Matthew 12
12
A question about the Sabbath
(Mark 2.23-28; Luke 6.1-5)
1One Sabbath, Jesus and his disciples were walking through some wheat fields.#12.1 walking through some wheat fields: It was the custom to let hungry travellers pick grains of wheat. His disciples were hungry and began picking and eating grains of wheat.#Dt 23.25. 2Some Pharisees noticed this and said to Jesus, “Why are your disciples picking grain on the Sabbath? They are not supposed to do that!”
3Jesus answered:#1 S 21.1-6.
You must have read what David did when he and his followers were hungry. 4He went into the house of God, and then they ate the sacred loaves of bread that only priests are supposed to eat.#Lv 24.9. 5Haven't you read in the Law of Moses that the priests are allowed to work in the temple on the Sabbath? But no one says that they are guilty of breaking the law of the Sabbath.#Nu 28.9,10. 6I tell you that there is something here greater than the temple. 7Don't you know what the Scriptures mean when they say, “Instead of offering sacrifices to me, I want you to be merciful to others”? If you knew what this means, you would not condemn these innocent disciples of mine.#Mt 9.13; Ho 6.6. 8So the Son of Man is Lord over the Sabbath.
A man with a crippled hand
(Mark 3.1-6; Luke 6.6-11)
9Jesus left and went into one of the Jewish meeting places, 10where there was a man whose hand was crippled. Some Pharisees wanted to accuse Jesus of doing something wrong, and they asked him, “Is it right to heal someone on the Sabbath?”
11Jesus answered, “If you had a sheep that fell into a ditch on the Sabbath, wouldn't you lift it out?#Lk 14.5. 12People are worth much more than sheep, and so it is right to do good on the Sabbath.” 13Then Jesus told the man, “Hold out your hand.” The man did, and it became as healthy as the other one.
14The Pharisees left and started making plans to kill Jesus.
God's chosen servant
15When Jesus found out what was happening, he left there and large crowds followed him. He healed all their sick, 16but warned them not to tell anyone about him. 17So God's promise came true, just as Isaiah the prophet had said,
18“Here is my chosen servant!#Is 42.1-4 (LXX).
I love him,
and he pleases me.
I will give him my Spirit,
and he will bring justice
to the nations.
19He won't shout or yell
or call out in the streets.
20He won't break off a bent reed
or put out a dying flame,
but he will make sure
that justice is done.
21All nations will place
their hope in him.”
Jesus and the ruler of the demons
(Mark 3.20-30; Luke 11.14-23; 12.10)
22Some people brought to Jesus a man who was blind and could not talk because he had a demon in him. Jesus healed the man, and then he was able to talk and see. 23The crowds were so amazed that they asked, “Could Jesus be the Son of David?”#12.23 Could Jesus be the Son of David: Or “Does Jesus think he is the Son of David?” See the note at 9.27.
24When the Pharisees heard this, they said, “He forces out demons by the power of Beelzebul, the ruler of the demons!”#Mt 9.34; 10.25.
25Jesus knew what they were thinking, and he said to them:
Any kingdom where people fight each other will end up ruined. And a town or family that fights will soon destroy itself. 26So if Satan fights against himself, how can his kingdom last? 27If I use the power of Beelzebul to force out demons, whose power do your own followers use to force them out? Your followers are the ones who will judge you. 28But when I force out demons by the power of God's Spirit, it proves that God's kingdom has already come to you. 29How can anyone break into a strong man's house and steal his things, unless he first ties up the strong man? Then he can take everything.
30If you are not on my side, you are against me. If you don't gather in the harvest with me, you scatter it.#Mk 9.40. 31-32I tell you that any sinful thing you do or say can be forgiven. Even if you speak against the Son of Man, you can be forgiven. But if you speak against the Holy Spirit, you can never be forgiven, either in this life or in the life to come.#Lk 12.10.
A tree and its fruit
(Luke 6.43-45)
Jesus continued:
33A good tree produces only good fruit, and a bad tree produces bad fruit. You can tell what a tree is like by the fruit it produces.#Mt 7.20; Lk 6.44. 34You are evil snakes, so how can you say anything good? Your words show what is in your hearts.#Mt 3.7; 23.33; Lk 3.7; Mt 15.18; Lk 6.45. 35Good people bring good things out of their hearts, but evil people bring evil things out of their hearts. 36I promise you that on the day of judgment, everyone will have to account for every careless word they have spoken. 37On that day they will be told that they are either innocent or guilty because of the things they have said.
