Introductory remarks:
We must keep in mind that Matthew is presenting Christ as King, and that his message is to the Jew. Christ performed miracles before them, proving His authority and power, and now He must demonstrate that He is the Messiah that will reign. He gave the Sermon on the Mount showing them what it was going to be like under His rule in the Kingdom, and now He openly challenges the Pharisee for their lack of understanding of His grace. Christ will make a definite break with religion in this chapter.
Plucking Grain on the Sabbath
(Mark 2:23-28; Luke 6:1-5)
Verse 1, "At the time Jesus went on the Sabbath day through the corn; and his disciples were an hungered, and began to pluck the ears of corn, and to eat."
LGT "At that time Jesus went on the Sabbath through the grain-fields: and His disciples were hungry, and began to pluck and to eat the ears of corn."
"At the time Jesus went on the Sabbath day through the corn;"
Corn in the Greek is sporimon, meaning, a field of grain or wheat, or a sown field. This was not like our Indian maize or yellow or white corn.
"And his disciples were an hungered, and began to pluck the ears of corn, and to eat."
This event that the disciples hungered is substantiating what Jesus told the rich young ruler, that if he wanted to follow the Lord he would have to be prepared to give up his palatial life style, because the 'Son of Man has not to lay His head.' Jesus and His chosen disciples were not used to fasting, and they were probably on their way to the synagogue; they were hungry and they picked these ears of wheat to tide them over.
Verse 2, "But when the Pharisees saw it, they said unto him, Behold, thy disciples do that which is not lawful to do upon the Sabbath day."
LGT "But the Pharisees having seen said to Him, Behold, Your disciples are doing what is not lawful to be doing on the Sabbath."
"But when the Pharisees saw it,"
In many ways the Pharisees took a liberal view of the Law, but here, they find Jesus involved, they see the disciple "plucking the wheat, harvesting, and rubbing them together in their hands, threshing" (Edersheim). The Pharisees always took any opportunity to jump at a chance to indict Jesus.
"They said unto him, Behold, thy disciples do that which is not lawful to do upon the Sabbath day."
The disciples were not breaking any law, for they were with the Lord of the Sabbath, and if anyone knew the Law it was the Author of the Law.
On the Sabbath day Edersheim writes:
"On any ordinary day this would have been lawful, but on the Sabbath it involved, according to Rabbinic statutes, at least two sins. For, according to the Talmud, what was really one labor, would, have made up several acts, each of them forbidden, amount to several acts of labor, each involving sin, punishment, and a sin-offering. This so-called division of labor applied only to infringement of the Sabbath-rest - not of that of the feast days. Now in this case there were at least two such acts involved that of plucking the ears of corn, ranged under the sin of reaping, and that of rubbing them, which might be ranged under sifting in a sieve, threshing, sifting out fruit, grinding, or fanning. The following Talmudic passage bears on this: 'In case a woman rolls wheat to remove the husks, it is considered as sifting; if she rubs the head of wheat, it is regarded as threshing; if she cleans off the side-adherences, it is sifting out fruit; if she bruises the ears, it is grinding; if she throws them up in her hand, it is winnowing.' One instance will suffice to show the externalism of all these ordinances. If a man wished to move a sheaf of his field, which of course implied labor, he had only to lay upon it a spoon that was in his common use, when, in order to remove the spoon, he might also remove the sheaf on which it lay! And yet it was forbidden to stop with a little wax the hole in a cask by which the fluid was running out, or to wipe a wound!
Holding views like these, the Pharisees, who witnessed the conduct of the disciples, would naturally harshly condemn, what they must have regarded as gross desecration of the Sabbath. Yet it was clearly not a breach of the Biblical, but the Rabbinic Law."
Verse 3, "But he said unto them, Have ye not read what David did, when he was an hungry, and they that were with him."
LGT "But He said to them, Have you not read what David did when he hungered and the ones with him."
The Pharisees put the stress on the 'letter of the Law' rather than on the meaning of the Law. David put the care of his men above the Mosaic system:
"Then David came to Nob to Ahimelech the priest; and Ahimelech came trembling to meet David, and said to him, 'Why are you alone and no one with you?' And David said to Ahimelech the priest, 'The king has commissioned me with a matter, and has said to me, Let no one know anything about the matter on which I am sending you and with which I have commissioned you; and I have directed the young men to a certain place.' 'Now therefore, what do you have on hand? Give me five loaves of bread, or whatever can be found.' And the priest answered David and said, 'There is no ordinary bread on hand, but there is consecrated bread: if only the young men have kept themselves from women.' And David answered the priest and said to him, 'Surely women have been kept from us as previously when I set out the vessels of the young men were holy, though it was an ordinary journey; how much more then today will their vessels be holy?' So the priest gave him consecrated bread; for there was no bread there but the bread of the Presence which was removed from before the Lord, in order to put hot bread in its place when it was taken away" (I Sam. 21:1-6).
Verses 4, 5, "How he entered into the house of God, and did eat the shewbread, which was not lawful for him to eat, neither for them which were with him, but only for our priests? Or have ye not read in the law, how that on the Sabbath days the priests in the temple profane the Sabbath, and are blameless?"
LGT "How he entered into the house of God and he ate the bread of the Presentation, which it was not lawful for him to be eating, nor for the ones with him, except for the priests only? Or have you not read in the Law that on the Sabbaths the priest in the temple profane the Sabbath and are blameless?"
"How he entered into the house of God,"
The house of God in David's time was the Tabernacle, for the temple had not been built yet. This was the first offence Christ ironically offers them; the fact that a mere layman was not allowed in the Tabernacle.
"And did eat the shewdread, which was not lawful for him to eat, neither for them which were with him, but only for our priests?"
