Link > Matthew Chapter 12

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Chapter 17 ˙ Commentary and Notes

Verse 10 "The talmudim (disciples) asked him, 'Why then do the teachers of the Torah say that Elijah must come first?'"


The "then" in the talmudim's question refers to Yehoshua having just told them not to tell anyone what they had just seen until he was raised from the dead.  This indicates that at this point they thought that when he said that he would be raised from the dead it meant that he would then reveal himself openly to all Israel and to all the world in the same power and glory that they had just seen him transformed.

This is the nature of the question that the two comings of Mashiach presented for the minds of the talmudim.  It was from observing his glorious transformation that they came to their thought that he would at this time restore the kingdom to Israel.  Why then did the teachers of the Torah say that Elijah must come first?

That is, if he would suddenly be revealed in power and glory to all Israel, where would the place of the coming of Elijah be?  Seeing the transformation of Yehoshua transformed the talmudim's idea of the redemption.  Any notion that they may still have had that Mashiach would be a military king like David, or a king who would dominate the nations and establish Israel by political means like Solomon, was taken away from them by seeing the power of his transfiguration, where he appeared in the glory of the new creation.  He had the power and the glory to make all Israel a new creation.  Why then did the teachers of the Torah say that Elijah must come first?

They saw his transfiguration and they imagined his power.  It was his powerless suffering that they could not imagine.  The Mashiach was there in their midst.  They knew it.  If they had not been sure of it before, they were sure now.  How could anything other than the redemption of all Israel from the power of Rome and from the power of the nations be expected now?  It was the nature and power of the atonement that still needed to be revealed to them.  How, then, does Yehoshua teach them?

He answers them, "It is correct.  Elijah comes and restores all things.  But I tell you, Elijah has already come, and they did recognize him, but have done to him everything that they wished.  In the same way the Son of Adam is going to suffer at their hands."


"Then the talmudim understood that he was talking to them about Yochanan (John) the Immerser."


The transformation of all Israel into the eternal creation will come through the power and glory of Mashiach which the talmudim witnessed but neither Israel nor the world will be ready for this.  Therefore Elijah had come to prepare Israel, but they were not even ready to receive Elijah.  This preparation must therefore yet be accomplished.

Few and Many series No. 1 Yehoshua Heals Many

Notes On Matthew Chapter 7 and 8


7:12 ... all things whatsoever you would want that people should do to you, do the same to them: for this is the Torah and the Prophets.

7:13-14 Enter in at the strait gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leads to destruction, and there are many which go in there.  For the gate is strait, and the way is narrow, which leads unto life, and there are few that find it.


Yehoshua was not sent to condemn the world but that through him the world might be saved, (John 3).  In  chapters 7 and 8 we find him healing the Many so that they might become the Few - who though they are few are more in number in the end than the stars of heaven.  As it says in Revelation 7:9 "After this I looked, and with amazement I saw a great multitude, which no one could number, from all nations, and families, and ethnicities, and languages.  They stood before the throne, and before the Lamb, clothed with white robes, and palms in their hands.  10 All these masses cried with a loud voice, saying, Salvation is from our God who sits upon the throne, and from the Lamb.'

Masses of people that no one can number are not a number characterized as a few.  What then is the saying of Yehoshua teaching?  He is describing the condition of the world that was then before his eyes and is even yet before our eyes.  There are few who he saw doing unto others as they would have others do unto them, and there was many doing unto others whatever served themselves and their own judgment of others.  Thus, the strait gate that leads to life was being entered by few, while the broad way of destruction was being taken by many.

Therefore we must read these words in chapter 7:13-14 with the words in chapter 8:14-17:

8:14-16 And when Jesus was come into Peter's house, he saw his wife's mother laying in bed sick with a fever.  And he touched her hand, and the fever left her, and she rose up out of bed, and immediately began to wait on them.   When evening came, they brought unto him many who were possessed with devils: and he cast out the spirits with his word, and healed all who were sick:

8:17 This was done in connection with what was spoken through the prophet Isaiah, "He took our infirmities, and bore our diseases."

The Many who were healed in Yehoshua's demonstrations of sharing the power of his faith and his love for tormented humanity were representative cases of all of us who share the ancient fallen nature of Adam, who are all together as one spiritually sick and demonized.  Isaiah the prophet speaks for Israel in order that Israel might speak for us all, saying, "He took our infirmities, and bore our diseases." He healed the great masses of humanity, who were all going into the broad way of selfishness that leads to destruction, and brought them into the power of the strait gate of his self-sacrifice, the narrow way of his own golden rule.

Chapter 7 Text

Chapter 7 ˙ Commentary and Notes

Chapter 8 Text

Chapter 8 ˙ Commentary and Notes