121 At that time Jesus went through the fields on the Sabbath day; and his disciples, being in need of food, were taking the heads of grain. 2 But the Pharisees, when they saw it, said to him, See, your disciples do that which it is not right to do on the Sabbath. 3 But he said to them, Have you no knowledge of what David did when he had need of food, and those who were with him? 4 How he went into the house of God and took for food the holy bread which it was not right for him or for those who were with him to take, but only for the priests? 5 Or is it not said in the law, how the Sabbath is broken by the priests in the Temple and they do no wrong? 6 But I say to you that a greater thing than the Temple is here. 7 But if these words had been in your minds, My desire is for mercy and not for offerings, you would not have been judging those who have done no wrong. 8 For the Son of man is lord of the Sabbath.
9 And he went from there into their Synagogue: 10 And there was a man with a dead hand. And they put a question to him, saying, Is it right to make a man well on the Sabbath day? so that they might have something against him. 11 And he said to them, Which of you, having a sheep, if it gets into a hole on the Sabbath day, will not put out a helping hand and get it back? 12 Of how much more value is a man than a sheep! For this reason it is right to do good on the Sabbath day. 13 Then said he to the man, Put out your hand. And he put it out, and it was made as well as the other.
14 But the Pharisees went out and made designs against him, how they might put him to death.
15 And Jesus, having knowledge of this, went away from there, and a great number went after him; and he made them all well, 16 Ordering them not to give people word of him: 17 So that what was said by Isaiah the prophet might come true, 18 See my servant, the man of my selection, my loved one in whom my soul is well pleased: I will put my Spirit on him, and he will make my decision clear to the Gentiles. 19 His coming will not be with fighting or loud cries; and his voice will not be lifted up in the streets. 20 The crushed stem will not be broken by him; and the feebly burning light will he not put out, till he has made righteousness overcome all. 21 And in his name will the Gentiles put their hope.
31 And he went again into the Synagogue; and there was a man there whose hand was dead. 2 And they were watching him to see if he would make him well on the Sabbath day, so that they might have something against him. 3 And he said to the man, Get up and come forward. 4 And he said to them, Is it right to do good on the Sabbath or to do evil? to give life or to put to death? But they said nothing. 5 And looking round on them he was angry, being sad because of their hard hearts; and he said to the man, Put out your hand. And he put it out, and his hand was made well. 6 And the Pharisees went out, and straight away made designs with the Herodians about how they might put him to death.
7 And Jesus went away with his disciples to the sea, and a great number from Galilee came after him: and from Judaea, 8 And from Jerusalem, and from Idumaea, and the other side of Jordan, and the country about Tyre and Sidon, a great number, hearing what great things he did, came to him. 9 And he made a request to his disciples to have a little boat ready for him, so that he might not be crushed by the people; 10 For he had made such a great number well that all those who were diseased were falling down before him for the purpose of touching him. 11 And the unclean spirits, whenever they saw him, went down before him, crying out, and saying, You are the Son of God. 12 And he gave them special orders not to say who he was.
13 And he went up into the mountain, and sent for those whom it was his pleasure to have with him: and they went to him. 14 And he took twelve to be with him, so that he might send them out as preachers, 15 And give them the power of driving out evil spirits: 16 To Simon he gave the second name of Peter; 17 And to James, the son of Zebedee, and John, the brother of James, he gave the second name of Boanerges, which is, Sons of thunder: 18 And Andrew, and Philip, and Bartholomew, and Matthew, and Thomas, and James, the son of Alphaeus, and Thaddaeus, and Simon the Zealot; 19 And Judas Iscariot, who was false to him.
20 And he went into a house. And the people came together again, so that they were not even able to take bread. 21 And when his friends had news of it, they went out to get him, saying, He is off his head.