This is the second offense David committed; David ate of the shewbread reserved for the priesthood.
"Or have ye not read in the law, how that on the Sabbath days the priests in the temple profane the Sabbath, and are blameless?"
The priests were allowed to do their duties on the Sabbath, because they were in the service of the Lord.
Edersheim writes:
"In truth, the reason why David was blameless in eating the shewbread was the same as that which made the Sabbath-labor of the priest lawful. The Sabbath-law was not merely of rest, but of rest worship. The Service of the Lord was the object in view. The priests worked on the Sabbath, because this service was the object of the Sabbath; and David was allowed to eat of the shewbread, not because there was danger to his life from starvation, but he pleaded that he was in the service of the Lord, and needed this provision. The disciples, when following the Lord were similarly in the service of the Lord; ministering to Him was more than ministering in the Temple, for He was greater than the Temple. If the Pharisees had believed this, they would not have questioned their conduct, nor in so doing have themselves infringed that higher law which enjoined mercy, not sacrifice. The Service of God, and Service of the Temple, by universal consent, superseded the Sabbath-Law."
Verse 6, "But I say unto you, That in this place is one greater than the temple."
LGT "But I say to you, Something greater than the Temple is here."
Christ claims superiority to their Temple, and to the Pharisees, this was blasphemy of the worst kind. The Greek word for 'greater' is meizon a neuter comparative. This verse may have reference either to His works or His person.
Verse 7, "But if ye had known what this meaneth, I will have mercy, and not sacrifice, ye would not have condemned the guiltless."
LGT "But if you had known what is, I desire mercy and not sacrifice, you would not condemn the guiltless."
Here Jesus presents His third line of defense, that the Pharisees did not understand their own Scriptures, or they would not have found His disciples guilty.
Jesus is saying that His disciples are not guilty, and quotes Hosea 6:6, For I desired mercy, and not sacrifice, and the knowledge of God more than burnt offerings. The Pharisees had not the slightest notion what the Lord is talking about, because they were not believers; The natural man cannot receive the things of the Spirit of God, neither can he know them, for they are spiritually discerned (I Cor. 2:14). Christ tells them that God prefers acts of righteousness, rather than ceremonial nit picking. The only one who can perform a righteous act is a believer in the Lord Jesus Christ, and then the believer does not perform the act, the Holy Spirit does; however, one must be a believer in order for the Spirit to use them as a channel for blessings.
Verse 8, "For the Son of man is Lord even of the Sabbath day."
LGT "For the Son of Man is the Lord of the Sabbath."
Jesus claims His fourth line of defense for His disciples in claiming to be the 'Lord of the Sabbath'. Jesus could not have made a more offensive claim than that He is "Master of their Sabbath." Here He is claiming to be God; He is claiming His deity; He is claiming that He is able to change their most Holy Day if He had a mind to.
Jesus' final argument for the defense of His disciples is that all things come under the authority of His Messiaship. In Mark 2:27 we read: The Sabbath was made for man, and not man for the Sabbath." The Lord reasons with the Pharisees that man was created first, and then His Sabbath; the reason for the Sabbath was for man's welfare; all the Law was made for the perpetuation of the human race, and not a list of rules to be meticulously observed, as if to please an angry God; all of God's Laws are holy, and were to be observed with the proper motive in mind; all of God's Laws, like the burnt offering, were to be done in faith for what the observance stood for and not to placate the Supreme Deity.
They all leave the wheat field now and head for the synagogue.
The Man with a Withered Hand
(Mark 3:1-6; Luke 6:6-11)
Verse 9, "And when he was departed thence, he went into their synagogue."
LGT "And having departed from there, He went into their synagogue."
The wording of this verse is very interesting in that Jesus calls it 'their Sabbath;' He distinguishes the true Sabbath from the Pharisee's Sabbath because they were using it to find fault and not to do well. He designed the true Sabbath for the well being of His people, not to overload them with a particular observance; He designed it for their happiness, and not to overburden them.
Verse 10, "And, Behold, there was a man which had his hand withered. And they asked him, saying, Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath days? That they might accuse him."
LGT "And, Behold, a man having a hand shrunken and wasted. And they asked Him saying, is it lawful on the Sabbath to be healing? In order that they might accuse Him."
"Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath days?"
How interesting this is; they did not ask the Savior if He was able to heal the man with the shriveled hand, just is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath; these religious idiots were only concerned with their position as 'interpreters of law' and not to have a man healed. If they were not blinded with their own importance, or maybe I should say 'impotence,' they would have been impressed with the way Christ could heal, and then accept Him as the promised Messiah, and, I might add, they would have lived.
"That they might accuse him."
The Pharisees could do nothing but look for a reason to kill Jesus. The man with the withered hand was of no concern to these religious leaders, for they had only one purpose, 'in order that' hina- introducing a purpose clause, 'that they might accuse Him.'
Verse 11, "And he said unto them, What man shall there be among you, that shall have one sheep, and if it fall into a pit on the Sabbath day, will he not lay hold on it, and lift it out?"
LGT "But He said to them, What man shall there be of you who shall have one sheep, and if this [sheep] fall into a pit on the Sabbaths, will he not grab hold of it and raise [it] up."
I will quote McGee's comments on this verse in full, because it tells it like it really is, including his description of our pin-headed psychologists and sociologists:
"Was this man with the withered hand planted there, deliberately, by the Pharisees to trap Jesus into healing him? If so, then there are two important admissions on the part of the enemies of Jesus:
They admitted He had power to heal the sick. As we have seen, the enemies of Jesus never questioned His ability to perform miracles. You have to be two thousand years away from it and working in a musty library on a master or doctor's degree before you can question His miracles. The Pharisees freely admitted that He had power to heal the sick. This is why they planted this man with the withered hand.
