Matthew 12
12
Chapter 12
The Pharisees watch what Jesus does on the day of rest
1On a Jewish day of rest, Jesus was walking through some fields where wheat was growing. His disciples were hungry. So they began to pick some of the grains of wheat. They began to eat them. 2While the disciples were picking the grains, some Pharisees saw them. They said to Jesus, ‘Look at what your disciples are doing! It is against God's Law to do that on our day of rest.’
3Jesus replied, ‘You have certainly read about what David did one day. He and the men who were with him were hungry. 4David went into the temple. He ate the special bread that was there. He also gave some of it to his men to eat as well. But it is against God's Law for anyone except the priests to eat that special bread. #12:4 See 1 Samuel 21.
5Also, you certainly know what God's Law says about the priests. They work in the temple, even on the day of rest. They have not obeyed the Law about the day of rest. But God's Law tells us that they have not done anything that is wrong. 6But I tell you this. There is someone here now who has greater authority even than the temple. 7You should understand what the Bible teaches. God says there, “I want people to be kind to each other. I do not just want them to offer sacrifices to me.” If you had understood this, then you would not have said to me, “Your disciples are doing something wrong.” 8The Son of Man has authority over the Law about the day of rest.’
9Then Jesus left that place. He went into the Jewish meeting place. 10A man was there. His hand was very small and weak, so he could not use it. Some Pharisees asked Jesus, ‘Is it right to make someone well again on our day of rest?’ They wanted to find a reason to say that Jesus was doing wrong things.
11Jesus said to them, ‘Maybe one of you has a sheep that falls into a deep hole on our day of rest. What will you do? You will take hold of it and you will lift it out of the hole. 12You know that a man is much more valuable than a sheep. So it is right for us to do good things on our day of rest.’
13Then Jesus said to the man with the weak hand, ‘Lift up your hand.’ So the man lifted up his hand and it became well again. It was now as strong as his other hand. 14Then the Pharisees went out from the meeting place. They began to talk to each other about how they could kill Jesus.
God chose Jesus to do an important job
15Jesus knew that the Pharisees wanted to kill him. So he went away from that place. A large crowd of people followed him. He made all the sick people become well again. 16He said to these people, ‘You must not tell anyone about me.’ 17This happened so that what the prophet Isaiah had spoken long ago became true. Isaiah wrote what God said:
18‘Here is my servant.
I have chosen him to serve me.
I love him and he makes me very happy.
I will give him the strength of my Spirit.
He will tell all the nations that I will judge them fairly.
19He will not argue with people. He will not shout at them.
People will not hear his loud voice in the streets.
20He will not hurt weak people.
He will be kind to people who are not strong.
He will do this until there is justice everywhere.
21All the nations will trust him to save them.’
Jesus talks about Satan
22After that, some people brought a man to Jesus. The man had a bad spirit in him. Because of this, he was blind and he could not speak. Jesus caused the man to become well again. The man could speak again and he could see. 23When Jesus did this, all the people were very surprised. They asked each other, ‘Maybe this man is the Son of David that God will send to us. Could that be true?’
24The Pharisees also heard about what had happened. They said, ‘This man can send bad spirits out of people only because Beelzebul gives him authority. #12:24 Beelzebul is another name for Satan. That is Satan, the one who rules all the bad spirits.’
25Jesus knew what the Pharisees were thinking. So he said to them, ‘If armies in a country fight each other, then they will destroy their own country. If people in one city or in one family fight each other, then they will destroy their own city or family. 26So Satan would not try to destroy himself. If Satan fights against himself, that would be the end of his own kingdom. 27Some of your disciples can also send bad spirits out of people. You would not say that it is Satan's power that helps them. So your own disciples show that you are wrong about this. 28I do send bad spirits out of people. I use the authority of God's Holy Spirit to do this. This shows that God has come to rule among you.
29Nobody can go easily into the house of a strong man to rob him. To do that, he must first tie up the strong man. Then he can take away all that man's valuable things. #12:29 Satan is like a strong person. But Jesus a stronger person. He fights Satan and beats him. Jesus sends bad spirits out of people and they go away. This shows that he is stronger than Satan. So it was not possible that Satan was working with Jesus.
30If someone does not agree to help me, he is working against me. You should work with me to bring people to me for help. If you do not do that, you are really making people run away from me. 31God is able to forgive all the wrong things that people do, and the bad things that they say against other people. But God will never forgive people who say bad things against the Holy Spirit. 32God will forgive people who say bad things against me, the Son of Man. But God will never forgive people who say bad things against the Holy Spirit.’ He will not forgive them now or ever. #12:32 The Pharisees had said that Satan worked with Jesus. The Holy Spirit gave his authority and power to Jesus. It was wrong to think that Satan was helping Jesus.