22 And the scribes who came down from Jerusalem, said, He has Beelzebub, and, By the ruler of evil spirits he sends evil spirits out of men. 23 And turning to them, he said to them in the form of a story, How is it possible for Satan to put out Satan? 24 If there is division in a kingdom, that kingdom will come to destruction; 25 And if there is division in a house, that house will come to destruction; 26 And if Satan is at war with himself, and there is division in him, he will not keep his place but will come to an end. 27 But no one is able to go into the house of the strong man and take his goods, without first putting cords round the strong man, and then he will take his goods. 28 Truly, I say to you, The sons of men will have forgiveness for all their sins and for all the evil words they say: 29 But whoever says evil things against the Holy Spirit will never have forgiveness, but the evil he has done will be with him for ever: 30 Because they said, He has an unclean spirit.
31 And his mother and brothers came and were outside, and sent for him, requesting to see him. 32 And a great number were seated round him; and they said to him, See, your mother and your brothers are outside looking for you. 33 And he said in answer, Who are my mother and my brothers? 34 And looking round at those who were seated about him, he said, See, my mother and my brothers! 35 Whoever does God's pleasure, the same is my brother, and sister, and mother.
61 Now it came about that on the Sabbath he was going through the fields of grain, and his disciples took the heads of the grain for food, crushing them in their hands. 2 But some of the Pharisees said, Why do you do what it is not right to do on the Sabbath? 3 And Jesus said, Have you not seen in the Writings what David did when he was in need of food, he, and those who were with him; 4 How he went into the house of God and took for food the holy bread, which only the priests may take, and gave it to those who were with him? 5 And he said, The Son of man is lord even of the Sabbath.
6 And it came about, on another Sabbath, that he went into the Synagogue and was teaching there. And a man was there whose right hand was dead. 7 And the scribes and Pharisees were watching him to see if he would make him well on the Sabbath, so that they might be able to say something against him. 8 But he had knowledge of their thoughts; and he said to the man whose hand was dead, Get up and come into the middle. And he got up and came forward. 9 And Jesus said, I put the question to you, Is it right to do good on the Sabbath or to do evil? to give life or to take it away? 10 And looking round on all of them, he said to him, Put out your hand. And he did so: and his hand was made well. 11 But they were full of wrath, and were talking together about what they might do to Jesus.
12 And it came about in those days that he went out to the mountain for prayer; and he was all night in prayer to God. 13 And the day came and, turning to his disciples, he made a selection from among them of twelve, to whom he gave the name of Apostles; 14 Simon, to whom he gave the name of Peter, and Andrew, his brother, and James and John and Philip and Bartholomew 15 And Matthew and Thomas and James, the son of Alphaeus, and Simon, who was named the Zealot, 16 And Judas, the son of James, and Judas Iscariot, he who was false to him.
17 And he came down with them to a level place, and a great band of his disciples, and a very great number of people from all Judaea and Jerusalem and from the parts of Tyre and Sidon by the sea, came to give hearing to him, and to be made well from their diseases; 18 And those who were troubled with unclean spirits were made well. 19 And all the people were desiring to be touched by him, for power came from him and made them all well.
20 And turning his eyes to his disciples he said, Happy are you who are poor: for the kingdom of God is yours. 21 Happy are you who are in need of food now: for you will be made full. Happy are you who are weeping now; for you will be glad. 22 Happy are you, when men have hate for you, and put you away from among them and say angry words to you, turning away in disgust at your name, because of the Son of man. 23 Be glad in that day, and be lifted up for joy, for your reward in heaven will be great: for their fathers did these same things to the prophets. 24 But unhappy are you who have wealth: for you have been comforted now. 25 Unhappy are you who are full of food now: for you will be in need. Unhappy are you who are laughing now: for you will be crying in sorrow. 26 Unhappy are you when all men give you their approval: for so their fathers did to the false prophets.
