Matthew 12:1 ¶ At that time Jesus went on the sabbath day through the corn; and his disciples were an hungred, and began to pluck the ears of corn, and to eat. 2 But when the Pharisees saw it, they said unto him, Behold, thy disciples do that which is not lawful to do upon the sabbath day. 3 But he said unto them, Have ye not read what David did, when he was an hungred, and they that were with him; 4 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? 5 Or have ye not read in the law, how that on the sabbath days the priests in the temple profane the sabbath, and are blameless? 6 But I say unto you, That in this place is one greater than the temple. 7 But if ye had known what this meaneth, I will have mercy, and not sacrifice, ye would not have condemned the guiltless. 8 For the Son of man is Lord even of the sabbath day. 9 And when he was departed thence, he went into their synagogue: 10 And, behold, there was a man which had his hand withered. And they asked him, saying, Is it lawful to heal on the sabbath days? that they might accuse him. 11 And he said unto them, What man shall there be among you, that shall have one sheep, and if it fall into a pit on the sabbath day, will he not lay hold on it, and lift it out? 12 How much then is a man better than a sheep? Wherefore it is lawful to do well on the sabbath days. 13 Then saith he to the man, Stretch forth thine hand. And he stretched it forth; and it was restored whole, like as the other.
The religious elite has gone from interpreting the law far too
loosely, needing Christ’s correction in chapter 5, to here interpreting it too
strictly, missing the point. Remember what Paul will write;
2Corinthians 3:6 Who also
hath made us able ministers of the new testament; not of the letter, but of the
spirit: for the letter killeth, but the spirit giveth life.
Mercy and necessity, according to Jesus Christ who was God in the
flesh, are acceptable behaviors on the Sabbath Day. While Christians are not
under the rule of the Sabbath Day observance there is no crime in our having a
meal out on a Sunday unless we were to find that our server was a Christian who
was forced to work on that day in which case we have a decision to make.
Jesus answers the Pharisees from an event in the life of David.
1Samuel 21:1 ¶ Then came
David to Nob to Ahimelech the priest: and Ahimelech was afraid at the meeting
of David, and said unto him, Why art thou alone, and no man with thee? 2 And
David said unto Ahimelech the priest, The king hath commanded me a
business, and hath said unto me, Let no man know any thing of the business
whereabout I send thee, and what I have commanded thee: and I have appointed my
servants to such and such a place. 3 Now
therefore what is under thine hand? give me five loaves of bread in mine hand,
or what there is present. 4 And the
priest answered David, and said, There is no common bread under mine hand, but
there is hallowed bread; if the young men have kept themselves at least from
women. 5 And David answered the priest,
and said unto him, Of a truth women have been kept from us about these three
days, since I came out, and the vessels of the young men are holy, and the
bread is in a manner common, yea, though it were sanctified this day in the
vessel. 6 So the priest gave him
hallowed bread: for there was no bread there but the shewbread, that was taken
from before the LORD, to put hot bread in the day when it was taken away.
And refers to the command for the priests to offer sacrifices on
the Sabbath Day from Numbers.
Numbers 28:9 ¶ And on the
sabbath day two lambs of the first year without spot, and two tenth deals of
flour for a meat offering, mingled with oil, and the drink offering thereof:
10 This is the burnt offering of every
sabbath, beside the continual burnt offering, and his drink offering.
Then, in verse 6 there is another declaration of His divinity.
For verse 7 note this;
Hosea 6:6 For I desired
mercy, and not sacrifice; and the knowledge of God more than burnt offerings.
Micah 6:6 ¶ Wherewith shall
I come before the LORD, and bow myself before the high God? shall I come before
him with burnt offerings, with calves of a year old? 7 Will the LORD be pleased with thousands of
rams, or with ten thousands of rivers of oil? shall I give my firstborn for my
transgression, the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul? 8 He hath shewed thee, O man, what is good; and
what doth the LORD require of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to
walk humbly with thy God?
Verse 8 has Christ use the phrase Son of man. I noted before that
Christ used this phrase linking His role as the Messiah to Daniel 7:31.
Daniel 7:13 I saw in the
night visions, and, behold, one like the Son of man came with the clouds of
heaven, and came to the Ancient of days, and they brought him near before him.
Concerning the man with the withered hand Christ made it clear yet
again that acts of mercy and necessity were okay on the Sabbath. Christ also
makes it clear that while God approves of mercy to beasts so much the more so
should we be willing to show mercy to man, made in God’s image. In fact, one
characteristic of evil people is their wanton disregard for the welfare of
their animals.
