Daily Bible Reading and Study Rooted in Scripture Alone
January 17
New Testament:
Matthew 12:1-21
Old Testament:
Genesis 35:1-36:43
Wisdom & Instruction:
Psalm 15:1-5
Proverbs 3:21-26
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New Testament: Matthew 12:1-21
Summary: Jesus confronts legalistic religion, declares His authority over the Sabbath, exposes mercy as God’s desire, and fulfills Isaiah as the gentle yet victorious Servant bringing true justice.
Religion builds fences. Jesus kicks them down
(Matthew 12: 1–21) Jesus enters into a confrontation about the Sabbath and what’s really on trial are not His disciples but the hearts of the Pharisees. The religious authorities watch hungry men plucking grain and wail about lawbreaking. Jesus defends Himself with Scripture, not excuses. He reminds them of David eating the consecrated bread when he was hungry and that the priests “profane the sabbath, and are blameless” ~Matthew 12:5. Then, He lays down the truth they can no longer avoid. “Something greater than the temple is here” ~Matthew 12:6. The Sabbath was never meant to preserve a religious rule. It was meant to rest in God and display His character. That’s why Jesus says, “I desire mercy, and not sacrifice” ~Matthew 12:7. He’s not relaxing God’s commands, He’s fulfilling them.
Jesus then heals a man with a shriveled hand on the Sabbath. “Is it lawful on the sabbath to do good or to do evil, to save life or to destroy it?” ~Matthew 12:10. They can’t answer because mercy always reveals them. He heals the man anyways and you’ll never miss what happens next. “The Pharisees went out, and held a council against him, how they might destroy him” ~Matthew 12:14. When religion cares more about control than kindness it will always resist Christ. Matthew then takes away the veil and declares this was expected. Christ is coming. He is the Servant of Isaiah, tender and yet inevitable. “A bruised reed shall he not break, and smoking flax shall he not quench” ~Matthew 12:20. He doesn’t crush the weak. He heals them. He doesn’t fight for recognition. He brings justice through submission to God. This tells you how Christ deals with the weak, the wounded, and the faltering. He does not crush those who are already humbled. He does not snuff out weak faith. He restores, strengthens, and brings what is broken to fullness.
So often I want to play this passage straight to the Pharisees but it challenges me most. You can legalistically guard fences and completely miss the heart of God. You can proudly stand up for Scripture and simultaneously disobey it. Jesus is Lord of the Sabbath. Only He gets to tell us what rest looks like. Only He gets to tell us what obedience looks like. Only Jesus truly displays what it means to be righteous. Mercy is the evidence of true faith because it displays we are secure in Christ to stop religious performances and start loving people.
Tomorrow we will see this rebellion progress as hardened hearts reach a tipping point. For today, the question is this. Are you resting in Christ or manmade traditions Jesus never intended?
Have You Not Read?
And if you had known what this means, ‘I desire mercy, and not sacrifice,’ you would not have condemned the guiltless. ~ Matthew 12:7
Talking about topics you haven’t fully explored or don’t understand can lead to negative consequences for both you and your audience. When you share incorrect information about the Bible, you risk passing along misleading or incomplete details, which can prevent others from discovering the truth and finding salvation. It’s important to study and understand the Bible, as we will all be accountable for our actions on judgment day. The decline of trust is a significant reason for the current state of the world.
Satan often manipulates information and distorts scripture, so as true believers in Jesus Christ, we must protect the truth diligently.
Overview: Matthew 1-13 – Click Here
John the Baptist did not flatter religious men. He called the Pharisees and Sadducees a “generation of vipers” and warned them to flee from the wrath to come. That same confrontation with hardened religion carries straight into the ministry of Jesus. In this message, you will hear how the final line was crossed when Jesus confronted their Sabbath system. The Pharisees were not defending God’s Law. They were defending their traditions. When Jesus allowed His hungry disciples to pluck grain, something Scripture plainly permitted, He exposed the heart of their religion. This sermon shows how legalism always values rules over mercy, systems over Scripture, and control over truth. If you want to understand why religious people rejected Christ while sinners followed Him, this message will open your eyes and press your conscience. Listen to this message.
Old Testament: Genesis 35:1-36:43
Summary: God calls Jacob to Bethel for renewal, confirms His covenant, renames him Israel, records deaths and sin, then traces Esau’s line as God advances His promise.
God Called Him Back Before He Took Him Forward
Yesterday, we watched God quietly overturn rivalry and human striving while Jacob learned that blessing is given, not seized. Today, God brings Jacob back to the place where it all began and strips away the last traces of divided loyalty. Genesis 35 does not whisper. It summons.
God opens the passage with a command that sounds simple but cuts deep. “Arise, go up to Bethel, and dwell there: and make there an altar unto God” ~Genesis 35:1. Bethel was not new ground. It was where God first met Jacob when he was running, lying, and afraid. Returning there meant more than travel. It meant repentance. Jacob understands this immediately. He tells his household to put away foreign gods, cleanse themselves, and change garments ~Genesis 35:2. Before worship comes separation. Before renewal comes repentance. God does not share His altar with idols.
