mat13

Matthew 12:1-5 Jesus speaks in defense of the disciples who are picking grain and eating it on the Sabbath. It of course is unlawful to pick grain on the Sabbath day and the Pharisees seeing this question Jesus as to why they are doing such a thing. Jesus quotes to them from the Old Testament about how David entered in and ate the bread because of hunger. And Jesus goes on to say that the priests made a degradation of the Sabbath also by baking the showbread and killing animals, cleaning them, and building a fire to cook them for sacrifices on the Sabbath. Other things the priests did on the Sabbath were to burn incense, trim their golden lamps, and other activities that others were not supposed to perform on the Sabbath and they are considered innocent. The fourth commandment does not prohibit work totally, only that which benefits the world or is done for hire. The work of God is allowed and also commanded.

Matthew 12:6 Jesus is saying that there is something greater than the man-made temple. He is speaking to them with the authority given Him by God. One greater than the temple is here and that greater thing is the kingdom of God. Jesus is contrasting Him self with the temple. He is saying that if this man-made temple is honored by the glory of God and to the Jewish people the only place of worship and forgiveness of sins okay for the priests to toil and labor on the Sabbath day then how much more okay is it for the disciples of Jesus to toil around Him. The temple built by man is just a symbol of God’s kingdom but Jesus is real and the true Son of God the Messiah! You might say that Jesus is giving authority to His disciples and all that will follow as Holy priests.

Matthew 12:7-8 Here now Jesus again quotes from the Old Testament, Hosea 6:6 and originally I believe from David in Psalms 51:16-17. Paul also speaks of it in 1st Corinthians 13:3 and as we read earlier in Matthew 9:13 it was touched upon. If you had known the meaning of what Jesus was speaking you would never have accused the innocent. What matters is what one has inside their heart not in their outward actions that can be so easily falsified. The heart though holds the truth. Jesus is saying that law is only as good as the law above it. If there is a higher law that law overrules the lower law when controversy arises concerning that law. In other words Jesus is saying it is more important to worship than to honor the Sabbath. In other worship to God on any day at any time is the most important thing and as long as that worship takes place it is of the most importance. David took of the showbread in mercy to his followers because of their hunger and the disciples ate from the field because of their hunger and Christ allowed it because of mercy. Jesus also affirms His diving nature by saying He is Lord of the Sabbath. So as Lord of the Sabbath, Christ has right to make rulings over it and to modify it. Placing Christ first in our life and keeping Him there everyday causes us to show honor daily to the Sabbath.

Matthew 12:9 Jesus leaves with the disciples, leaves the area of the field, and goes to where the synagogue is and enters it.

Matthew 12:10-12 Upon arrival they found a man there with a withered hand. And in order to try to catch Jesus in something wrong the same Pharisees questioned Him as to whether it was lawful to heal on the Sabbath day. It was the hope and desire of the Pharisees to trip up Jesus and get Him to answer in a way that would allow them to find fault with Him. But Jesus speaks back to them saying who amongst them would have a sheep fall into a pit will not reach in and rescue it? And than He says how much more valuable is a man than a sheep? Therefore it is lawful to do good on the Sabbath!

Matthew 12:13 Jesus then turns to the man with the withered hand and says, “stretch forth thy hand” and when he did it was immediately healed. It was made whole just as his other hand.

Matthew 12:14-15 The Pharisees left the temple and gathered together discussing ways to come against Jesus. Trying to figure out how they could catch Him in some wrongdoing. Jesus though discerning this left with a great crowd following him and all that needed healing were healed.

Matthew 12:16-17 And Jesus asked them not to make it known that He had healed them. This had to be done so that the prophesy of the Old Testament prophet Isaiah might be fulfilled (Isaiah 42:1-4).

