How to Respond When Critics Want to Destroy You (Matthew 12)

Scripture reading – Matthew 12

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* Please note that words and phrases in brackets are the author’s amplification.

Today’s second Bible study is drawn from Matthew 12 and features exciting events from the life and ministry of Jesus Christ. While I encourage you to read all of Matthew 12, I will limit today’s study to Matthew 12:1-21.

Today’s second Bible study is drawn from Matthew 12 and features exciting events from the life and ministry of Jesus Christ. While I encourage you to read Matthew 12, I will limit today’s Bible study to Matthew 12:1-21.

Matthew 12

At this point, Jesus’ public ministry was still in its earlier years. Nevertheless, His enemies already feared Him and plotted against Him. Meanwhile, the common Jews followed the Lord throughout His journeys, recognizing that He fulfilled the signs foretold by the prophet Isaiah, who wrote: “Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf shall be unstopped. Then shall the lame man leap as an hart [deer], and the tongue of the dumb sing” (Isaiah 35:5-6).

Despite the miracles, the religious leaders of Israel [chief priests, Pharisees, and scribes] frequently challenged Jesus’ teachings and practices. In Matthew 12, the Pharisees are portrayed as a group in persistent opposition to the Lord.

The Sabbath Day

The fourth commandment of the Law is “Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy” (Exodus 20:8), and its interpretation and observance became a source of recurring conflict between Jesus and the religious leaders throughout His earthly ministry. Some of the Jews were riled when they learned that Jesus had healed the man at the pool of Bethesda on the Sabbath (John 5:9-16). From that day on, they “persecute[d] [Jesus], and sought to slay him, because he had done these things on the sabbath day” (John 5:16).

The observance of the Sabbath was again an issue the Pharisees raised against Jesus in Matthew 12, when they accused His disciples of breaking the Sabbath, according to their own interpretation of the Law (Matthew 12:1-2).

As Jesus and His disciples passed through a field on the Sabbath, they grew hungry. As they walked through the grain, they “began to pluck the ears of corn [grain], and to eat” (Matthew 12:1). The Pharisees seized on their actions to accuse the Lord of wrongdoing (Matthew 12:2).

Rather than bow to His critics, Jesus reminded the Pharisees that the issue was not the fourth commandment itself, but their rigid interpretation of it. He argued that the fourth commandment did not prohibit a man from satisfying his physical hunger on the Sabbath and offered two examples to support His point.

The first example was that David had taken the consecrated bread from the house of God—the Tabernacle—and eaten it, even though it was dedicated to the LORD (Matthew 12:3-4). The second example was that the priests ministered on the Sabbath days as part of their service to the LORD (Matthew 12:5-6; Numbers 28:9-10; Leviticus 24:8-9). Jesus then declared His authority and said of Himself, “In this place is one greater than the temple…For the Son of man is Lord even of the sabbath day” (Matthew 12:6, 8).

After leaving the Pharisees, Jesus entered the synagogue and encountered a man with a withered hand (Matthew 12:9-10). Rather than showing compassion for the man, the Pharisees demanded of Jesus, “Is it lawful to heal on the sabbath days?”—asking, Matthew tells us, “that they might accuse him” (Matthew 12:10).

Christ then answered their question with a question and cited a common practice in that rural setting (Matthew 12:11-13). The Lord asked, “What man shall there be among you, that shall have one sheep, and if it fall into a pit on the sabbath day, will he not lay hold on it, and lift it out?” (Matthew 12:11).

Jesus rightly asserted that they would save a sheep that had fallen into a pit, even on the Sabbath. He then reasoned, “How much then is a man better than a sheep? Wherefore it is lawful to do well on the sabbath days” (Matthew 12:12). He then spoke to the man with the withered hand and commanded, “Stretch forth thine hand.” When he did, his hand was completely healed (Matthew 12:13).

How did Christ’s enemies respond to His assertion that He was “Lord even of the sabbath day” (Matthew 12:8)? They “went out, and held a council against him, how they might destroy him” (Matthew 12:14; Mark 3:5-6; Luke 6:11).

Closing thoughts –

On the one hand, the Pharisees insisted that their interpretation of the Sabbath was God’s will. Yet on the other hand, they plotted to kill Him, a clear violation of the sixth commandment, “Thou shalt not kill” (Exodus 20:13).

How did Jesus respond to His enemies’ wicked and malicious intent? He “withdrew himself” from them. Yet He continued ministering to the people, and “great multitudes followed him, and he healed them all” (Matthew 12:15).

How do you respond to your critics and enemies? Some are tempted to quit, while others react and are ready to fight. Withdrawing while continuing to minister is a difficult decision. Yet that was Christ’s manner—after all, the Spirit of God is gentle, not brazen.

Romans 12:18–19 – “¹⁸If it be possible [knowing it is not always possible], as much as lieth in you, live peaceably with all men. ¹⁹Dearly beloved, avenge not yourselves, but rather give place unto wrath [God’s anger]: for it is written, Vengeance is mine (Deuteronomy 32:35); I will repay, saith the Lord.”

Copyright © 2026 – Travis D. Smith 

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