There are few things in our Lord's teaching more interesting to notice than the enormous value which He puts upon man. Again and again He reminds us, as though we were ready to forget it, of the glory and dignity of our being. Notice a series of points in respect of which a man is better than a sheep.
I. I might mention, first of all, even his physical form and beauty. Well does the inspired Apostle liken man's body to a stately temple, well-proportioned, and perfect in all its parts. In a thousand ways it excels that of the lower creation, and proclaims that man is better and nobler than they. Are you, then, going to take that noble and beautiful form, and make it the instrument of sin? Are you going to desecrate a temple so fair? This is just what many are doing, bringing themselves down to the level of the brutes that perish, and turning their glory into shame.
II. Secondly, a man is better than a sheep, because he is endowed with reason. The true glory of man consists not in the speed with which he can run, nor the number of pounds' weight he can lift, nor the strong wrestlers he can throw; for in these respects even the ostrich and the ass and the lion easily outmatch him. And yet what compensation intellect provides! There is no point in respect to which the brute excels us where reason does not enable us far to excel the brute. The man who leaves his mind fallow, who does not call into vigorous exercise the reasoning powers with which he is endowed, fails to realize his distinguished place in creation, and brings himself down to the level of the cattle in the field.
III. A man is better than a sheep, because he is endowed with a moral nature. He is an accountable and responsible being. Even the fact that he has it in his power to do wrong proclaims his exalted place in creation. A sheep cannot sin; but that is not because it is a superior, but because it is an inferior creature to us.
IV. How much is a man better than a sheep, when you consider his capacity of progress! In this respect he stands alone in creation, so far as it presents itself to our view.
V. How much is a man better than a sheep, in respect to his spiritual nature and his capacity for knowing God!
VI. How much is a man better than a sheep, because he is possessed of immortality! The dumb creatures of the meadow live their little life and die, and there is an end of them; but man has an existence that knows no end.
VII. A man is better than a sheep, because Christ died for him. He who made man and stamped His own image on him deemed him worth an infinite sacrifice, and spared not His own Son for his redemption.
J. Thain Davidson, Talks with Young Men,p. 147.
References: Matthew 12:10-12. T. Birkett Dover, The Ministry of Mercy,p. 130. Matthew 12:10-13. Spurgeon, Sermons,vol. xxv., No. 1485.Matthew 12:12. G. Brooks, Outlines of Sermons,p. 32.Matthew 12:14-37. Parker, Inner Life of Christ,vol. ii., p. 205.Matthew 12:15. Spurgeon, Morning by Morning,p. 128. Matthew 12:15-21. S. Cox, Expositor,1st series, vol. iii., p. 16. Matthew 12:18-21. J. Budgen, Parochial Sermons,vol. ii., p. 65.Matthew 12:19-21. -Spurgeon, Sermons,vol. xix., No. 1147; Preacher's Monthly,vol. iv., p. 46. Matthew 12:20. Spurgeon, Sermons,vol. i., No. 6; Ibid., Evening by Evening,p. 202; G. T. Coster, Christian World Pulpit,vol. xvi., p. 154.