Mercy and Not Sacrifice - Matthew 12:7

Matthew the apostle wrote, “At that time Jesus went on the sabbath day through the corn; and his disciples were hungry, and began to pluck the ears of corn, and to eat. But when the Pharisees saw it, they said unto him, Behold, your disciples do that which is not lawful to do upon the sabbath day. But he said unto them, Have you not read what David did, when he was hungry, and they that were with him. How he entered into the house of God, and did eat the showbread, which was not lawful for him to eat, neither for them which were with him, but only for the priests? Or have you not read in the law, how that on the sabbath days the priests in the temple profane the sabbath, and are blameless? But I say unto you, That in this place is one greater than the temple”, and in chapter twelve and verse seven of his book, Matthew shared how Jesus said, “I will have mercy, and not sacrifice” where we read:

But if you had known what this means, I will have mercy,

and not sacrifice, you would not have condemned the guiltless.

The verse reads, “But if you had known what this means, I will have mercy, ...” Matthew began with the word, “but” which means “nevertheless, moreover and” “if you had known” which means “whether the Pharisees learned, understood, perceived and were acquainted with” “what this means” or “what the following statement means” “I will have mercy” which means “God wills, desires, has in mind and wishes to delight and have pleasure in kindness or good will towards the miserable and the afflicted with the idea of desiring to help them”. Matthew shared how Jesus told the Pharisees “if” they only understood what it means to have “kindness and good will” toward people who are afflicted and troubled.

The verse goes on to say, “... and not sacrifice, you would not have condemned the guiltless.” Matthew continued with the words, “and not sacrifice” which means “and no and in no way a victim”, “you would not have condemned” or “the Pharisees would not have given judgment against and pronounced guilty” “the guiltless” or “the innocent and blameless”. Matthew shared how Jesus told the Pharisees that if they did not put so much emphasis upon “sacrifice or being a victim” they would not have “judged” His disciples who were “innocent”.

When we think through Matthew's words in this verse, we see how it is much more important to Jesus that a person have “mercy” upon others rather than judge them when they are innocent. God loves people, and His desire is to have a relationship with them through His Son Jesus. God gives “mercy and grace” to people who do not deserve and cannot earn it. Only He is worthy of worship and praise, and when the tendency to “judge” others who may be innocent like His disciples come along, the best position is to be “merciful” and not filled with “sacrificial judgment”.

Next time Matthew shares how Jesus declared, “the Son of man is Lord even of the sabbath day”, so read ahead, and we shall join together then.

Until tomorrow…there is more…

Look for the daily devotional book “Equipped for Battle – From Generation to Generation”, the marriage book “So, You Want to Be Married”, “One Year in the Sermon on the Mount” and the new poetry book "Random Mushrooms Volumes I and II" and the new novel "Elizabeth County" in all major bookstore sites, http://www.amazon.com ; http://www.barnesandnobles.com ; download to e-books, and find it locally at www.mrzlc.com/bookstore.