As Jacob obeys, Scripture shows God’s protection moving ahead of him. “The terror of God was upon the cities that were round about them, and they did not pursue” ~Genesis 35:5. This is grace. God shields a family that has not always walked cleanly, proving once again that obedience does not earn protection, but obedience places us under it. When Jacob reaches Bethel, God appears and confirms what He already promised. “Thy name is Jacob: thy name shall not be called any more Jacob, but Israel shall be thy name” ~Genesis 35:10. God repeats the name change to seal it. The deceiver is now the one who belongs to God. Identity follows surrender.
But this chapter does not pretend life suddenly becomes easy. Rachel dies giving birth to Benjamin. Isaac dies and is buried. Sin surfaces again when Reuben sleeps with his father’s concubine ~Genesis 35:22. Redemption does not erase consequences. Walking with God does not mean walking without pain. Yet even in grief and failure, God’s covenant keeps moving forward. Scripture lists the sons of Israel, flawed men through whom God will build a nation. God’s plan is bigger than individual weakness.
Genesis 36 then turns our eyes to Esau. At first glance, the genealogy feels like a pause. It is not. Scripture carefully records Esau’s prosperity, his chiefs, his kings, and his land. “These are the kings that reigned in the land of Edom, before there reigned any king over the children of Israel” ~Genesis 36:31. Esau looks successful. He looks settled. He looks ahead. But Edom is outside the covenant. This chapter quietly reminds us that visible success is not the same as divine promise. God is not threatened by worldly strength. He records it, then moves past it.
Here is where the passage points us forward to Christ. Jacob is called back to Bethel. Jesus calls us back to the Father. Jacob puts away idols. Christ exposes the idols of the heart. Jacob is renamed and claimed. In Christ, we are given a new identity. “If any man be in Christ, he is a new creature” ~2 Corinthians 5:17. What God began with Jacob finds its fulfillment in Jesus, the true Israel, the obedient Son who never divided His loyalty.
For today’s believer, this passage presses hard questions. What idols have quietly moved into the household? What old ground is God calling you back to? Renewal does not happen by drifting forward. It happens by returning to what God already said. Obedience may reopen old wounds, but it also reopens old promises. God still protects those who walk in His will, even when the road includes grief, discipline, and loss.
This passage also warns us not to envy Edom. The world can build fast and flourish loudly. God builds slowly and eternally. Esau gets land and kings. Jacob gets promises and a future Messiah. Scripture forces us to choose what kind of inheritance we want.
Tomorrow, the story will narrow its focus even more as God’s redemptive line moves toward Joseph and Egypt. But today leaves us with this truth burning in our hands. God calls His people back to Him before He moves them forward. The only safe place to stand is where God told you to build the altar.
Have you put away the idols God already told you to bury, or are you still carrying them while calling it faith?
Psalm 15:1–5
Psalm 15 describes the person who may dwell with the LORD: one who walks uprightly, speaks truth, rejects evil, honors what God honors, keeps his word, and lives blamelessly before Him.
Proverbs 3:21–26
Proverbs 3 calls the believer to hold fast to wisdom and discretion, promising life, peace, confidence, and freedom from fear because the LORD Himself is the source of security.
Scriptures to Hold Onto Today
Matthew 12:1–21
“I will have mercy, and not sacrifice” ~Matthew 12:7. This cuts through religious performance and reveals the heart God desires, obedience shaped by mercy, not rule keeping.
Genesis 35:1–36:43
“Arise, go up to Bethel, and dwell there: and make there an altar unto God” ~Genesis 35:1. Renewal begins when God calls His people back to where they first met Him and obeyed His voice.
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You Need to Know the Bible for Yourself
Everybody needs to know what the Bible really says: what it says about God, Jesus, the Holy Spirit, salvation and eternity, etc. Don’t depend on what a church or some famous preacher tells you. If you depend on Hollywood, the History Channel, or a magazine for the most important information you will ever need to know. You may end up lost forever not knowing what God has written down for you. He wants you to spend eternity with Him.
You need to know Jesus before you can be saved. The bible is all about who Jesus is and what He has done for you. He has a gift for you and it is completely free. But if you don’t know Him, you will not be in the Kingdom of God with Jesus who gave His very life for you.
“Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father who is in heaven will enter. “Many will say to Me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and in Your name cast out demons, and in Your name perform many miracles?’ “And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; DEPART FROM ME, YOU WHO PRACTICE LAWLESSNESS.’ ~ Matthew 7:21-23
There is an absurd amount of very bad information out in the world today about the Bible. You will only know the truth if you study the bible for yourself. And if you study the bible and ask The Holy Spirit to open your eyes to the truth He will and it will change your life forever.
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