Real Life Selkirk
**MAY 3** No Neutral Ground (Matthew 12:22-37)
  • I Believe
  • Don't Fight Alone
  • The Goodness Of Jesus
  • All Sufficient Merit

  • Sermon

    Key Passage

    Matthew 12:1–21 NIV
    At that time Jesus went through the grainfields on the Sabbath. His disciples were hungry and began to pick some heads of grain and eat them. When the Pharisees saw this, they said to him, “Look! Your disciples are doing what is unlawful on the Sabbath.” He answered, “Haven’t you read what David did when he and his companions were hungry? He entered the house of God, and he and his companions ate the consecrated bread—which was not lawful for them to do, but only for the priests. Or haven’t you read in the Law that the priests on Sabbath duty in the temple desecrate the Sabbath and yet are innocent? I tell you that something greater than the temple is here. If you had known what these words mean, ‘I desire mercy, not sacrifice,’ you would not have condemned the innocent. For the Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath.” Going on from that place, he went into their synagogue, and a man with a shriveled hand was there. Looking for a reason to bring charges against Jesus, they asked him, “Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath?” He said to them, “If any of you has a sheep and it falls into a pit on the Sabbath, will you not take hold of it and lift it out? How much more valuable is a person than a sheep! Therefore it is lawful to do good on the Sabbath.” Then he said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” So he stretched it out and it was completely restored, just as sound as the other. But the Pharisees went out and plotted how they might kill Jesus. Aware of this, Jesus withdrew from that place. A large crowd followed him, and he healed all who were ill. He warned them not to tell others about him. This was to fulfill what was spoken through the prophet Isaiah: “Here is my servant whom I have chosen, the one I love, in whom I delight; I will put my Spirit on him, and he will proclaim justice to the nations. He will not quarrel or cry out; no one will hear his voice in the streets. A bruised reed he will not break, and a smoldering wick he will not snuff out, till he has brought justice through to victory. In his name the nations will put their hope.”

    Vision/Mission/Process/Win Stories

    Vision:
    “We exist to reach the world for Jesus, one person at a time.”

    Introduction

    Expository explanation of the Book of Matthew
    Journey of Discipleship
    Matthew 4:19
    Matthew 4:19 ESV
    And he said to them, “Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men.”
    The rest of the book is the journey of Jesus introducing and living out what the life of a disciple would be
    Jesus was seen as the Messiah
    Then we transitioned to the place where Jesus is the authority
    We see His authority in nature, sickness, law, sin, Satan, Kingdom, etc.
    After Jesus demonstrates His authority, there is kickback to His authority.
    I want you to imagine that you build houses for a living.
    You’ve built dozens or even hundreds of houses.
    You’ve run across almost every problem you can imagine.
    You are always trying to grow and learn new things, but the bottom line is that you feel you know what you are doing.
    Now imagine that someone is hired to be your new boss and this boss shows up and says, “You are building houses wrong. I want you to do it this way.”
    You say, “I would rather do it my way.”
    The boss says, “My way is better. It is the ‘right way’ to build houses.
    Some people would say, “OK, and start watching and learning how this new guy builds houses”
    But many of us would say, “I don’t want to listen to you. I don’t want you just showing up and claiming authority and telling me what I am doing is wrong.”
    This was the attitudes of the religious leaders at that time.
    The difference was that their approach to God WAS wrong.
    Jesus showed up, with authority, and challenged them.
    Rather than listening to Jesus, they became annoyed, then angry, then violent and volatile.
    In the next few weeks, we will see some of these responses to Jesus
    Jesus was God in the flesh. He knew. He had authority.
    The religious leaders began looking for anything and everything that they could to find fault in who Jesus was and what He did.
    That is where our story today picks up.