A sign from heaven
(Mark 8.11,12; Luke 11.29-32)
38Some Pharisees and teachers of the Law of Moses said, “Teacher, we want you to show us a sign from heaven.”#Mt 16.1; Mk 8.11; Lk 11.16.
39But Jesus replied:#Mt 16.4; Mk 8.12.
You want a sign because you are evil and won't believe! But the only sign you will get is the sign of the prophet Jonah. 40He was in the stomach of a big fish for three days and nights, just as the Son of Man will be deep in the earth for three days and nights.#Jon 1.17. 41On the day of judgment the people of Nineveh#12.41 Nineveh: During the time of Jonah this city was the capital of the Assyrian Empire, which was Israel's worst enemy. But Jonah was sent there to preach, so that the people would turn to the Lord and be saved. will stand there with you and condemn you. They turned to God when Jonah preached, and yet here is something far greater than Jonah.#Jon 3.5. 42The Queen of the South#12.42 Queen of the South: Sheba, probably a country in southern Arabia. will also stand there with you and condemn you. She travelled a long way to hear Solomon's wisdom, and yet here is something much greater than Solomon.#1 K 10.1-10; 2 Ch 9.1-12.
Return of an evil spirit
(Luke 11.24-26)
Jesus continued:
43When an evil spirit leaves a person, it travels through the desert, looking for a place to rest. But when the demon doesn't find a place, 44it says, “I will go back to the home I left.” When it gets there and finds the place empty, clean, and tidy, 45it goes off and finds seven other evil spirits even worse than itself. They all come and make their home there, and the person ends up in a worse state than before. That's how it will be with you evil people of today.
Jesus' mother and brothers
(Mark 3.31-35; Luke 8.19-21)
46While Jesus was still speaking to the crowds, his mother and brothers came and stood outside because they wanted to talk with him. 47Someone told Jesus, “Your mother and brothers are standing outside and want to talk with you.”#12.47 with you: Some manuscripts do not have verse 47.
48Jesus answered, “Who is my mother and who are my brothers?” 49Then he pointed to his disciples and said, “These are my mother and my brothers! 50Anyone who obeys my Father in heaven is my brother or sister or mother.”
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Matthew 12: CEVUK
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© British and Foreign Bible Society 2012
Matthew 12
12
1 AT THAT particular time Jesus went through the fields of standing grain on the Sabbath; and His disciples were hungry, and they began to pick off the spikes of grain and to eat. [Deut. 23:25.]
2 And when the Pharisees saw it, they said to Him, See there! Your disciples are doing what is unlawful and not permitted on the Sabbath.
3 He said to them, Have you not even read what David did when he was hungry, and those who accompanied him–[Lev. 24:9; I Sam. 21:1-6.]
4 How he went into the house of God and ate the loaves of the showbread–which was not lawful for him to eat, nor for the men who accompanied him, but for the priests only?
5 Or have you never read in the Law that on the Sabbath the priests in the temple violate the sanctity of the Sabbath [breaking it] and yet are guiltless? [Num. 28:9, 10.]
6 But I tell you, Something greater and more exalted and more majestic than the temple is here!
7 And if you had only known what this saying means, I desire mercy [readiness to help, to spare, to forgive] rather than sacrifice and sacrificial victims, you would not have condemned the guiltless. [Hos. 6:6; Matt. 9:13.]
8 For the Son of Man is Lord [even] of the Sabbath.
9 And going on from there, He went into their synagogue.
10 And behold, a man was there with one withered hand. And they said to Him, Is it lawful or allowable to cure people on the Sabbath days?–that they might accuse Him.
11 But He said to them, What man is there among you, if he has only one sheep and it falls into a pit or ditch on the Sabbath, will not take hold of it and lift it out?
12 How much better and of more value is a man than a sheep! So it is lawful and allowable to do good on the Sabbath days.
13 Then He said to the man, Reach out your hand. And the man reached it out and it was restored, as sound as the other one.
