The Grace Commentary – Your free verse-by-verse Bible commentary Matthew 12

Matthew 12:1

At that time Jesus went through the grainfields on the Sabbath, and His disciples became hungry and began to pick the heads of grain and eat.

(a) The Sabbath was the day of rest mandated in the Law of Moses (Ex. 31:14, Lev. 23:3). The Sabbath day began at sunset on Friday and ended on sunset on Saturday.

(b) Pick the heads of grain. The Pharisees claimed the disciples were breaking the law (see next verse).

Matthew 12:2

But when the Pharisees saw this, they said to Him, “Look, Your disciples do what is not lawful to do on a Sabbath.”

(a) Pharisees; see entry for Matt. 3:7.

(b) What is not lawful. It was a violation of the Law to do any work on the Sabbath (Lev. 23:3).

Matthew 12:5

“Or have you not read in the Law, that on the Sabbath the priests in the temple break the Sabbath and are innocent?

(a) The Law refers to the Law of Moses, the commandments, ordinances, punishments, and ceremonial observances given to the nation of Israel through Moses (Jos. 8:31, John 1:17). This law is sometimes referred to as the law of commandments (Eph. 2:15) or the law of the Jews (Acts 25:8). See entry for The Law.

(b) The Sabbath; see entry for Matt. 12:1.

Matthew 12:8

“For the Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath.”

(a) The Son of Man; see entry for Matt. 8:20.

(b) Lord of the Sabbath. The Sabbath is a signpost that points to Jesus.

The Sabbath day of rest, which was enshrined in the Ten Commandments (Ex. 20:10) and repeated elsewhere in the Law of Moses (Ex. 31:14, Lev. 23:3), reflected the seventh day when God rested from his work of creation (Gen. 2:2–3). By saying he was Lord of the Sabbath, Jesus was essentially saying “I am the Creator who rested and who helps you to rest.” It was an astounding claim that would have shocked the Pharisees. The original Sabbath law, that some still strive to keep, was a mere shadow (Heb. 10:1). The substance or reality is found in Christ (Col. 2:17).

Matthew 12:9

Departing from there, He went into their synagogue.

Synagogue. Jesus preached in the Jewish assemblies or synagogues (Matt. 12:9, Mark 1:21, Luke 4:44, John 6:59) and the apostle Paul followed his example (Acts 17:1–2). The first Christians were Jewish and when they travelled they proclaimed the good news in Jewish assemblies. To a large degree, the Christian church was birthed in Jewish synagogues. See also the entry for Jas. 2:2.

Matthew 12:10

And a man was there whose hand was withered. And they questioned Jesus, asking, “Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath?”—so that they might accuse Him.

Accuse him. Accusations against you may come from three sources: (1) the Accuser, a.k.a. Satan (see entry for Rev. 12:10), (2) law-lovers who are opposed to those preaching grace (Matt. 12:10, 27:12, Mark 3:2, 15:3, Luke 6:7, 23:2, 10, 14, John 8:6, Acts 22:30, 24:2, 8, 13, 19, 25:5, 11, 16), and (3) a conscience that is mindful of the law (Rom. 2:15). What these three things have in common is an affinity for using the law as a weapon of condemnation. The original word for accuser (kategoros) is similar to the original word for accuses (kategoreo), and the latter means to bring a criminal charge.

Matthew 12:23

All the crowds were amazed, and were saying, “This man cannot be the Son of David, can he?”

The son of David was another name for the Messiah. See entry for Matt. 1:1.

Matthew 12:24

But when the Pharisees heard this, they said, “This man casts out demons only by Beelzebul the ruler of the demons.”

(a) The Pharisees along with the scribes accused Jesus of cooperating with the powers of darkness (Mark 3:22).

(b) Beelzebul, or Baal-zebub, was the Philistine name for the prince of devils (2 Kgs. 1:2–3).

Matthew 12:27

“If I by Beelzebul cast out demons, by whom do your sons cast them out? For this reason they will be your judges.

(a) Beelzebul; see entry for Matt. 12:24.

(b) “For this reason” is one of Jesus’s favorite sayings; see entry for Matt. 6:25.

Matthew 12:28

“But if I cast out demons by the Spirit of God, then the kingdom of God has come upon you.

(a) Cast out demons. When the religious leaders saw Jesus casting out devils, they said he did it with the aid of Satan (Matt. 12:24, Mark 3:22). Jesus corrected their bad theology. “Only by the finger or power of God do we cast out demons” (Luke 11:20). Casting out demons by the Spirit of God was a sign that the kingdom of God had come. Sadly, it was a sign the religious leaders seemed to miss (Luke 17:20).