27 But I say to you who give ear to me, Have love for those who are against you, do good to those who have hate for you, 28 Give blessing to those who give you curses, say prayers for those who are cruel to you. 29 If a man gives you a blow on one side of your face, then let the other side be turned to him; from him who takes away your coat, do not keep back your robe. 30 Give to everyone who comes with a request, and if a man takes away your property, make no attempt to get it back again. 31 Do to others as you would have them do to you. 32 If you have love for those who have love for you, what credit is it to you? for even sinners have love for those who have love for them. 33 And if you do good to those who do good to you, what credit is it to you? for even sinners do the same. 34 And if you let those have the use of your money, from whom you are hoping to get it back, what credit is it to you? even sinners do so to sinners, hoping to get back as much as they gave. 35 But be loving to those who are against you and do them good, and give them your money, not giving up hope, and your reward will be great and you will be the sons of the Most High: for he is kind to evil men, and to those who have hard hearts. 36 Be full of pity, even as your Father is full of pity.
37 Be not judges of others, and you will not be judged: do not give punishment to others, and you will not get punishment yourselves: make others free, and you will be made free: 38 Give, and it will be given to you; good measure, crushed down, full and running over, they will give to you. For in the same measure as you give, it will be given to you again. 39 And he gave them teaching in the form of a story, saying, Is it possible for one blind man to be guide to another? will they not go falling together into a hole? 40 The disciple is not greater than his master, but everyone whose learning is complete will be like his master. 41 And why do you take note of the grain of dust in your brother's eye, but take no note of the bit of wood which is in your eye? 42 How will you say to your brother, Brother, let me take the grain of dust out of your eye, when you yourself do not see the bit of wood in your eye? O false one! first take the wood out of your eye and then you will see clearly to take the dust out of your brother's eye.
43 For no good tree gives bad fruit, and no bad tree gives good fruit. 44 For every tree is judged by its fruit. Men do not get figs from thorns, or grapes from blackberry plants. 45 The good man, out of the good store of his heart, gives good things; and the evil man, out of his evil store, gives evil: for out of the full store of the heart come the words of the mouth.
46 Why do you say to me, Lord, Lord, and do not the things which I say? 47 Everyone who comes to me and gives ear to my words and does them, I will make clear to you what he is like: 48 He is like a man building a house, who went deep and put the base of it on a rock; and when the water came up and the river was driving against that house, it was not moved, because the building was good. 49 But he who gives hearing, without doing, is like a man building a house on the earth without a base for it; and when the force of the river came against it, straight away it came down; and the destruction of that house was great.
Matthew Henry's Commentary on Matthew 12:1-21
Commentary on Matthew 12:1-8
(Read Matthew 12:1-8)
Being in the corn-fields, the disciples began to pluck the ears of corn: the law of God allowed it, Deuteronomy 5:14. No law must be understood so as to contradict its own end. And as Christ is the Lord of the sabbath, it is fit the day and the work of it should be dedicated to him.
Commentary on Matthew 12:9-13
(Read Matthew 12:9-13)
Christ shows that works of mercy are lawful and proper to be done on the Lord's day. There are more ways of doing well upon sabbath days, than by the duties of worship: attending the sick, relieving the poor, helping those who need speedy relief, teaching the young to care for their souls; these are doing good: and these must be done from love and charity, with humility and self-denial, and shall be accepted, Genesis 4:7. This, like other cures which Christ wrought, had a spiritual meaning. By nature our hands are withered, and we are unable of ourselves to do any thing that is good. Christ only, by the power of his grace, cures us; he heals the withered hand by putting life into the dead soul, works in us both to will and to do: for, with the command, there is a promise of grace given by the word.
Commentary on Matthew 12:14-21
(Read Matthew 12:14-21)
The Pharisees took counsel to find some accusation, that Jesus might be condemned to death. Aware of their design, as his time was not come, he retired from that place. Face does not more exactly answer to face in water, than the character of Christ drawn by the prophet, to his temper and conduct as described by the evangelists. Let us with cheerful confidence commit our souls to so kind and faithful a Friend. Far from breaking, he will strengthen the bruised reed; far from quenching the smoking flax, or wick nearly out, he will rather blow it up into a flame. Let us lay aside contentious and angry debates; let us receive one another as Christ receives us. And while encouraged by the gracious kindness of our Lord, we should pray that his Spirit may rest upon us, and make us able to copy his example.