They acknowledged that when a helpless man was placed in His pathway, He was moved by compassion to heal him, even on the Sabbath day. What an admission!
Their question about the legality of healing on the Sabbath day was designed to trap Him. But Jesus actually trapped His enemies. They conceded that a sheep should be rescued on the Sabbath day - in fact, the mosaic Law made allowances for that."
Mark's account adds that 'He looked on them with anger' because of the hardness of their hearts. Jesus was righteously indignant over their folly.
Verse 12, "How much then is a man better than a sheep? Wherefore it is lawful to do well on the Sabbath days."
LGT "How much better is a man than a sheep? So that it is lawful on the Sabbaths to do well."
The Lord gives His take on the Sabbath, that regardless of what the religious leaders think of the Sabbath, He would continue to do well. The animal activists of today would take issue with Christ's statement that "a man is much better than a sheep." Christ showed by the Pharisees own admission that it was in fact lawful for Him to heal on the Sabbath. Logic was once again a victor, Come now let us reason together says the Lord; though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be white as snow, though they be red like crimson they shall be as wool (Isaiah 1:18).
Verse 13, "Then saith he to the man, stretch forth thine hand. And he stretched it forth; and it was restored whole, like as the other."
LGT "Then He says to the man, Stretch out your hand. And he stretched [it] out, and it was restored sound as the other."
Jesus completely ignored the questioning, I might say, threats, of the Pharisees, and immediately healed the man's withered hand; the arm by the way, was not withered. Robertson quips: "I hope he stretched his hand toward the Pharisees."
"And he stretched it forth;"
The Lord would never have given a command that He does not empower to obey; When Christ tells the man to 'stretch forth his hand' he is not being unreasonable; "The man might have objected and said, 'Could I obey Thee in this, I would not have troubled Thee. Why mock me with my infirmity, and bid me do the very thing I cannot?' But the man did not perplex himself; and Christ, in exciting the desire to obey, imparted the power to obey" (John Eadie - Commentary on Ephesians).
Verse 14, "Then the Pharisees went out, and held a council against him, how they might destroy him."
LGT "But the Pharisees having gone out, held a council against Him, how they might destroy Him."
The Pharisees steamed out of the synagogue, in anger, and gathered together with the Herodians (Mark's account gives us this information about the Herodians), and plot to kill Jesus. Up to this point, the Pharisees were trying to get Jesus to go along with them, but the opposite happened; they found the Lord not so easy to manipulate, for Christ was 'the Way, the Truth, and the Life.' It is impossible to change Truth. They gathered together the Herodians, 'who were a political party of Herod Antipas, who had John the Baptist imprisoned, and were willing sympathizers with the Pharisees" (Barnes).
The Pharisees were relentless in their pursuit to destroy Jesus. McGee comments about the Pharisees: "From here on these bloodhounds of hate get on His trail and never let up until they fold their arms beneath His cross."
The Chosen Servant
Verse 15, "But when Jesus knew it, he withdrew himself from thence: and great multitudes followed him, and he healed them all."
LGT "But Jesus, perceiving, withdrew from there. And great [crowds] followed Him, and He healed them all."
"But when Jesus knew it, he withdrew himself from thence:"
Jesus knew what the hatred that was boiling away in their hearts, and because it was not yet time for Him to go to the cross, He withdrew from their presence; Mark says that He went away to the Sea of Galilee.
"And great multitudes followed him,"
Everywhere Jesus went He drew great crowds; the only way He could avoid the crowds was if He were to sneak away unnoticed; but this was not His purpose at this time of His public ministry; there will be a time when He will find it necessary to get away with only His Father.
"And He healed them all."
This to me is quite awe-inspiring. Jesus did not heal only the few who could afford to give a large donation, but He healed them all. A friend of ours, who was paralyzed from the waist down, in a fighter plane accident while on maneuvers in the desert, went to one of Oral Robert's tent crusade meetings in desperation, that maybe Oral was for real and that he could actually heal him; He told us that the first thing Oral's screeners ask him was, 'How much can you donate?" He wheeled away in disgust, and woke up to the reality that Oral was a phony. Jesus is no phony, and He did not ask for anything in return but to believe that He was who He said He was, and He healed them all, even the ones who would not believe.
Verse 16, "And charged them that they should not make it known."
LGT "And He admonished them strongly, that they should not make Him known publicly."
This phrase is easy to understand in the context of why Christ came to this earth; He came to die for the sins of the world: He did not come as a miracle worker, and He did not want to be publicized as such. This is a far cry from the phony faith healers of the dispensation of Grace. Another reason He did not want it publicized was He wanted to avoid unnecessary attention from the ones who were plotting to kill Him.
Verse 17, "That it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Esias the prophet, saying,"
LGT "So that that which was spoken by Esaias the prophet might be fulfilled, saying,"
Matthew here quotes from Isaiah 42:1-4 to show the reason why He went away into concealment.
Verses 18-20, "Behold my servant, whom I have chosen; my beloved, in whom my soul is well pleased: I will put my spirit upon him, and he shall show judgment to the Gentiles. He shall not strive, nor cry; neither shall any man hear his voice in the streets. A bruised reed shall he not break, and smoking flax shall he not quench, till he send forth judgment unto victory."
(Because of the fact that this is a direct quote from Isaiah, it is not necessary to translate)
"Behold my servant, whom I have chosen; my beloved, in whom my soul is well pleased:"
Jesus Christ is the servant of God in that He came to fulfill a mission to offer salvation to the world by dying a substitute for all lost sinners. At His baptism we have God pronouncing the same sentiment: This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.
"I will put my spirit upon Him,"
Christ would be empowered by the Holy Spirit, and in His entire ministry, He would be completely dependant upon Him.
