12:28 But if I, by the Spirit of God, cast out the demons, then the kingdom of God has come upon you. 12:29 Or how can a
Excerpts from Life-study of Matthew, Message 32 THE ESTABLISHMENT OF THE KING’S REJECTION (1) Bible Verses: Matthew 12:3 But He said to them, Have you not read what David did when he became hungry, and those who were with him; 12:4 How he entered into the house of God, and they ate the bread of the Presence, which was not lawful for him to eat, nor for those who were with him, except for the priests only? 12:8 For the Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath. 12:10 And behold, a man who had a withered hand was there. And they asked Him, saying, Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath? so that they might accuse Him. 12:11 And He said to them, What man will there be among you who will have one sheep, and if it falls into a pit on the Sabbath, will not take hold of it and lift it out? 12:12 Of how much more value then is a man than a sheep! So then it is lawful to do well on the Sabbath. [BEING FREED FROM RELIGION TO ENTER INTO REST] Matthew 12:1 says, “At that time Jesus went on the Sabbath through the grain fields; and His disciples were hungry and began to pick the ears and to eat.” “At that time” joins chapter twelve to chapter eleven. At the time the Lord called people to rest from striving to keep the law and religious regulations, He went on the Sabbath through the grain fields, and His disciples began to pick the ears and to eat, seemingly breaking the Sabbath. When the Lord called people into rest, His disciples were hungry. For this reason, He brought them to the grain fields, fields growing wheat. No doubt He knew that these fields were rather ripe, full of ears good for eating. The Lord Jesus purposely did this. Realizing that His disciples were hungry, He took them to the grain fields for rest. This is a sign. The call to come to Him for rest given in chapter eleven was sounded on the Sabbath day. This is proved by the words “at that time” which begin chapter twelve. The Sabbath was a day of rest. On the day of rest the Lord called people into rest. He seemed to be saying, “You people are keeping the Sabbath, yet you are still laboring and striving to keep the law. You are heavily burdened with all the laws, rituals, forms, and regulations. Although you are keeping the Sabbath outwardly, actually you do not have any rest. You need to come to Me. You labor and are burdened with the matter of law keeping. Come to Me, and you will find rest.” Peter and John might have said, “We are hungry and cannot rest. We need something to eat.” But that day was the Sabbath, and virtually all activity had ceased. Hence, it was difficult for the disciples to find anything to eat. Knowing this, the Lord Jesus took them into the grain fields. The disciples were under the burden of keeping the Sabbath regulations. These regulations had become a heavy burden to the hungry disciples. Thus, the Lord Jesus took the lead not to keep these regulations by bringing His disciples out of a regulation-keeping situation into the grain fields. The Lord’s intention in doing this was to free the disciples from the Sabbath-keeping regulations. When they came into the grain fields, everyone was freed from this burden and was satisfied. Everyone entered into rest. [CHRIST AS THE REAL DAVID] The Lord took the lead to bring His hungry disciples into the grain fields where they all found something to eat. Verse 2 says, “But the Pharisees seeing it said to Him, Behold, your disciples are doing what is not lawful to do on the Sabbath.” The Pharisees, the “Sabbath Patrol,” caught the Lord Jesus and His disciples. They must have been watching the Lord. Otherwise, why would they have been in the grain fields on the Sabbath day? The Pharisees must have been deliberately following Him and spying on Him. The Pharisees condemned what the Lord’s disciples were doing, saying it was not lawful on the Sabbath. To them it was not lawful, not scriptural. This environment afforded the Lord Jesus the opportunity
to reveal more of Himself. To the Pharisees, Jesus had been caught. But to the Lord Jesus this was an opportunity to reveal both to them and to His disciples who He was. According to verses 3 and 4, the Lord asked the Pharisees, “Have you not read what David did when he was hungry and those who were with him; how he entered into the house of God, and they ate the showbread, which was not lawful for him to eat, nor for those who were with him, but for the priests only?” The Lord’s word here implies that He was the real David. In ancient times, David and his followers, when rejected, entered into the house of God and ate the showbread, seemingly breaking the Levitical law. Now the real David and His followers were also rejected and took action to eat, seemingly against the sabbatical regulation. Just as David and his followers were not held guilty, neither should Christ and His disciples be condemned. Both cases were related to eating. King David was a prefigure of Christ, the real David. [N]either David and his followers nor Christ and His followers had anything to eat, but there was the place where there was something to eat. For David it was the house of God, and for Christ it was the grain fields. All this implies that David and his followers were a type, a shadow, of Christ and His disciples. [THE LORD’S