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Matthew 12:1. At that time Jesus passed through the sown fields on the Sabbath; His disciples became hungry and began to pick the ears of corn and eat. Wanting to clarify the provisions of the law, the Lord leads the disciples through a sown field so that they break the Sabbath law by eating. Matthew 12:2. When the Pharisees saw this, they said to Him: Behold, Your disciples are doing what ought not to be done on the Sabbath. Matthew 12:3. He said to them: Have you not read what David did when he and those with him were hungry? Matthew 12:4. how did he enter the house of God and eat the showbread, which neither he nor those who were with him were to eat, but only the priests? The Pharisees again blame the natural feeling of hunger, sinning worse themselves, but the Lord shames them with the story of David. For he, says the Lord, because of hunger, went to something more. By the showbread we mean those breads that were laid out every day, for there were twelve loaves of bread laid out at the table: six on the right side and six on the left. Although David was a prophet, he should not have eaten them (only priests could do this), much less those who were with them. However, due to hunger, he is worthy of forgiveness. In the same way, the disciples. Matthew 12:5. Or have you not read in the law that on the Sabbath the priests in the church break the Sabbath, but are innocent? Matthew 12:6. But I tell you that here is He who is greater than the church; The law forbade working on the Sabbath, but the priests chopped wood and kindled the fire on the Sabbath, so they desecrated the Sabbath, that is, they went crazy, as you think. But you tell Me that they were priests, but the disciples were not. To this I will answer you that here is He who is greater than the church, that is, since I, the Master, am greater than the church and am with My disciples, they have greater power to break the Sabbath than the priests. Matthew 12:7. if you knew what it means: “I want mercy, not sacrifice” (Hos. 6:6), you would not condemn the innocent, Matthew 12:8. for the Son of Man is Lord even of the Sabbath. He also shows them to be ignorant, since they do not know the prophetic writings. Shouldn’t he, he says, be merciful to people who are starving? Moreover, I, the Son of Man, am Lord of the Sabbath, as of all things, and the creator of these days; therefore, as Master, I break the Sabbath. Understand this also in a figurative sense: the apostles were workers; the harvest and the ears of corn are the believers; the apostles picked them and ate them, that is, with their food they had the salvation of people. They did this on Saturday, the day when they were supposed to avoid evil deeds. The Pharisees were indignant. This happens in church too. While teachers often teach and are useful, the pharisaical and envious are annoyed. Matthew 12:9–10. And He departed from there and entered their synagogue. And behold, there was a man who had a withered hand. And they asked Jesus to accuse Him: is it possible to heal on the Sabbath? Other evangelists say that Jesus asked the Pharisees. So, we can say that the Pharisees, being envious people, warned and asked Him, as Matthew says; then Christ, for His part, asked them, as if mocking and ridiculing their insensibility, as the other evangelists talk about. The Pharisees asked Him for the purpose of having a reason for slander. Matthew 12:11. He said to them: Which of you, having one sheep, if it falls into a pit on the Sabbath, will not take it and pull it out? Matthew 12:12. How much better is a man than a sheep! So, you can do good on Saturdays. It shows that they violate the Sabbath for self-interest and in order not to lose a sheep, but in order to heal a person they do not allow this. So, in the same case, he shows them to be covetous, and cruel, and to neglect God, for they neglect the Sabbath so as not to lose a sheep, and are unmerciful when they do not want to heal a person. Matthew 12:13. Then he says to the man: Stretch out your hand. And he held out, and she became healthy, like anyone else. Many even now have dry hands, that is, unmerciful and stingy. But when the word of the Gospel sounds loudly to them, they stretch out their hands for alms, although the Pharisees, proud demons, cut off from us, due to their enmity, do not want our hands to be stretched out for alms. Matthew 12:14. The Pharisees went out and had a council against Him, how to destroy Him. But Jesus, having learned, withdrew from there. Oh envy! when they receive a benefit, then they go berserk. Jesus leaves because the time of suffering has not yet come, but at the same time he spares His enemies so that they do not fall into the sin of murder. For to be recklessly exposed to danger is not a godly thing to do. Think about this word “out”. When they left God, they began to confer about how to destroy Jesus, for none of those who are in God are planning such a thing. Matthew 12:15. And a great crowd followed Him, and He healed them all Matthew 