"He shall show judgment to the Gentiles."
The Messiah would proclaim a message to the Gentiles after being rejected by His own people.
"He shall not strive, nor cry;"
The Messiah would not be argumentative, but with all humility, proclaim God's message of hope. The Messiah did rebuke error, but He did not stand and argue with the heretics, and neither should we.
"Neither shall any man hear his voice in the streets."
Christ would not seek public notice or popularity.
"A bruised reed shall he not break,"
"A bruised reed is an emblem of the poor and oppressed. It means that he would not oppress the feeble and poor, as victorious warriors and conquerors did. It is also an expressive emblem of the soul broken and contrite on account of sin; weeping and mourning for transgression. He will not break it; that is, he will not be severe, unforgiving, and cruel. He will heal it, pardon it, and give it strength" (Barnes)
"And smoking flax shall he not quench,"
The smoking flax is the smoldering wick of a lamp going out. Christ instead of letting the last hope of the people go out, as the Pharisees in their oppression, but would kindle the flame of their lamps with the grace of the Holy Spirit into a burning flame. The Pharisees message was one of despair and hopelessness, but Christ's message was one of hope and encouragement.
"Till he send forth judgment unto victory."
The Truth of the gospel will ultimately fulfill the victory it was intended to bring; Faith is the victory that overcomes the world.
Verse 21, "And in his name shall the Gentiles trust."
LGT "And [in] His name shall the nations hope."
Jesus came unto His own people (the Jews) and they rejected Him, so He turned to the Gentile nations, and He offered them the free Salvation by grace through faith. In Acts 26:18 He commissions Paul to be the 'Apostle to the Gentiles: To open their eyes, and to turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan unto God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins, an inheritance among them which are sanctified by faith that is in Me.
Jesus and Beelzebub
(Mark 3:20; Luke 11:14-23)
Verse 22, "Then was brought unto him one possessed with a devil, blind, and dumb: and he healed him, insomuch that the blind and dumb both spake and saw."
LGT "Then was brought to Him one possessed with a demon, blind and dumb, and He healed him, so that the dumb spoke and saw."
The crowds once again gather around Jesus, according to Mark's account, and here we have Jesus having compassion on a man possessed with a demon, and healing him. The man was both blind and dumb; by Christ healing the man, He is able to show the multitude that He is also able to deliver them from the Pharisee's bondage.
Verse 23, "And all the people were amazed, and said, Is not this the son of David?"
LGT "And were astonished all the crowds and said, Is not this the Son of David?"
The Greek word for amazed is existanto, an imperfect tense, meaning, "vividly portraying the situation"; the meaning of the word is they virtually stood outside themselves with astonishment. The crowd was highly influenced by the Pharisees, so they expected a negative answer to their rhetorical question; we would state the question thus: This is not the Son of David, is it?
Verse 24, "But when the Pharisees heard it, they said, This fellow doth not cast out devils, but by Beelzebub the prince of the devils."
LGT "But the Pharisees having heard said, This [man] cast not out the demons except by the Beelzebub ruler of the demons."
Again the Pharisees accuse Jesus of being in cahoots with the devil; they accuse Him of not being the Messiah, but being in league with Satan, they accuse Him of casting out the demon by the power of Beelzebub (the prince of demons - the filth god).
"The Pharisees feel that the excited condition of the crowds and the manifest disposition [nature] to believe that Jesus is the (the Son of David) demand strenuous action on their part" (Robertson).
The Pharisees here are committing the unpardonable sin: they are attributing the works of the Holy Spirit to Satan. When a person has reached this point of unbelief, it is impossible for them to repent.
Verse 25, "And Jesus knew their thoughts, and said unto them, Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation: and every city or home divided against itself shall not stand:"
LGT "But knowing their thoughts, He said to them, Every kingdom divided against itself is made desolate: and every city or house divided against itself will not stand."
"And Jesus knew their thoughts,"
Jesus not only heard their words, He knew their thoughts, and only God possesses this power, therefore it proves His deity.
"And said unto them, Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation:"
When the Pharisees accuse Jesus of casting out the demon by the power of Beelzebub, Jesus shows how stupid their claim is, by the fact that if it were true, the devil would be casting out other devils, and that would be completely illogical. Satan is at the head of a great kingdom of evil, he is the 'prince of the power of the air,' and if he cast out other demons, that kingdom would be divided against itself.
"And every city or house divide against itself shall not stand."
In order for any city or house to stand there must be unity; this brings out a great principle of a husband and wife being unequally yoked together with an unbeliever; the obvious result will be confusion, because they are pulling in opposite directions. When two believers are united, they can overcome any difficulty if they yield their home to the Holy Spirit; however, if the children are disobedient to the parents, and the wife is disobedient to the husband, and if the husband is slothful, and uncaring towards his wife and children, that house will be divide against itself.
Verse 26, "And if Satan cast out Satan, he is divided against himself; how shall then his kingdom stand?"
LGT "And if Satan cast out Satan, from himself he was divided; how then will his kingdom stand?"
Jesus is saying that Satan does not cast out Satan, for then he would be consenting to his own destruction, and this would mean that he has less than human prudence (good sense). Satan is wicked but not a fool, humanly speaking, but his kingdom will not stand because he has made war against our God.
Verse 27, "And if I by Beelzebub cast out devils, by whom do your children cast them out? Therefore they shall be your judges."
LGT "And if I by Beelzebub cast out the demons, by whom do your sons cast out? On account of this they shall be judges of you."
"And if I by Beelzebub cast out devils, by whom do your children cast them out?"