CARE FOR HIS MEMBERS] Verse 9 says, “And departing from there, He came into their synagogue.” After causing trouble in the grain fields, defeating the “Sabbath Patrol,” according to Matthew’s record He went with His disciples to the synagogue to cause even more trouble. In the synagogue was a man with a withered hand. When the Pharisees inquired of the Lord whether it was lawful to heal on the Sabbath, He said to them, “What man shall there be of you who shall have one sheep, and if it fall into a pit on the Sabbaths, will he not lay hold of it and lift it out? Of how much more value then is a man than a sheep! Wherefore it is lawful to do good on the Sabbaths” (vv. 11-12). Here we see the Lord’s wisdom. This time He did not quote a verse, but He referred to their practice. In other words, in the first case the Lord quoted from the Bible, and in the second He appealed to history. Once again their mouths were shut. Verse 13 says, “Then He says to the man, Stretch out your hand. And he stretched it out, and it was restored sound as the other.” Restoring the withered hand signifies that He cares for His members. He healed a man’s withered hand, likening this man to a sheep. The hand is a member of the body, and the sheep is a member of the flock. The Lord would do anything for the healing of His members, for the rescue of His fallen sheep. Sabbath or no Sabbath, the Lord is interested in healing the dead members of His Body. Regulations do not matter, but the rescue of His fallen sheep means everything to Him. On the heart of this heavenly King was not the Sabbath, not any kind of doctrine, and not any regulation. Rather, on His heart was His lordship. We must see that He is Lord and that He is above the Sabbath. The Sabbath is merely an instrument used by Him, but He Himself is the Lord of the Sabbath. The Lord also cares for His members, including any member of His Body who is sick, weak, or in a difficult situation. He will do something for that member to rescue him, to heal him, and to make him living. Verse 14 says, “And going out, the Pharisees took counsel against Him, how they might destroy Him.” At this point, 12:14, the rejection of Christ by religion reaches its peak. Religion has fully rejected the heavenly King and has plotted to destroy Him. The reason for the rejection and the cause for the Lord’s needing to hide was the breaking of the religious regulations. This was due to caring for His headship and for the members of His Body. Because of this, the rejection reached the ultimate. It is the same in principle today. This rejection caused the King with His kingly salvation to turn from the Jews to the Gentiles (12:15-21). Verse 21 says, “And in His name the nations shall hope.” Due to the rejection by the Jewish religionists, the heavenly King with His salvation turned to the nations. Now the nations put their hope in His name, believing in Him and receiving Him as their kingly Savior. Read the verses and footnotes online: http://online.recoveryversion.bible/ Read the complete message online: http://www.ministrybooks.org/life-studies.cfm
Excerpts from Life-study of Matthew, Message 33 THE ESTABLISHMENT OF THE KING’S REJECTION (2) Bible Verses: Matthew 12:25 But knowing their thoughts, He said to them, Every kingdom divided against itself becomes desolate, and every city or house divided against itself will not stand. 12:26 And if Satan casts out Satan, he is divided against himself. How then will his kingdom stand? 12:27 And if I, by Beelzebul, cast out the demons, by whom do your sons cast them out? Therefore they shall be your judges. 12:28 But if I, by the Spirit of God, cast out the demons, then the kingdom of God has come upon you. 12:29 Or how can anyone enter into the house of the strong man and plunder his goods unless he first binds the strong man? And then he will thoroughly plunder his house [MATTHEW BEING A BOOK ON THE KINGDOM] We have seen that Matthew is a book concerned with the doctrine of the kingdom. In his Gospel Matthew does not give us a record of history; he takes the facts of history and puts them together to reveal the doctrine of the kingdom. Thus far, we have seen that Christ was born, was anointed, was tested, began His ministry, drew a crowd, decreed the heavenly constitution, and continued His ministry. His ministry produced the environment that enabled Him to reveal Himself in many aspects. Furthermore, His ministry caused Him to be fully rejected by that evil generation. Now we must see that in order for the kingdom of the heavens to be established, there is the need of a spiritual battle, of spiritual fighting. This fighting is implied in 12:22-37. In the establishment of the kingdom a fight is raging on. Although we have covered many things, we have not yet seen that the establishment of the kingdom requires spiritual fighting. As Christ, the heavenly King, was establishing the heavenly kingdom among men on earth, He was fighting. People, however, did not see this warfare. They saw what He did outwardly, but they did not realize what was taking place inwardly. Thus, Matthew selected another historical fact to point out the fighting that was going on as the King was establishing the heavenly kingdom. [THE LORD REVEALING THE SECRET OF SPIRITUAL FIGHTING] Verse 22 says, “Then there was brought to Him one possessed by a demon, blind and dumb; and He healed him, so that the