AT THAT TIME Jesus went through the grainfields on the Sabbath. His disciples were hungry and began to pick some heads of grain and eat them. 2When the Pharisees saw this, they said to him, “Look! Your disciples are doing what is unlawful on the Sabbath.”
3He answered, “Haven’t you read what David did when he and his companions were hungry? 4He entered the house of God, and he and his companions ate the consecrated bread—which was not lawful for them to do, but only for the priests. 5Or haven’t you read in the Law that on the Sabbath the priests in the temple desecrate the day and yet are innocent? 6I tell you that one greater than the temple is here. 7If you had known what these words mean, ‘I desire mercy, not sacrifice,’ you would not have condemned the innocent. 8For the Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath.”
9Going on from that place, he went into their synagogue, 10and a man with a shriveled hand was there. Looking for a reason to accuse Jesus, they asked him, “Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath?”
11He said to them, “If any of you has a sheep and it falls into a pit on the Sabbath, will you not take hold of it and lift it out? 12How much more valuable is a man than a sheep! Therefore it is lawful to do good on the Sabbath.”
13Then he said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” So he stretched it out and it was completely restored, just as sound as the other. 14But the Pharisees went out and plotted how they might kill Jesus.
15Aware of this, Jesus withdrew from that place. Many followed him, and he healed all their sick, 16warning them not to tell who he was. 17This was to fulfill what was spoken through the prophet Isaiah:
18“Here is my servant whom I have chosen,
the one I love, in whom I delight;
I will put my Spirit on him,
and he will proclaim justice to the nations.
19He will not quarrel or cry out;
no one will hear his voice in the streets.
20A bruised reed he will not break,
and a smoldering wick he will not snuff out,
till he leads justice to victory.
21In his name the nations will put their hope.”
22Then they brought him a demon-possessed man who was blind and mute, and Jesus healed him, so that he could both talk and see. 23All the people were astonished and said, “Could this be the Son of David?”
24But when the Pharisees heard this, they said, “It is only by Beelzebub, the prince of demons, that this fellow drives out demons.”
25Jesus knew their thoughts and said to them, “Every kingdom divided against itself will be ruined, and every city or household divided against itself will not stand. 26If Satan drives out Satan, he is divided against himself. How then can his kingdom stand? 27And if I drive out demons by Beelzebub, by whom do your people drive them out? So then, they will be your judges. 28But if I drive out demons by the Spirit of God, then the kingdom of God has come upon you.
29“Or again, how can anyone enter a strong man’s house and carry off his possessions unless he first ties up the strong man? Then he can rob his house.
30“He who is not with me is against me, and he who does not gather with me scatters. 31And so I tell you, every sin and blasphemy will be forgiven men, but the blasphemy against the Spirit will not be forgiven. 32Anyone 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.
33“Make a tree good and its fruit will be good, or make a tree bad and its fruit will be bad, for a tree is recognized by its fruit. 34You brood of vipers, how can you who are evil say anything good? For out of the overflow of the heart the mouth speaks. 35The good man brings good things out of the good stored up in him, and the evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in him. 36But I tell you that men will have to give account on the day of judgment for every careless word they have spoken. 37For by your words you will be acquitted, and by your words you will be condemned.”
38Then some of the Pharisees and teachers of the law said to him, “Teacher, we want to see a miraculous sign from you.”
39He answered, “A wicked and adulterous generation asks for a miraculous sign! But none will be given it except the sign of the prophet Jonah. 40For 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. 41The men of Nineveh will stand up at the judgment with this generation and condemn it; for they repented at the preaching of Jonah, and now one greater than Jonah is here. 42The Queen of the South will rise at the judgment with this generation and condemn it; for she came from the ends of the earth to listen to Solomon’s wisdom, and now one greater than Solomon is here.
43“When an evil spirit comes out of a man, it goes through arid places seeking rest and does not find it. 44Then it says, ‘I will return to the house I left.’ When it arrives, it finds the house unoccupied, swept clean and put in order. 45Then it goes and takes with it seven other spirits more wicked than itself, and they go in and live there. And the final condition of that man is worse than the first. That is how it will be with this wicked generation.”
46While Jesus was still talking to the crowd, his mother and brothers stood outside, wanting to speak to him. 47Someone told him, “Your mother and brothers are standing outside, wanting to speak to you.”
48He replied to him, “Who is my mother, and who are my brothers?” 49Pointing to his disciples, he said, “Here are my mother and my brothers. 50For whoever does the will of my Father in heaven is my brother and sister and mother.”
Original Meaning
THE ADVANCE OF Jesus’ ministry has experienced an underlying opposition from the religious establishment of Israel, especially from the teachers of the law and the Pharisees. Now that opposition comes out into the open. These religious leaders are convinced that Jesus’ ministry is not from God. So out of their self-deceived sense of duty to protect the people and to further God’s cause, they set out to trap Jesus into being condemned by outright, flagrant violations of God’s law. They focus on violations of the Sabbath (12:1–14) and then turn to accuse him of being in league with Satan (12:22–37).
But Jesus vindicates himself as God’s true Lord of the Sabbath (12:8), God’s true Servant of justice (12:18), the Spirit-endowed inaugurator of the kingdom of God (12:28). As such he pronounces a judgment of condemnation on these religious leaders for their hard-hearted blasphemy (12:30–45). Yet he is the hope of justice for the oppressed nations (12:18–21), who are now invited to obey the Father’s will and so become Jesus’ disciples, his closest family (12:46–50).
Confrontations with the Pharisees over the Sabbath (12:1–14)
THE ROUND OF confrontations between Jesus and the Pharisees begins with two accusations against his disciples and himself about violating the Sabbath. God gave the Sabbath as a day of rest and holiness. The fourth commandment specified that no work was to be performed on the Sabbath, so that the day would be kept holy to God (Ex. 20:8–10). Over time the Sabbath became one of the most distinctive characteristics of the Jewish people, along with circumcision and dietary laws. But the mandate not to work was understood differently by sectarian groups within Israel, so it had to be interpreted for the people. With their emergent oral tradition, the Pharisees developed an extensive set of laws to guide the people so that they would not violate the Sabbath.
The two following incidents are recorded by each of the Synoptic Gospels (cf. Mark 2:23–3:6; Luke 6:1–11) and give a profound principle for the place of the Sabbath for Jesus’ disciples. Like Jesus’ interpretation of the Law and the Prophets in the Sermon on the Mount (cf. 5:17–47), he gives a stunning authoritative pronouncement about the Sabbath that takes us to the heart of God’s intent and motive in giving that commandment.1 This passage, therefore, should be read in the light of the preceding chapter, where Jesus condemned the current generation whose religious leaders, especially the Pharisees, had wearied and burdened the people with legal obligations of their traditions. Jesus has come to bring rest to those who take on his yoke of discipleship (cf. 11:28–30), the kind of true rest to which the Sabbath rest was designed to point.
The Pharisees’ accusations against Jesus’ disciples (12:1–2). The first controversy arises as the Pharisees confront Jesus about his disciples “working” on the Sabbath. Jesus regularly attended the synagogue services on the Sabbath (cf. Mark 1:21), after which he and the disciples gathered together, apparently often in Simon Peter’s and Andrew’s home in Capernaum (Mark 1:29; cf. Matt. 8:14). Sometime during the day, Jesus, accompanied by his disciples, took a walk presumably within the allowable Sabbath restrictions2 (Matt. 12:1). Pathways formed borders of family fields (e.g., 13:4), which allowed travel from village to village.
While walking along, “his disciples were hungry and began to pick some heads of grain and eat them.” It would have been easy for them to reach down and pick a few grains of wheat to quell the afternoon hunger as they walked along the paths that bordered agricultural fields. The law made provision for people who were hungry to eat from a neighbor’s field (Deut. 23:24–25). Similarly, the edges of a field were not normally harvested, so that the poor and hungry, foreign travelers, and orphans and widows might have grain available to them. This also included olives and grapes left after the first harvest (24:19–22; cf. Ruth 2:2–3).
While it is doubtful that Pharisees regularly patrolled the fields watching for people violating the Sabbath, with the mounting opposition to Jesus’ ministry they are now likely looking for opportunities to accuse him and his disciples of crimes against the law.3 “When the Pharisees saw this, they said to him, ‘Look! Your disciples are doing what is unlawful on the Sabbath.’ ” The expression “what is unlawful” can refer to an explicit Old Testament directive (e.g., 12:4; 14:4) or to an interpretation of an Old Testament command (e.g., 12:10; 19:3; 27:6). The disciples could have been guilty of several rabbinic rules as they plucked grain heads, separated the chaff from the grain, and ground the grain in their hands to prepare it to eat. But not everyone shared the Pharisees’ view of the Sabbath, which heightens our awareness of the tension that is growing between Jesus and the Pharisees.4
Jesus defends his disciples (12:3–7). Jesus’ reply puts the Pharisees on the defensive because he uses the Old Testament itself, on which they prided themselves as experts, to combat their accusations against his disciples. Instead of rebuking his disciples, Jesus cites two Old Testament examples that render ineffective the Pharisees’ charge and then goes on to give a third response that clarifies his use of these examples. He is not entering into their rabbinic debate but, as in the SM, will show how his authoritative arrival and teaching has fulfilled the law.
