Matthew Chapter 12

1. What’s going on here in chapter 12?

Conflict and final break of Jesus with the religious rulers.

Matthew is not trying to give a biography of the life of Jesus, nor is he recording the events in chronological order. He presents Christ as King — He was born a King and gave what we call the Sermon on the Mount, which was the ethic of the Kingdom, the manifesto of the King. He demonstrated that He had the dynamic in the miracles He performed, then He sent out His apostles. The reaction was rejection! And then the King pronounced judgment on the cities.

Now there breaks out into the open a conflict between the Lord Jesus and the religious rulers of that day — the Pharisees in particular. Apparently, they were friendly to Him at first, but now they break with Him over the question of the Sabbath day.

We will see the Sabbath question in two places: on the outside in the field, then again on the inside in the synagogue.

1 At that time Jesus went through the grainfields on the Sabbath. His disciples were hungry and began to pick some heads of grain and eat them.

We will see in this episode that Jesus asserts that He is Lord of the Sabbath day. But before we get involved in the sabbatic argument (which has been raging ever since!), let’s look at the reason the disciples were pulling off and eating the grain. Why were they doing it? Because they were hungry. Why were they hungry? Because they were following Jesus. You remember that He had said to the young man who wanted to follow Him, “The foxes have holes, and the birds of the air have nests; but the Son of man hath not where to lay his head” (Matt. 8:20). And at this time, they were hungry. This is another reminder of the poverty that our Lord bore. And we will see Him defend His disciples’ actions. This is where the break with the religious rulers came.

2 When the Pharisees saw this, they said to him, “Look! Your disciples are doing what is unlawful on the Sabbath.”

2. Is there a problem with plucking ears of corn on the Sabbath?

The Pharisees say to the Lord Jesus, “Why do You permit it?”

3. What was Jesus argument and justification for his actions?

3 He answered, “Haven’t you read what David did when he and his companions were hungry?

We find the record of this in 1 Samuel 21:1-6.

1 Then David came to Nob to Ahimelech the priest; and Ahimelech came trembling to meet David and said to him, “Why are you alone and no one with you?” 2 David said to Ahimelech the priest, “The king has commissioned me with a matter and has said to me, ‘ Let no one know anything about the matter on which I am sending you and with which I have commissioned you; and I have directed the young men to a certain place.’ 3 Now therefore, what do you have on hand? Give me five loaves of bread, or whatever can be found.” 4 The priest answered David and said, “There is no ordinary bread on hand, but there is consecrated bread; if only the young men have kept themselves from women.” 5 David answered the priest and said to him, ” Surely women have been kept from us as previously when I set out and the vessels of the young men were holy, though it was an ordinary journey; how much more then today will their vessels be holy?” 6 So the priest gave him consecrated bread; for there was no bread there but the bread of the Presence which was removed from before the Lord, in order to put hot bread in its placewhen it was taken away.

It was during the days of David’s rejection as king while Saul was ruling. Likewise, the Lord Jesus was being rejected as King; His messianic claim had not been acknowledged. Now He takes care of His men — regardless of the Sabbath day observance. And David took care of his men although it meant breaking the Mosaic Law.

How he entered into the house of God, and did eat the shewbread, which was not lawful for him to eat, neither for them which were with him, but only for the priests?

4 He entered the house of God, and he and his companions ate the consecrated bread–which was not lawful for them to do, but only for the priests. 5 Or haven’t you read in the Law that on the Sabbath the priests in the temple desecrate the day and yet are innocent?

The priests worked on the Sabbath day.

6 I tell you that one greater than the temple is here

The Lord Jesus here claimed superiority over the most holy center of their religious life, which was the temple. As far as the Pharisees were concerned, He had blasphemed. Not only had He broken the Sabbath, but He had blasphemed.

7 If you had known what these words mean, ‘I desire mercy, not sacrifice,’ you would not have condemned the innocent.

“I will have mercy and not sacrifice” comes from Hosea 6:6 For I delight in loyalty rather than sacrifice, And in the knowledge of God rather than burnt offerings.

Our Lord defends His men by saying that they did not break the Sabbath day. Why?

8 For the Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath.”

Believe me, He put His hand on the most sacred observance they had when He said that He was Lord of the Sabbath day. In the eyes of the Pharisees, He could make no greater claim. It certainly engendered their bitterness and their hatred.

Now we leave the fields where this encounter took place, and we go into the synagogue — but we are still faced with the same Sabbath question.

