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

Link > Chapter 24 ˙Commentary and Notes

"God runs the world in the End Days like a fine silver filigree" Rabbi Nachman

The times of ignorance God overlooked but now commands all people everywhere to return again to Him as their Teacher and Guide in life. See Acts 17 with Ezekiel 37.

Matthew 24:1-2  

Yehoshua/Jesus left the Temple and was walking away when his talmudim/disciples came up to him to call his attention to its buildings.  "Do you see all these things?" he asked...

Yehoshua left the Temple and was walking away.  He did not offer the prophecies that follow concerning the Temple and the end of the world, its judgement and salvation, to those who were worshipping within the Temple on that occasion — those who did not expect judgement to come first on the House of the Lord/Hashem.

His talmudim/disciples were also unprepared for this and were not expecting it, yet their preparation was in following Yehoshua.  He gave his prophecies to his talmudim/disciples only when he was questioned by them.  He was walking away from the Temple because he was about to leave Jerusalem desolate (Zephaniah 3) and return to his Father who had sent him.

Had Yehoshua failed because he was not received by his own, and therefore the Temple would have to be destroyed?  No!  It was unto this end that he was sent into the world.  The Temple would be destroyed because it was made to be one in the word of prophecy with his body.  As his body would be raised again, so the Temple would be raised again.

Out of Yehoshua's death would be salvation for Israel.  Out of his rejection would be the reconciling of the world.  All of Matthew 24 should be read in this light.

Since the Temple was built to be destroyed, why was it built at all?  Heaven and Earth were created in order that God might dwell with/ את /Et his dear creatures.  This is the pattern of purpose for the Dwelling Place of God that is revealed through the Temple.

God did not make the world in vain but to be inhabited, Isaiah 45:18.  God created the corruptible world to be a seed that He could re-create into an incorruptible world.  Even if death entered through sin, as indeed it did, God would re-create the world through redemption, which indeed He did and is continuing to do by unfolding and revealing that redemption.  This is the pattern of judgement and salvation revealed by the history and the future of the Temple.

Matthew 24:2 specifically

"Do you see all of these things..?"  Our experience of the Time World / Temple is an aspect itself of that very Time World / Temple.  Yehoshua's teaching and prophecy framed that experience for his talmudim/disciples and for us.  We must experience death and resurrection with minds and hearts and souls and strength that is, altogether as one Adam, learning.  Don't allow this to be too deep for you.  Understand it.  Our experiencing redemption as conscious souls, learning repentance, through history, through prophecy, through being subject to judgement, through justice, through mercy, all this is essential to re-creation, the re-creation of the Time World, the Temple above and below, the regeneration of the seed of the universe.

Link > Chapter 1 ˙Commentary and Notes on vs. 22-23

Chapter 1 Text
Matthew 1:22-23 Now all this was done, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken of the Lord by the prophet, saying, Behold, a virgin shall be with child, and shall bring forth a son, and they shall call his name Emmanuel, which being interpreted is, God with us.

We read in Isaiah 7:14 Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign; Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel. That is the King James Version.  In the Jewish Publication Society translation we have: Therefore the Lord Himself shall give you a sign: behold, the young woman shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.  The Hebrew is: לכן יתן אדני הוא לכם--אות  הנה העלמה הרה וילדת בן וקראת שמו עמנו אל ...  We are led to the following considerations:


Christian theology when clearly understood is not actually suggesting that the question of Yehoshua's divinity is the same question as the question of the virgin birth at all.  Clarifying this allows us to ask the question of what the miracle or sign actually is that Isaiah was prophesying to the House of David.  We will see that the sign that Isaiah spoke of in chapter 7 verse 14 actually did point to the King Messiah, but not in exactly the way that has been usually imagined.

The issue of the Virgin Birth has continued through all the centuries of Christianity.  In contention with the traditional Christian theology of the incarnation it is common to find in Judaism a simple and straight forward statement, something like, "When Mashiach comes he will be a human being born of human parents like every other human being."

Today, it is possible to point out that the real issue or issues to do with the Christian theology of the incarnation may not actually have to do with the question of the translation of Isaiah 7:14 at all.  This is because everyone should agree after fully considering the question that even where there is no father involved a child born of a woman is a human being like every other human being.  All orthodox Christian theology asserts this.  The modern science of cloning should clarify everyone's thinking about this.

The confusion only arises when people think that if there was no human father involved then God had to be the father, as it were.  If cloning can take place from a mother without a father then this notion is dismissed.  This is not to suggest that Yehoshua was a clone of Miriam with only the gender changed.  Rather, this is only to say that cloning shows that these kind of things are possible in the natural realm.