12:16. and forbade them to announce Him, Taming the envy of his enemies, he did not want to be announced about Him, but, however, he tried in every way to heal the sick. Matthew 12:17. that what was spoken through the prophet Isaiah might be fulfilled, who says: (Is.42:1-2) Matthew 12:18. Behold, My Servant, whom I have chosen, My Beloved, in whom My soul delights. I will put My spirit on Him, and He will proclaim judgment to the nations; Matthew 12:19. He will not contradict or cry out, The evangelist also brings the prophet as a witness of the meekness of Jesus. For whatever, he says, the Jews want, He will do. If they want Him not to appear, He will do this too and will not resist, like an ambitious person, and will not argue, but will announce to the crowds following Him not to announce Him. But He will announce judgment to the pagans, that is, He will teach the pagans too, for judgment is teaching, knowledge and discernment of good; or he will also announce the coming judgment to the pagans who have never heard of the future judgment. and no one will hear His voice in the streets; For He taught not in the public square, like the ambitious, but in the temple and in the synagogues, and on the mountain, and on the seashore. Matthew 12:20. He will not break a bruised reed, and he will not quench smoking flax, He could, he says, crush the Jews like a bruised reed, and quench their anger like smoking or burning flax, but he did not want to until he had fulfilled his dispensation and defeated them in everything. This is also what the following words mean. until he brings victory to the court; Matthew 12:21. and in His name the nations will trust. So that they would not have anything as an excuse, he endured everything in order to subsequently condemn them and defeat those who had nothing to say in response. For what did He not do to win them? But they didn't want to. Therefore, the nations will trust in Him, while the Jews would not. Matthew 12:22. Then they brought to Him a man possessed by a demon, blind and dumb; and he healed him, so that the blind and dumb began to speak and see. Matthew 12:23. And all the people marveled and said, Is this not the Christ, the Son of David? The demon closed the ways to faith: eyes, hearing and tongue, but Jesus heals, and the people call Him the Son of David, for Christ was expected from the seed of David. And now, if you see that another does not comprehend goodness himself, and does not accept another’s words, then consider him blind and dumb, whom may God heal by touching His heart. Matthew 12:24. The Pharisees, having heard this, said: He does not cast out demons except by the power of Beelzebub, the prince of demons. Although the Lord has withdrawn, they, listening from afar, slander precisely when He is doing good deeds to people. Thus, they were enemies by nature, like the devil. Matthew 12:25. But Jesus, knowing their thoughts, said to them: Every kingdom divided against itself will be desolate; and every city or house divided against itself cannot stand. Matthew 12:26. And if Satan casts out Satan, then he is divided with himself: how can his kingdom stand? By revealing their thoughts before them, the Lord shows that He is God. He defends himself against them by citing ordinary examples and shows their madness. For how can demons cast out themselves when they are trying most of all to unite? The adversary is called Satan. Matthew 12:27. And if I cast out demons by the power of Beelzebub, by whose power do your sons cast them out? Therefore they will be your judges! Let him say, I am like this; but your sons, that is, my disciples, by whose power do they expel? Are they also by the power of Beelzebub? If they are of Divine power, then how much more am I, for they perform miracles in My name. So, they will serve to your condemnation, because you, seeing that they perform miracles in My name, continue to slander Me. Matthew 12:28. If I cast out demons by the Spirit of God, then, of course, the Kingdom of God has come to you. He says: if I cast out demons by Divine power, then I am the Son of God and came for your sake to do good to you, so that My coming, which is the Kingdom of God, has “reached you.” Why do you slander My coming, which happened for your sake? Matthew 12:29. Or how can anyone enter the house of a strong man and plunder his things, unless he first binds the strong man? and then he will plunder his house. So far, he says, am I from having demons as friends, that I resist them and bind them, who were strong before My coming. For, having entered the house, that is, the world, Christ plundered the vessels of demons, I mean people. Matthew 12:30. He who is not with me is against me; and whoever does not gather with Me scatters. How, he says, will Beelzebub help Me if he opposes Me more than anyone else? I teach virtue, he teaches evil. How is he with Me? I gather people for salvation, but he scatters. He also points to the Pharisees, because when He taught and brought benefit to many, they scattered the people so that they would