabbath served as a type and picture of the Rest that He would give, for He is the Sabbath, and in Him alone is Mercy.

Here in Matthew 12 we behold the controversy continuing as Christ goes from the field into their synagogue. The synagogue, the assembly where they met to hear the law read, became the very place where Christ took the fight. Those who prided themselves on being experts in the Scriptures confronted Him, not to hear, but that they might accuse Him. They had a very high regard for their traditions, but that kept them from seeing the LORD Jesus Christ. They confronted Him when the disciples were hungry, and they confronted Him again when a man with a withered hand stood before them. They saw this man only as bait, a trap set to accuse the LORD Jesus, but Christ looked on him through eyes of compassion, for he was one of Christ’s sheep.

“And behold, there was a man which had his hand withered” (v.10). They saw him as condemned, but he was one for whom Christ had come to lay down His life. The LORD exposed their hypocrisy. They would pull a sheep out of a pit on the sabbath, yet they thought nothing of a man in need. “How much then is a man better than a sheep? Wherefore it is lawful to do well on the sabbath days” (v.12). Christ showed mercy while they clung to ceremonies. They would violate their own laws to accuse Him, proving that works religion is filled with enmity and the spirit of antichrist.

The man with the withered hand was utterly helpless, lifeless, perhaps even paralyzed. No one could help him, not even himself. But Christ, unaffected by men’s opposition, proved Himself to have authority over sinners, even over days. He simply said, “Stretch forth thine hand” (v.13). The command was impossible, yet with the command came the ability. The man stretched it forth, “and it was restored whole, like as the other” (v.13). So it is when the Gospel says, "Believe". We cannot, unless Christ gives both the command and the power. If we believe, it is because we were given the power and authority by Christ to believe. It is not within us; it is in Him (John 1:12-13).

“But the Pharisees went out, and held a council against him, how they might destroy him” (v.14). In Luke it is written that “they were filled with madness” (Luke 6:11). They raged because He violated not the sabbath, but their view of the sabbath. He is LORD of the Sabbath. Which was the greater violation: healing a man or plotting to murder the Prince of Life? Their hatred knew no bounds. Such is the religious world still, enraged at a Sovereign LORD Jesus Christ Who saves whom He will, how He will, and where He will. "But his citizens hated him, and sent a message after him, saying, We will not have this man to reign over us" (Luke 19:14).

Yet man cannot stop Christ from doing what He came to do. “Great multitudes followed him, and he healed them all” (Matthew 12:15). He charged them not to make Him known, showing He did not come to try to save everybody, but came for such as these needy sinners to whom He would be merciful. And thus was fulfilled the Word spoken by Isaiah: “Behold my servant, whom I have chosen; my beloved, in whom my soul is well pleased… A bruised reed shall he not break, and smoking flax shall he not quench… And in his name shall the Gentiles trust” (Matthew 12:18–21; Isaiah 42:1–4).

Rest for needy sinners—that is why He came.