What was Isaiah saying, then, to King Ahaz and to the whole House of David? Hebrews 1:13 will help us to understand this.  We see there the understanding that Isaiah had in announcing to the House of David that God Himself would give them the sign of this child.  When Isaiah spoke to King Ahaz and said, "I and the children that God has given me," he understood that he was not only speaking in his own voice about himself and the prophetic significance of his literal children but that he was also speaking prophetically in the voice of Mashiach and the solidarity between him and his disciples as a prophetic testimony in Israel.

What was the sign of a child being born in a special prophetic way in Israel to say to King Ahaz and to the House of David?  In essence it was to say that they were not to depend on the power or might found in the order of this world but on the supernatural power of God in order to establish the throne of David in Jerusalem forever, for the power of the world to come is much greater than the power of this world and God is manifesting it in establishing the House of David.

Now this is the light in which the birth of Yehoshua is to be read in accordance with the Scripture, in accordance, specifically with the prophecy of Isaiah referred to in these verses.  Ultimately the divinity of Yehoshua will be revealed in this way but it will be the divinity of his humanity that is revealed and not his divinity despite his humanity.  Nor will it be revealed in this way to the logic of the natural religion of the human mind, which offends the Jewish mind taught by the Torah.  Rather it will be revealed in this way, in due time, according to the plan and purpose of the Scriptures, to Israel, and therefore in a way that converts the gentile imagination and religious logic rather than appealing to it.  We do not naturally have the ability to imagine the relationship of Mashiach with God as his Father, nor to understand it at all.  We can learn it but only from him as the Father makes it known.  And he has designed to fully make it known according to the Scriptures first to Jerusalem then to all Israel and then unto the ends of the earth.

It is because of this that Isaiah says of those, especially those of the House of David, who, when tested by the threat of King Sennacherib of Assyria turned to sorcery rather than to The Torah and the Testimony of God given to the fathers, that they possessed no light of dawn. (Isaiah 8:20)  By this poetic term of prophecy he referred to Mashiach.  We read in the Book of the Revelation of Yehoshua HaMashiach that he promises the Morning Star to those who overcome their trials.  This is not a mere reference to the first star of the morning.  It is a reference to the dawning of the light of eternity, of the world to come, that dawn to which Isaiah referred.  In Revelation 22:16 we read;

I Yehoshua have sent my angel to testify unto you these things in the assemblies. 

I am the root and the offspring of David, 

and the bright and morning star.

With this see Psalms 110:3 Thy people shall be willing in the day of thy power, in the beauties of holiness from the womb of the morning: thou hast the dew of thy youth.

For further notes on this subjcet see my Evernote Covenant Files

Link > Matthew Chapter 22

Chapter 22

1 And again Jesus spoke to them in parables, saying,

2 “The kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king who gave a wedding feast for his son,

3 and sent his servants to call those who were invited to the wedding feast, but they would not come.

4 Again he sent other servants, saying, ‘Tell those who are invited, See, I have prepared my dinner, my oxen and my fat calves have been slaughtered, and everything is ready. Come to the wedding feast.’

5 But they paid no attention and went off, one to his farm, another to his business,

6 while the rest seized his servants, treated them shamefully, and killed them.

7 The king was angry, and he sent his troops and destroyed those murderers and burned their city.

8 Then he said to his servants, ‘The wedding feast is ready, but those invited were not worthy.

9 Go therefore to the main roads and invite to the wedding feast as many as you find.’

10 And those servants went out into the roads and gathered all whom they found, both bad and good. So the wedding hall was filled with guests. 

11 “But when the king came in to look at the guests, he saw there a man who had no wedding garment.

12 And he said to him, ‘Friend, how did you get in here without a wedding garment?’ And he was speechless.

13 Then the king said to the attendants, ‘Bind him hand and foot and cast him into the outer darkness. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’

14 For many are called, but few are chosen.” 

15 Then the Pharisees went and plotted how to entangle him in his talk.

16 And they sent their disciples to him, along with the Herodians, saying, “Teacher, we know that you are true and teach the way of God truthfully, and you do not care about anyone's opinion, for you are not swayed by appearances.

17 Tell us, then, what you think. Is it lawful to pay taxes to Caesar, or not?”

18 But Jesus, aware of their malice, said, “Why put me to the test, you hypocrites?

19 Show me the coin for the tax.” And they brought him a denarius.

20 And Jesus said to them, “Whose likeness and inscription is this?”

21 They said, “Caesar's.” Then he said to them, “Therefore render to Caesar the things that are Caesar's, and to God the things that are God's.”