14 But the Pharisees went out and held a consultation against Him, how they might do away with Him.
15 But being aware of this, Jesus went away from there. And many people joined and accompanied Him, and He cured all of them,
16 And strictly charged them and sharply warned them not to make Him publicly known.
17 This was in fulfillment of what was spoken by the prophet Isaiah,
18 Behold, My Servant Whom I have chosen, My Beloved in and with Whom My soul is well pleased and has found its delight. I will put My Spirit upon Him, and He shall proclaim and show forth justice to the nations.
19 He will not strive or wrangle or cry out loudly; nor will anyone hear His voice in the streets;
20 A bruised reed He will not break, and a smoldering (dimly burning) wick He will not quench, till He brings justice and a just cause to victory.
21 And in and on His name will the Gentiles (the peoples outside of Israel) set their hopes. [Isa. 42:1-4.]
22 Then a blind and dumb man under the power of a demon was brought to Jesus, and He cured him, so that the blind and dumb man both spoke and saw.
23 And all the [crowds of] people were stunned with bewildered wonder and said, This cannot be the Son of David, can it?
24 But the Pharisees, hearing it, said, This Man drives out demons only by and with the help of Beelzebub, the prince of demons.
25 And knowing their thoughts, He said to them, Any kingdom that is divided against itself is being brought to desolation and laid waste, and no city or house divided against itself will last or continue to stand.
26 And if Satan drives out Satan, he has become divided against himself and disunified; how then will his kingdom last or continue to stand?
27 And if I drive out the demons by [help of] Beelzebub, by whose [help] do your sons drive them out? For this reason they shall be your judges.
28 But if it is by the Spirit of God that I drive out the demons, then the kingdom of God has come upon you [before you expected it].
29 Or how can a person go into a strong man's house and carry off his goods (the entire equipment of his house) without first binding the strong man? Then indeed he may plunder his house.
30 He who is not with Me [definitely on My side] is against Me, and he who does not [definitely] gather with Me and for My side scatters.
31 Therefore I tell you, every sin and blasphemy (every evil, abusive, injurious speaking, or indignity against sacred things) can be forgiven men, but blasphemy against the [Holy] Spirit shall not and cannot be forgiven.
32 And whoever speaks a word against the Son of Man will be forgiven, but whoever speaks against the Spirit, the Holy One, will not be forgiven, either in this world and age or in the world and age to come.
33 Either make the tree sound (healthy and good), and its fruit sound (healthy and good), or make the tree rotten (diseased and bad), and its fruit rotten (diseased and bad); for the tree is known and recognized and judged by its fruit.
34 You offspring of vipers! How can you speak good things when you are evil (wicked)? For out of the fullness (the overflow, the superabundance) of the heart the mouth speaks.
35 The good man from his inner good treasure flings forth good things, and the evil man out of his inner evil storehouse flings forth evil things.
36 But I tell you, on the day of judgment men will have to give account for every idle (inoperative, nonworking) word they speak.
37 For by your words you will be justified and acquitted, and by your words you will be condemned and sentenced.
38 Then some of the scribes and Pharisees said to Him, Teacher, we desire to see a sign or miracle from You [proving that You are what You claim to be].
39 But He replied to them, An evil and adulterous generation (a generation morally unfaithful to God) seeks and demands a sign; but no sign shall be given to it except the sign of the prophet Jonah.
40 For even 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. [Jonah 1:17.]
41 The men of Nineveh will stand up at the judgment with this generation and condemn it; for they repented at the preaching of Jonah, and behold, Someone more and greater than Jonah is here! [Jonah 3:5.]
42 The queen of the South will stand up at the judgment with this generation and condemn it; for she came from the ends of the earth to listen to the wisdom of Solomon, and behold, Someone more and greater than Solomon is here. [I Kings 10:1; II Chron. 9:1.]
43 But when the unclean spirit has gone out of a man, it roams through dry [arid] places in search of rest, but it does not find any.
44 Then it says, I will go back to my house from which I came out. And when it arrives, it finds the place unoccupied, swept, put in order, and decorated.
45 Then 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 also shall it be with this wicked generation.
46 Jesus was still speaking to the people when behold, His mother and brothers stood outside, seeking to speak to Him.
47 Someone said to Him, Listen! Your mother and Your brothers are standing outside, seeking to speak to You.
48 But He replied to the man who told Him, Who is My mother, and who are My brothers?
49 And stretching out His hand toward [not only the twelve disciples but all] His adherents, He said, Here are My mother and My brothers.
50 For whoever does the will of My Father in heaven is My brother and sister and mother!
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