Mateus 12
Steven Cole · Citado em PreceptAustin
Mateus 12
Cole has a very well reasoned discussion (commenting on the similar statement in Luke 12:10+) - Many people worry that perhaps they have committed the unpardonable sin. Jesus states that if a person speaks a word against the Son of Man, it will be forgiven him, but that the person who blasphemes the Holy Spirit shall not be forgiven. What did He mean? First, it is helpful to consider what Jesus did not mean. Clearly, He did not mean that a person, whether a pagan or a professing Christian, who utters a word of blasphemy in a moment of temptation is forever beyond the reach of God’s grace. Peter horribly denied Christ and yet was restored. Paul says that he formerly was a blasphemer, yet he was shown mercy (1Ti 1:13). When Jesus drew a distinction between speaking a word against the Son of Man and a word against the Holy Spirit, He did not mean that somehow the Son of Man is not on the same level as the Spirit. (Luke 12:9+) shows that if a person denies Christ, that person will be denied at the judgment. Rather, He was drawing a distinction between the level of the offense. The ministry of the Holy Spirit is to bear witness to Jesus Christ (Jn 15:26) by convicting the world of sin, righteousness, and judgment (Jn 16:8). During Jesus’ life on earth, the Holy Spirit bore witness especially through the miracles that Christ performed. The Jewish leaders, however, attributed those miracles to the power of Satan, not to the power of the Holy Spirit (Mk 3:22-30+). This was the unpardonable sin, because these leaders had sufficient evidence from the Spirit that Jesus was the Messiah, yet they hardened their hearts against Him. This was not a case of men attributing Jesus’ miracles to Satan on any one occasion, but rather of men who set their whole lives and hearts against the witness of the Spirit to Jesus Christ. To turn away from the light God gives results in a searing of the conscience and hardening of the heart that has no remedy. Such a person has no capacity to repent. Can this sin be committed today? Some argue that since it specifically involved attributing Jesus’ miracles to Satan, it could only be committed during His life on earth. But it seems to me that the warnings of Scripture are applicable today, even if the exact sense cannot be duplicated. In other words, a person today can repeatedly turn his heart away from the witness of the Holy Spirit to Jesus Christ until he reaches a point where he is hardened beyond remedy. God only knows when a person crosses that line, but the point is, unbelief is nothing to fool around with. If the Holy Spirit has been convicting a person of sin, righteousness, and judgment, and has been showing the person that Jesus Christ is God’s anointed Savior, but the person rejects that witness, then he is on the path toward the unpardonable sin. He is in grave danger that God will withdraw the light he has been given and he will be hardened in unbelief. That is the unpardonable sin. So the lesson for us is, if the Spirit of God is tugging on your heart, do not resist Him! If He is drawing you toward Jesus Christ, but the lure of sin is drawing you the other direction, yield to Jesus Christ! Otherwise, you may cross the line and your time of opportunity will be lost forever! Thus Jesus’ words here show us that we must beware of hypocrisy because we will stand before God for eternal judgment. (Confessing or Denying Christ) Henry
Mateus 12
Cole applies the truth about the Ninevites to us today - Turn from your sin and obey God no matter how radical the change. This is the lesson of Jonah and the Ninevites. Jonah despised the Assyrians, whose capital was Ninevah. They were a brutal, godless people, devoted to the destruction of Israel. But God told Jonah to go and preach to them. After his three-day submarine ride, the disobedient prophet repented and went to Ninevah. Just as he feared, though, the Ninevites repented and God withheld His judgment from them. Even the king of Ninevah put on sackcloth and publicly repented of his sin! It was one of the most astounding revivals in history! It shows us that no matter how wicked and worldly the sinner, if he hears the message of God’s impending judgment and yet of His great mercy in Jesus Christ, and comes in genuine faith to Christ, he will be transformed. The gospel is the power of God to salvation to everyone who believes, whether it be the raw pagan or the religious do-gooder (Ro 1:16). This means that there is hope in Jesus Christ for the worst of sinners. No matter how terrible your past, if you will repent of your sin and believe in the Lord Jesus Christ as the one who bore your penalty on the cross, God will transform your life from the inside out. The men of Ninevah are a testimony of what God’s grace can do with any sinner who will repent and believe the gospel. (Luke 11:29-36 How to Respond to God’s Word) Matthew 12:42 “The Queen of the South will rise up with this generation at the judgment and will condemn it, because she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon; and behold, something greater than Solomon is here. NET The queen of the South will rise up at the judgment with this generation and condemn it, because she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon– and now, something greater than Solomon is here! GNT βασίλισσα νότου ἐγερθήσεται ἐν τῇ κρίσει μετὰ τῆς γενεᾶς ταύτης καὶ κατακρινεῖ αὐτήν, ὅτι ἦλθεν ἐκ τῶν περάτων τῆς γῆς ἀκοῦσαι τὴν σοφίαν Σολομῶνος, καὶ ἰδοὺ πλεῖον Σολομῶνος ὧδε. NLT The queen of Sheba will also stand up against this generation on judgment day and