Jesus 72 Steps from Glory to Glory
Sabbath Controversy
Step 22 Back to Capernaum
Matt.9:2-9; Mark 2:1-14, Lk 5:17-28
After His first preaching tour, He returns to His home in Capernaum.
- Seventh miracle: Jesus heals a paralytic. Matt.9:2,6-7; Mark 2:5; Lk.5:17-28
- The man is brought to Jesus by his friends and lowered through the roof.
- Jesus forgives the man of his sin. The Pharisees accuse him of blasphemy.
- Some people will do anything to bring others to Jesus. On the other hand, some self-righteous people would rather a person not be saved than to be led to Jesus in a way that they disapprove of.
- Then Jesus heals the man of his paralysis, proving that Jesus has the authority to forgive sins.
- The ordinary people are amazed and praise God.
- Jesus calls Matthew (Levi) the tax collector as his disciple.
Matt.9:9; Mark 2:13-14; Luke 5:27-28
- Jesus walks into Matthew’s place of business and says, “Follow me”.
- Matthew left everything and followed Jesus.
- This is the end of the first year.
Step 23 From Capernaum to a Galilean Grain Field
Matt. 12:1-8, Mk. 2:23-28 Lk.6:1-5
Sabbath Controversy
- Jesus is involved in his first Sabbath controversy with the Pharisees because the disciples pluck grain and eat it on the Sabbath Day.
- Jesus reminds the Pharisees of David’s actions in the OT when he ate bread to gain strength.
“Now therefore, what have you on hand? Give me five loaves of bread in my hand, or whatever can be found.” And the priest answered David and said, “There is no common bread on hand; but there is holy bread, if the young men have at least kept themselves from women.”
Then David answered the priest, and said to him, “Truly, women have been kept from us about three days since I came out. And the vessels of the young men are holy, and the bread is in effect common, even though it was consecrated in the vessel this day.”
So the priest gave him holy bread; for there was no bread there but the showbread which had been taken from before the Lord, in order to put hot bread in its place on the day when it was taken away.”
I Samuel 21:3-6 NKJV
- The bread David ate was in the Temple and was reserved for the priests.
- I Mk. 2:27 Jesus tells them that God made the Sabbath for Man and not man for the Sabbath
Step 24 From the Grainfield to a Galilean Synagogue
Matt. 12:9-14, Mk.3:1-6, Lk. 6:10
- Eight Miracle: Jesus heals a man with a withered hand.
- Jesus sees the man in the synagogue with a withered hand.
- The Pharisees also see the man, and they wait to see if Jesus will heal the man.
- Jesus knows their evil thoughts. He asks them whether it is lawful to do good or evil on the Sabbath.
- He tells them that they would probably help a sheep out of a ditch on the Sabbath. Isn’t a sheep much better than a man?
- Jesus is grieved and angry at the Pharisees because of their wicked and hard heart.
- He say’s reach out your hand and then heals the man.
- The Pharisees are furious with Him and plot with the Herodians to destroy Jesus.
** I am copying this from www.GotQuestions.org **
Nine of the Ten Commandments from Exodus 20:1–17 are repeated in the New Testament in one way or another. The only one not repeated in the New Testament is the fourth, the one about Sabbath-keeping.
In summarizing our moral responsibilities to one another, Jesus repeats four of the Ten Commandments to the young ruler in Mark 10:17–19. Paul references the Decalogue a number of times in his epistles. Sometimes, he is explicit in reciting some of the commandments, as he does in Romans 13:9.
Other times, he references them implicitly, like in 1 Timothy 1:8–10: “But we know that the Law is good, if one uses it lawfully, realizing the fact that law is not made for a righteous person, but for those who are lawless and rebellious, for the ungodly and sinners, for the unholy and profane, for those who kill their fathers or mothers [5th and 6th commandments], for murderers [6th commandment] and immoral men and homosexuals [7th commandment] and kidnappers [8th commandment] and liars and perjurers [9th commandment], and whatever else is contrary to sound teaching” (NASB). So, the moral directives embodied in the Ten Commandments are repeated for us, even if we are free from the letter of the law.
