Jesus and the Pharisees!

So this morning I was looking at Matthew 12. I have been going through the book of Matthew and each day read one chapter then write out my thoughts, questions, or ideas that come to mind. And so far my mind has been blown apart seeing who Jesus was. My perspective of Jesus when I was younger was this meek, tiny man who had blonde hair (always perfectly curled) and sat holding baby sheep in his arms. But over the past years that view of Jesus has been replaced by one that I see when I read Scripture. Chapter 12 of Matthew helped show a view of Jesus that did not back down from religious fanatics like the Pharisees but showed them the error of their ways.

All throughout this chapter Jesus is constantly bombarded by the Pharisees looking for a way to trap him. But Jesus does not get trapped or back down from their bad interpretation of the law and the reason it exists. They try to get him cornered for picking grain on the Sabbath (vss. 1-8) but Jesus shows them that even David ate the bread intended for priests and nothing happened to him.

Because chapter 12 is huge and I dont want to make this post pages long I want to look at one verse that really stuck out to me. "I tell you, on the day of judgement people will give account for every careless word they speak, for by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned." (vss. 36-37) Pretty intense words from Jesus, right? I thought about all the words I use in a day. What do I say when someone cuts me off? What do I say when I get overcharged for something? How am I representing Jesus to the world? I really wrestled with this. Do my outward actions reflect my heart? Because according to this, if I misrepresent Jesus I will have to give an account for that when I stand in front of God. I need to be really careful about the words I say because they aren't just words. We all account for everything we say.