Matthew 12, 13

January 6, 2011

Matthew 12, 13

Overview:  Jesus has a disagreement with the Phrarisees over what is permissible on the Sabbath.  Jesus teaches using parables and then instructs the disciples on the meaning of some of them as well as on why he uses parables.

As chapter 12 begins Jesus comes into conflict with Sabbath laws, first when his hungry followers pick food to eat on the Sabbath and then when he heals a man on the Sabbath.  Jesus is not making an argument against the keeping of the Sabbath, but is looking to broaden the Pharisees understanding of what is acceptable activity on the Sabbath.  The Sabbath appears in Jesus understanding not to have been instituted in order that people might go hungry who could feed themselves or so that we could withhold the alleviating of anothers suffering when it is well within our ability to do something about it.
There are a couple of family related bits in these two chapters. First, at the end of chapter 12, there is a moment when Jesus is told his family is outside waiting or asking for him.  He responds by making a point that those who follow him are his family.  Then, towards the end of chapter 13, Jesus is in Nazareth and the local folks are recognizing him not as the preacher/teacher/miracle worker who has been amazing the Galilee region, but as the carpenter's son, as Mary's son.  They are certain they know him and because they know him they are unable to see who he truly is and what he is capable of.  There is in this, I think, a word of caution for us when we become too certain that we know who Jesus is, that we have the story down as it were.  Jesus is always more than who we know and what we can understand.  To be in relationship with Jesus is to work at following One who is always out in front of us pulling us towards a future we cannot know any other way than by struggling to keep up.