Words in italic type have been added for clarity. They are not found in the original Hebrew or Aramaic.

Matthew 12

Jesus Is Lord of the Sabbath

Matthew 12:¹ At that time Jesus went through the grain fields on the Sabbath. And His disciples were hungry, and began to pluck heads of grain and to eat.

Matthew 12:² And when the Pharisees saw it, they said to Him, “Look, Your disciples are doing what is not lawful to do on the Sabbath!”

Matthew 12:³ But He said to them, “Have you not read what David did when he was hungry, he and those who were with him:

Matthew 12:⁴ how he entered the house of God and ate the showbread which was not lawful for him to eat, nor for those who were with him, but only for the priests?

Matthew 12:⁵ Or have you not read in the law that on the Sabbath the priests in the temple profane (desecrate) the Sabbath, and are blameless?

Matthew 12:⁶ Yet I say to you that in this place there is One greater than the temple.

Matthew 12:⁷ But if you had known what this means, ‘I desire mercy (life) and not sacrifice (death),’ you would not have condemned the guiltless.

Matthew 12: ⁸ For the Son of Man is Lord even of the Sabbath.”

• As the Creator Jesus created the Sabbath, He owns it. He knows what it was made for, but, like most things it can be used for good or for bad. The Pharisees are famous for using the Sabbath to lord over others.
• Not only did Jesus create the Sabbath but He fulfilled it. The Sabbath was made in order for men to rest while God does their work for them. Rest is the result of Faith.

Healing on the Sabbath

Matthew 12:⁹ Now when He had departed from there, He went into their synagogue.

Matthew 12:¹⁰ And behold, there was a man who had a withered hand. And they asked Him, saying, “Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath?”—that they might accuse Him.

Matthew 12:¹¹ Then He said to them, “What man is there among you who has one sheep, and if it falls into a pit on the Sabbath, will not lay hold of it and lift it out?

Matthew 12:¹² Of how much more value then is a man than a sheep? Therefore it is lawful to do good on the Sabbath.”

• The Sabbath – used for good – is righteousness.

Matthew 12:¹³ Then He said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” And he stretched it out, and it was restored as whole as the other.

Matthew 12:¹⁴ Then the Pharisees went out and plotted against Him, how they might destroy Him.

• Jesus pricked them in the place they loved the most: their ego; then their black heart took over.
• They were rotten from the inside out and spray-painted white.

Behold, My Servant

Matthew 12:¹⁵ But when Jesus knew it, He withdrew from there. And great multitudes followed Him, and He healed them all.

Matthew 12:¹⁶ Yet He warned them not to make Him known,

Jesus had to Keep from being Killed so He could be Killed

Matthew 12:¹⁷ that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Isaiah the prophet, saying:

Matthew 12:¹⁸ “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 will declare justice to the Gentiles.

Matthew 12:¹⁹ He will not quarrel nor cry out,
Nor will anyone hear His voice in the streets.

Matthew 12:²⁰ A bruised reed He will not break,
And smoking flax He will not quench,
Till He sends forth justice to victory;

Matthew 12:²¹ And in His name Gentiles will trust.”

• The agenda of the Godhead is to spread the knowledge of the presence, purpose, and character of God. This will come to be known as “the Gospel”.

A House Divided Cannot Stand

Matthew 12:²² Then one was brought to Him who was demon-possessed, blind and mute; and He healed him, so that the blind and mute man both spoke and saw.

Matthew 12:²³ And all the multitudes were amazed and said, “Could this be the Son of David?”

• The term “the Son of David” is how the Jews referred to the awaited Christ (Messiah).

Matthew 12:²⁴ Now when the Pharisees heard it they said, “This fellow does not cast out demons except by Beelzebub (Beelzebul, a Philistine deity), the ruler of the demons.”

• Beelzebub means “Lord of the Flies”, and refers to the male habit of “pissing against the wall” which draws flies. It refers to Satan, Satan’s followers, and their filth.