Jesus is referring to the followers of the Pharisees, for they had false prophets that were pretending to cast out demons. "The Jewish exorcists operated in conventional fashion by use of herbs and magical formulae, and the results were insignificant. The practice was sanctioned by custom, and harmless. But in casting out devils, as in all other things, Jesus was original, and His method was too effectual. His power manifest to all was His offence" (The Expositor's Greek Testament).
Barnes notes:
"Christ was not satisfied by showing them the intrinsic [fundamental] absurdity of their argument. He showed them that it might as well be applied to them as to him. Your disciples, taught by you and encouraged by you, pretend to cast out devils. If your argument be true that a man who casts out devils must be in league with the devil, then your disciples have made a covenant with him also. You must therefore either give up this argument, or admit that the working of Miracles is proof of the assistance of God."
"Therefore they shall be your judges."
Your disciples are witnesses against you, and they are your judges because of your false claims; your disciples cannot do what I do in the name of My Father, and all your followers can do is imitate Me.
Verse 28, "But if I cast out devils by the Spirit of God, then the kingdom of God is come unto you."
LGT "But if by [the] Spirit of God I cast out the demons, then the Kingdom of God has come upon you."
Jesus is saying "I the Messiah am here." His ability to cast out the demons is proof of His deity, and that He is who He says He is; He is their long awaited Messiah, and the Kingdom of God has come upon them unexpectedly. Christ is able to cast out the demons of Satan, and this should have been enough proof, even to the Pharisees, that their Messiah is come; He has complete power over the ruler of darkness.
Verse 29, "Or else how can one enter into a strong man's house, and spoil his goods, except he first bind the strong man? And then he will spoil his house."
LGT "Or how is able anyone to enter into the house of the strong [man], and to steal his goods, unless he first binds the strong [man]? And then he will plunder his house."
Here Christ is saying that He is stronger than Satan, and that Satan is unable to resist Him. Christ has entered into Satan's stronghold and cast out Satan's demon's and Satan is unable to stop Him. Christ once again has proven to be the Jews promised King. Christ was able to take by force Satan's power and subdue it, for greater is He that is in you, than He [Satan] that is in the world (1 John 4:4).
"By casting out the captive demon of Satan, Christ proves Himself Satan's enemy; by actually curing the man possessed, He proves to be Satan's Master" (TEGT).
Verse 30, "He that is not with me is against me; and he that gathereth not with me scatereth abroad."
LGT "The one who is not with Me is against Me; and the one who gathers not together with Me, scatters."
There are two forces in the universe; the forces of evil led by Satan, and the forces of righteousness united in Christ; "Satan is the arch-waster, Christ the Collector, Savior" (F.F. Bruce). A person is either for Christ, and therefore a child of God, or against Christ, and a child of the Devil.
Verse 31, "Wherefore I say unto you, All manner of sin and blasphemy shall be forgiven unto men: but the blasphemy against the Holy Ghost shall not be forgiven unto men."
LGT "Because of this I say to you, Every sin and blasphemy shall be forgiven to men, but blasphemy, with reference to, the Spirit, shall not be forgiven."
"All manner of sin and blasphemy shall be forgiven unto men:"
All the charges that the Pharisees leveled against Christ could be forgiven, if repented of. All sins can be forgiven, if repented of.
"But blasphemy against the Holy Spirit shall not be forgiven."
As we have noted before, the unpardonable sin is attributing the Works of the Holy Spirit to Satan; Christ performed all His works by the Holy Spirit, and these Pharisees were saying that He performed them by the power of Beelzebub, the 'filth god' and the 'prince of devils.' This sin could only be committed while Christ walked on the earth and performed His many miracles. The unpardonable sin today would be equivalent to rejecting Christ as Savior; Christ died on the cross to pay the penalty for sin, and unless His work on the cross be believed and accept, there is no other hope.
Verse 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."
LGT "And whoever speaks a word against the Son of man, it shall be forgiven him: but whoever speaks a word against the Holy Spirit, it shall not be forgiven him, neither in this age, nor the coming [one]."
There is no inference that sin would be forgiven in the future ages; it is simply said that blasphemy against the Holy Spirit cannot be forgiven in the present dispensation, or in the future dispensations.
Pentecost writes:
"If the nation rejected His own testimony concerning Himself, they might come to faith in His word through His Father's word. The Father authenticated the person of Christ (John 14:10). Christ's works, and these works supported the Father's word given at Christ's baptism that the Father was well pleased with the life of His Son. If one rejected the word of Christ and the word of the Father, he might still be brought to faith in the person of Christ by the witness of the Holy Spirit. The miracles were the Spirit's witness to Christ. The Spirit bore the final witness to both the person and word of Christ. If one rejected this final witness, there was no further witness God had to offer. While to reject the word of Christ was sin, a person could be led to a confession of that sin and to acknowledge the truth by the witness of the Father. To reject the witness of the Father was a sin; yet one could be led to faith in Christ by the witness of the Spirit. If one rejected the final witness, there was no further witness to bring him back to Christ. Hence there could be no forgiveness of attributing the work of Christ to the devil when, in truth, the work had been performed by the Spirit.
It is evident that the sin of blasphemy against the Holy Spirit could only be committed while Christ was personally present on earth. The sin could only be committed when the nation was being given evidences as to the person of Christ through the miracles, which He performed, by the power of the Holy Spirit. The necessary circumstances do not exist today and, consequently, this same sin cannot be committed today."
J. Vernon McGee adds:
"In our day that particular sin cannot be committed because it could only be committed when Jesus was here upon the earth. There is no act of sin that you could commit for which there is no forgiveness. Of course, if you resist the Holy Spirit, there is no forgiveness because He is bringing forgiveness. It is like the man who is dying from a certain disease, and the doctor tells him there is a remedy for it. The man refuses to take the remedy and dies, not from the disease but from refusing to take the remedy. There is a remedy for the disease of sin, and the Holy Spirit applies it; but if you resist it, there is no remedy. That is the only way sin can be pardonable today."