Proverbs 12:10 A righteous
man regardeth the life of his beast: but the tender mercies of the wicked are
cruel.
But the point made here is that this healing of this handicapped
man is a good thing to be done on the Sabbath. It is not a violation of God’s
standard, only man’s self-righteousness.
Matthew 12:14 ¶ Then the
Pharisees went out, and held a council against him, how they might destroy him.
15 But when Jesus knew it, he
withdrew himself from thence: and great multitudes followed him, and he healed
them all; 16 And charged them that they
should not make him known: 17 That it
might be fulfilled which was spoken by Esaias the prophet, saying, 18 Behold my servant, whom I have chosen; my
beloved, in whom my soul is well pleased: I will put my spirit upon him, and he
shall shew judgment to the Gentiles. 19
He shall not strive, nor cry; neither shall any man hear his voice in
the streets. 20 A bruised reed shall he
not break, and smoking flax shall he not quench, till he send
forth judgment unto victory. 21
And in his name shall the Gentiles trust.
As the Pharisees take council among themselves as to how to kill
Christ without a riot or a revolution against them taking place Jesus heals a
multitude of people. He tells them to keep silent about what He is doing. The
Holy Spirit here alludes to some Old Testament verses. For verse 18;
Isaiah 42:1 ¶ Behold my
servant, whom I uphold; mine elect, in whom my soul delighteth; I have put my
spirit upon him: he shall bring forth judgment to the Gentiles. 2 He shall not cry, nor lift up, nor cause his
voice to be heard in the street. 3 A
bruised reed shall he not break, and the smoking flax shall he not quench: he
shall bring forth judgment unto truth. 4
He shall not fail nor be discouraged, till he have set judgment in the
earth: and the isles shall wait for his law.
Notice how the Holy Spirit provides us with the meaning of the Old
Testament verses with slight word changes for definition purposes. Victory and
truth become synonyms as do the idea of waiting for God’s law and the
Gentiles’ trust. In this way, this passage in Isaiah is clearly a
prophecy of Christ and the Holy Spirit is letting us know in a way the Old
Testament Jews would not have understood.
The Isles in Isaiah 42:4 is a reference to the
Gentiles. Think of Greece, Italy, and the islands of the Mediterranean or even
of Britain, which is an island.
Genesis 10:5 By these were
the isles of the Gentiles divided in their lands; every one after his tongue,
after their families, in their nations.
Jesus is not being confrontational in the way of a regular
revolutionary. He is simply going about His business. There are two ways, at
least, to do God’s work. One is an in-your-face way of confrontation and
defiance of the authorities and one is simply obeying God, doing what He has
called you to do and not worrying about the consequences but not carrying
placards and screaming in someone’s face. I think of the woman recently who was
arrested for silently praying in front of an abortion clinic in England. She
was not confrontational but her silent prayer inspired the anger of the
authorities anyway. Eventually they had to drop the charges and let her go.
But how do you keep great multitudes from talking about amazing
things.
Matthew 12:22 ¶ 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? 24 But when
the Pharisees heard it, they said, This fellow doth not cast out
devils, but by Beelzebub the prince of the devils. 25 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: 26 And if Satan cast out Satan, he is divided
against himself; how shall then his kingdom stand? 27 And if I by Beelzebub cast out devils, by
whom do your children cast them out? therefore they shall be your
judges. 28 But if I cast out devils by
the Spirit of God, then the kingdom of God is come unto you. 29 Or else how can one enter into a strong man’s
house, and spoil his goods, except he first bind the strong man? and then he
will spoil his house. 30 He that is not
with me is against me; and he that gathereth not with me scattereth abroad.
31 Wherefore I say unto you, All manner
of sin and blasphemy shall be forgiven unto men: but the blasphemy against
the Holy Ghost shall not be forgiven unto men. 32 And whosoever speaketh a word against the Son
of man, it shall be forgiven him: but whosoever speaketh against the Holy
Ghost, it shall not be forgiven him, neither in this world, neither in the world
to come. 33 Either make the tree good,
and his fruit good; or else make the tree corrupt, and his fruit corrupt: for
the tree is known by his fruit. 34
O generation of vipers, how can ye, being evil, speak good things? for
out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh. 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. 36 But I say
unto you, That every idle word that men shall speak, they shall give account
thereof in the day of judgment. 37 For
by thy words thou shalt be justified, and by thy words thou shalt be condemned.
A man that can neither see nor speak, the meaning of dumb, is
brought to Jesus to be healed. How can you keep a lid on this? Remember that
these people lived in an age, like most of history, where doctors were helpless
to cure many things we know little of today unless we live in a third-world
country.
