THE INCIDENT IN THE GRAINFIELDS (12:1-8). The first incident arises when Jesus and His disciples are walking through some grainfields. Being hungry they pluck some of the grain, and eat it. This is then picked up by the Pharisees who basically claim that by doing so they are reaping and threshing t... [ Continue Reading ]
‘At that time Jesus went on the sabbath day through the grainfields, and his disciples were hungry and began to pluck ears and to eat.' ‘At that time.' This is again a phrase that connects with what has gone before without being too specific. Matthew wants us to connect what he is about to say with... [ Continue Reading ]
CONTROVERSY WITH THE PHARISEES ABOUT THE SABBATH. THE SON OF MAN IS LORD OF THE SABBATH (12:1-16). In the last passage Matthew has depicted words of Jesus concerning the heavy burden of the Law and the way to finding rest from it. Here we now have two clear illustrations of what He was saying, depic... [ Continue Reading ]
‘But the Pharisees, when they saw it, said to him, “Behold, your disciples do what it is not lawful to do on the sabbath.” ' Some of the Pharisees became aware of what His disciples were doing. It may be that they had been walking with the disciples, professing interest in Jesus' message, while car... [ Continue Reading ]
‘But he said to them, “Have you not read what David did, when he was hungry, and those who were with him, how he entered into the house of God, and they ate the showbread, which it was not lawful for him to eat, nor for those who were with him, but only for the priests?” ' Jesus replied from a well... [ Continue Reading ]
“Or have you not read in the law, that on the sabbath day the priests in the temple profane the sabbath, and are guiltless?” But he also has a second argument (which is not mentioned in Mark and Luke), and that is that the priests in performing their functions of worship are constantly technically... [ Continue Reading ]
“But I say to you, that one greater than the temple is here.” But Jesus now takes the opportunity of making a second point so as to bring home to them His claims. He points out that ‘One greater than the Temple is here'. Note His emphatic ‘I say to you'. He is speaking from a position of unique auth... [ Continue Reading ]
“And if you had known what this means, ‘I desire mercy, and not sacrifice', you would not have condemned the guiltless.” Having laid His claim Jesus now appeals to the conscience. Had the Pharisees known the meaning of Hosea 6:6 (compare here Matthew 9:3), they would have recognised that God put com... [ Continue Reading ]
“For the Son of man is lord of the sabbath.” Jesus then makes clear the basis of His authority. As Son of Man He is lord of the Sabbath. That is, as God's appointed King elect (Daniel 7:13) He has the right to lay down what the Sabbath requirements really are. The Sabbath is subject to Him.... [ Continue Reading ]
‘And he departed from there and went into their synagogue,' All three synoptic Gospels place this incident after the incident of the grainfields for similar reasons, because they deal with what is not lawful on the Sabbath, and because they reveal the condition of Israel. Luke tells us that this in... [ Continue Reading ]
THE MAN WITH THE WITHERED HAND (12:9-16). Having described the rejection of Himself and John by the general people, the rejection of His Messianic signs by the local towns, and the hostility of the Pharisees, the story of the man with the withered hand fits in aptly. It is a reminder of the conditi... [ Continue Reading ]
‘And behold, a man having a withered hand. And they asked him, saying, “Is it lawful to heal on the sabbath day?” so that they might accuse him.' As usual Matthew sticks to the bare facts. There was a man with a withered hand there and they challenged Him as to whether it was lawful to heal on the S... [ Continue Reading ]
‘And he said to them, “What man will there be of you, who will have one sheep, and if this fall into a pit on the sabbath day, will not lay hold on it, and lift it out?” ' Jesus replies by posing a question, a typical Rabbinic method. What man among them would not take hold of a sheep and lift it o... [ Continue Reading ]
“How much then is a man of more value than a sheep! For which reason it is lawful to do good on the sabbath day.” But is a man not more valuable than a sheep? Thus it is certainly lawful to do what is good on the Sabbath day, and that includes the restoration of a man whose state was worse than bei... [ Continue Reading ]
‘Then he says to the man, “Stretch forth your hand.” And he stretched it forth, and it was restored whole, as the other.' Then he turned to the man with a withered hand and said to him, “Stretch forth your hand.” And when he obediently did so his hand was wholly restored, just like his other hand w... [ Continue Reading ]
‘But the Pharisees went out, and took counsel against him, how they might destroy him.' But the Pharisees were furious. Jesus was flouting their regulations, and not only so, but He had held them up to ridicule. Furthermore they recognised in His bold action confirmation of His claim to be Lord of... [ Continue Reading ]
‘And Jesus perceiving it withdrew from there, and many followed him, and he healed them all, and charged them that they should not make him known.' Jesus, perceiving the attitude of the Pharisees, withdrew from that place. But the crowds continued to follow Him and He ‘healed them all', in both bod... [ Continue Reading ]
JESUS IS THE SERVANT OF YHWH AS PROMISED BY ISAIAH (12:15-21). The quotation from Isaiah in this passage is the central point in the chiasmus of this whole section from Matthew 11:1 to Matthew 12:50 (as shown above). It is also a turning point in the Gospel. Now that the Jews are turning away from... [ Continue Reading ]