(1) The first example is the incident when David was fleeing from King Saul, who was trying to kill him (1 Sam. 21:1–7; 22:9–23). The “consecrated bread” refers to the twelve loaves of bread stipulated to be baked and placed in the tabernacle on each Sabbath as an offering representing the covenant made by God with the twelve tribes of Israel. This bread was only to be eaten by the priests (Lev. 24:5–9). Jesus indicates that technically David and his men did what was unlawful, but what is important to note is that Scripture does not condemn them for eating the bread, nor does it condemn the priest, Ahimelech, for allowing them to do so.
Jesus’ intention in his appeal to this Old Testament incident and its relationship to the charge against Jesus’ disciples has been understood variously.5 Apparently Ahimelech understood that as God’s anointed, David was serving God and was thus entitled to the bread at his time of need. The significance of Ahimelech’s action in giving the bread to David becomes clear later, when Saul ordered Ahimelech and the others of the family of priests to be put to death because he aided David, the future king, and his men (cf. 1 Sam. 22:9–23). Ahimelech served God’s purposes by feeding the fleeing David. The intent of the law is to serve God’s people, not for God’s people to serve the law. The next two responses clarify this point.
(2) The next Old Testament incident referred to by Jesus alludes to the directive in the Pentateuch that required priests to make sacrificial offerings on the Sabbath (e.g., Num. 28:9–10): “Or haven’t you read in the Law that on the Sabbath the priests in the temple desecrate the day and yet are innocent?” Priests regularly violated the Sabbath when they performed their duties on the Sabbath, yet they were considered guiltless. Since God’s law required them in their duties to work on the Sabbath, God made allowance within the law. Like the incident of David and his men, the law made allowance for violations when God called people to a task that would put them into conflict with a strict interpretation of the law.
Jesus presses the point by giving his rationale. “I tell you that one greater than the temple is here.” Using typical rabbinic logic, Jesus emphasizes that if the guardians of the temple were allowed to violate the Sabbath for the greater good of conducting the priestly rituals, how much more should Jesus and his disciples be considered guiltless when doing the work of God given to them. After all, he is someone greater than the temple. This must have been a stunning remark to the Pharisees. What could be greater than the temple? And what is the “greater” that is now here? This word points to either the ministry of Jesus and his disciples in proclaiming the arrival of the kingdom of heaven, to Jesus himself, or to a combination of both. The following comments that focus on Jesus’ Christological status seem to indicate that “greater” refers to Jesus himself, but focuses on the quality of superior greatness in his ministry more than his personal identity.6
(3) Jesus’ third response takes the argument one step further by quoting a second time from Hosea 6:6 (cf. 9:13): “If you had known what these words mean, ‘I desire mercy, not sacrifice,’ you would not have condemned the innocent.” Jesus’ disciples are the innocent ones who deserved mercy from the Pharisees, not condemnation. God in his great mercy has given the Sabbath to give his creatures relief from daily burden, not so that people would perform weekly sacrifice. The disciples were not guilty according to the Old Testament law but only according to the Pharisaic interpretation of the law. If they had not just read the prophet but had understood him, they would have known that in their adjudication of the Sabbath, they should have extended mercy, not demanded more sacrifice. Jesus attacks the very core of the Pharisaic tendency to add burdens to the daily lives of people by their accumulation of oral traditions.7
Lord of the Sabbath (12:8). Jesus concludes the argument with another remarkable clarification of his identity and authority: “For the Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath.” The arrival of the greater work of the gospel of the kingdom is centralized in Jesus as the Lord of the Sabbath, which gives a further clarification of his identity through this Son of Man saying (see 8:19). Jesus has revealed himself to Israel as their long-anticipated Messiah—the One who has come to fulfill the Old Testament law (5:17–20). In similar fashion to the way that Jesus points in the SM, the Sabbath law has been fulfilled in the rest brought by Jesus’ yoke of discipleship (11:25–30). The messianic Son of Man has the authority to give the true interpretation of the law (5:17–48), including the role of the Sabbath.
In other words, Jesus does not challenge the Sabbath law itself but the prevailing interpretation of it. Even though David had lied to the priest Ahimelech about his mission and he and his men ate the bread in the tabernacle that was not designated for them, it was the mercy of God that did not condemn David. It is the mercy of God that does not strike dead the priests who minister on the Sabbath in the temple, because his mercy is the basis that underlies the entire sacrificial system.8
So Jesus answers the charge against his disciples by showing from the Old Testament itself that the Sabbath is not fulfilled by the scrupulous observance of the Pharisees but in living out the intent and motive of the Sabbath, which was designed to bring rest.9 Increased sacrifice brought greater burden. As the Lord of the Sabbath, Jesus gives the true interpretation of its intent, bringing rest under his easy yoke and light burden of discipleship (cf. 11:28–30).
Healing on the Sabbath (12:9–13). Matthew moves quickly to another Sabbath controversy that apparently takes place on a different Sabbath (cf. Luke 6:6): “Going on from that place, he went into their synagogue, and a man with a shriveled hand was there. Looking for a reason to accuse Jesus, they asked him, ‘Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath?’ ” The cause of the deformity to the man’s hand is not specified, but it may have been some form of paralysis.
The identity of Jesus’ accusers is not stated, but presumably they are the Pharisees of the preceding controversy (12:2), who plot Jesus’ demise at the end of this confrontation (12:14). They have seen Jesus heal and pronounce forgiveness of sins (9:1–7), which they consider blasphemy (9:3). They have just witnessed his pronouncement about his authority over the Sabbath and the preference of mercy over sacrifice (12:7–8). So they provoke the controversy in an attempt to entrap him. Rabbinic teaching allowed that only in extreme cases of life and death could the Sabbath be violated.10 The man with the withered hand has likely had the condition for some time, and his life certainly is not in danger, so he could wait until the next day. According to the Pharisees, he is not a proper candidate for healing.
Jesus counters with a question of his own.“If any of you has a sheep and it falls into a pit on the Sabbath, will you not take hold of it and lift it out?” The question is not simply rhetorical. There was active debate in Judaism at the time on just such a point. In many ways the debate centered on how much a person was willing to sacrifice to give honor to God and his holy day. The Qumran community was more rigorous on this matter than most: “No-one should help an animal give birth on the Sabbath day. And if he makes it fall into a well or a pit, he should not take it out on the Sabbath” (CD 11:13–14). In the same document they contend that even if a living man fell into water, they were not to take him out by using a ladder or a rope or a utensil (CD 11:16–17).
Jesus presses the argument further because most Pharisees and other Jewish interpreters would have agreed with his example of rescuing an animal on the Sabbath. Using another typical rabbinic method of argumentation, Jesus contends that the higher principle is not simply abstaining from activity on the Sabbath but doing good on the Sabbath (12:12). This line of reasoning also follows from the preceding example of the priests performing their good work of temple service on the Sabbath and being considered guiltless (12:5).
To make an immediate confirmation of his claim, Jesus says to the man, “ ‘Stretch out your hand.’ So he stretched it out and it was completely restored, just as sound as the other.”The miracle confirms Jesus’ authority to make these pronouncements about the Sabbath, once more validating his claim to be the messianic Son of Man (cf. 9:1–8; 12:8).11 Without uttering a command of healing or even touching the withered limb, Jesus heals the man’s hand completely. This is similar to the way Yahweh had control over Moses’ diseased hand (Ex. 4:6–7).
Plot of the Pharisees (12:14). The seriousness of these issues is now revealed, for in reaction to Jesus’ actions and pronouncement about the Sabbath, the Pharisees plot to put Jesus to death (12:14). As vigorously as they debated legal rulings, they would never consider putting another person to death over a difference of interpretation. Thus, this verse shows that they understand clearly that Jesus’ claim to messianic authority to interpret the law is, in their eyes, a heretical claim worthy of death. They are now convinced that Jesus is not God’s agent.
The law prescribed the death penalty for cases of extreme Sabbath desecration (Ex. 31:14; 35:2), but under the Roman occupation the Jews did not have arbitrary power to impose or to carry out a death penalty (cf. John 18:31). But as the narrative will reveal, the collaboration and plotting of the Pharisees with Caiaphas, the chief priests, and the rest of the Sanhedrin are eventually sufficient to persuade the Romans to put Jesus to death for them (cf. 27:1–2).
God’s Spirit-Anointed Servant (12:15–21)
ONCE AGAIN IN response to a threat, Jesus withdraws (cf. 2:14, 22; 4:12; 14:13). He is not trying to escape opposition but to keep it at bay until the time for his predicted betrayal, arrest, and death (cf. 16:21; 17:22–23; 20:17–19; 26:45). He is still in full public view, because “many followed him, and he healed all their sick” (12:15). From the beginning of his public ministry people came to Jesus for healing from the surrounding countryside (cf. 4:24–25; 9:35), now including people from as far away as Idumea, over a hundred miles away (see Mark 3:7–8).