Here, the Pharisees accuse Jesus of being in the service of the
Devil himself. Of course the absurdity of that accusation is torn apart by
Jesus for why would Satan enlist anyone to attack himself.
The question comes up for Christians of can someone in this
dispensation, after the Resurrection, be condemned without mercy for
blaspheming the Holy Ghost by attributing His work in the world to Satan. I
discuss this in detail in Luke and Mark but one way we can look at it is for
the person who rejects Christ this is a very real warning. Still, the literal
conditions were that Christ was walking the earth and His work, the work of the
Holy Ghost, the very mind of God, was being linked to Satan as Satan’s own work,
which to them was a hideous blasphemy which could reap eternal punishment.
They could speak against Christ but not His work as that was also
the work of the very mind of God, the Holy Ghost, who is also God, the same
God, for God is one. An example might be the difference between someone
criticizing you as a Christian and condemning your effort to save someone as
the work of Satan. There are other religions who say this is so. Perhaps that
belief dooms them in eternity? To say the work of God is the work of Satan is a
very negative proclamation.
A tree is known by his fruit is a very powerful
statement. Here is the fruit a Christian is supposed to produce because of the
indwelling of the Holy Spirit.
Galatians 5:22 But the
fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness,
faith, 23 Meekness, temperance: against
such there is no law. 24 And they that
are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts.
But the fruit spoken of here in context are the words men and
women say. The rest of this passage underscores the fact that words mean
something and that words reflect the spiritual state of our hearts. Idle words
can condemn us as careless speech often reveals the true heart.
Words as fruit coming from our mouths is reflected in other
passages.
Proverbs 18:20 A man’s
belly shall be satisfied with the fruit of his mouth; and with the increase of
his lips shall he be filled.
Isaiah 57:19 I create the
fruit of the lips; Peace, peace to him that is far off, and to him that is
near, saith the LORD; and I will heal him.
Hebrews 13:15 By him
therefore let us offer the sacrifice of praise to God continually, that is, the
fruit of our lips giving thanks to his name.
Matthew 12:38 ¶ Then
certain of the scribes and of the Pharisees answered, saying, Master, we would
see a sign from thee. 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: 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. 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. 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. 43 When the unclean spirit is gone out of a man,
he walketh through dry places, seeking rest, and findeth none. 44 Then he saith, I will return into my house
from whence I came out; and when he is come, he findeth it empty, swept,
and garnished. 45 Then goeth he, and
taketh with himself seven other spirits more wicked than himself, and they
enter in and dwell there: and the last state of that man is worse than
the first. Even so shall it be also unto this wicked generation.
Here Jesus speaks of His impending death and resurrection as the
only sign the Pharisees will get, a sign most of them will reject.
Verse
40 presents the modern man and woman with a dilemma. A whale is a large
sea creature and can be what we today would call a mammal or it can be one of
the many types of fish we observe. The scientific classifications of mammal and
reptile came after the Bible was written and are purely man’s way of
categorizing animals as the word mammal once
had to do with the breast and a reptile was any creeping or crawling thing, not
just a snake, but included an earthworm. Comparing Jonah 1:17 to verse 40 here
and then being appalled that the fish in Jonah is called a whale here is a sign
of the mental sickness of modernism. Look at not only what words mean but when
did they come to mean that. This is a very important thing in Biblical
interpretation and understanding.
Verse 41 is also a
reference to the events of the book of Jonah.
For verse 42
consider;
1Kings 10:1 ¶ And when the
queen of Sheba heard of the fame of Solomon concerning the name of the LORD,
she came to prove him with hard questions. 2
And she came to Jerusalem with a very great train, with camels that bare
spices, and very much gold, and precious stones: and when she was come to
Solomon, she communed with him of all that was in her heart. 3 And Solomon told her all her questions: there
was not any thing hid from the king, which he told her not. 4 And when the queen of Sheba had seen all
Solomon’s wisdom, and the house that he had built, 5 And the meat of his table, and the sitting of
his servants, and the attendance of
his ministers, and their apparel, and his cupbearers, and his
ascent by which he went up unto the house of the LORD; there was no more spirit
in her. 6 And she said to the king, It
was a true report that I heard in mine own land of thy acts and of thy wisdom.
