(12:1) Jesus and the disciples are walking together on the Sabbath: the holy day set aside for God established in the Old Testament. In a busy and constant world, this day can be celebrated in the name of God but you can get so much out of it for yourself. It is a day to prioritize time for spirituality, for thought and work with a spiritual conscious. It is a time to realign how you are living with how you should be living. Our lives should be spent constantly working in God's name, our job is to contribute to the betterment of those around us.
(12:2) The Pharisees have returned and are again waiting for Jesus to do something they can accuse Him of. It's internally toxic to be this way: constantly looking for negativity in a thing or person who in this case, has none. You stunt yourself when instead of focusing on where you can make progress, you focus on where someone else is not.
(12:3-4) Jesus begins answering their question with, "Have you not read...?". Here, the Pharisees are a group of people wanting to punish Jesus for not following the law of God, and yet they continue to make mistakes that reveal that they do not even read the word of God.
Jesus is referencing (1 Samuel 21) in this reference.
(12:5) Perhaps you are wondering, how can a person "profane" the Sabbath yet be blameless? The answer is because if you are working kindness and wisdom, you are blameless. You should never take a break from important work such as that involving God.
(12:6) Here Jesus is saying that he has more authority than the temple. Jesus is speaking from God, and God through Him therefore, if Jesus says it is okay for his disciples to eat... it is certainly acceptable.
(12:7) Here we are reminded of what God ultimately wants from us: love and works in love. If we are bringing peace and wisdom to others, that is our greatest gift to Him. Our sacrifices, such as not eating on certain days, accomplish no work.
(12:8) We are told that Jesus is Jesus and God is God on every day, even the Sabbath. What can we take from that reminder? We can understand from it that God does not rest (in works in His name!) on certain days and he does not expect you to either.
(12:9-10) The Pharisees do not listen. They still follow Jesus and look for reasons to accuse him of wrongdoing.
(12:11) Jesus is teaching them that no matter what special day or rest day we are living through, there is never a time or day when it is acceptable not to do good when you have the ability and opportunity to. This is a common sense lesson. If you are doing good things for people only because you are following rules in the hope that you will be rewarded, your selfish nature will destroy your chance. Do good: heal and teach every day, every minute if you are given the opportunity. Do the healing and teaching because you are compassionate, not because you HAVE to on CERTAIN days.
(12:12) It is lawful to do good on the Sabbath... you would save an animal, certainly you would save a human, too. Jesus saves us every day and on any occasion, we must return the favor when we can.
(12:13) Jesus heals the hand. This can be interpreted as a metaphor. Hands are a symbol for working. Jesus is teaching people with impaired understanding of when it is acceptable to work. Therefore, He finds men who do not know when to work they have broken or withered hands as a symbol. Jesus fixes the situation by making clear the circumstances in which it is right to work. He heals the hand. He heals the working.
(12:14) The Pharisees still want to destroy Him. Ensure that you always have good intentions. Do not work to tear down or ruin other people. If you are working negatively, you are not working but destroying.
(12:15) Jesus was aware of his enemies and He was aware of their evil intentions. That did not stop Him from continuing His important work. He moved on, he withdrew himself from the negativity. He did not stay to argue. He stated his intentions, he was precise and clear and then He got back to work.
You also should not dwell on negativity that might be surrounding you. If you have been honest and fair, you should happily and swiftly move along in your journey.
(12:16-21) Jesus does not seek to be a celebrity. His mission is to work and he never gets distracted. He never desires any reward for himself. He does not want wealth or fame. He wishes to fulfill the prophesy that He will teach to the world the gentle way of God.
(12:22) I believe that blind and mute can be metaphors. Of course, God can heal all ailments but there is a deeper message in these examples of Jesus' healing.
Consider that blind stands for a person unaware and unable to interpret their surroundings or a specific situation. Even in these days, there are many people who can see but are lost on their journey. They are not seeing the ways they can make their lives better but are instead spinning in the same slow, unproductive circle. Jesus can heal this. Jesus brings understanding and then he guides us down the enlightened path. He becomes our sight when we trust Him.
Mute can stand for a person who perhaps can understand and interpret a situation but remains silent. This person might be without the courage or compassion to speak for those who need their support. God can give us that courage and can help us find compassion in ourselves. We must learn that each person around us has their own perspective of life and we must be aware of how that can make a situation complex (this also is part of sight!). God can give us the voice we need to teach the lessons that need to be heard.
There is so much work to be done, when we open our eyes and use our voices, we contribute to carrying the load.