(b) The kingdom of God is synonymous with the kingdom of heaven; see entry for Matt. 3:2.

Matthew 12:31

“Therefore I say to you, any sin and blasphemy shall be forgiven people, but blasphemy against the Spirit shall not be forgiven.

(a) Any sin and blasphemy shall be forgiven. Prior to the cross, Jesus preached conditional forgiveness to people living under the old covenant. “If you forgive, God will forgive” (Matt. 6:14, Mark 11:25). However, as the messenger of the new covenant, he also demonstrated and proclaimed unconditional forgiveness (Matt. 9:2, 18:27, Luke 7:42, 47, 23:34). This is one occasion where Jesus prophesied the forgiveness of all and every sin (see also Matt.26:28). See entry for Sin.

(b) Shall be forgiven implies forgiveness was a future event. Since forgiveness means the remission or dismissal of sins, Jesus was pointing ahead to the cross. On the night he rose from the dead, Jesus told the disciples to preach the remission of sins as a done deal (see entry for Luke 24:47).

(d) Blasphemy against the Spirit. To blaspheme is to slander or speak against someone (see next verse). When people accused Paul of preaching grace as a license to sin, he said their reports were blasphemous or slanderous (Rom. 3:8). In other words, the reports were false and injurious to his reputation and message.

Jesus’ warning about not slandering the Holy Spirit is reported in three gospels (Matt. 12:32, Mark 3:29, Luke 12:10). In two of those accounts the warning comes after Jesus had been driving out demons by the Spirit of God (Matt. 12:28). However, the Pharisees and law teachers thought Jesus’ power came from Satan. “By the prince of demons he is driving out demons” (Mark 3:22). In other words, they were giving the devil credit for work done by the Holy Spirit.

The blasphemy of the Holy Spirit is to resist his testimony of Jesus. It is persisting in unbelief. It is impossible for a believer to blaspheme the Holy Spirit.

Further reading: “What is the Blasphemy of the Holy Spirit?“

(e) Shall not be forgiven. To reject the Savior is to reject salvation. To refuse to receive his forgiveness, is the only thing that cannot be forgiven. Such a person “never has forgiveness” (Mark 3:29) because they refuse to receive it by faith.

Matthew 12:32

“Whoever speaks a word against the Son of Man, it shall be forgiven him; but whoever speaks against the Holy Spirit, it shall not be forgiven him, either in this age or in the age to come.

(a) Whoever speaks a word against the Son of Man. Many people slandered Jesus and all of them were forgiven. A notable example was James, the step-brother of Jesus. At one time Jesus’ family said he was out of his mind or insane (Mark 3:21, 31). That was a slanderous claim, but Jesus didn’t hold a grudge. He appeared to James after his resurrection (1 Cor. 15:7) and James later became the leader of the church in Jerusalem.

(b) It shall be forgiven him; see entry for Matthew 12:31.

(c) Whoever speaks against the Holy Spirit. To speak against the Holy Spirit is to resist the witness of the Holy Spirit. Jesus is referring to the blasphemy of the Holy Spirit (see previous verse).

(d) The Holy Spirit is also known as the Spirit of God or the Spirit of Christ; see entry for John 14:26.

(e) This age. The present era where Satan, or “the god of this age,” still has some influence (2 Cor. 4:4). In this age, the kingdom of God is revealed through the ministry of Christ and his church (Eph. 3:10).

(f) The age to come, a.k.a. the eternal age, the future era that commences when Christ returns in glory, the heavens and the earth are made new (2 Pet. 3:13), and death is no more (Mark 10:30).

Matthew 12:33

“Either make the tree good and its fruit good, or make the tree bad and its fruit bad; for the tree is known by its fruit.

Make the tree good. When God created the world, all the trees were good and fruitful. Then sin and disease came along and some trees became bad and fruitless.

In context, Jesus is talking about people who blaspheme the Holy Spirit. The hatred in their hearts (their tree) was revealed in what they said (their fruit). It is God who makes people good and it is sin that makes them bad. We make our children good by leading them to a good God who clothes them with his righteousness. And we make our children bad by casting them adrift into a fallen world where they are fed lies that corrupt them. A child’s heart is like soil. Into this soil we can sow the good seed of God’s word or we can let the devil plant weeds.