condemn it, for she came from a distant land to hear the wisdom of Solomon. Now someone greater than Solomon is here-- but you refuse to listen. KJV The queen of the south shall rise up in the judgment with this generation, and shall condemn it: for she came from the uttermost parts of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon; and, behold, a greater than Solomon is here. ESV The queen of the South will rise up at the judgment with this generation and condemn it, for she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon, and behold, something greater than Solomon is here. NIV The Queen of the South will rise at the judgment with this generation and condemn it; for she came from the ends of the earth to listen to Solomon's wisdom, and now one greater than Solomon is here. ASV The queen of the south shall rise up in the judgment with this generation, and shall condemn it: for she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon; and behold, a greater than Solomon is here. CSB The queen of the south will rise up at the judgment with this generation and condemn it, because she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon; and look-- something greater than Solomon is here! NRS The queen of the South will rise up at the judgment with this generation and condemn it, because she came from the ends of the earth to listen to the wisdom of Solomon, and see, something greater than Solomon is here! YLT 'A queen of the south shall rise up in the judgment with this generation, and shall condemn it, for she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon, and lo, a greater than Solomon here! NAB At the judgment the queen of the south will arise with this generation and condemn it, because she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon; and there is something greater than Solomon here. NJB On Judgement Day the Queen of the South will appear against this generation and be its condemnation, because she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon; and look, there is something greater than Solomon here. GWN The queen from the south will stand up at the time of judgment with you. She will condemn you, because she came from the ends of the earth to hear Solomon's wisdom. But look, someone greater than Solomon is here! BBE The queen of the South will come up in the day of judging and give her decision against this generation: for she came from the ends of the earth to give ear to the wisdom of Solomon; and now a greater than Solomon is here. Queen of the South: 1Ki 10:1-13 2Ch 9:1-12 Lu 11:31-32 Ac 8:27-28 hear: 1Ki 3:9,12,28 4:29,34 5:12 10:4,7,24 behold: Mt 3:17 17:5 Isa 7:14 9:6,7 Joh 1:14,18 Php 2:6,7 Heb 1:2-4 Matthew 12 Resources - Multiple Sermons and Commentaries A GENTILE QUEEN "CONDEMNS" A WICKED JEWISH GENERATION Related Passages: Luke 11:31 see commentary - “The Queen of the South will rise up with the men of this generation at the judgment and condemn them, because she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon; and behold, something greater than Solomon is here. The Queen of the South will rise up with this generation (genea) at the judgment (krisis) and will condemn (katakrino) it -The Queen is the Queen of Sheba (modern day Yemen - see 1Ki 10:1-13 - see commentary), This is a sad commentary on the spiritual state of Israel, for here a Gentile who was a woman and a pagan (all three hated by the Jews!) is more open to the true God than most of Israel. Unlike Israel, she did not say "Show me another sign and I will believe!" In fact Solomon performed no miracles (much like Jonah) and unlike the Queen of Sheba the Jews did not come from what Jews considered to be the ends of the earth! Jesus came to them with even greater wisdom then Solomon, the wisest man of his time! John
Mateus 12
Cole - Seek God’s wisdom and truth no matter what the cost. This is the lesson we should learn from the Queen of Sheba (“the South”), who went to great trouble, effort, expense, and time to travel from southern Arabia to learn God’s wisdom through King Solomon. Jesus’ point was that the men of His day had the very Son of God preaching God’s wisdom in their very midst, and yet they ignored Him, whereas this pagan woman was willing to travel hundreds of miles through harsh terrain to seek out someone not nearly as great. We must ask ourselves, “Will the Queen of Sheba rise up and condemn us in the day of judgment?” We have the completed canon of God’s Holy Word in our own language. Men like Wycliffe and Tyndale suffered much persecution and Tyndale gave his life so that we could have the Bible in English. There are still many people groups around the world who do not have even one book of the Bible in their own language. Do we read the Word? Do we meditate on it daily? Can we truly say with the psalmist, “The law of Your mouth is better to me than thousands of gold and silver pieces” (Ps. 119:72)? I read of a man in Kansas City who was severely injured in an explosion. His face was badly disfigured, and he lost his eyesight as well as both hands. He had just become a Christian when the accident happened, and one of his greatest disappointments was that he could no longer read the Bible. Then he heard about a lady in England who read braille with her lips. Hoping to do the same, he sent for some books of the Bible in braille. But he discovered that the nerve endings in his lips had been too badly damaged to distinguish the characters. One day, as he brought one of the braille pages to his lips, his tongue happened to touch a few of the raised characters and he could feel them. In a flash he thought, “I