Not only does Jesus heal all who come, but he warns “them not to tell who he was.” We have already seen that a regular aspect of Jesus’ ministry is to demand secrecy about his identity and activity (8:4; cf. 12:16; 16:20; 17:9). Jesus carefully avoids stirring up in the crowds a misunderstanding of his messianic identity. The typical person in Israel hoped for liberation from oppression by the Roman occupation and the fulfillment of the promise of a Messiah who would restore the dignity of the Davidic kingdom to Israel. Jesus wants the people to see that his purpose in coming will not always meet their expectations. As Matthew now clarifies, Jesus is indeed the Messiah, but he has come meekly to bring justice to the Gentiles. Although miracles will attest the authenticity of his message about the arrival of the kingdom, Jesus does not want crowds clamoring for miracles alone. They may misunderstand his message to mean that he has come to effect only national and military liberation.
Matthew uses his typical fulfillment formula (cf. 1:22; 2:15) to introduce the longest Old Testament quotation in his Gospel, which identifies Jesus with the messianic Servant in Isaiah 42:1–4: “This was to fulfill what was spoken through the prophet Isaiah: ‘Here is my servant whom I have chosen the one I love, in whom I delight; I will put my Spirit on him, and he will proclaim justice to the nations.’ ” The context in Isaiah’s prophecy is the section often called the Servant Songs (Isa. 40–52). The identity of the Servant is perplexing, because it vacillates between the nation of Israel as the Servant (41:8–10; 44:1–3, 21; 45:4 [49:3?]) and an individual who leads the nation (42:1–4; 49:5–7). That individual emerges as the Servant Messiah who has a ministry and mission both to Israel and the nations.12 The phrase “the one I love, in whom I delight” takes the reader back to Jesus’ baptism and forward to Jesus’ transfiguration, where the Father expresses the same delight in his beloved Son (3:17; 17:5).
In this fulfillment quotation, Matthew gives one of the clearest declarations of Jesus’ intent as Messiah: He is the gentle, Spirit-endowed, Suffering Servant, who advances a mission of justice to the nations.13 Later Peter will proclaim that God had anointed Jesus with the Holy Spirit in order to do good and to heal (Acts 10:37–38). Ultimately, the same Spirit impelled Peter to go to the Gentile centurion Cornelius with the message of the gospel (10:44–48). The age Jesus inaugurated with the arrival of the kingdom is the age of the Spirit. Thus, to speak against the working of the Spirit is blasphemy, which is the sin that cannot be forgiven (see comments on Matt. 12:28, 31–32). The “justice” Jesus brings to the “nations” combines the sense of grace and judgment that has characterized the theme of inward righteousness that accompanies the arrival of the kingdom of heaven (e.g., 5:20). The Servant will pronounce the arrival of the kingdom that is an invitation to kingdom life, but it is also a sentence of judgment on the rulers of this world.
This Servant has an unexpected demeanor. Far from painting a picture of an imposing figure of conquest, Matthew continues his citation of the Suffering Servant theme from Isaiah:
He will not quarrel or cry out;
no one will hear his voice in the streets.
A bruised reed he will not break,
and a smoldering wick he will not snuff out,
till he leads justice to victory.
In his name the nations will put their hope.
This is a picture of a gentle Servant Messiah, who will not brazenly demand allegiance with his proclamation of justice but will gently and humbly invite those who are the most in need (11:28–30). The double metaphor of a bruised reed and smoldering wick emphasizes that the Servant will compassionately care for those who have been abused and who are about to expire because of misuse—pictures that find relevance in the harassed and helpless (9:36) and the weary and burdened (12:28) who are being oppressed not only by the foreign invading forces of Rome but also by the legalistic burdens from Israel’s religious establishment.
The Suffering Servant’s advance of justice will not break those who are abused, nor will it smother those who are nearly out of resources; rather, he will provide the ultimate victory for those who respond to the invitation to enter the kingdom. The strong and the mighty are often victorious in this life because they advance their own causes by abusing others and withholding care from the needy. But even as Isaiah knew that evil would not have the ultimate victory, so Matthew points to Jesus and declares that victory is at hand for those who seek God’s justice.
But it is not only for Israel. All “the nations” will put their hope in the name of this Servant, the One who Matthew declares is none other than Jesus of Nazareth (cf. 2:23; 12:21). The “name” in 12:21 stands for the whole of the person, including his identity and mission. Jesus Messiah is a Suffering Servant who is Spirit-endowed and who offers hope, because the advance of the kingdom of heaven promises victory for all the nations of the world.
Confrontations with the Pharisees over the Source of Jesus’ Miraculous Power (12:22–37)
THE PHARISEES ACCUSE Jesus of demonism (12:22–24). The connector “then” in 12:22 ties together thematically the accusations from the Pharisees about Jesus’ and his disciples’ activities on the Sabbath with accusations about Jesus’ healing and exorcisms. The controversies come to a head as a demon-possessed man who is blind and mute is brought to Jesus. Jesus heals the man by exorcizing the demon “so that he could both talk and see” (cf. 17:18, where Jesus heals a boy of epilepsy by casting out a demon). As we noted earlier (cf. 9:27–31), healing the blind is one of the most common of Jesus’ miracles and a signature of his messianic identity.14
The people are astonished at Jesus’ healing of this blind and mute demoniac, so they exclaim, “Could this be the Son of David?” (12:23). Different Jewish groups had difficulty putting together all of the varied messianic promises of the Old Testament (e.g., prophet, priest, king). The common people especially seemed to focus on David as warrior and king, so that the messianic son of David would be a liberator. Thus, they are perplexed here and ask, “Can the coming Messiah be both a liberator and an exorcist?” Although David was not considered a miracle worker, he is the only person recorded to have exorcised a demon in the Old Testament (1 Sam. 16:14–23). It is perhaps stretching the crowds’ understanding to comprehend that this gentle healing person (8:17; 12:18–21) is indeed the Son of David who will shepherd his people and bring the time of covenantal peace (Ezek. 34:23–31; 37:24–28).
The focus of the narrative, however, is on the continuing confrontation between the Pharisees and Jesus. In contrast to the reaction of the crowds, the Pharisees see the exorcism as more fuel for their charges against Jesus (see 9:3, 11, 34; 12:14). It causes them to condemn him as being in league with Satan (12:24). In the ancient world, exorcists used a variety of incantations and spells, potions and herbs, rings and earrings as magical things in an attempt to manipulate the spirit world.15 But Jesus’ form of exorcism has been far different. He commands the demons from his own authority, and they immediately submit. The exorcisms are meant to confirm the in-breaking of the kingdom of God in his words and deeds.
Nonetheless, the Pharisees accuse Jesus of drawing upon the power of “Beelzebub” (or better, “Beelzeboul,” the ruler of the demons; see comments on 10:24–25) to cast out the demon from the blind and mute man. The Pharisees do not deny the miracle but instead attribute Jesus’ power to Satan.16 This is a most serious charge, because practicing magic under the influence of Satan was a capital offense, punishable by stoning.
Jesus’ defense (12:25–29). Jesus first defends his ministry of exorcism with two short parables, then he follows it with two scathing denunciations of the Pharisees (12:30–37). (1) The power behind an exorcism could come from either God or Satan. Since the Pharisees have already concluded that Jesus is not God’s agent (cf. 12:14), they cite the source of his power as Satan. They assume that since a demon has come out of the man, it must be evidence that the demon is obeying Satan as the ruler of the demons. But Jesus shows the illogical nature of their thinking (12:25–26). If Satan wants to maintain rulership of this world, he would not work against himself by exorcising a demon that had control of a person. That would be counteracting his own attempt to maintain control of this world. The only logical conclusion is that if the man has been liberated from a demon, healed of blindness, and enabled to speak, it indicates that the source of Jesus’ power is God in his battle against Satan’s kingdom.
Since Satan’s kingdom is being overcome by Jesus’ exorcisms, they are concrete evidence that the “kingdom of God” has arrived (12:28). The power that underlies Jesus’ exorcisms is the Spirit of God, not Beelzebul. As with his healings, Jesus’ exorcisms validate the message that he is inaugurating the blessings of the eschatological age. This is one of the clearest statements in Matthew’s Gospel about the present reality of the kingdom of God. Only seldom does the expression “kingdom of God” occur in Matthew (19:24; 21:31, 43), who usually prefers the expression “kingdom of heaven.” These are equivalent expressions (see comments on 3:2), but here it may emphasize the opposition between God and Satan. The power of the Spirit of God operating through Jesus in exorcising Satan’s demons is tangible confirmation that the kingdom of God has arrived.17
At the same time, miracles are not compelling proofs. The cities of Korazin, Bethsaida and Capernaum did not repent, even though they witnessed the majority of Jesus’ miraculous deeds (11:20–24), and these Pharisees, who are eyewitnesses, do not believe either. The true significance of miracles is recognizable only by faith in the person of Jesus Messiah. The exorcisms are, as it were, “chinks in the curtain of the Son of God’s hiddenness.”18 The exorcisms do reveal the reality of the arrival of the kingdom of God, but hearts that are hardened against Jesus’ messianic identity are even more blinded than the man from whom Jesus has just exorcised the demon.