Jesus talks about a tree and its fruit
33Then Jesus said, ‘To have good fruit you must have a good tree. If you have a bad tree, then you will get bad fruit from it. You can know all about a tree by the kind of fruit that it makes. 34You are like the children of dangerous snakes. You cannot say good things when your thoughts are bad. When you speak, your words show what is in your mind. 35It is like things that you bring out of a room where you keep them. The good man says good things because he keeps good thoughts in his mind. The bad man says bad things because he keeps bad thoughts in his mind. 36I tell you this: One day, God will judge everybody. On that day, he will ask you about every useless word that you have spoken. 37God will think about the words that you have spoken. Then he will decide whether to let you go free or to punish you.’
The Pharisees want to see Jesus do something powerful
38Then some teachers of God's Law and some Pharisees said to Jesus, ‘Teacher, we want to see you do something powerful. This will show us that God has really sent you.’
39Jesus replied, ‘The people who are alive today are very bad. They do not obey God, but they want God to show them something powerful. But God will not do this for them. They will only see the same powerful thing that God did for his prophet Jonah. 40Jonah stayed inside a big fish for three days and three nights. #12:40 We can read this story in Jonah 1:17. God sent Jonah to a city called Nineveh. Jonah said to the people in that city, ‘You must stop doing bad things. You must show God that you are sorry. And you must start to obey him.’ In the same way, the Son of Man will remain in the ground for three days and three nights. 41When God judges everyone, the people who lived in Nineveh will be there. They will stand up and they will speak against you. They will show that the people who are alive today are bad. When Jonah spoke to the people in Nineveh long ago, they stopped doing bad things. But look! There is someone here now who is greater than Jonah was.
42Also, the Queen of Sheba travelled a long way to meet King Solomon. She wanted to hear his wise words. When God judges everyone, she will stand up. She will speak against you who are alive today. She will show that you are bad people. She listened to King Solomon. But look! There is someone here now who is greater than Solomon was. But you are not listening to me.’ #12:42 We can read this story in 1 Kings 10:1-10.
43Jesus then said, ‘When a bad spirit leaves a person, it travels through dry places. It looks for a new place to live. But maybe it does not find anywhere. 44So it says to itself, “I will return to the place where I lived before.” Then it goes back to that person. It finds that the place is empty. Everything there is now good and clean. 45So the bad spirit goes out and it brings back seven other spirits. They are even worse than itself. They all go into the person and they live there. Now the person's life is even worse than it was before. The same thing will happen to you bad people who are alive today.’ #12:45 A bad spirit can live in a person. Sometimes the Jewish leaders told a bad spirit to leave a person. It often came out, but later it went back to live inside the person again. Because the person did not have the Holy Spirit inside him, there was a place for bad spirits to live.
Jesus speaks about his family
46While Jesus was still speaking to the crowd of people, his mother and his brothers arrived. They stood outside the house. They wanted to speak to Jesus. 47Someone told him, ‘Look! Your mother and brothers are standing outside. They want to speak to you.’
48Jesus replied, ‘I will tell you who my mother and my brothers really are.’ 49Then he pointed to his disciples. He said, ‘Look! Here are my mother and my brothers. 50My brothers and sisters and my mother are those people who do what my Father in heaven wants.’ #12:50 People who believe in Jesus become part of the family of God.
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Matthew 12: EASY
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MissionAssist 2018
Matthew 12
12
Sabbath Questions
1At that particular time Jesus went through the grainfields on the #The seventh day of the week, the day of worship.Sabbath, and His disciples were hungry and began to pick the heads of grain and eat them. 2But when the Pharisees saw this, they said to Him, “Look! Your disciples are doing what #Picking grain to eat was not forbidden on the Sabbath. It was ridiculous for the Pharisees to try to equate gleaning for food with reaping a harvest (which was forbidden on the Sabbath).is unlawful on the Sabbath.” 3He said to them, “Have you not read [in the Scriptures] what David did when he was hungry, he and those who accompanied him— 4how he went into the house of God, and they ate the #The bread of the Presence, the twelve fresh loaves presented each Sabbath to the Lord in the Holy Place.consecrated bread, which was not lawful for him to eat nor for those with him, but for the priests only? 5Or have you not read in the Law, that on the Sabbath the priests in the temple break [the sanctity of] the Sabbath and yet are innocent? 6But I tell you that something greater than the temple is here. 7And if you had only known what this statement means, ‘I desire compassion [for those in distress], #I.e. more than.and not [animal] sacrifice,’ you would not have condemned the innocent.
Lord of the Sabbath
8 For the Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath.”
9Leaving there, He went into their synagogue. 10A man was there whose hand was withered. And they asked Jesus, “Is it lawful and permissible to heal on the Sabbath?”—they asked this so that they might accuse Him and bring charges into court. 11But He said to them, “What man is there among you who, if he has only one sheep and it falls into a pit on the Sabbath, will not take hold of it and lift it out? 12How much more valuable then is a man than a sheep! So it is lawful and permissible to do good on the Sabbath.” 13Then He said to the man, “Reach out your hand!” The man reached out and it was restored, as normal and healthy as the other. 14But the Pharisees went out and conspired against Him, discussing how they could destroy Him.