not come to Him. So, the Lord shows that they are indeed like demons. Matthew 12:31. Therefore I say to you: every sin and blasphemy will be forgiven to men, but blasphemy against the Spirit will not be forgiven to men; Matthew 12:32. if anyone speaks a word against the Son of Man, it will be forgiven him; if anyone speaks against the Holy Spirit, it will not be forgiven him either in this age or in the future. He says the following here: every other sin has at least a small justification, for example, fornication, theft. For in such cases we refer to human weakness and are deserving of apology. But when someone sees miracles performed by the Spirit and slanderes them as if they were the power of a demon, what justification can he have? Clearly, he knows that they come from the Holy Spirit, but he deliberately acts badly. How can one receive an apology? So, when the Jews saw that the Lord eats, drinks, deals with publicans and harlots and does everything else like the Son of Man, and then they blamed Him as a poisoner and a drinker of wine, then for this they are worthy of an apology, and repentance for this will not be required from them, since it seemed to them that they were being tempted for a sufficient reason. But if they, seeing that He performed miracles, nevertheless slandered and blasphemed the Holy Spirit, saying that this was a demonic work, then how can they admit that this sin will be forgiven them if they do not repent? So, know that whoever reviles the Son of Man, seeing that He lives like a man, and calling Him a friend of fornicators, a food drinker and a wine drinker because Christ did so, such a person, even if he does not repent, will not give an answer: he deserves an apology, because he did not think that God is hidden in Jesus Christ. But whoever blasphemes the Holy Spirit or the spiritual works of Christ and calls them demonic, unless he repents, will not be forgiven, for he did not have sufficient reason for slander, like the one who slandered Christ, seeing Him among the fornicators and tax collectors. So, he will not be forgiven either here or there, but he will be punished both here and there. For many are punished here, but not there at all, like poor Lazarus; others both here and there, like the Sodomites and those who blaspheme the Holy Spirit; the third is neither here nor there, like the apostles and the Forerunner. They apparently suffered punishment when they were persecuted, yet it was not punishment for sins, but trials and crowns. Matthew 12:33. Or recognize the tree as good and its fruit as good; or recognize the tree as bad and its fruit as bad; for a tree is known by its fruit. Since the Jews could not slander miracles as evil deeds, but Christ, Who performed them, was blasphemed as like demons, the Lord says: either recognize Me as a good tree, and then My miracles, which are the fruit, will be beautiful, or if you recognize Me as a bad tree, then the fruit or My miracles will obviously be bad. But miracles, that is, fruits, you call good; therefore, I am a good tree. For a tree is known by its fruit, just as I am known by My miracles. Matthew 12:34. Spawn of vipers! how can you say good things when you are evil? You, he says, being bad trees, bear bad fruit when you revile Me; so, if I were bad, I would bear bad fruit, and not such great miracles. He calls them brood of vipers, since they boasted about Abraham. The Lord shows that they do not come from Abraham, but from ancestors worthy of their malice. For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks. Matthew 12:35. A good man brings forth good things from a good treasure; and an evil man brings forth evil from an evil treasure. When you see someone blaspheming, then know that in his heart he does not mean what he says, but much more. For what comes out comes only from excess, and the one who hides a treasure within himself reveals only a certain part of it. Likewise, the one who speaks good things carries much more in his heart. Matthew 12:36. I tell you that for every idle word that people speak, they will give an answer on the day of judgment: Matthew 12:37. For by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned. Here the Lord frightens us that we too will give an answer for every empty word, that is, false, slanderous or tactless and mocking. Then he brings evidence from Scripture, so that they do not think that He is saying something of His own: from your words, he says, you will receive justification, and from your words you will be condemned. Matthew 12:38. Then some of the scribes and Pharisees said: Teacher! We would like to see a sign from You. The Evangelist added with surprise, “then,” because when it was necessary to submit as a result of past miracles, then they demand a sign. They want to see a sign from heaven, as another evangelist says. It seemed to them that He performed earthly signs with the power of the devil. For the devil is the ruler of the world. What about the Savior? Matthew 12:39. ...He answered and said to them, “An evil and adulterous generation