A Tree and its Fruits
(Luke 6:43-45)
Verse 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."
LGT "Either make the tree good and its fruit good, or make the tree corrupt and its fruit corrupt; for from the fruit the tree is known."
Jesus begins here telling the Pharisees that they are false religionists, and that they pretend to be righteous, because they produce no good fruit. We know that Christ imputes the only true righteousness to us, and that no one is able to produce a righteous act apart from Christ's imputed righteousness. The word 'impute' is that when Christ died on the cross He paid the penalty for all sin, and that the only way anyone could be accepted by God is through His beloved Son; every believer is declared righteous based on the Grace of God through faith in His Son, at the very moment anyone believes in Christ, that is, they put their trust in Christ, they are immediately and forever declared righteous, and accepted by God in the 'Beloved'; there are no strings attached, and no works involved (Eph. 2:8, 9).
Verses 34, 35, "O generation of vipers, how can ye being evil, speak good things? For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh. A good man out of the good treasure of the heart bringeth forth good things: and an evil man of the evil treasure bringeth forth evil things."
LGT "Generation of poisonous serpents, how are you able to speak good things being wicked? For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks. The good man out of the good treasure casts forth good things; and the wicked man out of the wicked treasure casts forth evil things."
Jesus is saying that what is in the heart of man will come out when he speaks. Christ calls the Pharisees 'a generation of poisonous snakes.' "These same terrible words the Baptist had used to the Pharisees and Sadducees who came to his baptism (Matt. 3:7). But these Pharisees had deliberately made their choice and had taken Satan's side. The charge against Jesus of being in league with Satan reveals the evil heart within. The heart 'spurts out' good or evil according to the supply within" (A.T. Robertson). Vincent remarks that "the abundance of the heart is under pressure and throws out its treasures." An evil man cannot produce good, and a good man should produce good.
Verse 36, "But I say unto you, that every idle word that men speak, they shall give account therefore in the day of Judgment."
LGT "But I say to you, that every unprofitable, hallow word which men may speak, they shall give an account concerning it in the day of judgment."
In the last verse Christ says that out of the abundance of the heart man speaks. Now here He is saying that every unprofitable or hollow word will be accounted for. Now we know that Christ has already reproved the Pharisees for speaking blasphemy in attributing His miracles to Beelzebub, the filth god, and He tells them that this is an unforgivable sin. The context then is speaking blasphemous words, the Pharisees for introducing them to their followers, and the disciples of the Pharisees for repeating them. The Pharisees would not accept the Messiah and therefore, they will have to give an account of their unbelief at the 'Great White Throne Judgment', after of course they bow down and confess that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the Living God.
Verse 37, "For by thy words thou shall be justified, and by thy words thou shalt be condemned."
LGT "For by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned."
Again, Christ says that man will speak what is in the heart. If a man is saved, he will speak from a regenerated heart; if unsaved, he will speak corruption from a corrupt heart. It is through our words that our character is judged. It is man that condemns himself, for God has done everything He could possibly do through Christ to save man, but man refuses to hear, and therefore, spews out from his heart evidence of his deliberate unbelief, and in his unbelief he stands condemned.
The Demand for a Sign
(Mark 8:11-12; Luke 11:29-32)
Verse 38, "Then certain of the scribes and of the Pharisees answered, saying, Master, we would see a sign from thee."
LGT "Then answered Him, some of the scribes and Pharisees, saying, Teacher, We wish to see a sign from You."
What nerve these phonies display; first of all the Pharisees and the scribes had already seen more than enough miracles to prove Christ was the Messiah, but they impudently ascribe the last miracle, of casting out the demons, as coming from Beelzebub. "One wonders at the audacity [hypocrisy] of scribes and Pharisees who accuse Jesus of being in league with Satan and thus casting out demons who can turn round and blandly [insipidly] ask for a sign from Thee. As if the other miracles were not signs! 'The demand was impudent, hypocritical, insulting' (Bruce)" (A.T. Robertson).
Verse 39, "But he answered and said to them, An evil and adulterous generation seeketh after a sign; and there shall no sign be given to it, but the sign of the prophet Jonas."
LGT "But He answering said to them, A wicked and adulterous generation is seeking a sign, and a sign shall not be given it, except the sign from Jonah the prophet."
"An evil and adulterous generation seeketh after a sign;"
The Jews had broken the marriage between them and God, and it is for this reason that Christ refers to them as 'adulterous.'
Vincent writes:
"A very strong and graphic expression, founded upon the familiar Hebrew representation of the relation of God's people to him under the figure of marriage. See Ps. 73:27; Isa. 57:3; 62:5; Ezek. 28:27. Hence idolatry and intercourse with Gentiles were described as adultery; and so here, of moral unfaithfulness to God. Compare James 4:4; Rev. 2:20."
Verse 40, "For as Jonas was three days and three nights in the whale's belly; so shall the Son of man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth."
LGT "For even as Jonah was in the belly of the great fish three days and three nights, thus shall be the Son of man in the heart of the earth three days and three nights."
Jesus did not give them a sign, but He led them back into their Scriptures to the account of Jonah as predictive of His own upcoming death, burial, and resurrection. Christ died on the cross, and was buried, and went into the bowels of the earth and the third day He rose again. If they will not believe the Word of God, there is no hope for them. The Ninevites believed Jonah and repented, and they were spared for the time being, from the predicted destruction.
Verse 41, "The men of Nineveh shall rise in judgment with this generation, and shall condemn it: because they repented at the preaching of Jonas; and, behold, a greater than Jonas is here."
