Considerable time, it is true, elapsed between the two facts; but this only makes it the more sure and plain, that they are grouped together with a divine purpose. How different the serene word of power which Jesus uttered! And they feared exceedingly, and said one to another, What manner of man is this, that even the wind and the sea obey Him?" The Lord, however, in the same chapter, shows that it was not a question alone of what was to be done, or to be suffered, or is to be by-and-by, but what He was, and is, and never can but be. Now it is true, that those who have a bond in Christ, those who are related by Jesus Christ, have a closer relationship then actual brothers and sisters who are not bound in Christ. He had to teach men that Messiahship meant not crushing power but sacrificial service, not a throne but a cross, before they could spread his story abroad. A bruised reed shall he not break, and smoking flax shall he not quench, till he sends forth judgement unto victory. Now we must take the next step in our attempt to understand what Jesus meant. In the end of the chapter is set forth parabolically the unlimited forgiveness that suits the kingdom; here, I cannot but think, looking onward in strict fulness to the future, but with distinct application to the moral need of the disciples then and always. "And he said to me: 'Son of man, stand upon your feet and I will speak with you'" ( Ezekiel 2:1; compare Ezekiel 2:6; Ezekiel 2:8; Ezekiel 3:1; Ezekiel 3:4; Ezekiel 3:17; Ezekiel 3:25). That sin was the sin against the Holy Spirit. In the reception of the little children this is plain; it is not so generally seen in what follows. I. Even so shall it be also unto this wicked generation." And God says, "to obey is better then to sacrifice". Evil is a force which may be at bay but is never eliminated. Of course, both do preserve chronological order when it is compatible with the objects the Holy Spirit had in inspiring them; but in both the order of time is subordinated to still greater purposes which God had in view. Florence Allshorn, the great principal of a women's missionary college, tells of the problem of the candidate who always discovers that her time for quiet prayer has come just when there are greasy dishes to be washed in not very warm water. This was the very blessing that aroused, above all, the hatred of the scribes.
Matthew 12:32 in Other Translations - Bible Study Tools Wherefore I say unto you, All manner of sin and blasphemy shall be forgiven men: but the blasphemy against the Holy Spirit shall not be forgiven men. The word describes something worse than physical adultery; it describes that infidelity to God from which all sin, physical and spiritual, springs. But the Lord could not send her away without a blessing, and without a blessing reaching to His own glory. Only one provision for the putting away of your sin and your guilt, and that provision is in and through His only begotten Son. Nevertheless, the Lord did not withhold the infinite boon, though He knew too well their thoughts; He spoke the word of forgiveness, though He read their evil heart that counted it blasphemy. A good man, thus furnished, will bring forth, as Joseph out of his stores; will be speaking and doing that which is good, for God's glory, and the edification of others. God would not forgive this sin because the person who committed it in Jesus day was thereby strongly rejecting Jesus as the Messiah. The immediate context of this criticism is their blasphemy against the Holy Spirit: attributing a miracle of Christ to Satan. Is that reaction bleak hostility, as it was in the case of the Scribes and Pharisees? He would be destroying himself. "Henry's Complete Commentary on the Whole Bible". He had work to do before the Cross took him to its arms. It was a grave step this, and in view of His rejection now. This made it to be plainly and only a difficulty for God to solve. See the notes at Matthew 9:3. (14-21) Jesus heals a demoniac. It concerns us to think much of the day of judgment, that that may be a check upon our tongues; and let us consider. neither in this world, nor in the world to come; that is; they shall never be forgiven, see Mark 3:29. "Then," said the Lord, "are the children free.