22 When they heard it, they marveled. And they left him and went away. 

23 The same day Sadducees came to him, who say that there is no resurrection, and they asked him a question,

24 saying, “Teacher, Moses said, ‘If a man dies having no children, his brother must marry the widow and raise up children for his brother.’

25 Now there were seven brothers among us. The first married and died, and having no children left his wife to his brother.

26 So too the second and third, down to the seventh.

27 After them all, the woman died.

28 In the resurrection, therefore, of the seven, whose wife will she be? For they all had her.” 

29 But Jesus answered them, “You are wrong, because you know neither the Scriptures nor the power of God.

30 For in the resurrection they neither marry nor are given in marriage, but are like angels in heaven.

31 And as for the resurrection of the dead, have you not read what was said to you by God:

32 ‘I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob’? He is not God of the dead, but of the living.”

33 And when the crowd heard it, they were astonished at his teaching. 

34 But when the Pharisees heard that he had silenced the Sadducees, they gathered together.

35 And one of them, a lawyer, asked him a question to test him.

36 “Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?”

37 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 first commandment.

39 And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself.

40 On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets.” 

41 Now while the Pharisees were gathered together, Jesus asked them a question,

42 saying, “What do you think about the Christ? Whose son is he?” They said to him, “The son of David.”

43 He said to them, “How is it then that David, in the Spirit, calls him Lord, saying, 

44 “‘The Lord said to my Lord,

Sit at my right hand,

until I put your enemies under your feet’?

45 If then David calls him Lord, how is he his son?”

46 And no one was able to answer him a word, nor from that day did anyone dare to ask him any more questions.

Chapter 22 ˙ Commentary and Note

Chapter 22 ˙ Commentary and Notes

go to Chapter 22

∆

Matthew 22:45

Matthew 22:41: ¶While the Pharisees were gathered together, Jesus asked them,

42 Saying, What do you think about Mashiach? whose son is he? They answered him, The Son of David.

43 He saith unto them, How then does David in spirit call him Lord, saying,

44 The LORD said unto my Lord, Sit yourself on my right hand, till I make your enemies your footstool?

45 If David then call him Lord, how is he his son?

46 And no man was able to answer him a word, neither durst any man from that day forth ask him any more questions.

The reason for the division of the House of Israel and the House of Judah was the chastisement upon the House of David.  This chastisement resulted in the expression, "the tabernacle of David, which is fallen down," Acts 15:16 > Amos 9:11,12.

Yehoshua asks the Torah teachers about this, "saying, What do you think about Mashiach? whose son is he?  There was a teaching that there was a Mashiach who was the son of Joseph as well as a Mashiach who was the son of David.  Yehoshua does not mention this teaching explicitly.  Instead, he directly addresses the question of in what sense Mashiach should be called the son of David.  If Mashiach is greater than David, how then can David fully represent all that Mashiach is?  One might ask if David can represent all that Moshe is, and yet Mashiach is also represented by what Moshe is.  As Moshe says, Mashiach is a prophet like unto him.

Indeed, the fall of the House of David is just in this, that the House of David builds the Temple of God but cannot represent all the Mashiach is, who is the builder of the Eternal Temple of God which will never be destroyed.  It is for this very reason that all of those righteous men of faith who represented the likeness of Mashiach before hand must be looked at together, Joseph, Moshe, Aaron, and David, in order to even begin to fully represent Mashiach.   Those traditions concerning Mashiach ben Yoseph, therefore, which speak of one who is along side of Mashiach ben David must be taken as allegories and brought together into one for an interpretation of revelation.  In this way we will see one picture of  one Mashiach.  

We can begin to do this by looking at the Tribe of Benjamin and the place of the Tribe of Benjamin in relation to the Tribe of Judah in the chastisement upon the house of David.  There is great depth to this subject in Scripture.  We may say that the Benjamites adhered to the House of Judah, which is an aspect of there being 10 tribes lost in the captivity of the northern kingdom not 11 tribes.  However, it is the concealment of the mystery of the 10 tribes in through their captivity that matters most.  It is the mystery itself of only 10 tribes being given to Jeroboam, while only one tribe was preserved to the House of David that matters most.  In truth, this whole story, which is the story of thefall of the House of David, or the booth of David, is itself representative of the prophetic picture of Mashiach.  In order to fully learn what Yehoshua wanted the teachers of the Torah to learn we must learn to understand this whole story, to which the Tribe of Benjamin is the key.

To continue studying this subject,
go to the page: Tribe of Benjamin - Key To Redemption
This page can be found on my site entitled, Notes On The One Eternal Covenant.