Joel M Bradshaw

3He answered, “Haven’t you read what David did when he and his companions were hungry? 4He entered the house of God, and he and his companions ate the consecrated bread—which was not lawful for them to do, but only for the priests. 5Or haven’t you read in the Law that the priests on Sabbath duty in the temple desecrate the Sabbath and yet are innocent? 6I tell you that something greater than the temple is here. 7If you had known what these words mean, ‘I desire mercy, not sacrifice,’ you would not have condemned the innocent. 8For the Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath.”–Matthew 12

Jesus’ words have a double-effect. They both proclaim who he is and convict those who oppose him. Jesus then quotes Hosea 6:6. Jesus knew his religious leader audience who grew up memorizing the Old Testament. The Pharisees prioritized not just Torah, but also the Prophets, so Jesus quoted from a prophet to make both effects. The Pharisees would have immediately known the context of Jesus’ quote. So let’s read it together.

1“Come, let us return to the LORD;
for he has torn us, that he may heal us;
he has struck us down, and he will bind us up.
2After two days he will revive us;
on the third day he will raise us up,
that we may live before him.
3Let us know; let us press on to know the LORD;
his going out is sure as the dawn;
he will come to us as the showers,
as the spring rains that water the earth.”

4What shall I do with you, O Ephraim?
What shall I do with you, O Judah?
Your love is like a morning cloud,
like the dew that goes early away.
5Therefore I have hewn them by the prophets;
I have slain them by the words of my mouth,
and my judgment goes forth as the light.
6For I desire steadfast love and not sacrifice,
the knowledge of God rather than burnt offerings. (Hosea 6:1-6)

Behold the patient love God had for Israel and Judah! God desired their return to him and so he treated them with boundaries and consequences like a good father would for his children. The great desire of God is for his people to know him rather than just worshiping him with outward things. The seminary trap we were often warned about is to beware of knowing about God and not actually through the Bible getting to know God. Because the more you know God and grow as his disciple, you want what he wants.

God desired his people to know him and therefore to live by a steadfast loving-kindness. This was the famous Hebrew word (c)hesed. The desire of God is that knowing him changes your inside, which in turn flows to your outside. Knowing him recognizes his Messiah Jesus and submits to following Him. God desires a people of repentant hearts that see life as an opportunity to return to God and wanting to live his way. God desires people showing mercy which flows from a heart that has received mercy.

Read that Hosea text again. Are you desiring what God desires? Now take that quote to Jesus’ context. Are you missing the point of what Jesus was saying and doing? The great irony of the Gospels for the modern Christian reader is that we are more like the Pharisees than we would like to admit.–JMB