(2) Jesus continues his response to the Pharisees’ charge that he casts out demons by Beelzebul with a second short parable: “Or again, how can anyone enter a strong man’s house and carry off his possessions unless he first ties up the strong man? Then he can rob his house.” Jesus alludes to his role of inaugurating the kingdom as entering a well-guarded house (the household of Satan and his demonic cronies) and plundering the possessions of the owner. Before Jesus can release through exorcism those held captive, he must “bind” Satan. Jesus declares here that Satan’s powers are now limited because of the arrival of the kingdom of God.
Jesus’ offense (12:30–37). Jesus now goes on the offensive and declares with two scathing denunciations of the Pharisees the consequences of those who oppose his messianic ministry. (1) He begins by throwing down the gauntlet: “He who is not with me is against me, and he who does not gather with me scatters.” There is no middle ground with Jesus. He is either Messiah, or he isn’t. The Pharisees have already determined that he is not, so they will oppose him, as they have already demonstrated. But this saying has great relevance for all those within hearing. The crowds have been offered many opportunities to repent and enter the kingdom, but their day of opportunity will not last long. “To refuse to decide positively for Jesus is already to have decided against him.”19 The tragedy is that many in the crowds will ultimately follow the persuasiveness of the religious leaders and join them in asking for Jesus’ execution (27:20–25).
The Pharisees have been mounting charges of blasphemy against Jesus, but now Jesus shows that all of their charges are actually blasphemy themselves: “And so I tell you, every sin and blasphemy will be forgiven men, but the blasphemy against the Spirit will not be forgiven.” The Old Testament regarded deliberate, defiant sin against God and his ordinances to be blasphemy, the guilt of which remained (Num. 15:30–31). The Jews considered such defiant sin as unforgivable (see, e.g., Jub. 15:34). Rejection of Jesus’ ministry as validated by the Spirit is the same sort of defiant, deliberate sin. By attributing the work and power of the Spirit to Satan, the Pharisees are displaying the highest dishonor to God. To reject the evidence of exorcisms and healings and miracles is to reject the kingdom’s offer of forgiveness of sins. As long as the Pharisees continue to reject that evidence, they cannot enter the kingdom and receive forgiveness.
This also goes along with the role of the Spirit in convicting individuals of sin, righteousness, and judgment (John 16:8). As long as one rejects the Spirit, one can never find forgiveness for sins. Apparently Jesus knows the state of these Pharisees’ hearts and knows that they have now reached a point where they have hardened their hearts beyond the point of return.
This passage has caused many unknowing believers anguish, thinking that somehow they have committed this sin through a verbal assault on the Holy Spirit, resulting in eternal condemnation. Rather, this is a heart sin of unchangeable rejection whereby the Jewish leaders rejected the ministry of the Holy Spirit in their lives. Ralph Martin comments:
The verse is a solemn warning against persistent, deliberate rejection of the Spirit’s call to salvation in Christ. Human unresponsiveness inevitably leads to a state of moral insensibility and to a confusion of moral issues wherein evil is embraced as though it were good. . . . In such a frame of mind repentance is not possible to the hardened heart because the recognition of sin is no longer possible, and God’s offer of mercy is in effect peremptorily refused.20
This sin can be committed today only by unbelievers who reject the ministry of the Holy Spirit leading them to salvation. To the believer who fears that he or she has committed this sin, Cranfield says wisely, “It is a matter of great importance pastorally that we can say with absolute confidence to anyone who is overwhelmed by the fear that he has committed this sin, that the fact that he is so troubled is itself a sure proof that he has not committed it.”21
Jesus continues the offensive by distinguishing between rejection of him and the rejection of the work of the Holy Spirit: “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.”To speak against the Son of Man implies that a person does not know the full identity of Jesus. Through greater revelation and understanding, that deficiency can be overcome, the person can repent, and the person can then find forgiveness of sin. By yielding to the Spirit’s evidential and convicting work a person can be led to that very point. But to reject continually the Spirit’s work will result in a person never being able to reach that point.
Ultimately, once a person has either hardened his or her heart to an irretrievable point in this life (see comments on 13:14–15) or has died without repenting, the chance for forgiveness has passed. It is only what one does in this life that matters for eternity. Thus the only true “unpardonable sin” is when a person consciously, willfully, rejects the operation of the Spirit bearing witness to the reality of Jesus as the Savior. The person who does not receive this work of the Spirit cannot come to Jesus and therefore cannot receive forgiveness.
(2) Jesus’ second offensive strike forces the Pharisees to recognize that their charges against him come from their own evil nature. Like the challenge that Jesus addressed to the disciples and crowds in the Sermon on the Mount (7:15–20), Jesus tells the Pharisees to examine the fruit of their own lives—good trees bear good fruit and bad trees bear bad fruit, because of the nature of the tree (12:33; cf. 3:8). With the same scathing invective that John the Baptist used to address the Pharisees and Sadducees, Jesus declares, “You brood of vipers, how can you who are evil say anything good? For out of the overflow of the heart the mouth speaks. The good man brings good things out of the good stored up in him, and the evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in him.”
The expression “brood of vipers” (cf. 3:7; 23:33) refers to the dozen or more small, dangerous snakes that can emerge at birth from a mother snake. Vipers are proverbial for their subtle approach and attack, as was the original serpent (Gen. 3). The Pharisees attempt to hide their own wicked blasphemy by calling Jesus a blasphemer. But Jesus reveals the crux of the problem of the Pharisees—their hearts are evil. As with false prophets who lead the people astray with the false words of prophecy, eternal judgment awaits the Pharisees and teachers of the law who have attempted to dissuade the crowds from following Jesus by slandering him with accusations of blasphemy. But their slander is actually blasphemy of the Spirit of God. Since they refuse to repent, they will be held accountable for every word at the judgment.
Confrontations with the Pharisees over Their Demand for a Sign (12:38–42)
THE CONFRONTATIONS BETWEEN Jesus and the Pharisees over the Sabbath (12:1–14) and the source of his miraculous powers (12:22–37) lead to another attempt to entrap Jesus. They ask Jesus to show them “a miraculous sign” (12:38). A “sign” is some kind of visible mark or action that conveys an unmistakable message, such as the mark of Cain that warned people not to kill him (Gen. 4:15) or the way that the act of speaking in tongues is a sign to unbelievers of the reality of the gospel message (1 Cor. 14:22). Jesus’ return as the glorious Son of Man is the sign that announces the eschatological consummation of the age (see Matt. 24:29; cf. 16:27; 26:64).
The problem with a sign is that it can be interpreted in different ways.22 The Pharisees here ask Jesus to perform some kind of on-demand spectacular display of power that will irrefutably convince them that his power is from God, not from Satan. However, although their request appears innocent enough, they are not asking in good faith. They are asking for a sign that they can use against him. Jesus has already performed many miracles publicly, some of which the Pharisees have witnessed first-hand (cf. 12:9–14). If the Pharisees were open to God’s message, they would have accepted that Jesus truly is the Messiah. Instead, their hard hearts have rejected the miracles’ authenticating power, and they have used those same miracles as the basis of the charge that he is a satanic tool (12:24). Jesus recognizes their evil motive, so he refuses to fall into their trap of giving them further ammunition for their charges against him.
Then Jesus turns around the deceptive attempt of the Pharisees to entrap him and confronts them about their own duplicitous motivation and their impending condemnation. “A wicked and adulterous generation asks for a miraculous sign! But none will be given it except the sign of the prophet Jonah.”23 When Jonah appeared among the people of Nineveh, he was the sign to them that his message was from the God who had rescued him from death (Jonah 3:1–5). The generation that has heard Jesus’ message and seen his ministry have enough validating proof in his miracles that he is the Messiah. Instead of repenting when seeing his miracles, they have attempted to use them as the basis of the charge that he is in league with Satan (12:24). Because of their evil intention, the only other sign that Jesus will give to them is a sign of God’s coming judgment on them, as Jonah was to the people of Nineveh.24
“For 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.” The expression “three days and three nights” is not incompatible with the synoptic picture of Jesus being buried late Friday afternoon and rising on Sunday morning. Jesus repeatedly said that he would be raised “on the third day” (16:21; 17:23; 20:19). If he was a literal three days and three nights in the tomb, he would have been raised on the fourth day. But the Old Testament regularly reckoned a part of a day as a whole day,25 and in rabbinic thought, a part of a day was considered to be a whole day.26 Three days and three nights is almost a proverbial expression and means no more than the combination of any part of three separate days.