Here are the Ten Commandments and where they are found in the New Testament:
1) Do not worship any other gods (1 Corinthians 8:6; 1 Timothy 2:5)
2) Do not make idols (1 John 5:21)
3) Do not misuse the name of the Lord (1 Timothy 6:1)
4) Remember the Sabbath day and keep it holy. (There are many references to the Sabbath day in the New Testament, including the assumption that Jews under the law in the time of Christ would be observing the Sabbath. But there is no direct or indirect command for believers in the church age to observe the Sabbath as a day of rest or of worship. In fact, Colossians 2:16 releases the believer from the Sabbath rule. Jesus, the Lord of the Sabbath, has become for us our Sabbath rest, according to Hebrews 4:1–11.)
5) Honor your father and your mother (Ephesians 6:1–2)
6) Do not murder (Romans 13:9; 1 Peter 4:15)
7) Do not commit adultery (1 Corinthians 6:9–10)
8) Do not steal (Ephesians 4:28)
9) Do not give false testimony (Revelation 21:8)
10) Do not covet (Colossians 3:5)
The Old Testament law defined sin (Romans 7:7) and brought an awareness of sin (Romans 3:20). Jesus perfectly fulfilled the law on our behalf (Matthew 5:17), and none of the Old Testament law is binding on Christians today. When Jesus died on the cross, He put an end to the Old Testament law (Romans 10:4; Galatians 3:23–25; Ephesians 2:15). Christ precipitated a transition between the Old Covenant and the New. He is, in fact, the One who ratified the New Covenant. One writer explains it this way:
Jesus came to fulfill what “the old” anticipated and to usher in a new covenant and fundamentally new era of history. His followers would not be under the previous administration that had guarded God’s people since Moses. Jesus himself says he did not come to destroy the Law and Prophets, but to do something even more striking: fulfill them (Matthew 5:17).
That is, fulfill like prophecy. Not simply keep the Ten in place, or remain under them, or leave them untouched, but fulfill them—first in his own person, and then by his Spirit in his church. He came not to cast off Moses, but to fulfill Jeremiah, and in doing so, he accomplished what is even more radical: establishing himself as the supreme authority, putting God’s law within his people (rather than on tablets), writing it on their hearts (rather than stone), and making all his people to know him (Jeremiah 31:31–34).
(Matthis, D., “Lord of All the Law,” http://www.desiringgod.org, 6/7/24, accessed 9/12/24).
Christians are not under the Law of Moses, of which the Decalogue is a part, but they are under the law of Christ (see Galatians 5—6). We are to love God and love people (Matthew 22:36–40). If we’re living in the Spirit, we will be doing just that.
We won’t violate God’s moral character. Following the commands “Do not murder,” “Do not steal,” etc., are obvious ways of loving God and loving others. And we will have the fruit of the Spirit, “against such there is no law” (Galatians 5:23, NKJV). In other words, the qualities the Holy Spirit produces in our lives perfectly conform with God’s law and display His holy character.
“And again He entered Capernaum after some days, and it was heard that He was in the house. Immediately many gathered together, so that there was no longer room to receive them, not even near the door. And He preached the word to them.
Then they came to Him, bringing a paralytic who was carried by four men. And when they could not come near Him because of the crowd, they uncovered the roof where He was. So when they had broken through, they let down the bed on which the paralytic was lying.
When Jesus saw their faith, He said to the paralytic, “Son, your sins are forgiven you.” And some of the scribes were sitting there and reasoning in their hearts, “Why does this Man speak blasphemies like this? Who can forgive sins but God alone?”
But immediately, when Jesus perceived in His spirit that they reasoned thus within themselves, He said to them, “Why do you reason about these things in your hearts? Which is easier, to say to the paralytic, ‘Your sins are forgiven you,’ or to say, ‘Arise, take up your bed and walk’?
But that you may know that the Son of Man has power on earth to forgive sins”—He said to the paralytic, “I say to you, arise, take up your bed, and go to your house.” Immediately he arose, took up the bed, and went out in the presence of them all, so that all were amazed and glorified God, saying, “We never saw anything like this!”
Then He went out again by the sea; and all the multitude came to Him, and He taught them. As He passed by, He saw Levi the son of Alphaeus sitting at the tax office. And He said to him, “Follow Me.” So he arose and followed Him.”
Mark 2:1-14 NKJV
https://bible.com/bible/114/mrk.2.1-14.NKJV
From the Home of Douglas & Deborah Huff
Down Where the Pavement Ends
email-douglas@pavementendsministry.com