Matthew 12:18-21 “Behold my Servant” references Jesus as a servant, He is the Son of God, divine and mighty but takes the position of servant because of obedience to His Father. And to the Gentiles justice will be proclaimed. This word, justice or judgment, should be translated truth or doctrine meaning that Jesus was to proclaim the Gospel or the truth of who He was to the Gentiles. And the proclamation of the truth of the Gospel will go forth without great strife or yelling or crying aloud, in other words without argument. As we notice from the previous verses Jesus did not argue or fight with the Pharisees. He simply proclaimed peacefully that which was right and victoriously went forth in truth. The reed and the wick refer to the blind, the lame, the sick, the weak, the poor and desolate that Jesus healed and heals. Jesus will continue to bring about healing until that final day of triumphant victory over all evil. And in the name of Jesus will all Gentiles, all peoples, find hope.

Matthew 12:22-23 Then a man possessed with a demon, blind and dumb was brought before Christ. Most likely this is the same man spoken of in Mark 3:22 and Luke 11:14. And Jesus healed the man and he saw and spoke causing great amazement amongst the multitudes. Jesus gave to this man, sight, speech, hearing, and freed him from the demon possessing him. The people began wondering is this truly the Messiah, the son of David.

Matthew 12:24 The Pharisees again hoping to put Jesus in a less than victorious light profess that He does not cast out demons by divine authority but instead by Beelzebub the ruler of the prince of demons.

Matthew 12:25-29 Jesus turned to them having discerned their thoughts and said to them a city or kingdom divided cannot stand. The meaning thereof being that the things of God and the things of the devil do no mix and cannot abide together. Does Satan cast out Satan? It would be of no value for evil to do away with evil. What Jesus does is good and of God not evil and what Satan does is evil so which is it that they act by? Do they act by the power of God or by the power of Satan? Shall they go forth saying that Satan casts out Satan? The kingdom of God has come and if Christ cast out demons by the Spirit of God then it is come and the Pharisees and their followers did not even realize it. And now they look for reason to discredit this reality. If they could show a connection between Christ and Satan they could discredit the rumor of Him being the Messiah. And than Jesus says how can anyone enter the home of a strong man and steal his property unless he first capture the strong man and render him useless. If Jesus were not of God He would not be able to capture the evils and forces of Satan and do away with them.

Matthew 12:30 Jesus now says there are only two kingdoms the kingdom of God and the kingdom of Satan. You cannot serve both; you must make a choice between them. Either you are with Jesus or you are against Jesus. There is no in between! Jesus would gather the sheep together for protection and Satan would try to scatter them so they could be destroyed.

Matthew 12:31-32 This verse is a difficult verse with many interpretations. I believe that what is being said here is that any abuse of the Holy Spirit is blasphemy. What the Pharisees were doing could be considered blasphemy against the Holy Spirit because they were saying the Spirit of God was doing the work of Satan more or less. God will forgive our sins and many forms of blasphemy but blasphemy against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven. Contributing the true work of God to that of Satan is blasphemy. To speak ill of Jesus can be forgiven but to speak against the Holy Spirit cannot be forgiven.

Matthew 12:33-34 You are either good or bad. Jesus makes it clear in this verse that we are known by our fruit. Either good comes forth from us or evil comes forth from us. Jesus says clearly, either accuse me of being in league with the devil or declare me the Son of God. Jesus says how can one being evil speak anything good? It is out of the abundance of the heart that the mouth speaks. If your heart is full of poison than poison is what comes out of you. You could say that if you lowered the bucket into a well that was dry all you would pull up would be an empty bucket, but if the well were full of water a full bucket of water would return.

Matthew 12:35-37 Here we see that Jesus is continuing to reveal the truth of good and evil. The heart of Jesus contains only good and that is what came forth from Him. In all that He did He did for the well-being of others and in all that the Pharisees do they do for the good of self and evil. Jesus goes on to say that that which is in our heart and we speak forth we will have to stand accountable for at one day. We also need to be aware of what we hear because even an evil person can talk like a person of good causing confusion. It is by our words that we will be justified on the basis of God’s judgment. Some say it is by faith, others say by works, but if you truly take the whole of God’s Word you will see that it is by all these things together which make one thing our person! In other words our individuality or character is formed by the faith we have in our hearts and according also to that decides what comes out of our mouth and into our actions or works. Keep your self full of God’s Word and all will be well; allow the works of evil to come in and you will lose out.