The culpability of the Pharisees and teachers of the law for not repenting at the arrival of Jesus extends to the entire generation who followed their misguided lead. They have had the greatest privilege (11:20–24), but the ones who will point a figure of condemnation are those who had far less privilege—the pagans of Nineveh—who repented when God’s messenger, Jonah, arrived (12:41). “One greater than Jonah is here.”
A second figure of condemnation against the Pharisees is another pagan—“the Queen of the South” (12:42), that is, the queen of Sheba (1 Kings 10:1–29). She too allowed God’s revelation to penetrate to her pagan heart. In his comparison to Solomon, Jesus once again makes a messianic claim to be “greater” than Solomon. “To claim that Jesus is greater than [Solomon] is to claim that he is the true Messiah; that he will build the eschatological Temple; that through him the Davidic kingdom will be restored.”27
In sum, the three ways in which Jesus is greater than the temple, the prophet Jonah, and wise king Solomon (12:6, 41, 42) elevate Jesus’ person, proclamation, and inauguration of the kingdom to be greater than, and therefore the fulfillment of, the three greatest institutions in Israel—priest, prophet, king. Jesus’ arrival with the kingdom of God has exceeded all that Israel has witnessed in her history. But tragically, and ironically, the Gentiles see what the Pharisees and that fateful generation do not.28
This Wicked Generation and the Return of the Evil Spirit (12:43–45)
AFTER THE SCENE of judgment for rejecting Jesus Messiah’s inauguration of the kingdom of heaven, Jesus gives a parabolic revelation of the warfare within that adulterous generation. The incident of the demon-possessed man who was blind and mute had instigated the entire interchange with the Pharisees (12:22–37), so Jesus returns to the topic of exorcism to make a final point. The Pharisees have accused him of exorcising demons by Satan’s power, but in an ironic twist, Jesus shows that these religious leaders and those of that generation who are following their lead are themselves under the influence of Satan’s evil spirits.
Jesus begins with a general statement of how demons operate: “When an evil spirit comes out of a man, it goes through arid places seeking rest and does not find it.” The verb “comes out” implies that the demon has come out through an exorcism. Demons are often associated with desert (waterless) places as their home (Isa. 13:21; 34:14; Tobit 8:3; 1 En. 10:4). The “rest” implies that although a demon can exist in a disembodied state, its evil purpose is best performed in an embodied state.
The demon seeks reownership of a person’s entire immaterial/material self: “I will return to the house I left” (lit., “my house”—that is why it is called demon possession). Demons tend to be persistent in wanting to maintain ownership of a person. So “it goes and takes with it seven other spirits more wicked than itself, and they go in and live there.” The number seven is linked in Scripture with completion, fulfillment, and perfection.29 Here it may point to the completeness of demon-possession once the demon returns.
The evil generation that Jesus addresses has experienced his powerful ministry, especially through his exorcisms. That has been a good thing for Israel. But Israel has not repented and turned to the kingdom of heaven. Therefore, that generation is more susceptible to the power of the evil one than ever before. The tragic point of the parable is in the statement, “And the final condition of that man is worse than the first.” If the present generation continually rejects Jesus, they too will be like a repossessed demoniac—their final condition of judgment will be worse than before Jesus came to them (cf. 12:32, 36).
The passage is parabolic in nature, drawing on real-life situations to tell a story to make a point. It has relevance for the generation as a whole, but it is instructive for individuals as well. That is, the parable points to an unbeliever who has been exorcised but who does not come to Jesus and enter the kingdom (cf. 12:28). The exorcised person must respond to Jesus’ invitation to believe in him as Messiah, enter the kingdom of God, and experience new life through his Spirit. The implication here is that this person has not entered the kingdom. Without kingdom transformation, a “cleaned-up” person is more vulnerable to the renewed and persistent attack of the demon world to take back ownership. He can easily be repossessed by the demon and seven more wicked cronies and will be in far worse shape, completely dominated by the entourage of wickedness. But if this person does receive Jesus and the kingdom, Satan will flee from the presence of God in this disciple’s life (James 4:7; 1 John 4:4).
Jesus’ Disciples Are His True Family (12:46–50)
THE CONFRONTATIONS WITH the religious establishment have brought to light the incontrovertible differences between Jesus’ proclamation of the gospel of the kingdom and the expectations of the crowds and the religious establishment of Israel. As he brings the law to its fulfillment as the Lord of the Sabbath (12:8), he releases those who respond to him from an oppressive slavery to the burdens of Pharisaic legalism and the oppression of Satan’s demonic kingdom. But there are other forces at work that may attempt to deter Jesus and his followers. This passage prepares for one of the most significant transitions in Jesus’ ministry (see comments on 13:1–17) by declaring clearly the distinguishing signature of Jesus’ own life and ministry as well as that of his followers: obeying the will of the Father (12:50).
The expression “while Jesus was still talking to the crowd” transitions the narrative from the preceding section that focused on those outside (i.e., the crowds and the Pharisees) to those within (i.e., the disciples). Matthew’s narrative has maintained a striking contrast between three groups: the disciples, the crowds, and the religious establishment of Israel (see comments on 5:1–2). Disciples are those who have responded positively to Jesus’ invitation to the gospel of the kingdom. The crowds are those who are interested in Jesus’ message and ministry but who have not yet made a decision to enter the kingdom and become Jesus’ disciples. The religious leaders are those who consistently oppose Jesus’ message and ministry.
Matthew 12:9–45 did not include any reference to the disciples. This is a clue that the topics discussed there were about entrance into the kingdom, not instruction about life within it. Now, however, as Jesus continues to address the crowd (12:46), “his mother and brothers stood outside, wanting to speak to him.” Jesus has focused upon proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom to all with an open-ended invitation. That invitation continues, but he now begins to require accountability of those to whom the invitation has been extended.
The omission of “father” may indicate that Joseph has died by this time. Matthew gives no reason for why his family wishes to speak to him, but Mark indicates that earlier his family apparently went out from Nazareth to Capernaum because they heard reports of the commotion that Jesus’ ministry was causing. They wanted to take control of Jesus and alter his ministry, because they thought that he was out of his mind, considering the claims he was making and his disruption of the religious status quo (Mark 3:21; cf. John 7:5).30 Along with this, it may be that they intend to bring Jesus to his senses as the eldest son, the one responsible to care for his mother and younger brothers and sisters after the death of Joseph.
Those who have contended for the perpetual virginity of Mary have tried here to interpret “brothers” to indicate either Joseph’s sons by an earlier marriage or cousins of Jesus, Mary’s sister’s sons. There is no historical evidence for a prior marriage of Joseph with children. If there were, that firstborn son, not Jesus, would have been the legal heir to the throne of David through Joseph.31 And although “brother” can have a broader meaning to include cousin, there is no contextual warrant for reading that meaning here.32 The most natural reading of this passage, especially in the light of the infancy narrative (see comments on 1:24–25) and the later mention of Jesus’ brothers and sisters (13:55–56) is that once Jesus was born, Joseph and Mary had normal sexual relations and had other children, who are Jesus’ half brothers and sisters.
With that context in mind, Mary and Jesus’ brothers arrive at the place where Jesus is speaking in order to escort him back to Nazareth. Someone tells Jesus, “Your mother and brothers are standing outside, wanting to speak to you.” But Jesus will not be deterred from his messianic mission, even if it means disruption of biological loyalties. “ ‘Who is my mother, and who are my brothers?’ Pointing to his disciples, he said, ‘Here are my mother and my brothers.’ ” Jesus has already accentuated to his disciples the inevitable separation that will occur between family members because of a commitment to him (10:34–39; cf. 8:21–22). He has not come to abolish the family, for later he upholds the law that demands children honor their parents and rebukes those who develop traditions that allow them to circumvent such care (15:3–9). And we will see that after the Parable Discourse, Jesus does return to Nazareth, where his family is still living, to preach in the synagogue (13:54–58). But Jesus is here demonstrating the preeminence of commitment to him and the kingdom of heaven, which places people in a new spiritual family.
Jesus specifies the central feature that creates and characterizes this spiritual family: “For whoever does the will of my Father in heaven is my brother and sister and mother.” The theme of doing the will of the heavenly Father is a motif that runs throughout Matthew’s Gospel and reflects deep Jewish roots (cf. 6:10; 7:21; 18:14; 21:31; 26:42).33 The will of the Father means obedience to the call to the kingdom of heaven that will result in true righteousness. A person’s genealogical relationship to Israel does not guarantee a place in the kingdom of heaven, nor does a person’s family relationship. Each individual must respond to the will of the Father and obey Jesus’ call to the kingdom and become his disciple. Jesus is the ultimate example of the will of the Father revealed and obeyed (11:27; 26:42), so to follow his example in discipleship and become like him will enable his disciples to do the Father’s will on a daily basis.