9 Going on from that place, he went into their synagogue,

Notice that “he went into their synagogue” — not ours but theirs. He said something similar regarding the temple. At first it was God’s temple, but He finally said, “Your house is left unto you desolate.”

10 and a man with a shriveled hand was there. Looking for a reason to accuse Jesus, they asked him, “Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath?” 11 He said to them, “If any of you has a sheep and it falls into a pit on the Sabbath, will you not take hold of it and lift it out?

4. Was this man with the withered hand “planted” there, deliberately, by the Pharisees to trap Jesus into healing him?

If so, then there are two important admissions on the part of the enemies of Jesus:

1. They admitted He had power to heal the sick. As we have seen, the enemies of Jesus never questioned His ability to perform miracles. You have to be two thousand years away from it and working in a musty library on a master’s or doctor’s degree before you can question His miracles. The Pharisees freely admitted that He had power to heal the sick. This is why they planted this man with the withered hand.

2. They acknowledged that when a helpless man was placed in His pathway, He was moved by compassion to heal him, even on the Sabbath day. What an admission!

Their question about the legality of healing on the Sabbath day was designed to trap Him. But Jesus actually trapped His enemies. They conceded that a sheep should be rescued on the Sabbath day — in fact, the Mosaic Law made allowances for that.

12 How much more valuable is a man than a sheep! Therefore it is lawful to do good on the Sabbath.”

This is the crux of the whole matter: Should He do good on the Sabbath day? Regardless of their answer –

13 Then he said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” So he stretched it out and it was completely restored, just as sound as the other.

Jesus healed the man on the Sabbath day. Did He break the Law? What is your answer? My answer is that He did not break the Law

5. This next section of the book is significant because…?

This marks the break between the religious rulers and Jesus. Here is where they made the decision to destroy Him.

14 But the Pharisees went out and plotted how they might kill Jesus.

Up to this point the Pharisees had been friendly. They had wanted to hitch their wagon to His star and go with Him. But the Lord refused to go along with them, and they became His enemies. The break is made over the question of the Sabbath day, and the conflict comes out in the open. From here on these bloodhounds of hate get on His trail and never let up until they fold their arms beneath His cross. They begin now to plot His death, and they undoubtedly want to arrest Him at this time, but they are afraid of the crowds.

15 Aware of this, Jesus withdrew from that place. Many followed him, and he healed all their sick,

The action of the Pharisees led Jesus to withdraw temporarily because His hour had not yet come. They will not touch Him until the appointed time. It is interesting to note in this verse that Jesus did not heal only a few in the crowd — He healed them all. We cannot even conceive of the impression that this made in that day. It was something absolutely astounding. They had to accept or reject Him; it was impossible to be neutral.

He is still controversial today. The enemy is still after Him. New dirty plays and dirty books are blaspheming Him. You will either be His friend or His enemy. He will be your Savior or your Judge. You cannot get rid of Jesus Christ.

He healed the multitudes –

16 warning them not to tell who he was.

The Lord did not come to this earth as a wonder worker. He came to present His claims as Messiah. When He was rejected, He continued on His course toward the cross to become the Savior of the world. His miracles caused crowds to press in upon Him so that He could not carry on His ministry as He wished.

17 This was to fulfill what was spoken through the prophet Isaiah:18“Here is my servant whom I have chosen, the one I love, in whom I delight; I will put my Spirit on him, and he will proclaim justice to the nations.19He will not quarrel or cry out; no one will hear his voice in the streets.20A bruised reed he will not break, and a smoldering wick he will not snuff out, till he leads justice to victory.

“A bruised reed shall he not break” — no, He will instead bind up that “reed” who will let Him do so. “And smoking flax shall he not quench” — no, if that one continues to reject Him, the smoking flax will break out into the fire of judgment. The Lord won’t quench it because man has a free will.

21 And in his name shall the Gentiles trust    

In our day there is a definite moving out — not only toward the fulfillment of prophecy in general, but for the fulfillment of prophecy concerning the Gentiles. They are to be saved. Christ’s rejection by His own people led to His gracious offer to the Gentiles. In the Book of Acts we read that He commissioned Paul to be a missionary to the Gentiles: “To open their eyes, and to turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan unto God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins, and inheritance among them which are sanctified by faith that is in me” (Acts 26:18).

22 Then was brought unto him one possessed with a devil, blind, and dumb: and he healed him, insomuch that the blind and dumb both spake and saw.23 And all the people were amazed, and said, Is not this the son of David.