(12:23-24) People are amazed and speculate but the Pharisees remain eager to ruin Jesus' reputation. They are eager to diminish Jesus because they want to retain their power. Their minds are closed to anything but strict law without common sense. Their hearts and minds are not authentic. They want power and control through religion. Jesus does not want power and control. He wants to improve life for everybody and he has a lot of advice on how to accomplish that. Power-hungry and greedy people do not understand doing work without receiving material possessions of wealth and power.
(12:25-28) Jesus is back, quickly and accurately, with common sense. The Pharisees accuse Him of working for the devil, but Jesus says, if I am an evil person, why would I do good works? That is contradictory. If Jesus were of the devil and did good work... their mission would fail. Common sense.
If the Pharisees think Jesus is doing the work of the devil, they must be doing much, much worse!
(12:29) You cannot possibly work against someone by accomplishing their goals with them. Likewise, you cannot work with someone by destroying their possibility for success.
(12:30) Choose a side because Jesus and God are on a mission and evil people are on a mission as well. You cannot work with both. You help one, you harm the other. You cannot choose both sides, it simply does not work.
(12:31) We are forgiven for all sins, but if we are shown the spirit of God and we choose to reject what he stands for, we have chosen not to be a part of what He is. If we do evil things continually, and we know better, we are not asking to be forgiven and therefore we will not be.
(12:32) When God shows himself and his peaceful and wise ways to us we have the chance, the perfect opportunity to join Him. If God shows peace and wisdom and we reject it, we receive the rejection we chose.
If we choose good but come up a little short while we are actively trying, God has forgiveness and patience for us to claim. If we choose evil, willingly and knowingly, we do not receive the gifts and guidance of God... because we have told Him that we do not want or value it.
(12:33) You are defined by your actions. If you produce happiness in yourself and spread it to others, you bear good fruit. If you produce evil and spread it to others, you bear bad fruit. Our actions let other people know who we are.
(12:34) An evil person cannot produce good. It is fake, false and weak.
(12:35) Our hearts, minds and souls reveal who we are. We cannot go against our true nature. We can correct and aid the areas where we need improvements if we want to, with God, but we cannot be evil and be counted as good. You cannot trick God and you cannot trick a perceptive human of God.
(12:36) Any action you do should have a purpose, an intention of doing and being good. God knows why we do what we do, why we choose what we choose, why we act how we act, so we cannot fool him. If we do something without reason, He knows. If we do something with evil intent, He knows. If we are true and good, He knows!
Do not be idle. Work. Work constantly trying to be a better person for those around you. The whole world needs wisdom and love and you can be the instrument through which God delivers it to them.
(12:37) The work that your voice does will be judged and that judgement can either bring reward or punishment. It is not a threat from God but a consequence we choose to receive. You cannot be celebrated and rewarded for doing evil because God does not do evil or support evil.
(12:38-39) A lot of people do not believe in God because they want to test Him. They test and try to tempt Him... but God will remain silent to the beggars. God put signs of love and wisdom all around us, if we diligently seek Him, we WILL find Him and in the process, we will have shown Him that we care enough to trust Him. We should God that we are willing to work in His name without the tangible, visible promise of receiving reward. God blesses work that does not seek a selfish reward.
(12:40-42) Jesus tells them that if they want a sign, they will receive the best sign, His resurrection. In time. The son of God was about to RISE from death before their eyes, they were a blessed generation and received the most brilliant, clear sign from God than anyone before had received. They received a sign greater than many generations after them would receive. And yet, many of them will waste their sign. God wants us to love him without an obvious sign. The love is more authentic.
People from earlier generations, the queen of the south and the people Nineveh, received signs and believed and yet here in Matthew 12, these people receive the best sign, much greater than any before (Jesus) and many still do not believe. This scripture speaks of those people viewing the generation of Jesus and after and wondering, how could they go wrong when they saw and knew of such a spirit?
(12:43) Evil always yearns for a place to corrupt. Not everybody is on a path of good and worse, not everybody wants to be on a path of good. You have to be aware of this and you have to be vigilant that evil does not find a place in you.
(12:44-45) You have to always work to be good. If you learn the right way of living and then reject it, you are a worse evil.
(12:46-50) Jesus is a beautiful spirit. Here he proclaims that we are all His family. We are loved by Him as passionately and perfectly as one loves a parent or a sibling. We are OF Him. Be WITH Him, no thing or person can ever love you as intensely as He can and will love you. He has patience with you, wisdom to teach you, forgiveness to give you. You are of His blood, you cannot be more closely related to Him than you are. His love is infallible, constant and guiding. Learn it, accept it, be it, embrace it... spread it.