    Preaching

    What we are going to see in our passage today is like two trees
    Matthew 12:33 NIV
    “Make a tree good and its fruit will be good, or make a tree bad and its fruit will be bad, for a tree is recognized by its fruit.
    There are two groups of people who believe they are pleasing God.
    I want you to understand this: Neither group is trying to be rebellious to God. They are both trying to please Him.
    Both trees seem to try to do the right things. One tree bears fruit that grows to God’s glory being seen in this world.
    The other tree produces fruit of a very dark and defeated place.
    Both trees are healthy. Both trees bear fruit. Both trees are growing and striving to bear fruit.
    Is it possible to want to do the right thing, but end up in a bad place?
    This is why our “good intentions” mean very little in the eyes of God.
    We may want to do the right things, and have a “good heart”
    Good intentions mean nothing. Following Jesus is what He desires.
    Good intentions do not equal rightousness
    Sincerity does not equal truth
    The two groups here are the Pharisees and Jesus.
    Are the Pharisees trying to please the Father?
    Yes, their path to pleasing God is looking at His law and following everything in meticulous fashion.
    It is a pursuit of God that requires checking every box to the very best of your ability.
    It isn’t just following the rules you know. It is seeking to know the new rules
    Then creating the processes within our lives to follow the new rules.
    Is Jesus trying to please the Father?
    Yes! Jesus said in the book of John that He only does what He sees the Father doing.
    He lived to glorify the Father.
    So how can two groups of people, both trying to please God, end up in significant conflict?
    Matthew 12:1–2 NIV
    At that time Jesus went through the grainfields on the Sabbath. His disciples were hungry and began to pick some heads of grain and eat them. When the Pharisees saw this, they said to him, “Look! Your disciples are doing what is unlawful on the Sabbath.”
    In order for us to understand this passage, we need to understand a few background issues here.
    Sabbath law
    One of the 10 Commandments from the OT says this:
    Exodus 20:8–11 NIV
    “Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy. Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is a sabbath to the Lord your God. On it you shall not do any work, neither you, nor your son or daughter, nor your male or female servant, nor your animals, nor any foreigner residing in your towns. For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, but he rested on the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy.
    The people were so careful in wanting to follow this law, that they made a bunch of laws that defined this law.
    And if anyone broke any of these laws, then they were guilty of sin.
    One of these laws was about harvesting on the Sabbath.
    Some people had fields and they would grow crops in the fields. In order to set the Sabbath apart from every other day, they prohibited anyone from harvesting the fields on the Sabbath.
    So if you broke their interpretation of the rules of the Sabbath, in their eyes, you also broke the Sabbath.
    Jesus and His disciples began walking through the fields and his guys were hungry, so they picked the heads of some of the grain and rolled the heads in their hands to get the chaff separated from the wheat.
    Then they were popping handfuls of wheat in their mouth as a snack.
    The religious Pharisees (law cops) saw this and said, “They are harvesting on the Sabbath! Law breakers! Write them a ticket!”
    Jesus sees the result of the path they’ve lived and asks a couple of questions.
    If you are so passionate and strict with the law, then tell me your judgment on this:
    Matthew 12:3–4 NIV
    He answered, “Haven’t you read what David did when he and his companions were hungry? He entered the house of God, and he and his companions ate the consecrated bread—which was not lawful for them to do, but only for the priests.
    He gives a pretty egregious violation of the laws that protected their laws.
    David (and Goliath guy) before he became king was sent on a mission. When he and his friends were out they became very hungry.
    David went to the temple and asked the priest for some bread.
    The priest said, “I don’t have any bread except the bread that has been set apart for God.”
    David said, “I’ll take that.”
    The priest allows them to take the bread.
    To a rule follower, if you removed the names from the story, this would be a TECHNICAL FOUL/ VIOLATION!
    But since it was David, these rule-path guys didn’t see a problem with it.
    Jesus then gives another example:
    Matthew 12:5 NIV
    Or haven’t you read in the Law that the priests on Sabbath duty in the temple desecrate the Sabbath and yet are innocent?
    He says, “You have all of these rules about not working on the Sabbath, but look at the guys who work at the temple.
    The Sabbath isn’t a day of rest for them. It is a day of hard work and labor on behalf of the people.
    Some people in this room hold to the idea that Sunday is your Sabbath.
    It is the day you set aside to worship, listen to the Word, and join with the body of believers.
    But let’s say that you hold to the idea that everyone has to honor the Sabbath how you honor the Sabbath.
    That would make me a habitual violator of your Sabbath law. I enjoy being here. I worship. But today is a day of labor for me.
    It is for Jason too. And Christian. And a ton of wonderful volunteers who watch your kids, and set out signs, and make your coffee and run the sound board.
    What are we building toward here?
    I want to talk about what we will call The Path of the Law here today.
