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Friday, November 28, 2025

Greater Glory Resides in Jesus

 



Welcome to this study of Matthew's Gospel, a collaboration between Mary Barmore and Alice C. Linsley. Before you begin, read Matthew Chapter 12. When you have finished reading, answer the 10 questions. Check your answers by scrolling to the bottom.


Introduction

Matthew Chapter 12 addresses the authority of the Lord Jesus over the seen and the unseen world. This chapter also presents some of the accusations brought against Jesus by the Jewish religious leaders and provides his responses to their accusations. This chapter is the first place in Matthew's Gospel that we find the phrase "Kingdom of God". (See also Matthew 19:24, 21:31 and 43.) The Kingdom of God is the Kingdom of Christ whose glory surpasses all things.


Questions

1. What action of Jesus' disciples offended the Pharisees?

2. What story did Jesus use to justify his disciples' action of picking grain on the Sabbath?

3. What did Jesus mean when he said he is the "Lord of the Sabbath"?

4. How did people react when they witnessed Jesus' many miracles?

5. What was Jesus' response to the claim that his miracles were worked by demonic power? 

6. Jesus stated that every sin and blasphemy will be forgiven but one. Which will not be forgiven?

7. Some Scribes and Pharisees asked Jesus to see a sign. What was Jesus' response?

8. When Jesus speaks of faithless Israel as "adulterous", on what tradition is he drawing?

9. A house swept of evil is only good under what conditions?

10. What did Jesus mean when he referred to his disciples as his mother and brothers?


Answers

1. Jesus' hungry disciples picked heads of grain and ate them as they walked through a field on the way to the synagogue. Some Pharisees viewed this as a violation of the command not to work on the Sabbath in Exodus 20:8-11.

2. To justify his disciples' action of picking grain on the Sabbath, Jesus reminded the Pharisees of the time when David and his men came to the Tabernacle seeking food. The only food the priest Ahimelech had was the bread of the Presence (Shewbread) which only priests were permitted to eat (Lev. 24:5-9). David and his men were fleeing from King Saul who wanted to kill them. Their desperate hunger was satisfied when Ahimelech gave them the holy bread off the altar. That action cost Ahimelech his life. Saul put Ahimelech and his fellow priests to death, as well as the citizens of the town of Nob (1 Sam. 22:16–19).

3. As the Lord of the Sabbath, Jesus has the authority to do whatever pleases him on that day. His concern about his disciples' hunger was of greater importance to him than the rigidity of the Jewish Sabbath laws. He said that it is lawful to do good on the Sabbath (v. 12). He explained that he is greater even than the Temple which the Jews regarded as their most holy possession.

4. Some people wondered if Jesus was the "Son of David", meaning the Messiah. The Pharisees claimed that Jesus worked miracles by the power of Beelzebul, the "prince of demons" (v. 24). The word Be'el zebub means “Lord of dung” and is also translated Ba'al Zebuwb which means “lord of the flies” because fresh dung attracts flies. Baal or Beel is derived from the Ancient Akkadian word bel, meaning "lord of..." and the word for dung in the Ancient Akkadian is ze. Akkadian is the oldest known Semitic language. The name became a synonym for Satan in late Jewish theology. 

5. In verses 25-27, Jesus reasoned that any kingdom divided against itself is laid waste. He added that "if Satan casts out Satan, he is divided against himself". How then will his kingdom stand? Jesus states that a kingdom divided against itself is laid waste in three of the Gospels (Luke 11:17; Mark 3:25; Matthew 12:25). All three instances are in response to the Pharisees’ blasphemous accusation that Jesus was healing and casting out demons by the power of Satan. Essentially, the Jewish leaders were accusing Jesus of working miracles by Satan's power.

6. The sin of blasphemy against the Holy Spirit is not forgiven. Jesus said, "Truly I tell you, people will be forgiven for their sins and whatever blasphemies they utter; but whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit can never have forgiveness but is guilty of an eternal sin—for they had said, 'He has an unclean spirit. '" (Mark 3:28–30).

7. Jesus declared them to be an "evil and adultery generation" to which no sign would be given except the sign of Jonah who was 3 days and 3 nights in the belly of the whale (vv. 38-40). He also declared that the "Queen of the South" would rise up in judgement against them (v. 42). Here Jesus foretold his third day resurrection. He asserted his identity as Messiah, saying that Queen of Sheba heard about Solomon's wisdom and the splendor of his rule and traveled a great distance to witness it (1 Kgs 10:1–29). Those who were questioning Jesus were witnessing something greater than the Temple and greater than Solomon in all his glory.

8. The Old Testament prophets often used the metaphor of adultery to describe Israel's failure to love and obey God. Just as a spouse might be unfaithful in marriage, Israel was spiritually unfaithful to God. (See what these prophets said: Jer. 3:8, Ezek. 23:37, Hos. 2:2-10.) However, though faithless Israel strays from God, the Lord remains faithful to his vows.

9. Speaking of this "evil generation" Jesus described a house swept clean. Though the evil is temporarily expelled, it returns unless the house has been filled with good. An evil generation needs more than spiritual cleansing. It must be filled with the Holy Spirit, or its later condition will be worse than the first condition.

10. Jesus declared that anyone who does the will of His Father in heaven is his brother and sister and mother, meaning that those who follow Christ and do God's will are connected like family. Note that there were women among his disciples. From the beginning, Jesus' disciples included women. Luke 8:1-3 names these women specifically: Mary Magdalene, Joanna, and Susanna. They accompanied Jesus during his ministry and supported him out of their private resources. The brothers of Jesus are also mentioned in John Chapter 7 where we are told that his brothers did not believe in him. These were not Mary's sons. They were the sons of Joseph by his other marriage.


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