For Every Careless Word
Matthew Chapters 11&12
What you hear and see (11:1-6)
In the Gospel of John, we hear John the Baptist speaking of the one who was to come, and plainly identifying Jesus as that one, the Lamb of God (John 1:26-37). In our passage we hear from John in the last days of his life, as he has sent his disciples to ask as plainly what he had previously declared. Perhaps John was in conflict over his own ideas of what the Messiah would do and what he had heard of Jesus doing, or perhaps it was his disciples who were conflicted, and John sent them to see for themselves. In either case, Jesus seems in no way offended by the question, but confirms to them, and through them to John, that what they have heard is true: the blind see, the lame walk, and the dead are raised to life.
In his response, Jesus may be alluding to the prophecy of Isaiah (Isaiah 35:5-6). Indeed, Luke tells us that Jesus began his ministry with a very similar passage (Luke 4:16-21). These and many other passages make it clear that Jesus came to serve individuals, and not political powers. This reality was in such conflict with expectations that many could not accept it (John 10:24-32).
This conflict of expectations is expanded in the following sections, but there is another point we should note. Jesus could have responded by explaining the ways in which his very person (Son of David, child of a virgin) was a fulfillment of scripture, or with some demonstration of his great power. Instead, he even diminished the importance of his power to emphasize the change in those around him: the blind see, the lame walk, and the dead are raised to life.
If you where to ask me “Are you a Christian?” I would immediately respond “Yes!” But if you were to ask for proof, I could not so readily rely on what you may see or hear.
This was your good pleasure (11:25-30)
Far from lamenting the difference between our expectations and God’s design, Jesus praises the Father because his ways are not those that make sense to us. The word that is translated here as praise means to acknowledge or confess, as we confess our sins or confess that Jesus Christ is Lord (Mark 1:15; Philippians 2:5-11). The way we praise God is to acknowledge that he is God, and that his world yields to his pleasure, not our desire (Ezekiel 20:43-44; Isaiah 46:9-10).
It is the pleasure of the Lord to call us to him and invite us to place our burdens on him. The idea that we may only exchange the yoke of our sins for the burden of the straight and narrow way is supported by the following parable of the evil spirit returning to the house from which it came (Lamentations 1:14; Matthew 12:43-45). And this is the crux of the matter, the Lord does not arbitrarily reject our ways; the Lord’s way is the only way to life (Matthew 7:13-14).
It is lawful to do good (12:1-12)
Continuing with the theme of the conflict of expectations, Matthew gives us two stories in which Jesus teaches the meaning of the Sabbath. The Old Testament is very clear about the importance of the Sabbath, and the penalty for failure to keep it holy (Genesis 2:2-3; Exodus 31:12-18). It is perhaps our misapplication of the teaching of this very passage that has allowed us to view the entire notion as quaint and antiquated, but the Pharisees took it very seriously. These and other sects of the Jews were so serious about keeping the law that they had examined each one carefully. In the case of the Sabbath Law, they developed a careful and detailed understanding of what it means to work. By this understanding, the disciples were breaking the law in three ways: they were harvesting as they picked the grain; they were threshing as they rubbed it in their hands; they were winnowing as they blew away the chaff (cf. Luke 6:1).
It might at first seem that Jesus’ defense was based on a technicality. By pointing out that David did the same, he certainly would have flummoxed his opposition, who would not dare to accuse David of breaking the Sabbath. But if we look more closely, we see that Jesus was pointing out that the Pharisees had ignored the issue of need. In this case, he was not necessarily saying that the need superseded the law, but that in rushing to accusation rather than compassion, the Pharisees themselves had failed to keep the Sabbath holy.
To make the issue more personal, Jesus asked the Pharisees which of them would not rescue their own sheep on the Sabbath. Rabbinic teaching on this issue suggested that the animal could be kept alive, but not rescued. How this might be accomplished without breaking the law in some other way would certainly have been a tricky issue, and perhaps Jesus knew that the Pharisees found it difficult to deal with in practice and with their own sheep. But we are more important than sheep, and Jesus accused the Pharisees of ignoring the more important matters of the law (Matthew 23:23-24; 7:12).
Blasphemy against the Spirit (12:30-37)
This saying is enigmatic, to say the least, and it is not any wonder that there are many interpretations of blasphemy against the Spirit. One might leave the issue to the theologians if it were not for the way Jesus seems to equate this blasphemy with “every careless word.” In the literal interpretation, I must confess that I am more guilty than the average person when it comes to the sin of careless words. But without lessening that confession in any way, we must acknowledge that, certainly in this context, we could not expect it to be taken literally, as Matthew has carefully shown the teaching of Jesus in contradiction to the literal understanding of the Pharisees.
On our way to a better understanding, we should note the word that is translated careless. This word also means useless, and it is the same word that James uses when he says “faith without works is useless.” (James 2:14-20). The sin of which Jesus speaks is to know that God is God, but not act as though God is God (Isaiah 29:13-16).
Wherewith shall I come before the LORD, and bow myself before the high God? shall I come before him with burnt offerings, with calves of a year old? Will the LORD be pleased with thousands of rams, or with ten thousands of rivers of oil? shall I give my firstborn for my transgression, the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul? He hath showed thee, O man, what is good; and what doth the LORD require of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God? (Micah 6:6-8 KJV)