Matthew 12:²⁵ But Jesus knew their thoughts, and said to them: “Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation, and every city or house divided against itself will not stand.

Matthew 12:²⁶ If Satan casts out Satan, he is divided against himself. How then will his kingdom stand?

Matthew 12:²⁷ And if I cast out demons by Beelzebub, by whom do your sons cast them out? Therefore they shall be your judges.

Matthew 12:²⁸ But if I cast out demons by the Spirit of God, surely the kingdom of God has come upon you.

• Mark 1:3 “The voice of one crying in the wilderness (of people): ‘Prepare the way of the Lord; Make His paths straight.’ ”
• 

Matthew 12:²⁹ Or how can one enter a strong man’s house and plunder his goods, unless he first binds the strong man? And then he will plunder his house.

Matthew 12:³⁰ He who is not with Me is against Me, and he who does not gather with Me scatters abroad.

• There is no vacuum in the spiritual world- If you do not have Jesus you get Satan.
• God made the universe binomial. It’s computer-speak for computer programs. It is ones and zeros. It is either-or.
• There are no shades of grey. There is no vacuum. If you are not for God then by default you are for Satan.
• You are either ON or OFF.
• If you are THIS then you are not THAT.
  
• Jesus said it this way:
  
  John 3:18 “He who believes in Him is NOT condemned; BUT (the flip side is) he who does NOT believe is condemned already (by default), because he has not believed in the name (identity, authority, position, agenda) of the only begotten Son of God.

• Is you “Is” or is you “Not”?

The Unpardonable Sin

Matthew 12:³¹ “Therefore I say to you, every sin and blasphemy will be forgiven men, but the blasphemy against the Spirit will not be forgiven men.

Matthew 12:³² Anyone who speaks a word against the Son of Man, it will be forgiven him; but whoever speaks against the Holy Spirit, it will not be forgiven him, either in this age or in the age to come.

• See Topic: The Unforgivable Sin for a full explanation.

A Tree Known by Its Fruit

Matthew 12:³³ “Either make the tree good and its fruit good, or else make the tree bad and its fruit bad; for a tree is known by its fruit.

• NOTE: Jesus cursed the fig tree and it withered because Jesus could find no fruit on it. The fig tree is symbolic of Israel and the Jews who were bearing no fruit for God.

Matthew 12:³⁴ Brood (offspring) of vipers! How can you, being evil, speak good things? For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks.

Matthew 12:³⁵ A good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth good things, and an evil man out of the evil treasure brings forth evil things.

Matthew 12:³⁶ But I say to you that for every idle word men may speak, they will give account of it in the day of judgment.

Matthew 12:³⁷ For by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned.”

The Scribes and Pharisees Ask for a Sign

Matthew 12:³⁸ Then some of the scribes and Pharisees answered, saying, “Teacher, we want to see a sign from You.”

Matthew 12:³⁹ But He answered and said to them, “An evil and adulterous generation seeks after a sign, and no sign will be given to it except the sign of the prophet Jonah.

Matthew 12:⁴⁰ For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the great fish, so will the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.

Matthew 12:⁴¹ The men of Nineveh will rise up in the judgment with this generation and condemn it, because they repented at the preaching of Jonah; and indeed a greater than Jonah is here.

 Matthew 12:⁴² The queen of the South will rise up in the judgment with this generation and condemn it, for she came from the ends of the earth to hear the Wisdom of Solomon; and indeed a greater than Solomon is here.

An Unclean Spirit Returns

Matthew 12:⁴³ “When an unclean spirit goes out of a man, he goes through dry places, seeking rest, and finds none.

Matthew 12:⁴⁴ Then he says, ‘I will return to my house from which I came.’ And when he comes, he finds it empty, swept, and put in order.

• Note: the house is the body of the man. What caused the unclean spirit to leave the man? Only something clean can swept out foulness and put it in order.

• However; If the unclean spirit left, it is evident the righteous Holy Spirit must enter it. Just to change a mind-set won’t do it. This person needs more than a change in a mind-set. This person needs the Holy Spirit of God who can take the twisted steel id lies and straighten them into an arrow pointing to the pure Truth of True North.