Matthew 12:22 Commentaries: Then a demon-possessed man who was blind The point is that to the Ninevites Jonah himself was God's sign, and Jonah's words were God's message. It was one of the great human tragedies of Jesus' life that, during his lifetime, his nearest and dearest never understood him. God said, "I would rather that you would have mercy then offer sacrifices." It certainly makes this passage easier to understand, if we regard the difference between the two sins as a sin against God's human messenger, which is serious, but not unforgivable, and a sin against God's divine messenger, which is completely wilful, and which, as we shall see, can end by becoming unforgivable. [3.] And they repented at the preaching of Jonah, a miracle. II. The claims of human need took precedence over any ritual custom. and who are my brothers? Accordingly, notice that, in the manner in which the Holy Ghost introduces it, there is no statement of time whatever. So they rose up against them in battle on the Sabbath, and they slew them with their wives and children and cattle, to the number of a thousand people" ( 1Ma_2:31-38 ). So they asked him, "Is it permitted to heal on the Sabbath?" (22-30) Blasphemy of the Pharisees. And when the Pharisees saw it, they said unto him, Behold your disciples do that which is not lawful to do on the Sabbath day. In Matthew 16:1-28 we advance a great step, spite (yea, because) of unbelief, deep and manifest, now on every side. Which parts are inspired, which parts are uninspired, which is truth, and which is myth.And one of the stories in the Bible that has received some of the greatest criticism by these higher critics, is the story of Jonah. Hence, lower down in the chapter, after the demon was cast out of the blind and dumb man before the amazed people, the Pharisees, irritated by their question, Is not this the Son of David? And when the devil was come out, the dumb spake: and the multitudes marvelled, saying, It was never so seen in Israel." When they said, "He is doing those works by the power of the devil", now they're beginning to deny obvious evidence. The distinction here used, does not refer to a common one among the Jews, of the Jewish state and the times of the Messiah; but to the present state of life, and that which will be after, or upon death: and it does not suppose there may be forgiveness of other sins, though not of this, in the other world; but strikes at a notion the Jews had, that there are some sins, which repentance and the day of atonement expiate in this life; but there are others, which repentance and the day of atonement do not expiate; and these a man's death expiates, or makes atonement for (a). Then says the unclean spirit, "I will return into my house from whence I came out; and when he is come, he findeth it empty, swept and garnished. If we turn toMark 1:1-45; Mark 1:1-45, the proof of what I have said will appear as to the leper. Next the channels of water were made to flow backwards. In the eyes of the Scribes and Pharisees, the fault of the disciples was not that they had plucked and eaten the grains of corn, but that they had done so on the Sabbath. (1.) And the same day, when the even was come, He saith unto them, let us pass over unto the other side. Lastly, we have the Lord rebuking the ambition not only of the sons of Zebedee, but in truth also of the ten; for why was there such warmth of indignation against the two brethren? Oh yes, you bet the men of Nineveh will point a finger of accusation, because they repented at the preaching of Jonah, and that generation was refusing the message of Jesus. And many of you have no doubt experienced this. This, I believe, is a great lesson, and too often forgotten. [2.] It is not only the fact that God slighted matters of prescriptive ordinance because of the ruined state of Israel, who rejected His true anointed King, but there was this principle also, that certainly God was not going to bind Himself not to do good where abject need was. This fixes the meaning of the phrase. The walls of the academy leaned forward, and were only arrested at the bidding of another Rabbi. And I think this is important that we note. It cannot be inferred from this that any sins will be forgiven in hell. V. Here is a discourse of Christ's upon this occasion, concerning tongue-sins; Wherefore I say unto you. . 32 And whosoever speaketh a word against the Son of man, it shall be forgiven him: but whosoever speaketh against the Holy Ghost, it shall not be forgiven him, neither in this world, neither in the world to come.
Matthew, CHAPTER 12 | USCCB This intimates, [1.] But the sin against the Holy Ghost is such, as is not forgiven, neither before, nor at, nor after death, nor by it: all sins that are forgiven, are forgiven in this world, and that perfectly and at once; and all that are forgiven in this world, there will be a manifestation and declaration of the pardon of them in another; but such sins as are not forgiven here, there will be no declaration of the pardon of them hereafter. In this incident Jesus lays it down that the claim of human need must take precedence of all other claims. At that time Jesus was passing through the corn-fields on the Sabbath; [73] and his disciples were hungry, and began to pluck the ears of corn, and to eat. But it may well be that at the back of this there is a misunderstanding of what Jesus said. He knew only too well how many false Messiahs had arisen; he knew only too well how inflammable the people were. And here these people with Jesus coming with love and compassion, rejecting Him. Thus, the present dealings of God in grace, the actual shape taken by the kingdom of heaven, the calling of the Gentiles, the formation of the Church, are all passed completely over. On this they pressed him in spite of his remonstrance for a sign. But it is also true that sometimes a man's nearest and dearest are the people who understand him least, and that he finds his true fellowship with those who work for a common ideal and who share a common experience. Even words spoken against the Son of man shall be forgiven; as theirs were who reviled him at his death, many of whom repented and found