    The Tree of the Law
    As you hear the Gospel and desire to follow Jesus, it can become easy to fall into the trap of making everything about the rules.
    The Pharisees strived to please and honor God by following His rules to the very best of their ability.
    This doesn’t sound too bad!
    God had given His law. God Himself gave the 10 Commandments. God wouldn’t give the law if He did not want us to follow them, right?
    And if we follow His rules, then he will be happy with us, right? The logic seems to work.
    We are even taught this oftentimes in our lives.
    Parents, do you teach your kids to follow the rules?
    Teachers, do you teach your students to follow the rules?
    The rules in and of themselves are not wrong. But an approach to the rules can become toxic
    So the planting of the seed of the law begins with good motives.
    But what does it become? What does that tree look like when it matures? What kind of fruit does it bear?
    The Tree of the Law
    A life of judgment
    Maturity comes through learning
    A facade of righteousness
    Technicalities
    Pride
    A life of judgment— Everything in our lives and then, everything in the lives of others must be judged and determined righteous or unrighteous by my definition of the law.
    It’s one thing to be the judge of my own actions. But if you live to the point of bearing fruit as this tree, you will also become the judge of everyone else as well.
    We see the Pharisees doing this in our text
    Maturity comes through learning— How do you grow to please God more? You learn more of His laws and develop the process by which you and others should live them out. The smartest guy in the room becomes the most mature.
    The Pharisees were the guys that the people looked to for the answers to this. They were the educated. They knew every single law in the books, far more than the regular person.
    A facade of righteousness— If you are a person who knows the law and holds others to the law, you will use yourself as the example of how the law is supposed to be lived. You create a facade for everyone to see that is as close to perfect as you think it should look. It will have your unique interpretations and rules, but you hold others to those as well, so it actually feels like integrity.
    The Pharisees looked completely righteous in everything. But later, Jesus will call them on their facade by calling them “Hypcrites”.
    Technicalities— If you hold to the facade of righteousness, then you also live a life with technicalities. No one can hold to the righteousness they want everyone else to think they have, so they create the technicalities to maintain their righteousness.
    Technicalities include, my motives were right.
    Pride— I have it figured out. No one else does. I can’t be wrong.
    The result of the Law Tree is a joyless, accusatory, contentious, suspicious life that believes they are pleasing God by their strictness and holding everyone else to what they feel is right.
    This person will struggle with relationships, often point to the unrighteousness of others as the blame, and self-justify because they have the law.
    This is what the tree looks like.
    It isn’t a very pleasant tree, and its fruit is a performance based life that is exhausting.
    The Pharisees lived this out to a T
    Here was Jesus response to this:
    Matthew 12:6–8 NIV
    I tell you that something greater than the temple is here. If you had known what these words mean, ‘I desire mercy, not sacrifice,’ you would not have condemned the innocent. For the Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath.”
    Jesus points to an OT passage that begins by saying, “I desire mercy, not sacrifice.”
    Jesus introduces a second tree for us today
    We will call it the tree of mercy.
    Jesus says, “I am the Lord of the Sabbath”
    He identifies the law that they are holding to and makes a very interesting statement
    Those who had built their lives on the law had done so in such a way that their entire lives are consumed by the law.
    The law dictates everything in their lives.
    They were slaves to the law and the law was a ruthless master.
    But Jesus makes this claim: I am the Lord of the law that you want to follow.
    In doing this, Jesus was identifying who their Lord was.
    Their Lord was not God.
    Their Lord was the law
    Jesus said, I have authority over the one that you claim is the authority.
    Jesus shows us what the Tree of Mercy looks like
    As Jesus does this, we also know that Jesus sought to please and honor the Father.
    However, He does not do this by strict adherence to their rules.
    He points to the purpose behind the rules.
    Matthew 12:9–10 NIV
    Going on from that place, he went into their synagogue, and a man with a shriveled hand was there. Looking for a reason to bring charges against Jesus, they asked him, “Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath?”
    Jesus didn’t just show up at A SYNAGOGUE.
    He went to THEIR SYNAGOGUE.
    There was a man with a shriveled hand.
    I don’t know what the medical diagnosis was here, but I do know that this was an obvious ailment to the people around.
    The Tree of the Law people see this situation and ask Jesus to interpret the law.
    Do you remember how the Tree of the Law people operate?
    #1 was that they are people of judgment
    They were awaiting Jesus actions so they could judge Jesus’ actions and determine Him guilty of breaking their interpretation of the law.
    Matthew 12:11–13 NIV
    He said to them, “If any of you has a sheep and it falls into a pit on the Sabbath, will you not take hold of it and lift it out? How much more valuable is a person than a sheep! Therefore it is lawful to do good on the Sabbath.” Then he said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” So he stretched it out and it was completely restored, just as sound as the other.
