For 6 weeks this autumn over 10 million people in the UK were gripped to their TV screens every Sunday evening, eagerly watching the latest instalment of the drama series ‘Bodyguard.’ For those of you still catching up on iPlayer…..don’t worry…..this podcast does not contain any spoilers!

REFLECTION:

The main character – special protection officer David Budd – begins the series single-handedly talking down a potential suicide bomber. From this point onwards the story develops with plot twists galore. Every Monday morning the internet buzzed with new theories and ideas about who were the good guys and who could not be trusted. We saw characters behind the scenes, jostling for power and influence. We tried to work out which conversations were the real game changers; which events would discredit or bring down certain people. We asked the question as to whether David Budd was insane, or guilty, or being framed for something he hadn’t done. With loose ends still to tie up, and many questions left unanswered, it seems likely that David Budd will return to our screens in the future!

Our Bible passage today – Matthew 12: 1-21 – contains a sentence that could have come straight out of any drama series. It’s the biggest plot twist of all time.

V14 says, “But the Pharisees went out and plotted how they might kill Jesus.”

As stories go, this is a game changer. This one verse is pivotal to the whole of Jesus’ life and ministry.

But how did the drama get to this point?

Who are the Pharisees, and why are they always jostling for power?

Which events or comments do the Pharisees look to as things that could discredit or bring down Jesus?

What on earth was so shocking or offensive about Jesus that the only plot device the Pharisees could think of to end this drama was to have him killed?

Back in Matthew Chapter 5, Jesus said that he had come to fulfil the Old Testament law, and that unless a person’s righteousness surpassed that of the Pharisees then they would not enter the kingdom of Heaven. The name “Pharisee” means “separated one.” The Pharisees specifically separated themselves from society to study and teach the law; and they taught that the way to God was by obeying the law. Straightaway Jesus was a threat to their religious power, and they were worried that their status and position was being undermined.

This threat is compounded in Chapter 7 when the crowds are amazed as they listen to Jesus, because he taught with authority, unlike the Pharisees. We can only imagine the whispered, behind the scenes conversations that took place between the Pharisees, as the rumours, theories and ideas about who Jesus was began to fly around Galilee.

If the story had stopped there – with Jesus just being a great teacher – maybe the Pharisees would not have resorted to such desperate measures. But Matthew Chapter 9 contains three pivotal moments that totally alter the plot line ahead.

To the paralysed man, Jesus declares “Your sins are forgiven.” The Pharisees are outraged, because only God could forgive sins. Jesus responds to their unspoken thoughts by announcing himself as the ‘Son of Man’ – one who has God’s authority. From here, Jesus went straight to eat with tax collectors and sinners. The Pharisees really disliked this, as they deliberately separated themselves from the common people because they considered them to be unclean. Jesus announcing that he was God and that he had come for everyone and anyone was setting him on a collision course with the religious authorities.

So they decide to discredit him and make him out to be evil. And at the end of Chapter 9, they say that he is driving out demons because he himself is demonic. But this plot development also fails to bring a halt to Jesus’ ministry.

And so we come to Chapter 11. The scene is set for the ultimate showdown.