15Being aware of this, Jesus left there. Many followed Him, and He healed all of them [who were sick], 16and warned them not to tell [publicly] who He was. 17This was to fulfill what was spoken by the prophet Isaiah:
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 proclaim justice to the nations.
19He will not quarrel, nor cry out loudly;
Nor will anyone hear His voice in the streets.
20A battered reed He will not break,
And a smoldering wick He will not extinguish,
Until He leads justice to victory.
21And in His name the Gentiles (all the nations of the world) will hope [with confidence].”
The Pharisees Rebuked
22Then a demon-possessed man who was blind and mute was brought to Jesus, and He healed him, so that the mute man both spoke and saw. 23All the people wondered in amazement, and said, “Could this be the Son of David (the Messiah)?” 24But the Pharisees heard it and said, “This man #A statement of blasphemy against the Holy Spirit. See vv 31, 32.casts out demons only by [the help of] Beelzebul (Satan) the prince of the demons.”
25Knowing their thoughts Jesus said to them, “Any kingdom that is divided against itself is being laid waste; and no city or house divided against itself will [continue to] stand. 26If Satan casts out Satan [that is, his demons], he has become divided against himself and disunited; how then will his kingdom stand? 27If I cast out the demons by [the help of] Beelzebul (Satan), by whom do your sons drive them out? For this reason they will be your judges. 28But if it is by the Spirit of God that I cast out the demons, then the kingdom of God has come upon you [before you expected it]. 29Or how can anyone go into a strong man’s house and steal his property unless he first overpowers and ties up the strong man? Then he will ransack and rob his house.
The Unpardonable Sin
30 He who is not with Me [once and for all on My side] is against Me; and he who does not [unequivocally] gather with Me scatters.
31 “Therefore I say to you, every sin and blasphemy [every evil, abusive, injurious speaking, or indignity against sacred things] will be forgiven people, but #Blasphemy of the Holy Spirit is denying all the work of the Holy Spirit. This leads ultimately to rejecting the deity of Christ.blasphemy against the [Holy] Spirit will not be forgiven. 32Whoever speaks a word against the Son of Man will be forgiven; but whoever speaks against the Holy Spirit [by attributing the miracles done by Me to Satan] will not be forgiven, either in this age or in the age to come.
Words Reveal Character
33 “Either make the tree good and its fruit good, or make the tree bad and its fruit bad; for the tree is recognized and judged by its fruit. 34You brood of vipers, how can you speak good things when you are evil? For the mouth speaks out of that which fills the heart. 35The good man, from his [inner] good treasure, brings out good things; and the evil man, from his [inner] evil treasure, brings out evil things. 36But I tell you, on the day of judgment people will have to give an accounting for every careless or useless word they speak. 37For by your words [reflecting your spiritual condition] you will be justified and acquitted of the guilt of sin; and by your words [rejecting Me] you will be condemned and sentenced.”
The Desire for Signs
38Then some of the scribes and Pharisees said to Him, “Teacher, we want to see a sign (attesting miracle) from You [proving that You are what You claim to be].” 39But He replied and said to them, “An evil and adulterous generation [that is morally unfaithful to God] craves and demands a [miraculous] sign; but no sign will be given to it except the sign of the prophet Jonah; 40for just as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the sea monster, so will the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth. 41The men of Nineveh will stand up [as witnesses] at the judgment against this generation, and will condemn it because they repented at the preaching of Jonah; and now, something greater than Jonah is here. 42The Queen of the South (Sheba) will stand up [as a witness] at the judgment against this generation, and will condemn it because she came from the ends of the earth to listen to the wisdom of Solomon; and now, something greater than Solomon is here.
43 “Now when the unclean spirit has gone out of a man, it roams through waterless (dry, arid) places in search of rest, but it does not find it. 44Then it says, ‘I will return to my house from which I came.’ And when it arrives, it finds the place unoccupied, swept, and put in order. 45Then it goes and brings with it seven other spirits more wicked than itself, and they go in and make their home there. And the last condition of that man becomes worse than the first. So will it also be with this wicked generation.”
Changed Relationships
46While He was still talking to the crowds, it happened that His mother and brothers stood outside, asking to speak to Him. 47Someone said to Him, “Look! Your mother and Your brothers are standing outside asking to speak to You.” 48But Jesus replied to the one who told Him, “Who is My mother and who are My brothers?” 49And stretching out His hand toward His disciples [and all His other followers], He said, “Here are My mother and My brothers! 50For #A universal offer without restriction.whoever does the will of My Father who is in heaven [by believing in Me, and following Me] is My brother and sister and mother.”
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