‘That it might be fulfilled which was spoken through Isaiah the prophet, saying,' The whole of Jesus' ministry (from Matthew 3:3 to Matthew 20:28) is at this point seen by Matthew to be a fulfilment of Isaiah's prophecy, leading up to Matthew 20:28. He continually and distinctively cites Isaiah's pr... [ Continue Reading ]
“Behold, my servant whom I have chosen; My beloved in whom my soul is well pleased.” The quotation tells us first to consider the One of Whom it speaks. He is the chosen Servant of YHWH, the One Who as the Servant has borne their afflictions and carried their diseases (Matthew 8:17), the One on Wh... [ Continue Reading ]
“He will not strive, nor cry aloud, nor will any one hear his voice in the streets.” His ministry will be neither strident nor publicity seeking. Not for Him the standing on street corners of Matthew 6:5, or the sitting in the streets mocking of Matthew 11:17, or the seeking of fame through His mira... [ Continue Reading ]
“A bruised reed he will he not break, and smoking flax he will not quench.” John was not a reed shaken with the wind (Matthew 11:7), although a slightly bending one (Matthew 11:2), but there would be many such, reeds that were bruised and battered, and out in the wilderness. And Jesus would patientl... [ Continue Reading ]
“And in his name will the nations (Gentiles) hope.” The words are cited from LXX. As we have suggested above this latter is probably connected with Isaiah 51:5 LXX where we find ‘in My arm will the Gentiles hope' (MT - ‘on my arm will they hope/trust') which in Isaiah 51:5 parallels ‘the isles will... [ Continue Reading ]
‘Then was brought to him one who was possessed with a demon, blind and dumb, and he healed him, in so much that the dumb man spoke and saw.' Matthew now introduces an example of someone who needs the power of the Spirit of God exercised on his behalf. He is possessed by a demon which makes him both... [ Continue Reading ]
THE HOLY SPIRIT TRIUMPHS OVER THE EVIL SPIRIT WORLD ESTABLISHING THE KINGLY RULE OF GOD FOR ALL WHO WILL HEAR AND RESPOND (12:22-32). Following on this emphasis on the coming of the Servant of YHWH with the Holy Spirit upon Him we are now to learn something of His activity against the powers of evil... [ Continue Reading ]
‘And all the crowds were amazed, and said, “Can this be the son of David?” When the crowds saw it their thoughts were half positive. They ‘saw', at least to some extent, and testified well. They were amazed at what they had seen, and their thought was, “Can this be the son of David?” The way the qu... [ Continue Reading ]
‘But when the Pharisees heard it, they said, “This one does not cast out demons, except by Beelzeboul, the prince of the demons.” Note the contemptuous ‘this one'. In direct contrast to the crowds the Pharisees in effect said, ‘Is not this the son of Beelzeboul?', but in their case they had no doubt... [ Continue Reading ]
‘And knowing their thoughts he said to them, “Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation, and every city or house divided against itself will not stand, and if Satan casts out Satan, he is divided against himself. How then will his kingdom stand?” Jesus replies by showing up thei... [ Continue Reading ]
“And if I by Beelzeboul cast out demons, by whom do your sons cast them out? Therefore shall they be your judges.” Furthermore let them consider another factor. If Jesus cast out demons by Beelzeboul, how did their own exorcisers cast them out? ‘Your sons' indicates those of whom the Pharisees appr... [ Continue Reading ]
“But if I by the Spirit of God cast out demons, then is the Kingly Rule of God come upon you.” So having demonstrated that He (emphatic) cast out demons by the Spirit of God, that has really demonstrated that the Kingly Rule of God has truly come upon them. It could no longer be doubted. And this w... [ Continue Reading ]
“Or how can one enter into the house of the strong man, and spoil his goods, except he first bind the strong man? And then he will spoil his house.” The thought now moves to a household. Jesus is not only invading the kingdom of the strong man, he is entering his very palace. Satan is routed. Let th... [ Continue Reading ]
“He who is not with me is against me, and he who does not gather with me scatters.” Jesus finalises His words with a conclusion. This is so important a matter that he who is not with Him in this must be counted as against Him. Either men are for the Kingly Rule of God over their lives or they are a... [ Continue Reading ]
“Therefore I say to you, All sin and blasphemy will be forgiven to men, but the blasphemy against the Spirit will not be forgiven.” Here Jesus directly challenges the Pharisees. So wonderful and so startling is the revelation of the power of the Spirit of God at work in the world, and therefore of... [ Continue Reading ]
MEN ARE ESPECIALLY KNOWN BY THEIR WORDS (12:31-37). Having put right the Pharisees' wrong conception about Him He now warns them to beware what they say. For what they say will reveal the truth about them, and they will have to give an account of their very words and what they signify at the Day of... [ Continue Reading ]
“And whoever will speak a word against the Son of man, it will be forgiven him, but whoever shall speak against the Holy Spirit, it will not be forgiven him, neither in this world, nor in that which is to come.” Jesus then takes the extremest of sins as a comparison, blasphemy against the One sent... [ Continue Reading ]
“Either make the tree good, and its fruit good, or make the tree corrupt, and its fruit corrupt, for the tree is known by its fruit.” The alternative is then put in another way. It is a choice between making the tree good and or making it corrupt. As agriculturalists they would know that this was de... [ Continue Reading ]
