Matthew 12: The Lord and His Family (7)

Pray Psalm 110.3, 4.
Your people shall be volunteers
In the day of Your power;
In the beauties of holiness, from the womb of the morning,
You have the dew of Your youth.
The LORD has sworn
And will not relent,
“You are a priest forever
According to the order of Melchizedek.”

Sing Psalm 110.3, 4.
(Aurelia: The Church’s One Foundation)
Filled with the Spirit’s power, in holy robes of love,
from early morning’s hour they serve their Lord above.
Christ reigns a priest forever, the King of Righteousness
and King of Peace who ever His chosen ones will bless.

Read and meditate on Matthew 12.1-50.

Prepare.
1. How does Jesus show Himself to be Lord in this chapter?

2. Who are members of the Lord’s family?

Meditate.
In chapter 12 Jesus solidified His claim to Lordship, first by asserting that He is Lord of the Sabbath. The reasoning is clear: He gave the fourth commandment, so He should know best how to interpret it.

He further asserted His Lordship by explaining His power to cast out demons as the natural consequence of His having bound Satan (Matt. 4.1-11). Now He was plundering all that the devil had ruled over for so long, wherever sin and its effects were found.

As Lord, He sets the terms of forgiveness and justification. No forgiveness is available to those who deny the witness of the Spirit; similarly, those whose lives produce no good works should not expect to be justified before the Lord.

Jesus is the King greater than Solomon, and He promised to demonstrate that greatness by rising from the dead. For He is Lord of the Sabbath, Lord over demons and the devil, Lord of forgiveness, and Lord over death and the grave.

The true followers of Jesus will fill their souls with Him – hearing and doing His Word, and thus showing themselves to be true members of His household.

Chapter 12 is thus an apt prelude to chapter 13, in which, in a series of breath-taking parables, Jesus will set forth the nature and character of the Kingdom He came to bring near.

Reflect.
1. Why did the religious leaders want to destroy Jesus? How was He a threat to them? Is Jesus still a threat to people? Explain.

2. What kind of “plundering” of the “strong man’s house” have we seen Jesus pursuing thus far in Matthew’s gospel? What kind of “plundering” should we be doing?

3. What more have you learned about Jesus and His mission from Matthew 12?

It was nothing strange for Christ to be more than Jonah and to be more than Solomon, for he is the Lord and they are the servants. But who are those who looked askance at the presence of the Lord, whereas foreigners listened to his servants? Augustine (354-430), Sermon 72A.1

Lead me this day, Lord, as I serve You by…

Pray Psalm 110.1-3, 5-7.
How will Jesus manifest His Lordship in your life today?

Sing Psalm 110.1-3, 5-7.
Psalm 110.1-3, 5-7 (Aurelia: The Church’s One Foundation)
“Sit by Me at My right hand,” the Lord says to my Lord,
“until I make Your foot stand on all who hate Your Word.”
From in His Church the Savior rules all His enemies;
while those who know His favor go forth the Lord to please.

The Lord at Your right hand, Lord, in wrath shall shatter kings,
when judgment by His strong Word He to the nations brings.
Then, all His foes defeated, He takes His hard-won rest,
in glorious triumph seated with us, redeemed and blessed!

T. M. Moore

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Except as indicated, Scripture taken from the New King James Version. © Copyright 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved. All psalms for singing adapted from The Ailbe Psalter. All quotations from Church Fathers from Ancient Christian Commentary Series, General Editor Thomas C. Oden (Downers Grove: InterVarsity Press, 2006). All psalms for singing are from The Ailbe Psalter (available by clicking here).