seeks a sign; and no sign will be given to him except the sign of the prophet Jonah; Matthew 12:40. for as Jonah was in the belly of the whale three days and three nights, so the Son of Man will be in the heart of the earth three days and three nights. He calls them an “evil generation” as flatterers and treacherous people, and “adulterous” as those who have apostatized from God and united with demons. He calls His resurrection a sign, as an extraordinary phenomenon. For He, having descended into the heart of the earth - I mean the underworld, hell - on the third day rose from the dead. By three days and nights mean parts, not complete days and nights. He died on Friday - that's one day; Saturday lay dead in a coffin, and here comes another day; Sunday night found Him still dead. So there are three incomplete days and nights. For we often have the custom of counting time in this way. Matthew 12:41. The Ninevites will rise up in judgment with this generation and condemn it, for they repented from the preaching of Jonah; and behold, there is more Jonah here. When he says, Jonah preached after coming out of the belly of the whale, they believed him, but after My resurrection I will not find faith on your part; Therefore, you will be condemned by the Ninevites, who believed My servant Jonah apart from the signs, and they did this despite the fact that they were barbarians. You were brought up on prophets, saw signs and did not believe Me, the Master. For this is signified by the words: “And behold, here is a greater Jonah.” Matthew 12:42. The queen of the south will rise up in judgment with this generation and condemn it, for she came from the ends of the earth to listen to the wisdom of Solomon; and behold, there is more Solomon here. This queen, he says, came from afar, although she was a weak woman, to listen about trees, forests and some natural objects. But you did not receive Me when I came to you, speaking unspeakable things. Matthew 12:43. When the unclean spirit leaves a person, it walks through dry places, looking for rest, and does not find it; Matthew 12:44. Then he says: I will return to my house from where I came. And, having arrived, he finds it unoccupied, swept and put away; Matthew 12:45. then he goes and takes with him seven other spirits more evil than himself, and entering they live there; and for that person the last thing is worse than the first. So it will be with this evil generation. The Lord shows that they have reached the brink of destruction without accepting Him. Just as those who are freed from demons, if they do not care, suffer worse, so your family was under the power of a demon when you worshiped idols; but through the prophets I cast out this demon and I myself came, wanting to cleanse you; but since you have pushed Me away and, moreover, are striving to destroy Me, then, like those who have sinned worse, you will be punished more severely, and your final captivity will be heavier than the previous ones. You must also understand that through baptism the unclean spirit is cast out and wanders through waterless deserts and unbaptized souls, but finds no rest in them. For rest for demons is to confuse the baptized with evil deeds, while he already has the unbaptized in his power. So the demon returns to the baptized one with seven spirits. For just as there are seven gifts of the Spirit, so in contrast to this there are seven spirits of wickedness. When he enters the baptized person, then his misfortune is great, for before there was hope of being cleansed by baptism, but after that there is no hope of being cleansed except by the baptism of repentance, which is very difficult. Matthew 12:46. While He was still speaking to the people, His Mother and brothers stood outside the house, wanting to speak with Him. Due to some human property, the Mother wanted to show that she had power over her Son, since She had not yet thought anything great about Him. Therefore, loving the honor of seeing the Son obedient to himself, he wants to attract Him to Himself at the time when He was talking. What about Christ? Since He knew her intention, listen to what he says. Matthew 12:47. And someone said to Him: Behold, Your Mother and Your brothers are standing outside, wanting to speak with You. Matthew 12:48. And he said to him that spoke, Who is my mother? and who are my brothers? Matthew 12:49. And pointing His hand at His disciples, He said: Here are My mother and My brothers; Matthew 12:50. for whoever does the will of My Father in Heaven is My brother, and sister, and mother. Not reproaching the Mother, he says this, but correcting her ambitious and human thought, for he did not say: “this is not My Mother,” but “if She does not fulfill the will of God, then it will not be at all useful for Her that She gave birth to Me.” The Lord does not renounce natural kinship, but adds kinship through virtue, because everyone unworthy does not benefit from kinship. Having thus corrected the disease of vanity, He again obeys the call of His Mother, as the evangelist further says.