‘Love One Another’

Pastor Dave Oddi Hope Lutheran Church

Matthew 12:1-8

“At that time Jesus went through the grain fields on the Sabbath. His disciples were hungry, and they began to pluck heads of grain and to eat. But when the Pharisees saw it, they said to him, ‘Look, your disciples are doing what is not lawful to do on the Sabbath.’ He said to them, ‘Have you not read what David did when he was hungry, and those who were with him: how he entered the house of God and ate the bread of the presence, which it was not lawful for him to eat nor for those who were with him, but only for the priests? Or have you not read in the law how on the Sabbath the priests in the temple profane the Sabbath and are guiltless? I tell you, something greater than the temple is here. And if you had known what this means, “I desire mercy, and not sacrifice,” you would not have condemned the guiltless. For the son of man is lord of the Sabbath.’”

Jesus was experiencing more and more opposition from the scribes, Pharisees and Sadducees. Jesus just didn’t act like they did. Jesus didn’t teach like they did. More often than not Jesus would disagree with them and they would end up looking foolish. Here in Matthew 12:1-8 the disciples are picking grain on the Sabbath because they are hungry. Later in this chapter Jesus heals a man with a withered hand, also on the Sabbath.

Of course Jesus is condemned by them because he was doing something that was, in their eyes, prohibited on the Sabbath. Jesus calls them out on their hypocrisy. Jesus tells them what David did and he ends the passage by saying, “I tell you, something greater than the temple is here. And if you had known what this means, ‘I desire mercy, and not sacrifice,’ you would not have condemned the guiltless. For the son of man is lord of the Sabbath.”

The religious leadership of Jesusʼ day was far more concerned with the outward performance of keeping the law than what was in a person’s heart. They were concerned with the temple, with fasting, keeping the Sabbath, and all the rest of the visible, outward trappings of their religion.

What they were not concerned with was loving their neighbor. Was their neighbor hungry? Was their neighbor homeless? Was their neighbor a widow or an orphan? Was their neighbor, sick, in prison or in any other need or difficulty? Well the religious leaders were not very much concerned, just so long as the required sacrifices were being made and the letter of the law was being obeyed.

They were even against love of neighbor on the Sabbath. Even if your neighbor was in need they didn’t want you to do something for them if it meant breaking the religious law. Jesus turns their thinking on its head. Someone needs healing on the Sabbath, Jesus heals them. Is a person in need or hungry on the Sabbath; take care of their need. Love and care of one another was of more importance.

Jesus is God. Jesus is Lord. Jesus is Lord of the Sabbath. The Sabbath was made for man and given to man as another gracious gift of God. It had been turned into a burden instead of being a joy. Into a day of worrying if you obeyed Sabbath Law perfectly, than a day of resting in the joy of God and his grace.

Jesus is greater than the temple. Jesus is greater than the Sabbath. Jesus taught the ultimate answer to the question of desiring mercy over sacrifice. Indeed, Jesus is the only needed sacrifice for our sins to which all the previous sacrifices pointed to. But, it was because of God’s mercy that Jesus came. Jesus came, suffered, died and rose again because of God’s great desire for mercy. His desire for mercy is so very great that he sent his son to die so we would not have to.

What a wonderful message we have to proclaim to a world that has no idea what real and true mercy is. This has always been so very important, and it is critically so now. We proclaim God’s mercy with his word. We proclaim his mercy by what we do as we show that we are his by our love, for him, and for our neighbor. Will we fail in this? Yes. Will we be able to proclaim his love perfectly? No. But when we fail, when we fall short of perfection; we in faith rely on his great mercy, and for Jesus sake are forgiven. Even in anxious times like these we see evidence of God’s great mercy and his desire to extend his mercy to all people.

Know what this means, he desires mercy, not sacrifice. In his mercy he then sacrificed himself for us. We have seen the result of this just two short weeks ago. Jesus was crucified, he died and he was buried. All looked lost. Yet, just three days later he rose triumphantly from the grave having won the victory for us and secured for us forgiveness of sins, salvation and eternal life for all who believe.

In John 13:34-35 Jesus told his disciples and those who followed him, “A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.”

It would seem that in many ways we have forgotten this teaching of Jesus. In our society we see such a crushing lack of love for the neighbor that when there is an example it becomes newsworthy. There is far too much violence and hatred. People who are different from us are hated and persecuted and senseless attacks are conducted for ridiculous reasons. These are sinful. This is why Jesus came. This is why Jesus had to die. Jesus defeated our sins. He died for all, for us, for our neighbor, and for those who are different from us.

It is hard because of our sinfulness, but love one another is not a suggestion, it is a command, and it is God’s will. We will fail. We will need God’s grace and the forgiveness Jesus earned for us. Love one another, because God loves us.