    Jesus points out the flaws in the Tree of the Law thinking
    You have technicalities for everything
    If your sheep falls into a pit, you’ll do the work to get it out.
    But that is as much work as a lot of other things.
    You have your rules then you create your technicalities to keep your actions holy and giving you the latitude to judge others.
    Jesus boils their technicality down to the obvious flaw.
    A person is more valuable than a sheep
    They would all agree
    And if it is ok to do good to a sheep, it must be even more righteous to do good for a human.
    I want you to imagine being this man.
    These two groups of people come into church arguing.
    You are just there to go to church.
    He has an ailment involving his hand.
    It is embarrassing, even humiliating.
    He would probably walk around hiding the hand so as to not be noticed.
    Jesus goes right to this man’s deepest fear and says, “stretch out your hand”
    Literally everyone is watching.
    In faith, in trust, this man looked at both sides, both trees and said, “I believe the one who shows mercy, not judgment”
    He stretches out his hand and it is healed.
    Jesus went directly to this man’s humiliation and made it a beacon for the glory of God in that moment.
    The law had been broken in the eyes of the Pharisees
    Mercy had been offered in the eyes of Jesus
    Who did God affirm? Which sacrifice was God pleased with?
    Mercy.
    Rather than being convinced, the Pharisees did this:
    Matthew 12:14 NIV
    But the Pharisees went out and plotted how they might kill Jesus.
    Jesus shows us what the good tree looks like. The Tree of Mercy.
    This tree is also planted with the intent to please God. But rather than trying to please God through the rules. This person wants to please God by following Jesus.
    Jesus showed us an approach to the Father that when we follow Jesus will also bear fruit in our lives.
    This is what the mature Tree of Mercy looks like
    The Tree of Mercy
    A life of love
    Maturity is compassion
    Authenticity
    Sees people, not violations
    Compassion for need
    Seeks to love— this is the definition of love that I will often use. The word for the love of God is Agape. We often translate that word as “unconditional”. I call this a love based on identity, not performance.
    Jesus saw a man who was created in the image of God and loved Him because of who he was, not what he had or had not done. His love was not given for performance, nor was it deserving based on performance. It was simply given because it was a demonstration of the heart of God.
    Maturity is compassion— The fruit from this tree are like the fruit of the Spirit: Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness...
    This is what we see in Jesus. None of these are given based on performance. They are given because the tree was good.
    Authenticity— Rather than a facade of righteousness, the disciple of Jesus knows that they were where these people are. There is an understanding that I have received undeserved mercy. Others deserve the same.
    Sees people, not violations— All people are created in the image of God and have value. Every person has a story, a life, a calling, and a purpose. No technicalities. All are worthy of love.
    Jesus saw the man with the withered hand and didn’t see sin or a handicap. He saw a human being made in the image of God.
    Humility— There is an understanding of who we are in the eyes of God and who God is and His heart.
    This brings humility. I am not great. My God is great.
    This is a tree that is rooted in Jesus
    Jesus Christ modeled this for us and calls us to follow Him.
    We cannot love without Him being the root
    We cannot show mercy without Him
    We cannot be free without Him setting us free
    Apart from Jesus, all we have is the law, and the law condemns us all.
    The Tree of the Law does not respond well to the Tree of Mercy.
    One is built on its own performance and its identity is performance.
    The other is built on the performance of Jesus.
    Jesus’ Tree of Mercy challenged the very righteousness of the Tree of Law followers.
    Matthew 12:15–16 NIV
    Aware of this, Jesus withdrew from that place. A large crowd followed him, and he healed all who were ill. He warned them not to tell others about him.
    He had made the Pharisees mad enough for the day, so He left.
    A large crowd followed Him.
    I want you to think about this.
    Why do you think the large crowd followed Jesus and not the Pharisees?
    People want to be loved and seen.
    The Tree of Mercy is an attractive tree.
    It is a tree that grows to resonate to the heart of all humanity.
    Matthew concludes this passage by quoting a passage from the prophet Isaiah:
    Matthew 12:17–21 NIV
    This was to fulfill what was spoken through the prophet Isaiah: “Here is my servant whom I have chosen, the one I love, in whom I delight; I will put my Spirit on him, and he will proclaim justice to the nations. He will not quarrel or cry out; no one will hear his voice in the streets. A bruised reed he will not break, and a smoldering wick he will not snuff out, till he has brought justice through to victory. In his name the nations will put their hope.”
    Matthew takes an editorial moment to say, “This is the actions of Jesus and this is where the prophecy in the OT was fulfilled by these actions
    The justice of the nations would not come from the law
    The justice of the nations would come from the Messiah.
    The Messiah would not yell, or argue, or debate, or make a scene.
    He will be gentle and humble and a source of hope.
    The Tree of Mercy is gentle, humble, and a source of hope.