Jesus intentionally broadens the gender references to include women as his disciples by not only referring to mother and brother but also by bringing in “sister.”34 His message and ministry initiate a unique form of discipleship. Within Judaism at that time, especially among the rabbis, only men could become a disciple of a rabbi and study the Torah. But with Jesus, any person—woman or man, young or old, Gentile or Jew—who responds to the gospel of the kingdom and believes on him for eternal life is his disciple. In other words, discipleship to Jesus is not defined by rabbinic models but by relationship to Jesus, which means obedience to the will of the Father.35 The Old Testament prepared for this concept by stressing the importance of both the nation and the individual walking in the ways of God, which is now fulfilled in a discipleship to Jesus that creates a new family of God.36
This form of discipleship culminates in Jesus’ final Great Commission, where the central imperative is to “make disciples of all nations” (28:19). This includes both men and women, which the book of Acts confirms. In the earliest days of the church, “disciple” refers to men and women (Acts 6:1–7; 9:10, 36; 16:1), called “believers” (5:14), or the “church” (8:3).37 All disciples are to be taught to obey all that Jesus commands (cf. Matt. 28:19–20), which ultimately leads to obeying the Father’s will on a moment-by-moment, day-by-day basis.
Bridging Contexts
MATTHEW HAS ORGANIZED his Gospel around large chunks of material that reveal clearly Jesus’ true identity and ministry. He has carefully revealed Jesus’ divine origin (chs. 1–2), his prophetic and Spirit-led preparation (chs. 3–4), his authoritative messianic message (chs. 5–7) and miraculous ministry (chs. 8–9), and his messengers’ mission of proclaiming his own messianic message (ch. 10). With Jesus’ mission fully established, Matthew dedicates two full chapters to reveal opposition that is mounting in Israel against Jesus. Not only did John the Baptist, his own prophetic forerunner, question the reality of his mission (11:1–6), but those who have had the greatest opportunity to witness his teaching and miracles have rejected him, to their own condemnation (11:7–24). And now we see that the religious leaders, those with the most responsibility to acknowledge Jesus and point Israel to him, becoming Jesus’ primary opponents.
These scenes of controversy illustrate the conflict Jesus endured in his earthly ministry, so they have face value for our understanding of what he and the arrival of the kingdom of heaven encountered. But there are several valuable themes that Matthew has emphasized in this chapter. Why do the Pharisees and the teachers of the law challenge and oppose Jesus? Why could they not recognize the hand of God in Jesus’ ministry? He has come as the messianic initiator of the kingdom of heaven, yet those most responsible for recognizing him are the most blinded. This should cause us to pause. When we challenge Jesus’ role in our lives, we may be more like the Pharisees than we care to admit. Thus, a careful look at the motivating forces behind the confrontations will provide some valuable lessons.
Jesus’ opponents appear to have sincere motives. The advance of Jesus’ ministry has experienced an underlying opposition from the religious establishment of Israel, especially from the Pharisees and teachers of the law. But now that opposition comes out into the open. These leaders are now convinced that Jesus’ ministry is not from God. Their suspicions arise because they believe that he blasphemes by attributing to himself prerogatives to act in ways that only God can act (e.g., forgiving sins, 9:3), because he associates with sinful people (9:11), and because he has control over evil spirits (9:34).
Surely no person—whether prophet, priest, or king—has ever performed in such a way in Israel’s history. In their way of thinking Jesus must not be God’s emissary, let alone his Messiah. They believe he is leading the people in the wrong direction—away from God, not toward him. Therefore, he must be stopped. He is not simply a variant teacher of God’s law. Rather, Jesus is a law-breaker, whose crimes are worthy of death (12:14).
Nor is he simply a radical prophet of God, like John the Baptist. Rather, he is a demonic emissary of Satan, and his activities warrant a death penalty. So they try to entrap Jesus and confront him on two basic counts: violation of the Sabbath (12:1–14) and working miracles by Satan’s power (12:22–37). The religious leaders believe they are acting in good conscience by protecting the people, the law, and God from the evil that they perceive in Jesus’ ministry.
Jesus’ opponents are sincerely wrong. But the true story must be told. In spite of their seemingly sincere motives and efforts, the Pharisees are wrong. And it is not just that they have been mistaken; they have a more serious, deadly condition. They are so blinded and hardened in heart that they cannot see that the very activities for which they have accused Jesus are actually validations of the divine source of his ministry of teaching and healing. So as they oppose him, Jesus turns each confrontation into an opportunity to reveal further the true divine source of his teaching (12:8), healing (12:12), and identity (12:15–21).
Jesus also turns each confrontation around to refute the Pharisees about the disastrous effects of their own ministry. Not only have their traditions twisted the blessing of God’s law into a weary and burdensome load of guilt upon the people (11:28–29; 12:7), but the evil they are attempting to perpetrate by condemning Jesus comes from their own evil hearts (12:34–37). As the Spirit-endowed Son of Man, Jesus pronounces the judgment on these religious leaders for their blasphemy and sinful hardness of heart that cannot be forgiven (12:31, 37, 41, 45).
Jesus is the fulfillment of Israel’s greatest institutions. As Jesus counters the hardhearted opposition, he vindicates himself as God’s true Lord of the Sabbath (12:8), revealing that God’s intent in giving his law was not mere compliance but bringing good to those in need (12:3–7, 11–13). He is also God’s true Servant (12:18), the Spirit-endowed inaugurator of the kingdom of God (12:28), who has come to bring justice to those caught in the legalistic trap of the religious leaders (12:18–21). And Jesus is also greater than the temple (12:6), greater than the prophet Jonah (12:41), and greater than wise King Solomon (12:42). His person, proclamation, and inauguration of the kingdom are greater than, and therefore the fulfillment of, the three greatest institutions in Israel—priest, prophet, king. Jesus’ arrival with the kingdom of God has exceeded all that Israel witnessed in her history and should have been a day of great rejoicing. But tragically, the Pharisees and that fateful generation hardened their hearts against him.
The surprising victims of demonic activity. An ironic predicament that surfaces from these confrontations is the very real presence of demonic activity and their surprising victims. Jesus’ power over demon-generated maladies produced charges that he was in league with the prince of demons, which Jesus quickly refutes (12:25–37). But Jesus uses the analogy of an exorcised man to illustrate that the Pharisees, and all those of that generation who follow their lead in opposing Jesus, are the self-inflicted victims of demonic domination (12:43–45). They are likened to the exorcised man who attempts to “clean up” his house, but because they have not experienced the transformation that accompanies those who respond to the gospel of the kingdom, they will be inflicted with more than seven times the original demonic possession. Those who thought themselves to be the experts at diagnosing demonic activity are the victims of their own accusations.
The unexpected recipients of justice. But in the midst of the confrontation between Jesus and the Pharisees and the teachers of the law, another theme is sounded. Jesus is not only the authoritative Lord of the Sabbath (12:8); he is the Spirit-endowed Servant who brings justice to the nations (12:18). He has not come brazenly to demand a hearing for himself, but he has come gently and meekly with the hope of justice for the oppressed nations (12:15–21). Those with the closest relationship to Jesus Messiah are not those of his own biological household (12:46–49), nor those who have exercised authority in the religious household. Rather, as Jesus reveals the will of his Father, all who dare to obey will become his disciples, his closest household family members (12:50).
Contrary to the religious leaders, whose evil hearts are the source of their accusations against Jesus (12:33–37), Jesus’ disciples will experience a transformation of heart that will enable them to understand and carry out the intention of the law (12:1–6), follow Jesus, and become his emissaries of hope to the nations as he leads justice to victory (12:20–21), speak good words that typify people of the kingdom (12:35), and obey the will of their heavenly Father (12:49–50).
The battle between Jesus and the religious leaders is not a simple debate among Jewish leaders but a symptom of the cosmic spiritual warfare being waged ever since Jesus’ first arrival. He had been a threat to King Herod, the false claimant to the throne of Israel, and the religious establishment in Jerusalem, who tried to have him killed. Behind that opposition lurks Satan, who knows that his stranglehold on this world is being challenged. Through the temptations, Satan attempted to deter Jesus from reclaiming this sin-sick world (4:1–11). In chapter 12, sadly we see that Satan has deceived the religious leaders into opposing Jesus, to their own condemnation. Those the most responsible for recognizing him are the most blinded and severely influenced by all of Satan’s demonic forces. But to those who humbly receive him as God’s messenger of justice, victory over those evil forces is a very real hope.
Contemporary Significance
THE CONTROVERSIES BETWEEN Jesus and the Pharisees and teachers of the law end on a somewhat unexpected note. Jesus turns away from his own biological family, points to his disciples, and says, “Whoever does the will of my Father in heaven is my brother and sister and mother” (12:50). With that statement, Jesus puts into perspective the entire series of confrontations. He has come to do his Father’s will (11:27; 26:42), and those who receive his message and ministry obey the Father. Those who deny him—or worse, oppose him—deny and oppose the Father. The religious leaders of Israel had the greatest opportunity to know the Scriptures that prophesied of the arrival of Messiah, and with eyes of faith they should have recognized Jesus and pointed the people to Jesus as the fulfillment of those prophetic hopes. But instead of obeying the leading of the Spirit, they hardened their hearts against the Spirit and instead followed the lead of demonic forces.
