Matthew 12.AT 12{
In the close of Matt. 11, the Lord, though rejected, promises rest to the heavy laden, laboring ones that will come to Him; this is the saved remnant. In this chapter, Matt. 12, He rejects Israel, severing His relation with them for the present; a new ground of relationship is brought in.
Matt. 12:1-8. The disciples rubbing the ears of grain in their hands and eating it, becomes the occasion for the Pharisees to find fault with them for breaking the Sabbath. The Lord refers to the time when David and his men hungered and ate the showbread that was only for the priests to eat. It was Israel's sin then that David, the true king, was outlawed. It was Israel's sin now that the Son of David, the Great King, was also rejected. God cannot respect ordinances, when the heart is in sin at any time. The Sabbath was the sign, of the covenant Jehovah made with Israel. (Ex. 31:13, 17. Ezek. 20:12, 20.) Now it is set aside. The priests, on the Sabbath Day in the temple, profaned the Sabbath, because sacrifices for sin had to be offered, and here was one greater than the temple. If they had known the meaning of the saying, I will have mercy and not sacrifice, they would not have condemned the guiltless. For the Son of man is Lord also of the Sabbath. It was His right to do as He pleased.
Matt. 12:9-16. Here again He acts in grace; they would not scruple to pull their own sheep out of a pit on the Sabbath day. A man is of more value than a sheep, and He will heal this man with the withered hand and answer their question. "Wherefore it is lawful to do well on the Sabbath day." Man's need set aside the Sabbath.
This brought out the malice of those so-called good men, the Pharisees; they "held a council against Him, how they might destroy Him"-the giver of all good. The Lord saw it and withdrew, and many followed Him, and He healed them all. And He charged them that they should not make Him known; the time for that was past.
Matt. 12:17-21. Now the Spirit witnesses to His person. (Isa. 42:1-4.) "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 forth judgment to the Gentiles." But though such a wonderful person, He takes a lowly place now, doing His work out of sight of man as much as possible. "Till He send forth judgment unto victory and in His name shall the Gentiles trust." This passage gives an exact picture of His position.
Matt. 12:22-42. A man is brought to Him possessed with a devil, blind and dumb. This is a picture of the people's condition with respect to God. The Lord heals and delivers him, so that the man both spake and saw. The people were amazed and said, "Is not this the Son of David?" But Pharisees, full of malice and jealousy, and opposed to God's testimony, declare that the Lord is doing all this by the power of the devil. The Lord shows the foolishness of the argument. Satan would not cast out Satan; if so he could not stand. They would not say that of their sons, therefore, they should be their judges. But if He cast out demons by the Spirit of God, then the kingdom of God is come upon them; they were resisting God. The Lord hath bound the strong man, else He could not spoil His goods; and the Lord was delivering men, in grace, from the power of Satan that had held them captive. It was plainly the deep-rooted malice of their hearts. With all their religious profession, they were against God, and so against Him. He gathered-they scattered. They blasphemed the Holy Ghost. They knew better; the works of power showed it was the power of God, and not of Satan. Their case was hopeless. Words spoken against the Son of man would be forgiven; but speaking against the Holy Ghost would not be forgiven, neither in that world (the age of law), nor in the world to come (that is, the millennial age). This is not referring to the present period of grace. It has no reference to a poor, backsliding Christian; it refers distinctly to those who, in Christ's lifetime, said, "He hath an unclean spirit." (Mark 3:29, 30.)
They were a corrupt tree, a generation of vipers, evil men out of whose hearts' abundance the evil came, for "out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh." A good man treasures in his heart good things, and bringeth them forth; an evil man has nothing but evil. A man's words are the index of what is in his heart. And "I say unto you, that every idle word that men shall speak, they shall give an account thereof in the day of judgment. For by thy words thou shalt be justified, and by thy words thou shalt be condemned."(Matt. 12:36) May Psa. 19 :14 be our earnest endeavor: "Let the words of my mouth, and the meditation of my heart, be acceptable in Thy sight, O Lord, my Strength, and my Redeemer.”
After all this they ask a sign from Him. What bold wickedness, after all His miracles that they had seen! There was only one sign for them now; it was the sign of the prophet Jonas. They were an evil and adulterous generation. Jonas was three days and three nights in the belly of the fish; so shall the Son of man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth. It was their Messiah cast out, rejected, and put to death. "The Ninevites 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." So also the Queen of Sheba, who came from afar to hear the wisdom of Solomon, and "a greater than Solomon is here." Poor, despised Gentiles heard and understood the Word of God by. the prophet, or the king, better than Jehovah's people, even when spoken by the Great King and Prophet Himself.
Matt. 12:43-45. Here then is their evil state: They are like a man who had been possessed by an unclean spirit; that is, they had been idolaters and this is the reason Israel was sent into captivity. (Acts 7:42, 43.) (Isaiah 40 to 48 judges their idolatry for which they were sent to Babylon captives. Isaiah 49 to 58 judges their rejection of Christ for which they were scattered after the death of Christ.) But this returned remnant had no idolatry. In the clays of the Lord, they were like a house empty, swept and garnished, but they did not receive the Lord. (John 5:43.) So by and by, this same spirit of idolatry will enter into Israel (which ought to be God's house) and with seven other spirits worse than himself, will take possession again; this will be in the tribulation, thus their last state shall be worse than the first. "Even so shall it be also unto this wicked generation." What a solemn judgment on the Jews; what sorrow they were bringing on themselves.
Matt. 12:46-50. When Jesus' mother and His brethren present themselves to speak with Him, He uses them to illustrate that He had now broken with Israel, His natural relations, and that now those whom He would own were those who would do the will of His Father which is in heaven: the same is My brother, and sister, and mother.
The new position and work He was doing is opened up in the next chapter.