    Conclusion (JESUS IS THE SOLUTION)

    This is not about changing from a law of law to a law of mercy.
    This is about changing our hearts
    I want to wrap up by talking about the Tree of the Law and the Tree of Mercy.
    I don’t want to hit too hard on the people who gravitate to the law.
    The law is good. The law comes from God. The law reflects the perfect holiness of God.
    But here is the thing about the law. The law does not make us righteous.
    The law is God’s tool to show us that we are sinful.
    Romans 3:20 NIV
    Therefore no one will be declared righteous in God’s sight by the works of the law; rather, through the law we become conscious of our sin.
    If we start using the law as a tool to show how righteous we are and using the law as a means of how we ought to live our lives, we completely misuse the tool of the law.
    This is the mistake of the Tree of the Law
    They believe that by the law they can be righteous before God.
    The law is a tool that cannot declare us to be righteous, only sinners.
    This is why the people who plant this tree in their hearts will always live in fear, condemnation, performance and comparison.
    They are using a tool that can only point out sin as a means to try to show righteousness.
    It is a flawed process.
    If you try to use the law to show your righteousness, then your the law and following the rules is what justifies you.
    I want you to know, there is a judgment day that is coming.
    When we stand before God, we cannot bring the law to Him and say, “Look, I did a lot of things that didn’t break the law.”
    He will say, “You did a lot of things that did break the law.”
    This is where the Tree of Mercy comes in.
    The Tree of Mercy uses the law as well.
    The Tree of Mercy uses the law as it is intended. It is a means to show us that we have sinned and are in need of a savior.
    The Tree of Mercy is merciful because it recognizes by the law that I need Jesus
    Jesus gives me mercy and I give others mercy.
    So when I live by the Tree of Mercy, I don’t condemn others. I see them as in need of a savior.
    The law has done its part in their lives. Now they need to see and experience the love and mercy of Jesus.
    This can be taken too far as well.
    Romans goes on to say, “Shall we go on sinning so grace may increase?” No!
    The Tree of Mercy is not an escape from the law.
    It is the mercy we desperately need under the law.
    Our journey following Jesus will bring us into conformity with His righteousness. The same righteousness that the law points us to.
    Except His righteousness is not for condemnation. It is relationship.
    Our danger is not that we become a Pharisee and start wearing robes like they did in the Bible.
    Our danger is that we become a Pharisee in the heart. We begin to see the world through the lens of the law and end up in the same place and in our pursuit to please God, we completely miss His heart.
    What tree are you living from?
    Not what do you believe… not what do you say… What fruit is actually showing up in your life?
    Because if we’re honest… many of us don’t struggle with rebellion—we struggle with religion.
    We try to get it right. We try to follow the rules. We try to be good enough.
    And somewhere along the way… we become more known for what we’re against than who we love. More focused on being right than being like Jesus.
    And the warning from this passage is sobering:
    You can be very serious about God… …and completely miss His heart.
    The Pharisees knew the law—but they missed the Lord of the law standing right in front of them.
    And here’s the good news for us:
    Jesus is not standing over you today saying, “Try harder. Do better. Fix yourself.”
    He’s saying: “Follow Me.”
    “I am the Lord of the Sabbath.” “I am the one who defines what is right.” “I am the one who gives mercy.”
    So this week, this gets really practical:
    When you’re tempted to judge someone—pause and ask: “What would mercy look like here?”
    When you’re frustrated with someone—ask: “Am I seeing a problem… or a person made in the image of God?”
    When you fail—and you will—don’t run back to performance. Run to Jesus.
    Because you don’t become a person of mercy by trying harder…
    You become a person of mercy by staying close to the One who has been merciful to you.
    So don’t just leave here thinking about two trees.
    Leave here choosing a path.
    Not the path of performance… but the path of following Jesus.
    Because in His name… there is hope.
    And the world doesn’t need more rule-keepers.
    It needs people… who look like Him.

      • Matthew 12:22–37ESV

      • Ephesians 4:3–6NIV2011

      • Romans 10:9–10NIV2011

      • Galatians 5:19–21NIV2011

      • Galatians 5:18NIV2011

      • Galatians 5:22–25NIV2011

  • Finished Work Of Christ
Real Life Selkirk
11 members • 2 followers