Matthew 12:34

“You brood of vipers, how can you, being evil, speak what is good? For the mouth speaks out of that which fills the heart.

You brood of vipers. John the Baptist referred to the Pharisees and Sadducees as a brood of vipers and Jesus adopted the phrase. See entry for Matt. 3:7.

Matthew 12:35

“The good man brings out of his good treasure what is good; and the evil man brings out of his evil treasure what is evil.

Good treasure. Jesus is the Treasure found within the good heart.

Jesus is not saying that we can talk our way into the kingdom. But with our hearts we believe and with our mouths we confess and are saved (Rom. 10:10).

Matthew 12:36

“But I tell you that every careless word that people speak, they shall give an accounting for it in the day of judgment.

(a) Every careless word. Our words reveal our hearts (see Matt. 12:34). An unregenerate and unbelieving heart speaks words of unbelief and self-reliance. The self-righteous who never acknowledged Jesus as Lord or received his grace, will find their excuses – “I was moral, I fasted twice a week, I gave a tenth of all I have” – are unable to save them.

(b) The day of judgment. Judgment Day is the end of days, the day when the Lord returns to separate the sheep from the goats (Mat 25:31–32). See entry for Matt. 10:15.

Matthew 12:37

“For by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned.”

(a) Justified. To be justified, is to be made right with God. Since our justification comes to us as a gift of grace (Rom. 3:24, Tit. 3:7), the words that justify us are the words of faith (Rom. 3:28, 5:1, Gal. 3:24). It’s calling on the name of the Lord and being saved (Rom. 10:13).

(b) By your words. We are not condemned by God but by our own stubborn refusal to receive the gift of life (John 5:40).

Matthew 12:38

Then some of the scribes and Pharisees said to him, “Teacher, we want to see a sign from you.”

(a) Scribes; see entry for Matt. 5:20.

(b) Pharisees; see entry for Matt. 3:7.

(c) A sign from heaven so that they might believe that God was with him (John 6:30). Yet their request revealed their stubborn unbelief. Jesus had already given them many signs by healing the sick, delivering the oppressed, and raising the dead (Matt. 4:24, 9:24–25). How many mute people needed to speak; how many cripples needed to walk; how many dead little girls did Jesus need to raise before they believed him?

On more than one occasion, the religious leaders asked Jesus to show a sign from heaven (Matt, 12:38, 16:1, Mark 9:11, Luke 11:16, John 2:18, 6:30). Herod also asked to see a sign (Luke 23:8).

Matthew 12:39

But He answered and said to them, “An evil and adulterous generation craves for a sign; and yet no sign will be given to it but the sign of Jonah the prophet;

(a) An evil and adulterous generation is one that seeks signs instead of seeking God. The Jews had an abundance of signs. They had the law and the prophets and the testimony of John the Baptist. They had the many extraordinary miracles already done by Jesus. Yet they remained unpersuaded and unrepentant. They were not faithful to the Lord, but unfaithful and adulterous.

(b) The sign of Jonah was Jesus rising from the dead after three days.

There are numerous parallels between the stories of Jonah and Jesus: Jonah spent three days and nights in the belly of a fish (Jonah 1:17); Jesus spent three days and nights in the belly of the earth (see next verse). After he rose, Jonah preached for 40 days (Jonah 3:4); after he rose, Jesus preached for 40 days (Acts 1:3). Jonah, understood something of the grace (hesed) of God (Jonah 2:8, 4:2); Jesus came from the Father full of grace (John 1:14). Jonah was sent to a city known for its wickedness (Jonah 1:2); Jesus was sent to a city that killed the prophets (Matt. 23:37). When the people of Nineveh heard the message, they were cut to the heart and repented (Jonah 3:5); when the people of Jerusalem heard the message, they were cut to the heart and repented (Acts 2:37). As a result of Jonah’s preaching, there was an outbreak of divine compassion or grace (Jonah 4:11); as a result of Jesus’ preaching, there was an outbreak of the Holy Spirit, a.k.a. the Spirit of Grace (Acts 2:2)

Further reading: “The sign of Jonah”

Matthew 12:40

for just as JONAH WAS THREE DAYS AND THREE NIGHTS IN THE BELLY OF THE SEA MONSTER, so will the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.

