Matthew chapter 12

Well I have been distraceted of late.
Back on task.....


Matthew chapter 12 is broken into 5 sections.
Firstly Jesus addresses the Sabbath and heals a man's crippled hand.
These Pharisees provide a good example if someone wants to hold the letter of the law, but misses the law's intention. Moses explicitly forbade work on the sabbath, and gleaning from another's field could certainly be regarded as work, as a form of "reaping". Some Pharisees even forbade so much as scooping up drinking water in a container.
However, even the Pharisees could disagree among themselves on some details of sabbath law, while the law forbade preparing food on the sabbath , it certainly did not forbid eating it, and Jewish tradition prohibited fasting on the sabbath.
Jewish teachers disagreed among themselves to what extent doctors might work on the sabbath if life was not in danger. But Jesus acted as a man of prayer, not a doctor, and this time he does not even lay hands on the man, which some might have considered work. Instead he simply orders the man to stretch forth his hand, an act that was not considered work; God alone performs "work" in this scene.
Here Jesus is not a lawbreaker. Rather, that the Pharisees wish to kill him by the end of this chapter, indicates their own unfaithfulness to the law.

Next we have Jesus withdrawing from the Pharisees, healing more sick people and asking them not to tell who he was which fulfilled yet another Messianic prophesey. This time from Isaiah 42:1-4.

Thirdly Jesus is again referenced to be th Messiah or "Son of David" and in responce the Pharisees accused him of working with the power of Satan. To this he responds that "Every kingdom divided against itself will be ruined, and every city or household divided against itself will not stand." Jesus then says that "if I drive out demons by the Spirit of God, then the kingdom of God has come upon you." to which He follows with an analogy of binding a strong man before one can steal his possetions. Then Jesus makes a very interesting statement. "every sin and blasphemy will be forgiven men, but the blasphemy against the Spirit will not be forgiven. Anyone who speaks a word against the Son of Man will be forgiven, but anyone who speaks against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven, either in this age or in the age to come." This alludes to an unforgivable sin.
Well what is this unforgivable "blasphemy against the Spirit"?
Jewish teachers acknowledged that deliberate sin against God's law, such as deliberate blasphemy against God, was normally unforgivable. Even such a sin as Peter's denial of Jesus clearly does not count in the unforgivable category. The context of blaspheming against the Spirit here refers specifically to the sin of the Pharisees, who are on the verge of becoming incapable of repentance. The sign of their hardness of heart is their determination to reject any proof that Jesus is the promised Messiah, so much so that they even attribute God's ministry though Jesus to the devil. It is easy to read about the "unforgivable sin" and then fear that one may have committed it. This is why context is always so important: the sin is unforgivable only because it reflects a heart too hard to repent. Those who desire to repent, troubled by the fear that they may have committed this sin, therfore have not the hardness of heart to have committed it!

Some Pharisees then ask for a sign to prove that Jesus is the Messiah. But because God has already provided the world with sufficient evidence (Romans 1:20), he has the right to expect faith from those who have heard the truth. It is important to be ready to respond to people's objections to the faith, but sometimes we must also point out where the challengers ignore evidence already available to them. Jesus had already been providing signs, miraculous healings and exorcisms, and has even raised a girl from the dead, the Phaisees however are to intent on discrediting Jesus that they don't see these signs for what they truly are. This may remind us of Pharaoh's challenge to Moses for a sign.
Jesus explains that the world needs no greater sign that he is from God than his own message. What He then promises however is the ultimate sign, that "as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of a huge fish, so the Son of Man will be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth." A direct reference to His future victory of His Death and Ressurection.

Matthew 12:46-50 has Jesus saying that His disciples were His brothers and mother. This is not to disrespect His natural family but rather to demonstrate that his spiritual family is even more important than blood relatives. Family ties were paramount, yet Jesus followed the practice he had demanded of others. That the kingdom of God comes first. Obedience to God's will is what makes one Jesus' true brother, sister or mother. When we acknowledge God as our Father, his family becomes our family, and our ralationship to him as Father must become more important than any other.
From this we learn two things.
1. The importance of obeying and honouring God.
2. The futility of depending on anything other than Jesus to provide atonement and forgiveness of sin.

Only Jesus is the Way, Truth and Life, there is no other.