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
12
The Question about the Sabbath
(Mk 2.23–28; Lk 6.1–5)
1 #
Deut 23.25
Not long afterwards Jesus was walking through some cornfields on the Sabbath. His disciples were hungry, so they began to pick ears of corn and eat the grain. 2When the Pharisees saw this, they said to Jesus, “Look, it is against our Law for your disciples to do this on the Sabbath!”
3 #
1 Sam 21.1–6
Jesus answered, “Have you never read what David did that time when he and his men were hungry? 4#Lev 24.9He went into the house of God, and he and his men ate the bread offered to God, even though it was against the Law for them to eat it — only the priests were allowed to eat that bread. 5#Num 28.9–10Or have you not read in the Law of Moses that every Sabbath the priests in the Temple actually break the Sabbath law, yet they are not guilty? 6I tell you that there is something here greater than the Temple. 7#Mt 9.13; Hos 6.6The scripture says, ‘It is kindness that I want, not animal sacrifices.’ If you really knew what this means, you would not condemn people who are not guilty; 8for the Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath.”
The Man with a Paralysed Hand
(Mk 3.1–6; Lk 6.6–11)
9Jesus left that place and went to a synagogue, 10where there was a man who had a paralysed hand. Some people were there who wanted to accuse Jesus of doing wrong, so they asked him, “Is it against our Law to heal on the Sabbath?”
11 #
Lk 14.5
Jesus answered, “What if one of you has a sheep and it falls into a deep hole on the Sabbath? Will you not take hold of it and lift it out? 12And a human being is worth much more than a sheep! So then, our Law does allow us to help someone on the Sabbath.” 13Then he said to the man with the paralysed hand, “Stretch out your hand.”
He stretched it out, and it became well again, just like the other one. 14Then the Pharisees left and made plans to kill Jesus.
God's Chosen Servant
15When Jesus heard about the plot against him, he went away from that place; and large crowds followed him. He healed all those who were ill 16and gave them orders not to tell others about him. 17He did this so as to make what God had said through the prophet Isaiah come true:
18 #
Is 42.1–4 (LXX) “Here is my servant, whom I have chosen,
the one I love, and with whom I am pleased.
I will send my Spirit upon him,
and he will announce my judgement to the nations.
19He will not argue or shout,
or make loud speeches in the streets.
20He will not break off a bent reed,
or put out a flickering lamp.
He will persist until he causes justice to triumph,
21and in him all peoples will put their hope.”
Jesus and Beelzebul
(Mk 3.20–30; Lk 11.14–23)
22Then some people brought to Jesus a man who was blind and could not talk because he had a demon. Jesus healed the man, so that he was able to talk and see. 23The crowds were all amazed at what Jesus had done. “Could he be the Son of David?” they asked.
24 #
Mt 9.34; 10.25 When the Pharisees heard this, they replied, “He drives out demons only because their ruler Beelzebul gives him power to do so.”
25Jesus knew what they were thinking, so he said to them, “Any country that divides itself into groups which fight each other will not last very long. And any town or family that divides itself into groups which fight each other will fall apart. 26So if one group is fighting another in Satan's kingdom, this means that it is already divided into groups and will soon fall apart! 27You say that I drive out demons because Beelzebul gives me the power to do so. Well, then, who gives your followers the power to drive them out? What your own followers do proves that you are wrong! 28No, it is not Beelzebul, but God's Spirit, who gives me the power to drive out demons, which proves that the Kingdom of God has already come upon you.
29 “No one can break into a strong man's house and take away his belongings unless he first ties up the strong man; then he can plunder his house.
30 #
Mk 9.40
“Anyone who is not for me is really against me; anyone who does not help me gather is really scattering. 31And so I tell you that people can be forgiven any sin and any evil thing they say;#12.31 evil thing they say; or evil thing they say against God. but whoever says evil things against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven. 32#Lk 12.10Anyone who says something against the Son of Man can be forgiven; but whoever says something against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven — now or ever.
A Tree and its Fruit
(Lk 6.43–45)
33 #
Mt 7.20; Lk 6.44 “To have good fruit you must have a healthy tree; if you have a poor tree, you will have bad fruit. A tree is known by the kind of fruit it bears. 34#Mt 3.7; 23.33; 15.18; Lk 3.7; 6.45You snakes — how can you say good things when you are evil? For the mouth speaks what the heart is full of. 35A good person brings good things out of a treasure of good things; a bad person brings bad things out of a treasure of bad things.
36 “You can be sure that on Judgement Day everyone will have to give account of every useless word he has ever spoken. 37Your words will be used to judge you — to declare you either innocent or guilty.”
The Demand for a Miracle
(Mk 8.11–12; Lk 11.29–32)
38 #
Mt 16.1; Mk 8.11; Lk 11.16 Then some teachers of the Law and some Pharisees spoke up. “Teacher,” they said, “we want to see you perform a miracle.”
39 #
Mt 16.4; Mk 8.12 “How evil and godless are the people of this day!” Jesus exclaimed. “You ask me for a miracle? No! The only miracle you will be given is the miracle of the prophet Jonah. 40#Jon 1.17In the same way that Jonah spent three days and nights in the big fish, so will the Son of Man spend three days and nights in the depths of the earth. 41#Jon 3.5On Judgement Day the people of Nineveh will stand up and accuse you, because they turned from their sins when they heard Jonah preach; and I tell you that there is something here greater than Jonah! 42#1 Kgs 10.1–10; 2 Chr 9.1–12On Judgement Day the Queen of Sheba will stand up and accuse you, because she travelled all the way from her country to listen to King Solomon's wise teaching; and I assure you that there is something here greater than Solomon!
The Return of the Evil Spirit
(Lk 11.24–26)
43 “When an evil spirit goes out of a person, it travels over dry country looking for a place to rest. If it can't find one, 44it says to itself, ‘I will go back to my house.’ So it goes back and finds the house empty, clean, and all tidy. 45Then it goes out and brings along seven other spirits even worse than itself, and they come and live there. So when it is all over, that person is in a worse state than he was at the beginning. This is what will happen to the evil people of this day.”
Jesus' Mother and Brothers
(Mk 3.31–35; Lk 8.19–21)
46Jesus was still talking to the people when his mother and brothers arrived. They stood outside, asking to speak with him. 47So one of the people there said to him, “Look, your mother and brothers are standing outside, and they want to speak with you.”#12.47 Some manuscripts do not have verse 47.
48Jesus answered, “Who is my mother? Who are my brothers?” 49Then he pointed to his disciples and said, “Look! Here are my mother and my brothers! 50Whoever does what my Father in heaven wants him to do is my brother, my sister, and my mother.”
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Good News Bible. Scripture taken from the Good News Bible (r) (Today's English Version Second Edition, UK/British Edition). Copyright © 1992 British & Foreign Bible Society. Used by permission.