LGT "Ninevite men will stand up at the judgment with this generation and shall condemn it, because they repented at the preaching of Jonah, and, behold, a greater [One] than Jonah is here."
"The men of Nineveh shall rise in judgment with this generation,"
Jesus cites the account of Jonah's preaching to Nineveh, and the fact that they repented, as a judgment against the Pharisees and scribes who are rejecting the Christ.
Barnes notes:
"Nineveh was the capital of the Assyrian empire. It was founded by Ashur, Gen. 10:11. It was situated on the banks of the river Tigris, to the north-east of Babylon. It was a city of vast extent, and of corresponding wickedness. It was 48 miles in circuit [route]; its walls were 100 feet high and 10 feet thick, and were defended by fifteen hundred towers, each 200 feet in height. It contained in the time of Jonah, it is supposed, six hundred thousand inhabitants. The destruction of Nineveh, threatened by Jonah in forty days, was suspended, by their repentance, two hundred years. It was then overthrown by the Babylonians about six hundred years before Christ. During the siege a mighty inundation [flood] of the river Tigris took place, which threw down a part of the walls, through which the enemy entered, and sacked and destroyed the city. This destruction had been foretold one hundred and fifteen years before by Nahum (ch. 1:8): But with an overwhelming flood he will make an utter end of the place thereof: and 2:6:The gates of the river shall be opened, and the palace shall be dissolved. Its ruins have been lately discovered by Layard, and have contributed much to the establishment of the truth of Scripture history. Those remains are on the east side of the river Tigris, nearly opposite to the city of Mosul."
"And shall condemn it: because they repented at the preaching of Jonas;"
The repentance of Nineveh will stand as proof and condemn these Christ rejecters who refuse to repent or even admit that they have anything to repent of. These Pharisees who claim to be enlightened are threatened with eternal punishment.
"And behold, a greater than Jonas is here."
Jesus is referring to Himself here; for He is saying in effect, your judgment is going to be far greater than Nineveh, because you are rejecting Me as your Messiah; that is, you have the True Light among you, while Nineveh only had the truth preached to them by the Prophet Jonah, greater will be the reward for those who will believe and have not seen Me.
Verse 42, "The queen of the south shall rise up in the judgment with this generation, and shall condemn it: for she came from the uttermost parts of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon; behold, a greater than Solomon is here."
LGT "A queen of [the] south shall rise up in the judgment with this generation, and shall condemn it: for she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon, and, behold, a greater [One] than Solomon is here."
Jesus now uses the account of the Queen of Sheba, who came from the 'uttermost parts of the earth' to hear the wisdom of Solomon; the 'uttermost parts' or in the Greek peratone, meaning the ends of the earth, which was a way of saying from a great distance, computed at about one thousand miles. She came from Sheba, a remote country, and she would condemn this generation for she would accept the truth the Jews rejected.
Ironside writes:
"Jesus brought forth also another witness from the Old Testament, the Queen of Sheba, whom He calls the Queen of the South. She came from the uttermost parts of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon, because she had learned that he could reveal to her precious things concerning the name of the Lord, which her soul longed to understand. She did not consider a journey of perhaps a thousand miles too great in order to hear the Wisdom of Solomon. But these deniers of the truth were unmoved, though Solomon's Lord Himself was in their midst. When at last they shall stand trembling in their sins before the bar of God, the Queen of the South will appear to upbraid them because of their willful rejection of light; whereas, she followed the gleam from the very ends of the earth in order that that light might be hers forevermore."
The Return of the Unclean Spirit
(Luke 11:24-26)
Verse 43, "When the unclean spirit is gone out of a man, he walketh through the dry places, seeking rest, and findeth none.
LGT "But when the unclean spirit is gone out from the man, he goes through waterless places seeking rest, and finds not [it]."
Jesus uses the example of an unclean spirit that has gone out of a man, and wanders through the desolate desert, seeking a place to rest, but is unable to find a place. "That our Savior here speaks according to the ancient belief of the Jews that evil spirits had their abodes in those desolate, uninhabited regions, there can be no doubt; nor can there be any doubt that the Bible gives countenance [approval] to the opinion. Thus Rev. 18:2:Babylon - is become the habitation 'of devils' and the hold of 'every foul spirit'; that is, has become desolate - a place where evil spirits appropriately dwell. So Isa. 13:21:And satyrs shall dance there; i.e. according to the ancient Greek translation, devils or demons shall dance there. See also Jer. 1:39. Those desolate and dry regions are represented as uncomfortable habitations; so much so, that the dissatisfied spirit, better pleased with a dwelling in the bosom of men, as affording an opportunity of doing evil, seeks a return there" (Barnes' notes on Matthew).
Verse 44, "Then he saith, I will return into my house from whence I came out; and when he is come, he findeth it empty, swept, and garnished."
LGT "Then he says, Into my house I will return from where I came: and having come, he finds [it] unoccupied, swept and decorated."
The picture here is that the demon calls the man in which he once possessed home; while he was away, the man had an interval of sanity, and the demon comes back to find the house swept and furnished, meaning that the man had a logical interval.
McGee adds;
"In other words, reformation is no good. My friend, you can quit doing many things, but that won't make you a Christian. If everyone in the world would quit sinning right now, there wouldn't be any more Christians in the next minute or in the next day, because quitting sin doesn't make Christians. Reformation is not what we need."
Verse 45, "Then he goeth, and taketh with himself seven other spirits more wicked than himself, and they enter in and dwell there: and the last state of that man is worse than the first. Even so shall it be also unto this wicked generation."
LGT "Then he goes and takes with himself seven other spirits, more wicked than himself, and entering in they dwell there: and becomes the last of that man than the first. Thus it shall be also to this wicked generation."