can read the Bible using my tongue.” At the time this incident was reported, the man had read completely through his Bible four times using his tongue! (in Donald Whitney, Spiritual Disciplines cf the Christian Life [NavPress], pp. 30-31). So what’s your excuse for not reading your Bible regularly? (Luke 11:29-36 How to Respond to God’s Word) Matthew 12:43 “Now when the unclean spirit goes out of a man, it passes through waterless places seeking rest, and does not find it. NET "When an unclean spirit goes out of a person, it passes through waterless places looking for rest but does not find it. GNT Ὅταν δὲ τὸ ἀκάθαρτον πνεῦμα ἐξέλθῃ ἀπὸ τοῦ ἀνθρώπου, διέρχεται δι᾽ ἀνύδρων τόπων ζητοῦν ἀνάπαυσιν καὶ οὐχ εὑρίσκει. NLT "When an evil spirit leaves a person, it goes into the desert, seeking rest but finding none. KJV When the unclean spirit is gone out of a man, he walketh through dry places, seeking rest, and findeth none. ESV "When the unclean spirit has gone out of a person, it passes through waterless places seeking rest, but finds none. NIV "When an evil spirit comes out of a man, it goes through arid places seeking rest and does not find it. ASV But the unclean spirit, when he is gone out of the man, passeth through waterless places, seeking rest, and findeth it not. CSB "When an unclean spirit comes out of a man, it roams through waterless places looking for rest but doesn't find any. NKJ "When an unclean spirit goes out of a man, he goes through dry places, seeking rest, and finds none. NRS "When the unclean spirit has gone out of a person, it wanders through waterless regions looking for a resting place, but it finds none. YLT 'And, when the unclean spirit may go forth from the man, it doth walk through dry places seeking rest, and doth not find; NAB "When an unclean spirit goes out of a person it roams through arid regions searching for rest but finds none. NJB 'When an unclean spirit goes out of someone it wanders through waterless country looking for a place to rest, and cannot find one. GWN "When an evil spirit comes out of a person, it goes through dry places looking for a place to rest. But it doesn't find any. BBE But the unclean spirit, when he is gone out of a man, goes through dry places looking for rest, and getting it not. the unclean spirit : Lu 11:24 Ac 8:13 it passes: Job 1:7 2:2 1Pe 5:8 waterless places Ps 63:1 Isa 35:6,7 41:18 Eze 47:8-12 Am 8:11-13 seeking: Mt 8:29 Mk 5:7-13 Lu 8:28-32 Matthew 12 Resources - Multiple Sermons and Commentaries Related Passage: Luke 11:24 see commentary - “When the unclean spirit goes out of a man, it passes through waterless places seeking rest, and not finding any, it says, ‘I will return to my house from which I came.’ Mark 5:7-13+ and shouting with a loud voice, he *said, “What business do we have with each other, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I implore You by God, do not torment me!” 8 For He had been saying to him, “Come out of the man, you unclean spirit!” 9 And He was asking him, “What is your name?” And he *said to Him, “My name is Legion; for we are many.” 10 And he began to implore Him earnestly not to send them out of the country. 11 Now there was a large herd of swine feeding nearby on the mountain. 12 The demons implored Him, saying, “Send us into the swine so that we may enter them.” 13 Jesus gave them permission. And coming out, the unclean spirits entered the swine; and the herd rushed down the steep bank into the sea, about two thousand of them; and they were drowned in the sea. Steven Cole - Jesus goes on to illustrate what happens to the man who tries to be neutral: It doesn’t work. (The Heavenly War) Michael Andrus adds "The Pharisees were all about reformation, making bad people good and good people better. They had a list of religious rules a mile long—all designed to curb the excesses of human behavior. Even their exorcisms were designed to help a person clean up his act and live a normal life. Jesus has a totally different purpose. When he performs an exorcism, the ultimate purpose is to draw the person (and the people who witness it) to himself, to regenerate them and to give them new life!" (No Switzerlands in this War ) Now when the unclean (akathartos) spirit goes out of a man, it passes through waterless places seeking rest, and does not find it - When does this occur? This could be a reference to the false Jewish exorcist, the demon temporarily leaving producing the ruse of a real exorcism. Note Jesus does not say the demon was "cast out". Waterless places refers to the demon seeking rest in dry, arid places, but MacArthur sees it as a metaphor (below).
Mateus 12
Cole - Perhaps the man has experienced a moral reformation, either through the Jewish exorcists or through his own will power and determination. The demon that he struggled against for years has left him. As Matthew Henry describes it, Satan gives order to his troops to retreat temporarily in order to draw the deluded soul into an ambush. At first, it is wonderful! The man sweeps up the dirt from his soul and feels a sense of order and peace that he never felt when he was in bondage to his former sins. But, meanwhile, the departed demon is restless. Passing through waterless places is a metaphorical expression that “denotes that to dwell out of men is to him a wretched banishment, and resembles a barren wilderness” (Calvin, p. 84). The demon is not a happy camper until he moves back in. So, he goes and finds seven other demons more evil than himself and they move in. “The last state of that man becomes worse than the first.” What are we to learn from this illustration? J C