• Without the Holy Spirit, the unclean demonic lie reenters the body and brings even more demonic lies with it.

• Perhaps it is at this point, that the man is now demon possessed: daimonion. (Self hatred leads to the hatred of others. Those “in pain” cause “pain”. Those who “hurt”, “hurt”.)

God has a Window Pane into our Soul in which He sees our tears.
He cries – with us.

Matthew 12:⁴⁵ Then he goes and takes with him seven other spirits more wicked than himself, and they enter and dwell there; and the last state of that man is worse than the first. So shall it also be with this wicked generation.”

• Demons have doctrines which are deceiving (lies).

• Rev 16:14 For they are spirits of demons, performing signs, which go out to the kings of the earth and of the whole world, to gather them to the battle of that great day of God Almighty (Armageddon).

• In Hebrew a demon is also sa`iyr H8163. We know this word as “Satyr”; half man and half goat. Lev 17:7 is translated as “devils”. From H8175; shaggy; as noun, a he-goat; by analogy, a faun:—devil, goat, hairy, kid, rough, satyr.

• Note: Esau lived in Mt. Seir, named after sa’iyr. Esau was hairy and shaggy. The mountain is known for demons and the land of the hairy men. It is called a place of terror.

• Esau is known for giving up his birthright. That birthright is associated with salvation, being a child of God. Jacob, his brother, understood the value of having that birthright.

• Note: Jacob, after meeting with Esau on pleasant terms, each went their own “way”. Esau went to Seir (a place of demons).  Jacob was diverted to Succoth. Each one chose his own way. Jacob chose the way of peace “Then Jacob came safely to the city of Shechem” (meaning: shoulder, the seat of a person’s interests). A shoulder is symbolic for “authority”.

• Genesis 33:¹⁶ So Esau returned that day on his way to Seir. ¹⁷ And Jacob journeyed to Succoth, built himself a house, and made booths for his livestock. Therefore the name of the place is called Succoth (literally “booths” or tents, something temporary like the lives of men).

• Joshua 24:4 To Isaac I gave Jacob and Esau. To Esau I gave the mountains of Seir to possess, but Jacob and his children went down to Egypt (during the seven year famine).

• Obadiah 1:18 The house of Jacob shall be a fire, And the house of Joseph a flame; But the house of Esau shall be stubble; They shall kindle them and devour them, And no survivor shall remain of the house of Esau,” For the Lord has spoken.

• Malachi 1:2 [Israel Beloved of God] “I have loved you,” says the Lord. “Yet you say, ‘In what way have You loved us?’ Was not Esau Jacob’s brother?” Says the Lord. “Yet Jacob I have loved;

• Romans 9:13 As it is written, “Jacob I have loved, but Esau I have hated.”

• Summary: Edomites (descendents of Esau) are connected to demoniacs. Furthermore, Esau is called “Red” because he was shaggy and red and he ate Jacob’s red stew when he sold his birthright to Jacob. Edom comes from the earth as red clay (Adam was made from the ground). Miry clay refers to Esau’s descendents. Note that the last kingdom on Nebuchadnezzar’s dream of a statue is made of both iron and clay which will not adhere to each other. This appears to refer to Arabs who will not adhere to agreements with other nations and which have an everlasting hatred of the Jews.

Jesus’ Mother and Brothers Send for Him

Matthew 12:⁴⁶  While He was still talking to the multitudes, behold, His mother and brothers stood outside, seeking to speak with Him.

Matthew 12:⁴⁷ Then one said to Him, “Look, Your mother and Your brothers are standing outside, seeking to speak with You.”

Matthew 12:⁴⁸ But He answered and said to the one who told Him, “Who is My mother and who are My brothers?”

Matthew 12:⁴⁹ And He stretched out His hand toward His disciples and said, “Here are My mother and My brothers!

Matthew 12:⁵⁰ For whoever does the will of My Father in heaven is My brother and sister and mother.”