Bible Verse Synopsis 3-1-25
Matthew 12
By this point in time the priests and Pharisees were watching every one of Jesus’s and his disciple’s moves. The disciples ate ripe wheat as they moved through the field on a Sunday. Accused of wrongdoing - the “gotcha” technique that is so famous now. The best way around that is to defend yourself when grace and mercy. The correct people will believe you. This is what Christ did. He defended himself with facts and examples from David. With that accusation in his back, Jesus still is preaching. “But I say unto you, that in this place is One greater than the Temple” - Verse 6. How tremendous of a statement. To say that He is greater than the temple might refer to all of the people in it or the temple building itself. Jesus, as Lord, has control over all things. He is Lord on all days. Even the sabbath. When He says these things, He is proclaiming it to the world that He is here to be our Savior.
Jesus heals the withered hand. A man with a withered hand asked Jesus to heal Him in the temple on the Sabbath. Jesus lectured the Pharisees about working on the Sabbath. Would you not save a sheep fallen into the pit on Sunday?? Treat man the same! We are all lost sheep until we repent and Christ picks us up out of the pit. Jesus heals the man with the withered hand. Another representation of the shortcomings of man. One of our hands is fallen from the start as we are all tainted by original sin.
He is the fulfillment of scripture. From Abraham to Isiah to Job to Malachi. Embrace His mercy and grace and repent to the Holy One. The people began to realize that Jesus was the Son of David. Do not blaspheme the Holy Spirit. Jesus was claimed to have His power from Satan. But, if He cast out demons from the bodies of many, how could He from the same as the devil? Opposing Him and being with Him are impossible. The same can be said of us and Christ. We must give our whole heart to Him so that we be saved by the Messiah. If we don’t trust the Lord to be all that He proclaimed to be we are no better off than the non believers. Trust is a large part of our belief and full faith in Him.
In the same way as the good and evil cannot exist together, the fruit and the tree cannot vary. They must be of the same. Good trees must yield good fruit. Any corrupt fruit from a good tree is the true heart of the “good tree”. We must be cautious as not to let corrupt fruit grow on our branches. Good should only bring about good and not corrupt or evil. For good men bring about good treasures.
The scribes asked for a sign even after all the miracles they had seen and heard. Jesus refused as they want a sign of deliverance from Rome not a deliverance from sin. Their hearts will not in the right place. We must also fight this battle to overcome our emotions and our sinful desires. In the this stanza Jesus proclaims that He will fulfill Jonah’s prophecy that The One will spend 3 days in hell before being rose from the dead. The proclamations from Christ are clear and wonderful. We should have no doubts!
Until we live wholly in Christ (with Him in control and overriding our sin nature), we will walk as the unclean spirit walked. Through dry places, seeking rest, and finding none. These spirits retreat from Christ and the Holy Spirit as they have no power over Him. We must rid our souls of this nastiness and cleanse our spirits. These spirits will not rest easy and will oft return to the scene of the crime to help us into relapse of our repentance. These spirits are lust, temptation, and every sin in the original Law. This spirit rarely comes alone and often brings friends to increase the corruption caused in our lives. Every time we relapse our state becomes worse than the first. Do not fall victim to the atrocities that attack us. Find strength in The Rock. Israel is the prime example of what is to come of us if we reject Christ and continue to fall victim to these demons of sin.
In verses 46-50, Christ opens the family of God unto all follow Him. This is done to show an example of how weak man is and his customs. Jesus's mother and brethren wanted to speak to Him but could not get in to where He was. The word was shared of the request, along with the displeasure of the requestors. Yet Jesus says that all who are there are His brethren! Verse 50 - "So whosever shall do the will of My Father which is in Heaven, the same is my brother, and sister, and mother." Christ again proclaims His sainthood whilst opening the door for all. Now we must do His will in this task to achieve this status. Once again we are called to live by the Word of God, not by the word of man and man's creations.