mercy. And that was specified in their laws.So here it was the Sabbath day, and here is a man in need. The word that is used for to cry aloud is the word that is used for the barking of a dog, the croaking of a raven, the bawling of a drunken man, the uproar of a discontented audience in a theatre. Now it came to pass that when Ptolemy the son of Lagos came into this city with his army, these men, in observing this mad custom of theirs, instead of guarding the city, suffered their country to submit itself to a bitter lord; and their Law was openly proved to have commanded a foolish practice. What God desires far more than ritual sacrifice is kindness, the spirit which knows no law other than that it must answer the call of human need. His cure was very strange, and the more so, because sudden; he healed him. Divisions commonly end in desolations; if we clash, we break; if we divide one from another, we become an easy prey to a common enemy; much more if we bite and devour one another, shall we be consumed one of another,Galatians 5:15. That is the kind of sign that the Jews desired. the Jewish,) nor in that which is to come, viz. [There is what I call a clear, unmistakable note of time.] 25 And Jesus knew their thoughts, and said unto them, Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation; and every city or house divided against itself shall not stand: 26 And if Satan cast out Satan, he is divided against himself; how shall then his kingdom stand? And isn't it interesting how that they instinctively seem to know that Jesus would want to help this man, even though it was the Sabbath day. They do cast them out, and therefore they convict you of hypocrisy in the charge which you level against me. Note, (1.) And of course in Revelation John gives us a very graphic description of this resurrection. In other words, the leper is here introduced after the sermon on the mount, though, in fact, the circumstance took place long before it. People who are very different in their background, their mental equipment, and even their methods, can be firm friends, if they have a common ideal, for which they work, and towards which they press. But if they rejected the light, the darkness within them would become even darker (Luke 11:33-36). Had Peter confessed who the Son of man really is? It was accusing him of working miracles by the aid of the devil, thus dishonoring the Holy Spirit. Nowhere in the scripture are we encouraged to seek Mary, to seek favors for us from her son. Numbers 28:9). He mustn't be the type who goes into the kitchen and sobs just because we run short of incense. The blasphemous cavil of the Pharisees, Matthew 12:24; Matthew 12:24. Yoma, fol. "A grasshopper," said the country man. "He was still reluctant. The English translators have thus given the sense well; for the expression really conveys this slight, though the word "fellow" is printed in italics. Get Your Bible Minute in Your Inbox Every Morning. Note, Bad things may be expected from bad people, as said the proverb of the ancients, Wickedness proceedeth from the wicked,1 Samuel 24:13. First, they act foolishly in torturing the expression, future life, to mean an intermediate period, while any one may perceive that it denotes the last judgment. But it is likewise a proof of their dishonesty; for the objection which they sophistically urge is inconsistent with their own doctrine. Wherefore [He said] is it lawful to do good on the Sabbath days ( Matthew 12:12 ). 24 But when the Pharisees heard it, they said, This fellow doth not cast out devils, but by Beelzebub the prince of the devils. Next, the storm follows. (ii) He quoted the Sabbath work of the Temple. For all these reasons true kinship is not always a matter of a flesh and blood relationship. If they continue in this sin they cannot be forgiven, Mark 16:16; Romans 2:6-9. Article Images Copyright 2023 Getty Images unless otherwise indicated. It is true of so many people that the only thing they desire is to be left alone. It was going on, then, to the bitter end, and surely not without such suffering and sorrow as holy, unselfish, obedient love alone can know. 3 But he said unto them, Have ye not read what . The fact of two without the personal details would not powerfully tell upon mere Gentiles perhaps, though to a Jew it might be for some ends necessary. It was really after the transfiguration recorded in chapter 17 of our gospel. In this place, and in Mark 3:28-30, Jesus states the awful nature of the sin of which they had been guilty. And the Spirit of God comes to bear witness to us of this fact. How strict the judgment will be upon that account (Matthew 12:37; Matthew 12:37); By thy words thou shall be justified or condemned; a common rule in men's judgments, and here applied to God's. Even in a national crisis, even to save their lives, even to protect their nearest and their dearest, the Jews would not fight on the Sabbath. So He said to the man, Stretch forth your hand. You've become insensate, because you've been worshiping an insensate god. Reflections on his poverty, on his humble birth, and on the lowliness of his human nature might be forgiven; but for those which affected his divine nature, accusing him of being in league with the devil, denying his divinity, and attributing the power which manifestly implied divinity to the prince of fallen spirits, there could be no pardon. Vid. And in the Acts of the apostles we read, how that it became the conclusion of the ruling body of the early church, that the law was not really intended for the Gentile believers nor was it essential to their salvation, that it was possible for God's Spirit to work in the heart of a man apart from the law. Whereas, on the contrary, there are other kinds of order that call for more profound thought and enlarged views, if we may speak now after the manner of men; and, indeed, I deny not that these the Holy Ghost employed in His own wisdom, though it is hardly needful to say He could, if He pleased, demonstrate His superiority to any means or qualifications whatsoever. And there arose a great storm of wind, and the waves beat into the ship, so that it was now full. (2.) He still didn't want to go.