(a) Three days and three nights. Was this a literal prediction? Or a Jonah-esque sign for an adulterous and unbelieving generation? There are two problems with a literal 72-hour interpretation: (1) If Jesus died and was buried late on a WEDNESDAY afternoon, he must have risen no later than sunset on Saturday – which leaves Jesus sitting in a dark garden all night until Mary and the other women show up early the next morning.

(2) If Jesus died and was buried late on a THURSDAY afternoon, a literal 72-hour interpretation means he cannot until rise until late afternoon on Sunday at the earliest. But Mary and the other women visited him early on the “first day of the week” (i.e., before dawn on Sunday; Matt 28:1).

To a Jewish mind this is less of an issue. The Jewish day begins at sunset, so the first day of the crucifixion weekend begins at Thursday sundown, the second day begins at Friday sundown, and the third day begins at Saturday sundown. Jesus was crucified on the first day (Friday afternoon) and rose on the third day (Sunday morning), and each of these three days began with a night.

On several occasions Jesus predicted he would be raised on the third day (Matt 17:23, 20:19, Luke 9:22, 18:33, 24:46). To a Jewish mind, that means he was raised some time after Saturday sundown and before sundown on Sunday.

Matthew records that an earthquake happened “as it began to dawn on the first day of the week” (Matt. 28:1). The pre-dawn earthquake is the kicker. It proves that Jesus could not have been buried on a Wednesday for then he would have spent four nights in the ground and not three. And it proves Jesus could not have been buried on a Thursday for that would mean he was raised on the fourth (Jewish) day, which is a day late.

Further reading: “Good Friday Timeline“

(b) The Son of Man; see entry for Matt. 8:20.

Matthew 12:41

“The men of Nineveh will stand up with this generation at the judgment, and will condemn it because they repented at the preaching of Jonah; and behold, something greater than Jonah is here.

(a) The men of Nineveh. How can the men of Nineveh stand in judgment since they died before the heard about Jesus? We can only speculate, but it’s possible that Jesus, after he was crucified, descended to the depths and preached the gospel to those who were in the grave (1 Pet. 4:6). See also the entry for Eph. 4:8.

(b) Repented. To repent means to change your mind. In context, it means changing your mind about Christ and the goodness of God (Rom. 2:4). “Change your unbelieving mind and believe the glad tidings of God’s grace and forgiveness” (see Mark 1:15). Jesus is talking about people who heard the gospel and believed it.

(c) Preaching. The original word (kerugma) means a proclamation. This is one of three words that are commonly translated as “preaching” in the New Testament. See entry for Acts 5:42.

Matthew 12:46

While He was still speaking to the crowds, behold, His mother and brothers were standing outside, seeking to speak to Him.

(a) His mother; see entry for Matt. 1:18.

(b) His brothers or step-brothers were James, Joseph, Simon and Judas (Matt. 13:55). At first, these men did not believe that Jesus was the Son of God (Mark 3:21). But they and their mother Mary were among those praying in the Upper Room after the ascension of Jesus (Acts 1:14). James became the influential leader of the church in Jerusalem (Acts 15:13). It’s possible the other brothers became ministers of the gospel and apostles, but we have no direct evidence for this (1 Cor. 9:5).

(c) Outside. Jesus was often “inside” with the believers and true disciples (Matt. 12:48–50, Mark 4:10), while those outside were the sceptics and unbelievers (Matt. 12:46–47, Mark 4:11, Luke 13:25).

Matthew 12:47

Someone said to Him, “Behold, Your mother and Your brothers are standing outside seeking to speak to You.”

See previous verse.

Matthew 12:48

But Jesus answered the one who was telling Him and said, “Who is My mother and who are My brothers?”

My mother. Mary was an extraordinary woman, highly favored by God, and rightly honoured by the Church. Yet nowhere in scripture does Jesus refer to her as mother. Instead, he calls her woman (John 2:4, 19:26). If you asked Jesus who his mother was, he would reply, “My mother and brothers are these who hear the word of God and do it” (Luke 8:21). Jesus was not being disrespectful to Mary, but like Melchizedek, he was “without father and mother” in the usual sense (Heb. 7:3).

See entry for Virgin Birth.

Matthew 12:50

“For whoever does the will of My Father who is in heaven, he is My brother and sister and mother.”

(a) My Father; see entry for Matthew 5:16.

(b) My brother and sister and mother. In the New Testament, believers are often referred to as the family or household of God (Mark 3:35, John 11:52, 2 Cor. 6:18, Eph. 2:19, Gal. 3:26, 6:10, 1 Pet. 4:17).

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Matthew 12