The evil spirit comes back and finds the man reformed, but not regenerated; He sees the man is happy and has cleaned up his life, so the demon gets seven more spirits more wicked than himself to posses the man once more, where they might continue their evil deeds.
McGee applies this to the mainstream denominations:
"This same situation is with us today. The hardest people in the world are unsaved church members because they think they are all right. They have undergone self-reformation - empty, swept, and garnished. (This is why I am opposed to the book - Purpose Driven Life - by Rick - the slick - Warren) They are like a vacant house, and all the evil spirits have to do is move in. [This is because demons can't posses a believer] The Devil owns them, and they don't recognize this fact. Reformation means death and destruction. Regeneration means life and liberty."
Pentecost adds a comparison to the nation Israel:
As compared with the other nations of the world, Israel was like a house from which the demon of idolatry had gone out with all his attendants - really the 'Beel-Zibbul' whom they dreaded. And then the house had been swept of all the foulness and uncleanness of idolatry, and garnished with all manner of pharisaic adornments. Yet all this while the house was left empty; God was not there; the Stronger One [The Lord Jesus Christ], Who could have resisted the Strong One [the Devil], held not rule in it. And so the demon returned to it again, to find the house whence he had come out, swept and garnished indeed - but also empty and defenseless. The folly of Israel lay in this, that they thought of only one demon - him of idolatry - Beel - Zibbul, with all his foulness. That was all very repulsive, and they had carefully removed it. But they knew that demons were only manifestations of demoniac power, and that there was a kingdom of evil. So this house, swept of the foulness of heathenism and adorned with all the self-righteousness of Pharisaism, but empty of God, would only become a more suitable and more secure habitation of Satan; because, from its cleanness and beauty, his presence and rule there as an evil spirit would not be suspected. So, to continue the illustrative language of Christ, he came back with seven other spirits more wicked than himself - pride, self-righteousness, unbelief, and the like, the number seven being general - and thus the last state - Israel without the foulness of gross idolatry and garnished with all the adornments of pharisaic devotion to the study of the Law - was really worse than had been the first with all its open repulsiveness."
The Mother and Brothers of Jesus
(Mark 4:10-12; Luke 8:9-10)
Verse 46, "While he yet talked to the people, behold, his mother and his brethren stood without, desiring to speak with him."
LGT "Yet while He was speaking to the crowds, behold, His mother and brothers stood outside seeking to speak to Him."
Jesus' mother and brothers, the younger sons of Joseph and Mary, stood outside, because the crowd was so great, wishing to speak with Him. Marks account says that He was 'beside Himself', and that they wanted to rescue Him from the vicious attack of the Pharisees. "Mary had heard of the strain that was put on Jesus, and wanted Him to come home for refreshment" (Robertson).
Verse 47, "Then one said unto him, Behold, thy mother and thy brethren stand without, desiring to speak with thee."
LGT "Then said one to Him, Behold, Your Mother and brothers are outside seeking to speak to You."
A messenger was sent through the crowd to let Jesus know that His family was on the outskirts desiring to speak with Him.
Verse 48, "But he answered and said unto him that told him, Who is my mother? And who are my brethren?"
LGT "But He answering said to the one speaking to Him, Who is My mother, and who are My brothers?"
The one who delivered the message had referred naturally to the ones who were His blood relations; Jesus points to His disciples who were following Him, because they believed in Him, and asks this most peculiar question.
Verse 49, "And He stretched forth his hand toward his disciples, and said, Behold, my mother and my brethren!"
LGT "And stretching out His hand toward His disciples, He said, Behold, My mother and My brothers."
"A dramatic wave of the hand towards His disciples (learners) accompanied these words. Jesus loved His mother and brothers, but they were not to interfere in His Messianic work, the real spiritual family of Jesus included all who follow Him. But it was hard for Mary to go back and leave Jesus with the excited throng so great He was not even stopping to eat (Mark 3:20)" (A.T. Robertson).
McGee adds:
"The Lord is saying that the strongest relationship today is the relationship between Christ and a believer. Friend, if you are a child of God and you have unsaved family members, you are closer to Jesus Christ than you are to your own kin, including the mother that bore you. You are more closely related to other believers than you are to unsaved members of your family. This is tremendous! He is talking about a new relationship,"
Verse 50, "For whosoever shall do the will of my Father which is in heaven, the same is my brother, and sister, and mother."
LGT "For whosoever shall do the will of My Father which [is] in [the] heavens, he is My brother, and sister, and mother."
The will of the Lord Jesus Christ is that you believe on His name and trust Him as your personal Savior. This verse is the answer to Christ's question in verse 48: Who is My mother, and who is by brethren?
Pentecost notes:
"The natural response to the question would be: those with whom you have a blood relationship, He pointed to His disciples, that is, those who by faith had accepted His person. He said, For whoever does the will of My Father in heaven is My brother and sister and mother. This relationship was instituted not by natural birth but as a result of a supernatural birth. These were related to Him by faith in His person. The nation Israel claimed a relationship to Messiah when He should come because of a common relationship to Abraham. But Christ rejected blood ties as constituting a true spiritual relationship. The only ones whom He would accept as being spiritually related to Him were those who were related to Him by faith. In that multitude there were those who claimed a relationship to Abraham as a basis for entrance into the kingdom. Christ said the kingdom must be entered by faith in His person, not by the accident of physical birth. In this paragraph, then, we find the conclusion to the Pharisees' decision that Jesus Christ was demon-possessed. The nation that rejected Christ was in a worse state because of that rejection than they had been before the gracious offer of the kingdom was made. And the One who offered the kingdom now rejected the nation that had rejected Him.
This paragraph clearly anticipates God's setting aside of the nation Israel. It prepares the way for the revelation of a new form of God's program for the kingdom."
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