Matthew 12 - Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary - StudyLight.org When He reigns as David's Son, there shall be no more the Canaanite in the house of the Lord of Hosts. Such is the perversity of man, that he who is not called thinks he can follow Jesus whithersoever He goes. Suddenly he said, "Listen!" I. Christ's glorious conquest of Satan, in the gracious cure of one who, by the divine permission, was under his power, and in his possession, Matthew 12:22; Matthew 12:22. Matthew says that the sign is that, as Jonah was in the belly of the whale three days and three nights, the Son of man will be in the heart of the earth for three days and three nights. And the Pharisees went out, and they held council against him, how they might destroy him ( Matthew 12:13-14 ). Ears they have, but they cannot hear. Christ's errand into the world was to gather, to gather in his harvest, to gather in those whom the Father had given him, John 11:52; Ephesians 1:10. Evil words are the natural, genuine product of an evil heart. ", Master Of The Sabbath ( Matthew 12:1-8 Continued). See Isaiah 35:8. 1. A man may say in anger things he would never have said if he was in control of himself He may say afterwards that he never meant what he said; but that does not free him from the responsibility of having said it; and the fact that he has said it often leaves a wound that nothing will cure, and erects a barrier that nothing will take away. Then inside the house we have not only the Lord explaining the parable, the history from first to last of the tares and wheat, the mingling of evil with the good which grace had sown, but more than that, we have the kingdom viewed according to divine thoughts and purposes. We might well add a new beatitude: Blessed are those who give us back our self respect. Later the great Jewish teacher, Maimonides, was to say, "To pluck ears is a kind of reaping." But those were very unfit to sit in Moses's seat, who knew faces, and knew nothing else in judgment: Therefore they shall be your judges; "This contradicting of yourselves will rise up in judgment against you at the last great day, and will condemn you." You see He doesn't leave any neutral ground for you to stand on.What think ye of Christ, whose Son is He? This finds its fitting place, not in Luke, but in Matthew, particularly as the details here (not in Mark, who only gives the general fact) cast great light upon God's dispensational ways. Therefore, in Matthew 12:8, it may well be that son of man should be written without capital letters, and that the phrase does not refer to Jesus but simply to man. This is an acknowledgment, that there is no hope of salvation to any one whose guilt is not pardoned before death. Jesus knew their thoughts. These verses are not so much a disowning of Jesus' own kith and kin as an invitation to all men to enter into kinship with him, through the acceptance of the will of God, as that will has come to men in him. So Jesus laid down two laws. If he was practising exorcism by the power of the prince of devils, then they must be doing the same, for they were dealing with the same diseases and they had at least sometimes the same effect. If you are not for Him, you are against Him. There is nothing in that to be surprised at. The commandment forbids work on the Sabbath day; but the interpreters of the Law were not satisfied with that simple prohibition. And whosoever speaketh a word against the son of man By whom is meant, not any man, as Grotius thought, but the Lord Jesus Christ, so often called "the son of man", on account of his human nature, in which he appeared in great meanness and obscurity. 348.]. The heart is the treasury, the words are the things brought out of that treasury (Matthew 12:35; Matthew 12:35); and from hence men's characters may be drawn, and may be judged of. But, when they heard it, the Pharisees said, "The only way in which this fellow casts out devils, is by the help of Beelzeboul, the prince of the devils." Then was brought unto him Namely, By the person's friends, one possessed with a devil, blind and dumb Many, no doubt, supposed these defects to be merely natural: but the Spirit of God saw otherwise, and gives the true account, both of the disorder and the cure. The Law therefore simply leaves a man an empty invitation for all evil to take up its residence within his heart; the gospel so fills him with positive goodness that evil cannot enter in. And all the people were amazed, and they said, Is not this the son of David? Neither in this world, neither in the world to come. The orthodox were not now content to watch and criticize; they were preparing to act. If they were not whole-heartedly committed to him, in the end they would be against him. and then he will spoil his house. Fasting, indeed, would follow when the Bridegroom was taken from them. a T. Bab. . And there were many of the Jews in the church that took that position and some of them came down to the Gentile church in Antioch that had been established by Paul the apostle. Chelek.) Here was no glorious prince with pomp and circumstance; here was no rattle of swords nor army with banners; here was no fiery cross calling men to war; here was a simple carpenter from Galilee, in whose words was wisdom gentle and serene, in whose eyes was compassion, and in whose hands was mysterious power. Jonah was filled with hatred. After this (what makes it still more unquestionable) comes the case of the demoniac. Here in this chapter we see the first definite steps, the end of which could be nothing other than the Cross. All manner of sin and blasphemy shall be forgiven - That is, only on condition that people repent and believe. A voice came from the sky saying, 'What have you to do with Rabbi Eliezer, for the instruction is as he teaches?'". Matthew 12. 