Jesus demonstrates His unlimited patience with us as we discover who He is. Learning to trust Him is key to transformation.

3 The crucible for silver and the furnace for gold, but the LORD tests [and knows] the heart.

Jesus knows our hearts. He knows that they are desperately wicked in that our hearts are all about doing what WE want rather than what anyone else wants, even God. But, Jesus is in the business of transforming hearts into hearts that love Him. “I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone [dead] and give you a heart of flesh [living]” Ezekiel 36:26. That’s good news! There is even better news: “And I will put my Spirit in you and move you to follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws” Ezekiel 36:27. That last part may not sound like good news, but as we study Jesus’ life and ministry, we find that He redefines what those decrees and laws are for us. More on that later. Right now, we are watching Jesus reveal Himself as Lord of the Sabbath–and therefore, God.

⁹ Going on from that place, he went into their synagogue, ¹⁰ 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?”
¹¹ 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? ¹² How much more valuable is a person than a sheep! Therefore it is lawful to do good on the Sabbath.”
¹³ Then he said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” So he stretched it out and it was completely restored, just as sound as the other. ¹⁴ But the Pharisees went out and plotted how they might kill Jesus. Matthew 12:9-14

Jesus just redefined the Sabbath rules for everyone. The Pharisees didn’t like it, so they showed their true colors and plotted to kill Jesus. In the meantime, Jesus withdrew from that place, but drew a crowd. Evidently, the Pharisees followed, because when a demon-possessed man was brought to Him…well, read the account yourself:

²² Then they brought him a demon-possessed man who was blind and mute, and Jesus healed him, so that he could both talk and see. ²³ All the people were astonished and said, “Could this be the Son of David?”
²⁴ But when the Pharisees heard this, they said, “It is only by Beelzebul [Satan], the prince of demons, that this fellow drives out demons.”
²⁵ Jesus knew their thoughts and said to them, “Every kingdom divided against itself will be ruined, and every city or household divided against itself will not stand. ²⁶ If Satan drives out Satan, he is divided against himself. How then can his kingdom stand? ²⁷ And if I drive out demons by Beelzebul, by whom do your people drive them out? So then, they will be your judges. ²⁸ But if it is by the Spirit of God that I drive out demons, then the kingdom of God has come upon you.
²⁹ “Or again, how can anyone enter a strong man’s house and carry off his possessions unless he first ties up the strong man? Then he can plunder his house.

The people saw Jesus’ healing, which was the work of the Father (John 10:38), and began to ask The Question, “Could Jesus be who He claimed to be: the Messiah?” The Pharisees, though, resorted to slander. Jesus, in His infinite patience, explained the error in their thinking. But then, He cut their feet out from under them, 30 “Whoever is not with me is against me, and whoever does not gather with me scatters.” Jesus was drawing the proverbial line in the sand. Who would stand with Him? Who would scatter? The answer to this question separates households still today. Jesus warned us:

³⁴ “Do not suppose that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I did not come to bring peace, but a sword. ³⁵ For I have come to turn “‘a man against his father, a daughter against her mother, a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law— ³⁶ a man’s enemies will be the members of his own household [Micah 7:6].’” Matthew 10:34-36

We’ll pick it up tomorrow with verse 31. Good stuff! As we are about to see, Jesus really was in charge! He didn’t mince words with those who didn’t take Him seriously and those who set themselves against Him.

Abba, as I read and learn about Jesus, I see more and more that He really is You in the flesh! Thankfully, Your Spirit lives in me and I have Your peace living in my heart and I don’t have to be afraid. Thank You for exchanging my old, dead heart for a new and living one, one that desires to follow You and keep Your commands. Your yoke truly is easy and Your burden light (Matthew 11:28-30). Amen.