dumb man spoke and saw.” A blind and dumb man signifies one who has no sight to see God and spiritual things; thus he is unable to praise God and speak for God. This is the real condition of all fallen people. Such a man was brought to the King, the King cast out the demon, and the man was able to see and to speak. He uttered what he saw. This undoubtedly was a miracle and a sign. In the Old Testament there is no record of a blind man miraculously receiving his sight. For a blind man to receive his sight is a great sign. Although the crowds were amazed, the Pharisees were offended, unable to tolerate the fact that through an extraordinary miracle the Lord Jesus had gained all the crowds. Hence, these Pharisees had to say something to deal with the situation. According to verse 24, they said, “This man does not cast out the demons except by Beelzebub, ruler of the demons.” This was the greatest blasphemy heaped upon the heavenly King by the opposing Pharisees. The Pharisees’ accusation afforded Christ an opportunity to reveal something further. Once again His ministry produced a situation that enabled Him to reveal something that we would otherwise be unable to see. Apparently the Lord had cast out a demon. Actually, that was not only the casting out of a demon; it was a fighting. Verses 25 and 26 say, “But knowing their thoughts, He said to them, Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation, and every city or house divided against itself shall not stand. And if Satan casts
out Satan, he is divided against himself. How then will his kingdom stand?” The Lord seemed to be saying to the Pharisees, “How could I cast out a demon by Satan? If I did this, then Satan would be fighting against Satan, and his kingdom could not stand.” Verse 26 is unique in the whole Bible in that no other verse opens the secret that Satan has his kingdom. Satan is the ruler of this world (John 12:31) and the ruler of the power of the air (Eph. 2:2). Satan’s kingdom is built on earth and among men. But the heavenly King has come to establish a heavenly kingdom also among men on earth. Therefore, these two kingdoms are in conflict. Satan’s kingdom is the old kingdom, but the heavenly King is about to establish a new kingdom, the kingdom of the heavens. By this we see that a battle is raging. Verse 29 reveals that before the Lord cast out the demon, He firstly fought against Satan. This verse says, “Or how can anyone enter into the house of the strong man and plunder his vessels unless he first bind the strong man? And then he will plunder his house.” The word about binding the strong man indicates that when the Lord cast out demons, He first bound Satan. The people saw only the casting out of the demon. They did not see the binding of Satan, the strong man. Thus, the Lord used the opportunity afforded Him by the accusation of the Pharisees to reveal the secret of spiritual fighting. Apparently, the Lord was only casting out the demon; actually, He was fighting, binding the strong man. This shows us that if we would build the kingdom today, we must first bind the strong man [BINDING THE STRONG MAN FOR THE KINGDOM] . The way to bind the strong man is to pray. When we come to chapter seventeen, we shall see that the disciples came to the Lord and asked Him why He could cast out the demon and they could not. In 17:21 the Lord told His disciples, “This kind does not go out except by prayer and fasting.” If you do not pray and fast, you simply cannot cast out this kind of demon. The Lord’s word to His disciples indicates that before He cast out a demon, He surely fasted and prayed. In order to bind the strong man, we must fast and pray. The Lord fasted and prayed secretly. The disciples did not see this. We must learn of the Lord to fast in secret and to pray in secret. I believe that when the Lord Jesus was on earth, He often fasted and prayed to fight the battle and to bind the strong man. We all must be in the same spirit today. Every day our spirit must be a fasting spirit and a praying spirit so that we may daily bind the strong man, who is Satan, the king of the kingdom of darkness. Satan has a kingdom of darkness on earth, and the whole earth is under his usurpation. It is difficult to take one out of Satan’s hand. Every fallen person is a vessel in Satan’s house. Satan’s house is his kingdom, and in his house are many vessels, the many fallen persons. In order to take a fallen person out of Satan’s house, we must bind the strong man by prayer and fasting. This is the fighting of the spiritual battle for the establishment of the kingdom of the heavens. Verse 28 says, “But if I by the Spirit of God cast out demons, then the kingdom of God is come upon you.” The Spirit of God is the power of the kingdom of God. Where the Spirit of God is in power, there the kingdom of God is, and there the demons have no ground. By the Lord’s word here we see that the battle fought for the kingdom is not fought by just a man himself, but by a man with the Spirit of God. In verse 28 the Lord said that He cast out demons by the Spirit of God and that this is the coming of the kingdom of God. Wherever the Spirit of God exercises His authority over the opposing situation, that is the kingdom of God. Read the verses and footnotes online: http://online.recoveryversion.bible/ Read the complete message online: http://www.ministrybooks.org/life-studies.cfm