15 Aware of this, Jesus withdrew from that place. The works of the devil, as a rebel against God, and a tyrant over the souls of men, were destroyed by Christ; and therefore it was the most absurd thing imaginable, to think that Beelzebub should at all countenance such a design, or come into it: if he should fall in with Christ, how should then his kingdom stand? This the Septuagint renders _ Baal muian, Baal fly_. The times of the Messiah: 'Be mindful of the day wherein thou camest out of Egypt, all the days of thy life: the wise men say, by the days of thy life is intimated this world: by all the days of thy life, the days of the Messiah are superinduced.' This question is accordingly put to the proof in the ninth chapter. The answer is simple. Blasphemous words against the Holy Ghost are the worst kind of tongue-sins, and unpardonable, Matthew 12:31; Matthew 12:32. "Of whom do the kings of the earth take custom? Yet after all these pains in getting it, it is only valuable on account of one virtue which it possesses, that if it be brought to sick persons, it drives away those called demons" (Josephus: Wars of the Jews 7. (9-13) The malice of the Pharisees. Men sought their deliverance from the evils and the sorrows of humanity in their magic and their incantations. Therefore they shall be your judges. "No man putteth a piece of new cloth unto an old garment; for that which is put in to fill it up taketh from the garment, and the rent is made worse." At that time Jesus answered and said, I thank thee, O Father." They were able to look on incarnate goodness and call it incarnate evil; they were able to look on the Son of God and call him the ally of the devil. When the Rabbis began a parable, they often began it: "There was a son of man who"; when we would simply say, "There was a man who . (ii) Because Jesus gave this man back his health, he also gave him back his work. It was therefore a direct insult, abuse, or evil speaking against the Holy Spirit - the spirit by which Jesus worked his miracles. the Christian. The Lord hints at what the man's real desires were not Christ, not heaven, not eternity, but present things. So it was here; and our Lord turns to eternal account, in His own goodness, the shortcoming of John the Baptist, the greatest of women-born. 33 Either make the tree good, and his fruit good; or else make the tree corrupt, and his fruit corrupt: for the tree is known by his fruit. There is one section in this saying which is undoubtedly puzzling. In public he carefully chooses what he says; in private he takes the sentinels away, and any word leaves the gateway of his lips. They had seen the man with the withered hand; they'd watched him stretch it forth. "He that is not against us is for us," is a test that we ought to apply to others. Thus, whatever the peculiarity of the new blessings, the old thing could be taken up, though upon new grounds, and, of course, on the confession that Jesus is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. Jesus had three unanswerable replies to that charge. These loaves were changed every week, and the old loaves became the perquisite of the priests and could only be eaten by them. When they promised that they would not do so, he told them that the gate of Rome would fall and be rebuilt, and fall again, when there would not be time to restore it before the Son of David came. EXPOSITORY (ENGLISH BIBLE) Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers (31) The blasphemy against the Holy Ghost. In Matthew 12:32 we have kata tou pneumatos tou hagiou to make it plainer. (38-45. One of the most interesting things in the whole passage is Jesus' saying, "If it is by the Spirit of God that I cast out demons, then the Kingdom of God has come upon you" ( Matthew 12:28). Now that great promise was evidently fulfilled, that the seed of the woman should break the serpent's head,Genesis 3:15. Jesus knew the answer to that question perfectly well; he knew that, as we have seen, unless there was actual danger to life, healing was forbidden, because it was regarded as an act of work. He takes accordingly the title of the "Son of man" for the first time in this gospel. There are no apologies here; there is the statement of the claims of Christ at their highest. how is it that ye have no faith? So you made it less then yourself.But David made one further observation. If this be a sound judgment, the comparison of the first chapter of Mark affords decisive evidence that the Holy Ghost in Matthew has taken the leper out of the mere time and circumstances of actual occurrence, and has reserved his case for a wholly different service. If an animal fell into a pit on the Sabbath, then it was within the Law to carry food to it, which in any other case would have been a burden, and to render it all assistance.
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