Obedience to the Father’s will. There are several points of application for us as modern readers of this account, but obedience to the Father’s will stands at the center. Rightly applying the Old Testament by imitating Jesus’ example,38 encountering persecution while engaging in spiritual warfare, and developing community discipleship are all themes of this chapter. And all hinge on rightly obeying the Father’s will as it is now revealed by Jesus Messiah.
This has been the consistent battle cry of persecuted disciples of Jesus throughout church history. The contemporary Christian music group dc Talk teamed up with the Christian ministry The Voice of the Martyrs to write the gripping book called Jesus Freaks: Stories of Those Who Took a Stand for Jesus. It is a collection of worldwide testimonies targeting teens across America with the message of the uncompromising persecuted church. In an introduction to the book, Michael Tait explains its purpose: “In a world built on free will instead of God’s will, we must be the Freaks. While we may not be called to martyr our lives, we must martyr our way of life. We must put our selfish ways to death and march to a different beat. Then the world will see Jesus.”39 The book is filled with almost 150 personal testimonies and quotes from around the world and throughout church history of people who obeyed God’s will, most to the point of death. It has a powerful message for every Christian as we follow a conquering Savior who is able to carry us through any situation in life.
The book recounts the story of Geleazium, who was martyred in St. Angelo, Italy, in the Middle Ages. He is quoted as saying: “Death is much sweeter to me with the testimony of truth than life with the least denial.”40 That is an awe-inspiring commitment of obedience to the will of the Father. In our day it is no less imperative to cling to the truth of God’s Word and treasure it, even at the risk of our well-being.
Tom White, the director of The Voice of the Martyrs, who was himself imprisoned in Cuba for seventeen months for distributing evangelistic literature, understands clearly the necessity of obedience, which he saw exemplified in the suffering endured by Christians in Vietnam. He writes, “I was in the central highlands in Vietnam when someone remarked about how the Christians suffer there. One Vietnamese Christian remarked, ‘Suffering is not the worst thing that can happen to us. Disobedience to God is the worst thing.’ ”41
Evaluating the opposition that will come. Opposition to the work of the kingdom of God is real. Jesus was opposed by the religious leaders of his time. In our obedience to the Father’s will for our lives, we too can expect opposition. As he sent the Twelve out on their first mission, Jesus gave a grim prediction: “It is enough for the student to be like his teacher, and the servant like his master. If the head of the house has been called Beelzebub, how much more the members of his household!” (10:25). The harsh treatment that Jesus received from the religious leaders will be the lot of his disciples until the end of this age.
The opposition that we encounter will be of a variety of different types. In the increasingly secular society of the twenty-first century, we will encounter opposition to our faith from popular culture. The Christian community in the United States was rocked during the summer of 2002 when a panel of the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals struck down a 1954 law passed by Congress that added the reference “under God” to the Pledge of Allegiance. The court said these words violate the establishment clause of the First Amendment, which requires the separation of church and state. The case was brought by an atheist doctor with a law degree, who argued that the First Amendment rights of his school-age daughter were violated when she was forced to listen as her teacher led her classmates in the pledge proclaiming that ours is “one nation under God.”42 At this writing the legal appeals have not been concluded, but this incident clearly indicates that our culture is increasingly opposed to the public display of any acknowledgment of the reality of God and his will for us.
As with Jesus, we may encounter opposition from our own family if they do not understand the way in which we want to serve God. I remember a young man who announced to his family that he was going to leave the state university that he was attending on full scholarship in order to go to a Christian college and prepare for Christian ministry. His stepfather took him aside and said, “It will be a terrible waste of a brilliant mind to throw it away on Christian studies.” And throughout his studies he received resistance instead of his family’s support.
On a more drastic level, Christians can expect opposition when we proclaim the message of the gospel. A recent, unforgettable color photograph from Africa illustrated a special report entitled “The Global Persecution of the Faithful.” It was a picture of a Sudanese man sitting on a donkey, with a caption that read, “Still preaching.” The man’s feet had been chopped off to keep him from evangelizing village to village. But that horrific act would not stop him. He now rides the donkey to spread the gospel of Jesus Christ. The article, included in a publication of the Washington Times, went on to document the rise of persecution around the world with this startling statement: “More Christians were killed in the twentieth century than in the previous nineteen centuries combined.”43
Emulating Jesus’ response to opposition: tips for wounded disciples. Within Jesus’ prediction of the inevitability of opposition, we also should look for his example in dealing with it. Matthew develops his narrative in such a way that as one looks at the life of Jesus, one not only learns what it is for Jesus to be Messiah, but also what it is to be his disciple by emulating the life he lived. Jesus was hurt deeply in all ways possible, as those he came to rescue rejected him (11:20–24), as his own forerunner questioned him (11:1–6), as his family members attempted to deter him (12:46), and ultimately how his own people, including the crowds and the religious leaders, sought ways to have him arrested and executed (27:17–25). But Jesus did not allow his own massive hurt to dislodge him from his mission. He remained ever obedient to the Father’s will for his life, ever faithful as the Spirit-endowed Servant who brings justice to the nations (12:18). In the Sermon on the Mount Jesus had declared that his disciples were to love their enemies and pray for those who persecute them (5:44). In each of his responses to opposition we can safely assume that he was loving his enemies.
Every person who reads these words, every person to whom we minister, has been hurt. Not as deeply as we see in Jesus, but we have all been hurt by seemingly well-intentioned people who, in their own misguided sincerity, have attacked us, called into question our motives, or perhaps even slandered us. How should we respond? How do we maintain our commitment to the Father’s will while loving those who oppose us and who have hurt us?
Earlier I suggested a definition of love that goes to the heart of how Jesus loved: Love is an unconditional commitment to an imperfect person in which we give ourselves to bring the relationship to God’s intended purpose.44 As we encounter opposition, or at the least difficulties, in our relationships, we must love as Jesus loved. Here are some “tips for wounded disciples,” with suggestions for learning how to love and serve those who have hurt us. Except for the first three, they are not in any particular order.
(1) Give yourself to others, not just your duties and responsibilities. In the ultimate sense, it was the person of Jesus that accomplished God’s work. It was his love, his character, his embodiment of grace that permeated this world. God gave his Son to save this world, and the Son freely gave himself to those who did not deserve it (John 10:14–18). The world needs to see in us the embodiment of Jesus’ love, compassion, and character, not just a perfunctory performance of our job. Relationships become cold and lifeless if based only on duty. When we give ourselves, not just our duties and responsibilities, to others, we establish real relationships.
One Christian employer whom my wife worked for several years ago had continual personnel problems. He was a rather gruff older man and kept his distance from the employees. My wife one day tried to talk to him about the problems it was creating with excessive turnover and poor morale among the working staff, and his rebuff was to say, “I’m paying their salary; I don’t have to be their friend too.” That may be a bit of an extreme, but it illustrates the point. Each of us can create our own relational problems when we think it is enough simply to carry out our responsibilities without giving ourselves.
Jesus exemplifies the kind of servant leadership in which he entered into personal relationships with his disciples, not simply carrying out a formal academic relationship so typical among the rabbis. Developing an appropriate role as leader or employer may be difficult, but even the smallest ways of giving ourselves to create an appropriate relationship with those who work for us is critical. Likewise, husbands and fathers, we may have fulfilled our duties to our wives or children by bringing home the paycheck, but have we given ourselves? I have had many conversations with adult children who lament the fact that mothers or fathers or both were so consumed with providing for the family economically that they never really gave themselves relationally to their children.
(2) Reverse the dynamic of the relationship from taking to giving. When we follow Jesus’ example of ministry, we find that he came to give, not take, as was the Father’s entire purpose in sending his Son (John 3:16; Rom. 5:8). He came not to be served but to serve and to give his life as a ransom for his people (Matt. 20:28; cf. Mark 10:45). Such an attitude of giving should also characterize our closest relationships.
Ask most people why they want to get married, and they will usually describe their reasons in terms of getting: “I will become more fulfilled in marriage”; “I have always wanted to have a husband and children and a home of my own.” These motivations are not necessarily bad, but marriage as God intended it is a relationship of giving ourselves to another for their enrichment. Spouses who are so consumed with having their own needs met by their partner often cannot get their eyes off their own needs long enough to care for another’s needs, and the relationship becomes parasitic. The tug-of-war of needs between people demands that we continually take in order to have our needs met.
Even in relationships that cause us the most pain, what often changes the tenor is when we give. As Jesus entered Jerusalem for his final week to present himself as Israel’s Savior, he wept over the city because he knew that the nation would deny him and be judged (Luke 19:41). In the life he offered as a living sacrifice for the sins of his people, he asked for forgiveness for those who crucified him (Luke 23:34). Jesus’ giving of himself is the model for our own discipleship: “Whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first must be your slave” (Matt. 20:26–27). This certainly opens us up to being taken advantage of by those who would hurt us, so we are to be wisely discerning as a serpent, but harmless as a dove (10:16). But the wonderful promise is that God, who is love, will continually pour his love out upon our lives. And as we receive God’s love, we can in turn give it to others, even to a brother or sister who has hurt us (1 John 3:11–16; 4:7–21).