In other words, “This is our Messiah. He has the credentials.” This was a tremendous miracle He performed, just as great as the raising of the dead if not greater. The continued miracles of Jesus in healing and casting out demons convinced the people that He was the Son of David, the Messiah. But what did the Pharisees say?

 24 But when the Pharisees heard it, they said, This fellow doth not cast out devils, but by Beelzebub the prince of the devils

6. What is the unpardonable sin?

This is the question of the unpardonable sin. Follow this very carefully.

And Jesus knew their thoughts, and said unto them, Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation; and every city or house divided against itself shall not stand:

And if Satan cast out Satan, he is divided against himself; how shall then his kingdom stand?

25 Jesus knew their thoughts and said to them, “Every kingdom divided against itself will be ruined, and every city or household divided against itself will not stand. 26 If Satan drives out Satan, he is divided against himself. How then can his kingdom stand? 27 And if I drive out demons by Beelzebub, by whom do your people drive them out? So then, they will be your judges.

They would never say that their own people cast out demons by Beelzebub.

28 But if I cast out devils by the Spirit of God, then the kingdom of God is come unto you

“The kingdom of God is come unto you” in the presence of the Messiah. Christ is saying, “l am here! My power to cast out demons is My credential.”

29 “Or again, how can anyone enter a strong man’s house and carry off his possessions unless he first ties up the strong man? Then he can rob his house. 30 “He who is not with me is against me, and he who does not gather with me scatters. 31 And so I tell you, every sin and blasphemy will be forgiven men, but the blasphemy against the Spirit will not be forgiven. 32 Anyone who speaks a word against the Son of Man will be forgiven, but anyone who speaks against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven, either in this age or in the age to come.

There is no sin committed yesterday that the Lord would not forgive today because He died for all sin. The Holy Spirit came into the world to make real the salvation of Christ to the hearts of men. If you resist the working of the Spirit of God when He speaks to you, my friend, there is no forgiveness, of course. There is no forgiveness because you have rejected salvation made real to you by the Holy Spirit. And it is the work of the Spirit of God to regenerate you.

In Mark 3 the Lord amplifies the matter of the unpardonable sin by saying that it attributes the Spirit’s work to Satan, that Christ had performed these miracles by Beelzebub when actually He was doing them by the power of the Spirit of God. You see, they were rejecting the witness of Himself and of the Holy Spirit.

In our day that particular sin cannot be committed because it could only be committed when Jesus was here upon the earth. There is no act of sin that you could commit for which there is no forgiveness. Of course, if you resist the Holy Spirit, there is no forgiveness because He is bringing forgiveness. It is like the man who is dying from a certain disease, and the doctor tells him there is a remedy for it. The man refuses to take the remedy and dies, not from the disease but from refusing to take the remedy. There is a remedy for the disease of sin, and the Holy Spirit applies it; but if you resist it, there is no remedy. That is the only way sin can be unpardonable today.

Now the Lord says:

34 O generation of vipers, how can ye, being evil, speak good things? for out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh .

7. Isn’t this pretty tough language for the gentle Jesus?

“O generation of vipers” — you may remember that John the Baptist had called them the same thing.

35 A good man out of the good treasure of the heart bringeth forth good things: and an evil man out of the evil treasure bringeth forth evil things

“What is in the well of the heart will come out through the bucket of the mouth,” someone has said. This scathing denunciation of the religious rulers by Jesus reveals that He has rejected them. Had they committed the unpardonable sin? At least the break with these enemies is final and the wound will not be healed.

8. How do the religious leaders condemn themselves?

But I say unto you, That every idle word that men shall speak, they shall give account thereof in the day of judgment .

“Idle word” means blasphemies.

37 For by thy words thou shalt be justified, and by thy words thou shalt be condemned .

You will be “condemned” because you are speaking the thing which is in your heart.

The Scribes and Pharisees Demand a Sign

38 Then certain of the scribes and of the Pharisees answered, saying, Master, we would see a sign from thee.

The scribes and Pharisees now use another subtle approach to Him. They appear to fall in step with His program by asking for a sign. They have no intention of believing because of a sign. They are trying to trap Him. Note how the Lord answers them.

39 But he answered and said unto them, An evil and adulterous generation seeketh after a sign; and there shall no sign be given to it, but the sign of the prophet Jonas .

9. What was the sign of Jonah?

40 For as Jonas was three days and three nights in the whale’s belly; so shall the Son of man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth .

The Lord categorically refused to grant them a sign but directed them back to two incidents in the Old Testament. The first incident is the account of the prophet Jonah. Jonah was apparently raised from the dead when he was in the fish. God brought him out of darkness and death into light and life. Jonah’s experience was typical of the coming interment and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

41  The men of Nineveh shall rise in judgment with this generation, and shall condemn it: because they repented at the preaching of Jonas; and, behold, a greater than Jonas is here.

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10. Why would the Jews be judged more harshly than the Ninevites?

The Ninevites received Jonah and his preaching after his miraculous deliverance from the big fish, and they repented. The acts of Israel, as a nation, place her in a much worse position because she did not receive her Messiah and did not repent.

The second incident that Jesus referred them to concerns Solomon.

42 The queen of the south shall rise up in the judgment with this generation, and shall condemn it: for she came from the uttermost parts of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon; and, behold, a greater than Solomon is here.  

11. Why bring the Queen of Sheba into the conversation?

Jesus was greater than Jonah and greater than Solomon. The queen of Sheba heard of Solomon and traveled from the ends of the earth to hear his wisdom. And the Lord Jesus Christ had come from heaven, but they would not turn to Him.

Next Jesus gives one of the most profound and startling parables.

43 “When an evil spirit comes out of a man, it goes through arid places seeking rest and does not find it.

A man has an unclean spirit, and the unclean spirit leaves him. The man thinks he is all cleaned up. Then what happens?

44 Then it says, ‘I will return to the house I left.’ When it arrives, it finds the house unoccupied, swept clean and put in order.

12. How can we permanently rid ourselves of the influence of uncleanness?

In other words, reformation is no good. My friend, you can quit doing many things, but that won’t make you a Christian. If everyone in the world would quit sinning right now, there wouldn’t be any more Christians in the next minute or in the next day, because quitting sin doesn’t make Christians. Reformation is not what we need.

45 Then it goes and takes with it seven other spirits more wicked than itself, and they go in and live there. And the final condition of that man is worse than the first. That is how it will be with this wicked generation.”

This same situation is with us today. The hardest people in the world are unsaved church members because they think they are all right. They have undergone self-reformation — empty, swept, and garnished. They are like a vacant house, and all the evil spirits have to do is move in. The Devil owns them, and they don’t recognize this fact. Reformation means death and destruction. Regeneration means life and liberty.

The final section of this chapter is even more startling, and it belongs with what has immediately preceded. There is a relationship that is greater than mother and son and even blood brothers! This is a relationship which is established with God through Jesus Christ by faith in Him.

While he yet talked to the people, behold, his mother and his brethren stood without, desiring to speak with him.

Then one said unto him, Behold, thy mother and thy brethren stand without, desiring to speak with thee.

But he answered and said unto him that told him, Who is my mother? and who are my brethren?

46 While Jesus was still talking to the crowd, his mother and brothers stood outside, wanting to speak to him. 47 Someone told him, “Your mother and brothers are standing outside, wanting to speak to you.” 48He replied to him, “Who is my mother, and who are my brothers?” 49 Pointing to his disciples, he said, “Here are my mother and my brothers.

13. Is Jesus disrespecting His mother?

The Lord is saying that the strongest relationship today is the relationship between Christ and a believer. Friend, if you are a child of God and you have unsaved family members, you are closer to Jesus Christ than you are to your own kin, including the mother that bore you. You are more closely related to other believers than you are to unsaved members of your family. This is tremendous! He is talking about a new relationship.

50 For whoever does the will of my Father in heaven is my brother and sister and mother.”

14. What is the will of the father?

And what is the will of the Father? That you hear the Lord Jesus Christ, that you accept Him and trust Him.

And He said to him, ” ‘ YOU SHALL LOVE THE Lord YOUR GOD WITH ALL YOUR HEART, AND WITH ALL YOUR SOUL, AND WITH ALL YOUR MIND.’ 38 This is the great and foremost commandment. 39 The second is like it, ‘ YOU SHALL LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF.’ 40  On these two commandments depend the whole Law and the Prophets.”  Matt 22:37-40 (NASB)

·         ESV………….ESV Study Bible Notes

·         MSN…….MacArthur NASB Study Notes

·         NIVSN…..NIV Study Notes.

·         JVM ….J Vernon McGee,

·         ACC …. Adam Clarke’s Commentary

·         BN …..Barnes Notes

·         WBC……   Wycliffe Bible Commentary

·         CN …… Constables Notes

·         IC……….Ironside Commentary

·         NET………Net Bible Study Notes.

·         JFB…………..Jamieson  Fausset  Brown Commentary

·         VWS……………..Vincent Word Studies

·         CMM………….Commentary on Matthew and Mark

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