“You offspring of vipers, how can you, being evil, speak good things? For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks.” ‘You, being evil.' Jesus was under no illusions about men. He had said a similar thing to His disciples (Matthew 7:11). That did not render them unsavable. Indeed it explai... [ Continue Reading ]
“The good man out of his good treasure brings forth good things, and the evil man out of his evil treasure brings forth evil things.” So a good man will speak what is in his heart and will produce good things. That is because his heart is filled with good treasure. The idea of treasure is that it ha... [ Continue Reading ]
“And I say to you, that every idle word that men shall speak, they will give account of them in the day of judgment.” So men should beware. Let them just listen to their own words. For every word let slip when they are unguarded reveals what is in their hearts. A man can and will be judged by his w... [ Continue Reading ]
“For by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned.” For in the end our words will be what justify and condemn us. Not the careful words we prepare in order to justify ourselves (compare Luke 18:11 where the Pharisee thought that he was putting up a good case, and God... [ Continue Reading ]
‘Then certain of the scribes and Pharisees answered him, saying, “Teacher, we would see a sign from you.” ‘Then' is a connecting word (compare Matthew 12:22) and, like most connecting words in the Gospels, must not be overpressed. It indicates a loose connection to give some indication of continuit... [ Continue Reading ]
‘But he answered and said to them, “An evil and adulterous generation seeks after a sign, and there will no sign be given to it apart from the sign of Jonah the prophet,” ' ‘Answered and said.' In Matthew ‘answered' does not necessarily refer back to a particular question. It rather has in mind tha... [ Continue Reading ]
“For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the large fish, so will the Son of man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.” His first sign is typical of Scripture, it is something that will happen in the future (compare Exodus 3:12; Isaiah 7:14). The future will p... [ Continue Reading ]
“The men of Nineveh will arise in the judgment with this generation, and will condemn it, for they repented at the preaching of Jonah, and behold, a greater than Jonah is here.” The second, but lesser, sign lay in Jonah's evangelistic ministry. Jonah had gone to Nineveh and there had been a great re... [ Continue Reading ]
“ The queen of the south will rise up in the judgment with this generation, and will condemn it, for she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon, and behold, a greater than Solomon is here.” The same applies to the queen of the south. She too will rise up (egeiro) in the judgme... [ Continue Reading ]
‘But the unclean spirit, when he is gone out of the man, passes through waterless places, seeking rest, and does not find it.' In Matthew 10:11 the disciples were given power to cast out ‘unclean spirits' (elsewhere in Matthew ‘demons'). Jesus now takes the example of a man out of whom an unclean s... [ Continue Reading ]
THE SAD PLIGHT OF THIS GENERATION (12:43-45). This short illustration takes up the themes that have previously been presented and is firmly in context. Compare (Matthew 12:1) the being healed from an evil spirit (Matthew 12:22) which represents the inbreaking of the Kingly Rule of God (Matthew 12:28... [ Continue Reading ]
‘Then he says, “I will return into my house from where I came out”, and when he is come, he finds it empty, swept, and furnished.' So the spirit decides that it will try to repossess its house, and when it returns it finds it empty. The power of the Spirit which drove it out (Matthew 12:28) is no l... [ Continue Reading ]
‘Then he goes, and takes with himself seven other spirits more evil than himself, and they enter in and dwell there, and the last state of that man becomes worse than the first. Even so will it also be to this evil generation.' ‘It finds it empty.' Compare Matthew 10:13 where the house was emptied... [ Continue Reading ]
‘ While he was yet speaking to the crowds, behold, his mother and his brethren stood outside, seeking to speak to him.' Once again the connecting link is intended to connect the ideas, rather than to place the passage chronologically. While He is speaking to some crowds, the crowds that continually... [ Continue Reading ]
THE TRUE HOUSEHOLD OF GOD (12:46-50). In contrast with the house of old one-time Israel is the household of the new Israel of God, the ‘household of God' (Ephesians 2:19). In describing this episode Matthew, unlike the other Gospels, has only one interest and that is to reveal that those who have c... [ Continue Reading ]
‘And one said to him, “Behold, your mother and your brothers are standing outside, seeking to speak to you.” ' Someone comes and tells Jesus that his mother and brothers are outside wanting to speak to Him. According to Jewish custom this would be seen as a primary matter. Family loyalty was consid... [ Continue Reading ]
‘But he answered and said to the one who told him, “Who is my mother? and who are my brothers?” And he stretched out his hand towards his disciples, and said, “Behold, my mother and my brothers!” ' But in the new age everything is seen from a different perspective and Jesus asks, “Who is my mother?... [ Continue Reading ]
“For whoever will do the will of my Father who is in heaven, he is my brother, and sister, and mother.” The new household of God is made up of all who do the will of His Father, that is those who have heard His own words and are responding to His teaching because they have repented and entered under... [ Continue Reading ]