⏱ 6 min read

One thing that hinders the move of God is tradition, customs and religion. The Pharisees were masters of Do’s and Don’ts and this caused them to miss the essence or heart behind God’s instructions. (Isn’t it interesting that the Pharisees were following Jesus around closely?).

At that time Jesus went through the grainfields on the Sabbath. And His disciples were hungry, and began to pluck heads of grain and to eat. And when the Pharisees saw it, they said to Him, “Look, Your disciples are doing what is not lawful to do on the Sabbath!”

v10 And behold, there was a man who had a withered hand. And they asked Him, saying, “Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath?”—that they might accuse Him. (Matthew 12:1-2, 10)

Because in the verse above Jesus was walking through a farm to church. So they followed Him around just like the disciples did. Not to be taught, not to be instructed, but to find faults and accuse Him.
I personally believe Jesus’s sermon in Matthew 7:1-5 was because of them. (If you’re a leader pray about it; it’s not easy to be followed by accusing Pharisees).

Anyway, Jesus had to put things right and explain to them the heart behind God’s instructions and rules (Read v3-8; 11-12). Why? Because you can know God’s Word (the Pharisees did) but not understand His ways or the heart behind them. You can only know God’s ways through a personal relationship with Him.

• Can you imagine putting someone’s healing on hold just because healing is considered work, and Sunday is supposed to be a non-working, resting day?
• Dear friend, if you do not know God’s heart and mind for His people, you can in the name of religiosity, destroy His people and lead them to their destruction.
• What is God’s heart for His people? A heart of mercy! “I desire mercy, not sacrifice…”

7 If you had known what these words mean, ‘I desire mercy, not sacrifice,’ you would not have condemned the innocent. 8 For the Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath.”

11 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? 12 How much more valuable is a person than a sheep! Therefore it is lawful to do good on the Sabbath.”

I am so glad that Jesus moves past religious rules to reach out, to save, to heal and to gather the undeserving (like me) to Himself.

I pray you and I will have the heart that Jesus has for His people – a heart full of mercy and love for His precious saints. Remember, that heart comes from a personal relationship.

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v14-16 “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.”

Jesus withdrew and worked miracles in secret – not out of cowardice or fear, but out of wisdom – knowing it was not yet time to come out or make Himself known. This is what we’re calling the pull-out game: withdraw, hide and flourish!

Many of Jesus’s initial healing and miracles came with the warning to not disclose Him, but the latter ones in His life did not have these warnings.

"So Jesus said to them, “My time has not yet come; but any time is right for you. The world cannot hate you [since you are part of it], but it does hate Me because I denounce it and testify that its deeds are evil." ~ John 7:6-7.

• What this teaches us is the ability to work or grow in the background, without making noise, without drawing attention to yourself, until God is ready to announce you to the world.
• You can abort your God-given mission prematurely if you do not learn this. Do not expose yourself to certain places and stages before it is time to do so.
• A premature baby, who tries to escape his mother’s womb, because he wants to see the world, will see it in a miscarriage. Stay the entire period; stay hidden and stay working!

“Listen carefully: I am sending you out like sheep among wolves; so be wise as serpents, and innocent as doves [have no self-serving agenda]" ~ Matthew 10:16.

Serpents are cunning reptiles that can stay with you in a place for so long and you would never detect their presence. Yet they’ll be thriving, growing and even producing more of their kind. Jesus says to learn this wisdom.

May we receive wisdom from above and learn to hide and flourish. May we not run ahead of God to announce ourselves to the world! Grace is made available to you. Hey, you’re blessed!

Do share your wisdom lessons from Matthew 12. Remember to tag us on 📲:
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