We invite you to encounter more of Christ by reflecting on his marvelous names in Scripture. This page features daily selections from the book, I Want to Know More of Christ, by Steve Hall. As you listen to the audio or read the text versions (which are updated every day) may you become increasingly captivated by the fullness of Christ! You can also receive a free daily email reminder to visit this page by signing up below.
Jesus is…
The Lord of the Sabbath
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SCRIPTURE READING:
Matthew 12:6-12
I tell you that something greater than the temple is here. If you had known what these words mean, ‘I desire mercy, not sacrifice,’ you would not have condemned the innocent. For the Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath.”
Going on from that place, he went into their synagogue, and a man with a shriveled hand was there. Looking for a reason to bring charges against Jesus, they asked him, “Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath?”
He said to them, “If any of you has a sheep and it falls into a pit on the Sabbath, will you not take hold of it and lift it out? How much more valuable is a person than a sheep! Therefore it is lawful to do good on the Sabbath.”
SIGNIFICANCE:
The LORD JESUS CHRIST is the governor of all goodness and mercy in His kingdom.
Dear Father, I rejoice that Jesus, the divine Son of Man, reveals in today’s Scripture that He is Lord of the Sabbath. I exalt Him that He is Lord of all that affects mankind, including our holiness and our rest. I am very grateful that all of Jesus’ words and actions display Your wisdom and mercy to me and to all mankind. I am delighted that He ministers “mercy not sacrifice,” on the Sabbath and at all times. I pray that Your people will live in all of the sacrificial mercy of Christ that William Newell expresses so well in some of his hymn, “At Calvary”: “Mercy there was great, and grace was free; Pardon there was multiplied to me; There my burdened soul found liberty, At Calvary.” I pray that You will help me and multitudes of other believers respond to the Lord of the Sabbath’s outpouring of mercy as Newell states later in the hymn: “Now I’ve giv’n to Jesus everything, Now I gladly own Him as my King, Now my raptured soul can only sing of Calvary.” May we live wholly in the image of the Lord of the Sab-bath, and do good, so that the mercy-starved world around us might be anxiously drawn to Him. I pray these things in His precious name. Amen.