7 Howbeit I believed not the words,
until I came, and mine eyes had seen it: and, behold, the half was not told me:
thy wisdom and prosperity exceedeth the fame which I heard. 8 Happy are thy men, happy are these thy
servants, which stand continually before thee, and that hear thy wisdom. 9 Blessed be the LORD thy God, which delighted
in thee, to set thee on the throne of Israel: because the LORD loved Israel for
ever, therefore made he thee king, to do judgment and justice. 10 And she gave the king an hundred and twenty
talents of gold, and of spices very great store, and precious stones: there
came no more such abundance of spices as these which the queen of Sheba gave to
king Solomon. 11 And the navy also of
Hiram, that brought gold from Ophir, brought in from Ophir great plenty of
almug trees, and precious stones. 12 And
the king made of the almug trees
pillars for the house of the LORD, and for the king’s house, harps
also and psalteries for singers: there came no such almug trees, nor were seen
unto this day. 13 And king Solomon gave
unto the queen of Sheba all her desire, whatsoever she asked, beside that which
Solomon gave her of his royal bounty. So she turned and went to her own
country, she and her servants.
Here is another modern interpretation problem. Matthew says the
Queen of Sheba came from the uttermost parts of the earth. Modernism
says that could mean as far away as South America or perhaps Siberia but this
just means a long, long way off. Sheba or Sabea, was said to be in modern day
Yemen in Southern Arabia by some authorities. We have to be careful when taking
some Bible phrases too literally, confusing us or making the Bible contradict
itself when there is no contradiction. Hyperbole
is not exact but just as the stars of heaven for multitude does not mean
that there were that many Israelites but merely a vast number of them.
Jesus makes this statement to the Jewish nation and religious
elite that their state is like a man who was delivered of an evil spirit only
to find themselves possessed many more times by even worse spirits because of
that nation and that religious elites rejection of their messiah. If you think
you had it bad before just wait until you see what happens.
This can also be a warning to the church not to turn their back on
the doctrines they’ve been given by God to follow after worldly pursuits of big
numbers, big donations, and big churches lest the state of those people be
worse than when they started. It can also be a warning to us to not turn back
to the sin from which we’ve been delivered lest we have it ten times worse than
we did in the beginning. There are a lot of good sermon possibilities from
this.
Matthew 12:46 ¶ While he
yet talked to the people, behold, his mother and his brethren stood
without, desiring to speak with him. 47
Then one said unto him, Behold, thy mother and thy brethren stand
without, desiring to speak with thee. 48
But he answered and said unto him that told him, Who is my mother? and
who are my brethren? 49 And he stretched
forth his hand toward his disciples, and said, Behold my mother and my
brethren! 50 For whosoever shall do the
will of my Father which is in heaven, the same is my brother, and sister, and
mother.
Notice here that Jesus is not rejecting his mother and brothers
but is making the claim that His greater family consists of those who obey Him.
Remember how hate was used in Luke?
Luke 14:25 ¶ And there went
great multitudes with him: and he turned, and said unto them,
26 If any man come to me,
and hate not his father, and mother, and wife, and children, and brethren, and
sisters, yea, and his own life also, he cannot be my disciple. 27 And whosoever doth not bear his cross, and
come after me, cannot be my disciple. 28
For which of you, intending to build a tower, sitteth not down first,
and counteth the cost, whether he have sufficient to finish it? 29 Lest haply, after he hath laid the
foundation, and is not able to finish it, all that behold it begin to mock him,
30 Saying, This man began to build, and
was not able to finish. 31 Or what king,
going to make war against another king, sitteth not down first, and consulteth
whether he be able with ten thousand to meet him that cometh against him with
twenty thousand? 32 Or else, while the
other is yet a great way off, he sendeth an ambassage, and desireth conditions
of peace. 33 So likewise, whosoever he
be of you that forsaketh not all that he hath, he cannot be my disciple.
Now remember back in chapter 10 of Matthew;
Matthew
10:37 He that loveth father or mother
more than me is not worthy of me: and he that loveth son or daughter more than
me is not worthy of me.
By comparing passages that express the same or similar sentiment
we can determine the meaning of passages that are difficult for us. Clearly, to
hate, in this context, is to hold one
in lower regard than one would reasonably expect rather than to hold in contempt,
to despise, to abhor, and reject as in other contexts. You cannot properly
interpret the Bible without cross-referencing. Any version that destroys the
cross-referencing traits of the Bible should be dismissed outright. If we
believe that the Bible was given by inspiration as it says it was, that the
Holy Spirit had a hand in translations and copies, then we must understand that
the ultimate author was God Himself and in order to understand a word or phrase
we need to look within the text itself.
It is important, I think, to consider a common-sense view of
Jesus’ words in light of the clear admonitions of the entire Bible. We do not
reject our families. That is not called for. Jesus is making a point about the
kingdom of Heaven and God here, not banning His human family from His presence.
No comments:
Post a Comment