(3) Give yourself to God’s expectations for the relationship. Jesus maintained a clear perspective of his Father’s will for his life and ministry and was not deterred by what others expected him to be. He was the Messiah of Israel offering forgiveness for the sins of the people and remained fully focused on that calling. Our lives and ministries will stay focused when we try to bring any of our relationships to what God desires, not necessarily what we, or what others, may want. Others may try to manipulate us, or they may sincerely think that they know what is best for us. We should maintain a listening attitude and a genuine humility that is open to the voice of God through others, but we must be wise enough to know what God wants and not be swayed by the pressure of politics or heavy-handed personalities.
(4) Enter into the other’s experiences of life. Two important words here are immensely important: “I understand.” Jesus clearly understood the religious and emotional atmosphere of his time. He felt with the crowds and their suffering under Rome and under the religious leaders. He empathized with the Pharisees’ desire for scrupulous purity before God. This allowed him to bring his messianic ministry to their deepest needs. In understanding them he was able to treat people as individuals and accept even those who opposed him the most.
Try to put yourself in the place of people who oppose you to understand what makes them think the way they do. Put yourself in the place of your teenage son or daughter who is rebellious and try to understand them. Try to understand how difficult it is for your elderly parents to lose control over their health and independence and realize why they may be so difficult to live with at times. It may change the way that you deal with them.
(5) Give others a vision of Jesus in each area of your life and actions. In the middle of the narrative about the controversies, Matthew inserts a powerful vision of Jesus as the Spirit-endowed Servant, who does not quarrel or cry out, who deals gently with the hurting and oppressed, but who does not waver in leading justice to victory (12:18–21). This is a striking example of a balance of strength and gentleness, conviction and compassion, unwavering commitment to do what is right, yet humble servanthood that does not have to beat others down. Those who have hurt us need to see Jesus in our lives. Whenever we encounter opposition or difficulties in our relationships, our transformation into the image of Christ is the most tangible (cf. 2 Cor. 3:18). This is when we want to act like Jesus, think like Jesus, speak like Jesus, and bear the fruit of the Spirit as Jesus did in each encounter.
My uncle Leon is a retired pastor. He and my aunt Mary come to our town in Southern California each winter for two months or so to escape the snows of their home in the mountains of rural Colorado. One morning during our weekly walk and breakfast we were reflecting on our years of pastoral service. He summarized much of his philosophy of ministry by recalling a bit of ministerial lore: “The old preacher once said to the young pastor, ‘You don’t have to tell people they should be good. They already know that. You’ve got to show them how to be good.’ ” Give others a vision of Jesus in each area of your life and actions.
(6) Choose carefully the “hills” on which you will “plant your flag and die.” Jesus knew clearly that his mission of establishing the kingdom of heaven would lead him to the cross for the redemption of humanity. He did not get caught up in petty rabbinic squabbles about the law. To use modern parlance, he majored on the majors, not on the minors. He chose carefully how to accomplish his life’s mission by setting his face toward the hill called Golgotha. There are many issues that confront us each day, and to expend energy battling each one is exhausting and can cause us to lose sight of the bigger picture. Wisdom distinguishes what is most crucial. Not every hill of opposition or controversy is worth fighting for. The older I get, the more I realize how few issues are really worth dying for; yet earlier in my life it seemed like I was ready to fight at the drop of every theological hat. Choose carefully the hills on which you will plant your flag and die.
(7) Distinguish between “liking” and “loving” people. I can imagine that Jesus encountered many disagreeable people. Some of the Pharisees strike me as unbearably narrow, bigoted know-it-alls. But Jesus came to love them all and to offer all the invitation to the kingdom of heaven. There are likely some disagreeable people in your church, perhaps even some in your own family. We don’t necessarily have to like their personality or their tastes. Some people will rub us the wrong way. There are people with whom we will not click personally. It is important to distinguish between liking disagreeable people and loving them with God’s love.
There have been times when I have been unbearable with my wife, when I have been insensitive or rude or selfish. She has said with teeth clenched tight, “I don’t like you right now. But I love you, so I will bear with you.” We won’t always like the way some people act, but we are called to love them, that is, to give ourselves to them for what God desires to accomplish.
(8) Broaden your vision to have God’s perspective on your relationships with others. In addition to giving ourselves to God’s expectations for our relationships (# 3), we need to maintain God’s perspective on our relationships. At all times Jesus knew who he was and what he came to accomplish in his life’s mission. Others questioned his identity and his purpose, but he did not allow their opposition to deter him from the Father’s will for his life. God has a vision for our relationships that is probably bigger than what we understand.
As a pastor I grew to understand that I was not just an employee of the church or just a preacher. True, some people saw me almost exclusively in those terms. But in my growing understanding of God’s vision for my relationships with others, even those who were the most disagreeable, I realized there was a bigger picture. I was called to be God’s agent of love and encouragement in the process of transforming the lives of people. It is comforting to broaden our vision to have God’s perspective on our relationships with others, especially when others have a narrower vision of what they want from us.
(9) Avoid gossip sessions about your relationships. Gossip is a sin (e.g., 2 Cor. 12:20), so we can safely conclude that Jesus the sinless Savior never gossiped about those who opposed him. But gossip is a favorite pastime of many people. Both men’s locker rooms and women’s tea rooms often house regular conversations that degenerate into complaining about nagging wives or lazy husbands, and often much worse. The latest hurtful argument is aired so that a spouse can find solace in others who can commiserate with their hurt. But the reputation of the spouse has just been sabotaged.
Unfortunately, I’ve also been in many pastors’ conferences where the favorite topic is bashing hurtful parishioners or deacons. There are many pastors who have been unjustly hurt, but creating an atmosphere of woundedness seldom brings healing. Instead, it reinforces an “us-versus-them” mentality, where the people of the church become the bad guys. I counsel young couples and young pastors to develop a pattern of life in which they never say anything negative about their spouse or parishioners to other people. If counsel must be sought, do so from qualified people, not those that will only reinforce your negative attitudes.
(10) Protect your closest relationships from negative outside influences. As Jesus left the Pharisees, he went into the house where his disciples were gathered. Perhaps he took them away from his conflicts with the Pharisees. We do know that later Jesus did have them clearly in mind in his great high priestly prayer. Although they would be sent out into the world, he asked the Father to protect them, keep them safe from the evil one, and sanctify them by the truth (John 17:11–17). In our closest relationships we must cling to the truth as a way of protecting them from evil.
I have a friend who was an administrator at a well-known seminary. He experienced struggles with other administrators, which is not uncommon and was not really bad. However, each night when he went home he shared those struggles with his wife. It was his way, he thought, to vent his problems. Unfortunately, he wouldn’t emphasize the many positive things that occurred on campus. He assumed she knew about those. What soon happened was that she became so hardened and embittered that she had no good thoughts at all about the school. Most of what she felt was not justified. He eventually resigned to go elsewhere. To this day his wife carries bitterness toward the former school, and actually toward seminaries in general.
I’ve seen the same mistake made by many spouses as they go home and vent about their work situation or their church. There are many negative experiences that I have had in ministry that I have never told my wife. I may feel temporarily better by venting, but she can’t know the full context of the good and the bad I have experienced that day. I want to protect her from unjustly becoming hardened or embittered from my negative experiences. This once again takes discernment to know when to share and when not to, but a good guideline for me is to ask whether my temporary ventilation of my problems will help her to help me, or whether it will simply put a burden on her that is unwarranted.
(11) Differentiate between criticism of issue and criticism of you personally. Jesus displays a healthy objectivity even when attacked and slandered. When accused of performing exorcisms by the power of Satan, he dismantles the attack with calm logic and doesn’t get caught up in an angry personal defense. He recognizes the deeper spiritual issues. The slander lodged against him as Son of Man is actually resistance against the Holy Spirit (12:32). Jesus kept his eyes on the real issues and didn’t get caught up in simply defending himself.
There are times when we may become too sensitive and lose that distinction. There are times when people are intentionally hurtful, but many times we take criticism of our ministry or our work or our efforts in parenting too personally. It is always helpful to back off a moment and try to separate the issue from our feelings. We may win over opposition if we objectively deal with the issues and don’t allow our feelings to get hurt. But even if we don’t win them over, if we maintain our objectivity, we should not get caught up in childish, ad hominem name-calling, which may cause us to lose sight of God’s objectives. We need to learn how to differentiate between criticism of issues and criticism of us personally.
We have all encountered opposition. We’ve all been hurt. The opposition Jesus encountered and the hurt he experienced in his earthly life is beyond comprehension. But for those of us who may be his wounded disciples, his example is necessary to guide us in our response to opposition and to those who have hurt us. His example is the most profound display of love imaginable, of giving himself to bring others to God’s intended purpose for their lives.