Matthew 12:1-8 Hungry Disciples
Format for Your Devotions
Instructions: Do not read my example devotion until you have completed your own devotional time in the scriptures. Reading my thoughts first may limit your own understanding. Let the Holy Spirit speak to you alone before looking to see what anyone else has to say, whether it is me, a Bible commentary, or a friend. Let God speak to you before you let another person speak to you. I have provided a format, but modify it to fit your needs. For example, I usually combine my application and prayer together talking to God about the application to my own life. You can go through this devotion process mentally, speaking out loud, or in writing as you wish. Don’t worry if you are not following this process exactly. Sometimes, I add extra information and sometimes I emphasize one part more than others. However, you should always think about what you learn about God from this passage.
Step 1: Pray–Ask for the Holy Spirit’s guidance first of all and that God may reveal the lessons that He wants you to have that day. Request that God protect you from Satan’s distractions (and the devil will try to distract you whether it is pinching the baby or putting you to sleep). Ask to see God more clearly as you read and think about the passage.
Step 2: Read the passage–Read to get an overview of the information first. Then start looking at specific parts after the first reading. You may read a larger or smaller section than I have here because you do not have to follow my organization at all.
Step 3: Understand the passage–You can summarize, ask and answer your own questions about the passage, visualize the story, analyze the characters, and relate this passage to other scriptures and personal experiences.
Step 4: What does this reveal about God?–What do you learn about the Father, Son, and/or Holy Spirit from this passage?
Step 5: Apply this to your own life.
Step 6: Prayer
My Example Devotion: March 20, 2019, Matthew 12:1-8
Note: In the devotion examples, I leave my questions and thought processes in the text because I am trying to demonstrate that a devotional time is a dialogue with God about what you are reading from His word. As such, any questions or ideas that you have should be explored by talking it out with God. These example devotions are not my attempts to teach you what the meaning of a particular scripture is. They are an attempt to teach you the process of devotions, which is a combination of prayer and Bible study where you explore ideas with God as you read His word.
At that time Jesus went through the grainfields 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.”
(Understanding the Text) My first thought is that the disciples were keeping the Sabbath better than most people in the history of the world because keeping the Sabbath means meeting with God and communing with Him on a special day. The disciples were walking with Jesus through a grain field. They were talking with Him and listening to Him teach. They were being loved and defended by Him. They were with the Lord of the Sabbath on the Sabbath day. Jesus confirms this when He speaks of the Pharisees blaming the guiltless.
Unfortunately, when we substitute our rules for God’s love, we make many guiltless people feel condemned. I feel that way sometimes when I listen to Adventists, especially Adventist preachers, trying to urge people to witness in ways that speak of results (number of baptisms, more people coming to church, etc.). I have been learning that Jesus never focuses on us obtaining those kind of results. Instead, the results that the Bible speaks of are the fruit of the Spirit in our own characters.
(Revelation of God) God never desired animal sacrifices. They were a necessary teaching tool to keep humans focused on the evils of sin. God desires mercy. He wants people to be so full of love that they can’t stop themselves from helping those in need. He wants us to love each other and to love Him. I wonder if Jesus was simply enjoying walking along with people who loved Him sincerely and whether he was hurt that the Pharisees couldn’t love Him because there was no mercy in their hearts for anyone outside themselves. They were only concerned with appeasing God rather than having a relationship with Him. I wonder if God was happy that David came to Him when David was desperate and hungry. It was natural for David to look for shelter with God, even when it broke some of God’s own rules.
(Understanding the Text) Guzik’s commentary points out that the disciples were not breaking God’s Sabbath commandment, but the traditions of the Pharisees. “This was not a violation of the Mosaic law, but of scribal traditions, which had precisely determined that to pluck the heads of grain was to ‘harvest.’ To rub them between your hands to separate the chaff was ‘milling.’ To blow away the chaff from your hand was ‘winnowing.’ All of this was forbidden on the Sabbath – even for personal use. i. At this time, Rabbis filled Judaism with elaborate rituals related to the Sabbath and observance of other laws. Ancient Rabbis taught that on the Sabbath, a man could not carry something in his right hand or in his left hand, across his chest or on his shoulder. But you could carry something with the back of your hand, with your foot, with your elbow, or in your ear, your hair, or in the hem of your shirt, or in your shoe or sandal. Or, on the Sabbath, you were forbidden to tie a knot – except a woman could tie a knot in her girdle. So, if a bucket of water had to be raised from a well, you could not tie a rope to the bucket, but a woman could tie her girdle to the bucket!” When we look at actions to please God rather than the motivations behind actions, we will come up with all kinds of nitpicky rules that are actually illogical in practice. We will limit and judge and in the process, we will be more guilty than those we judge.
(Application / Prayer) My application for myself is to always choose being loving and kind over following the rules and finishing a job. If I fail at love, it is breaking Sabbath while going to a restaurant on Sabbath to feed a hungry person is keeping Sabbath. I pray to have the kind of mercy, You spoke of in the Beatitudes. I pray to have the kind of love you want me to have. I know that right now, my love and mercy are pitiful selfish shriveled attempts at serving You. I pray that You will teach me to love and be merciful by revealing Yourself to me.