Matthew 12:38 And now as it is today also we find the Pharisees asking for a sign, a wonder, a miracle, and for what reason we do not know for sure but one might suggest that it is to represent themselves in a better light than that which Jesus had just put them in. Jesus though had just performed a great miracle so whatever it is they wanted had to be much more. When we read in Mark chapter 8 we discover that the sign they wanted was from heaven not from Jesus! Give us a sign like the prophets of old! We must remember that the Jewish people believed that any one could give signs on earth, in other words work magic being a false god or demon but only God was able to bring a sign from the heavens. If we remember the beginning of Christ’s ministry He was tempted by Satan to bring forth great signs from heaven and this is exactly what the Pharisee’s want to see now also. They want Christ to prove Himself for the wrong reasons.

Matthew 12:39-40 Jesus tells them now that no sign is going to come other than the one of Jonah the prophet. He says an evil and adulterous generation seeks after a sign. Jesus is saying the people claim to be part of God, His bride, yet they are untrue to Him in many ways. Jesus had shown them sign after sign by the numerous healings yet they still did not believe. But a sign would come like that of Jonah, for Jesus would be rescued from death and pronounced the Son of God by His resurrection from the dead! Jesus says just as Jonah spent three days and three nights in the belly of a great fish (what type of fish is not really known, it is translated by some as a sea monster, and many felt it was a Great White shark which can measure over 60 feet in length quite capable of swallowing a man whole, but also we now have proof that some whales can actually swallow a man whole) so also would He spend three days and three nights in the grave. Jesus spent two full nights, one full day, and parts of two other days in the grave and according to Jewish reasoning that said a day was a whole if the event began at the start or ending. So when Jesus said three days and three nights he was correct.

Matthew 12:41-42 It is meant to mean here that the Jewish people would be reproved by the Ninevites for their refusal to believe. The people of Nineveh did not have the Son of God in their presence yet they turned from their wicked ways and believed, but look the Jewish have the Messiah in their presence and instead of believing attempt to find fault so they can kill Him. Jonah preached and they repented, he was only a prophet, Jesus preached and they discussed ways to accuse and kill Him and He is the Son of God. The queen of the south shall rise also in judgment. Solomon considered the wisest of all does not compare to the one now in their midst. The queen spoken of came from afar off to be taught by Solomon, but look the Jews reject the teachings of Jesus, the Son of God, and they don’t even have to travel to receive the teaching. Jesus brought His teaching to them.

Matthew 12:43-45 We all desire to find rest, that sweet peaceful rest, but it is only through Christ that we will ever find that rest and if we do not sweep out our house, our heart, there will never be room for that sweet peaceful rest. When evil resides in our heart it invites more evil and to make room for the evil it pushes away the good. Thus for this evil generation speaking of the one in Jesus time and of all to come there are only two conditions in which one lives, by God or against God. The end of our generation will be worse than the beginning for all evil shall lose and God shall reign victoriously.

Matthew 12:46-50 Christ now brings teaching of relationships to Him. He is told His mother and brothers are outside wanting to speak to Him and He answers them by saying “who is my mother? And who are my brethren?” and He stretches forth His hand and says “Behold my mother and my brethren!” (see also Mark 3:34) And continues by saying, whosoever shall do the will of my Father who is in heaven is my brother and sister and mother! This tells us that the relationship between Christ and believers is closer than the closet blood ties. To be obedient to God is the most important thing and comes before or should come before any responsibilities to family!

Father, let me always hold Your Word true to my heart and let me always see Jesus and let Jesus always be in me as the abundance so it flows from me at all times and keep me always aware that You come before all things including family in Jesus name amen.
Where Jesus is Lord!
Living Vine Ministries
Pastor Thomas Miles

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