It is an incredible wonder that the God who created the universe should come down to our earth. But that is just what God did in Jesus. God became human; he did the things that ordinary people do. He experienced childhood; he knew what hard work was like. He went to a wedding. He was a dinner guest, he went to worship at the synagogue, he climbed hills, and he walked through cornfields. In all this, he brought the kingdom of heaven near and taught people what God is like. In Matthew chapter 12 we learn more of the kingdom. There are three particular characteristics of the kingdom that we will think about this morning.

The first is that God’s kingdom is a place of mercy. The Pharisees of Jesus’ day had rather lost sight of this. They were very keen on stressing the demands that God made on people. Jesus disciples are hungry and pick and eat the grains of corn as they walk through the cornfields. The Pharisees say this is breaking the law by working on the Sabbath.

Their understanding of God was based on the law. Now God’s law is good. The Ten Commandments reflect the character of God. They are based on the two greatest commandments, to love God and to love our neighbour. But the scribes and the Pharisees had got their emphasis completely wrong. They had added detailed regulations to God’s laws to such a degree that there was no room for flexibility as to what you could do on the Sabbath. Rules and regulations had become an end in themselves.

Using the scriptures Jesus points out that sometimes there are more important principles at work than rules and regulations. He reminds them of a bible story of David. David and his men were on the run from King Saul who was trying to kill David. They were hungry and came to the priest looking for food. The priest only had consecrated bread that had been placed on the altar; it was against the law for anyone other than the priests to eat it. David took that bread and he and his men ate it to satisfy their hunger.

Jesus was saying that giving help, showing compassion, meeting peoples needs is more important in God’s eyes than obeying rules and regulations. Jesus has an authority that overrides rules and regulations. Jesus is lord of the Sabbath. He goes on to give a second illustration. Certain of the duties that the priests performed on the Sabbath broke the law, but they were allowed to do this. In fact the Pharisees themselves had a regulation that required people to reap the corn on the Sabbath that was to be brought as the first fruits sacrifice to the temple. They would break one rule in order to satisfy another rule.

Jesus quotes a verse to them that he had quoted before; ‘I desire mercy, not sacrifice.’ The verse comes from Hosea 6 v6. The prophet Hosea brought God’s word to the people of Israel at a time when they were very good at their religious observance, but lacked the love and compassion that God required. The thrust of Hosea’s message had been ‘There is no faithfulness, no love, no acknowledgement of God in the land.’ God has given people his law to guide them, not to catch them out and give him an excuse to punish them. God’s nature is love, he wants to show mercy, and he requires those within his kingdom to be merciful too.

The Pharisees would rather kill Jesus than let go of their hard, cold legalism. We must also beware of making rules and demands of greater importance than mercy and compassion.

The second characteristic of the kingdom we will look at is the attitude of humble service. We see it in the example of Jesus in verses 15-21. Matthew quotes as he has done earlier in his gospel from the book of Isaiah. The idea of the messiah that was prominent at the time of Jesus, was the idea of a powerful leader, someone like king David who would restore freedom to the people of God. In fact prophesies spoke of the Messiah in terms of him being a descendant of David.

But there were other prophecies too, prophecies in the book of Isaiah that spoke about a servant, about one who would suffer. These prophecies were rather neglected; they did not fit the spirit of the age. Yet they portrayed the true nature of the messiah. Jesus is the wise teacher who will win the argument. Jesus is the powerful healer who defeats disease and death. But when his opponents plan violence, he walks away.

He doesn’t start a campaign to expose their hatred. There is no spin or hype. He just goes on dispensing God’s love and grace through his helping and healing. He even tells people not to disclose who he is. Ordinary people follow him. It is not a kingdom where survival of the fittest is order of the day, but where those who are weak, those who are faltering are welcomed and restored. This is the biblical picture of the effects of the kingdom of heaven coming near. It should also be a characteristic of the life of our church. The way we serve each other here should be modelled on the example of Jesus, the humble servant of all.

The third and final quality that we see operating here in chapter 12 is the quality of power. We see it in verses 22-29. A demon-possessed man is brought to Jesus. Jesus casts out the demon and the man is restored. He had been blind and dumb. Now he can see and talk, evidence for all to see of God’s power at work. This miracle is evidence of something deep and profound that is occurring in Jesus ministry. The powers that enslave people, the spiritual powers of darkness are being overcome by the power of God at work in Jesus.

Jesus, as usual is criticised. His opponents say he is using the devil’s power to drive out the demons. But Jesus exposes the folly of that suggestion. Of course the devil will not allow his power to be used against himself. What is really happening is that with the coming of Jesus, a battle has commenced. There is a kingdom of darkness. Satan’s kingdom exists, many haplessly find themselves under his power and those who yield to his temptations are captive in his kingdom. But Christ has come to confront and defeat the power of the devil. When he drives our demons it is a sign that the kingdom of heaven is near. The kingdom is a kingdom of power; there is power in the name of Jesus.

The kingdom is a kingdom of mercy and grace. The kingdom operates on a basis of humble service. The kingdom is a place where God’s power is at work through Christ. God’s power can free men and women from the spiritual forces that enslave.

But there has to be a right response to Christ. One again in our passage we see that the people who should know better respond to Christ with hostility. The religious people are so hardened in their pride and arrogance they will do anything rather than acknowledge Jesus for who he is. They will even accuse him of being in league with the devil. There is no hope for such people. They are guilty of the unforgivable sin of rejecting Gods one and only offer of grace in his Son.

Others respond by wanting more proof. They ask Jesus for a sign. I am not sure what they wanted. There was already the evidence of the healings and the exorcisms. Jesus says no. You have to learn to trust me on the evidence you have. The reality is that if people refuse to believe the evidence that’s in front of them, more evidence will not make a scrap of difference.

We see other more positive responses. Many are willing to receive Christ’s help. Many find healing and deliverance, in fact the crowds flocked to him for that very reason. They find liberty. But Jesus has a word of warning for them. If an individual is freed from his slavery to self and sin or any demon; that does not necessarily mean that they are out of the woods. Jesus warns that there is a danger that the evil influence can return and take control again. That is a real danger to beware of.

It is still a danger where crowds flock to healing crusades or mega-churches or even little Baptist churches. What is the answer? How can you and I avoid the snares of sin and pride that would draw us back into bad ways? The simple answer is in not having the vacant space to let those temptations in. If we let God pour his love into our hearts, if we go on being filled by the Spirit, if we let our relationship with Christ be the primary factor in our life, then we have made the right response.

Matthew shows us a little scene at the end of the chapter where Jesus mother and brothers come to see Jesus. From other places in the bible we know that at this point even they didn’t understand or believe.

By what he says with regard to his family, Jesus shows quite clearly the right response to make to him. ‘Whoever does the will of my father in heaven is my brother and sister and mother.’ The right response is to say yes to God, to say yes to God before all else. It is as we do that, as we trust and obey that we find the fellowship with Christ, that we abide in him. As we abide in him, then we have the reality of God’s grace that will flow from us to others, bringing the reality of God’s kingdom into all our relationships.

We will be people who show mercy, grace and forgiveness. We will be people who are gentle and happy to give of ourselves in humble service to others. We will also be people who know the reality of God’s power to overcome whatever. We will also be people who share a part in bringing the kingdom near to our corner of the world, wherever that may be.
 

Amen.

Return to top of page