CHAPTER 12

(A.D. 33)

THE LEAVEN

¹In the mean time, when there were gathered together an innumerable multitude of people, insomuch that they trode one upon another, He began to say unto His Disciples first of all (rejected by the religious leaders of Israel, He confines His Words to His Disciples, at least at this time), Beware ye of the leaven of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy (leaven was the interpretations and traditions of men, which they substituted for the Word of God; Jesus labels this as hypocrisy, which is the acting out of the part of a character, or being something other than what one really is; in fact, all religion is hypocrisy, for the rules of men, which is religion, cannot change the heart).

²For there is nothing covered, that shall not be revealed; neither hid, that shall not be known (what is right or wrong will ultimately be revealed).

³Therefore whatsoever you have spoken in darkness shall be heard in the light (wrong doctrine, which is darkness, will ultimately be revealed as to what it actually is by the Light of the Word of God); and that which you have spoken in the ear in closets shall be proclaimed upon the housetops (the Pharisees plotted in secret to kill Christ; their secrets are now known all over the world; and so shall all ungodliness be ultimately found out).

⁴And I say unto you My friends, Be not afraid of them who kill the body, and after that have no more that they can do (Believers are not to fear men).

⁵But I will forewarn you whom you shall fear: Fear Him (God), which after He has killed (life and death are in the Hands of God Alone) has power to cast into hell (the greater fear of God would banish the lesser fear of man; for man can only touch the body, but God can reach the soul and cast it into Hell); yea, I say unto you, Fear Him (presents the second time this is stated and is, therefore, meant to be clearly understood).

⁶Are not five sparrows sold for two farthings (an insignificant transaction), and not one of them is forgotten before God? (Every incident and transaction, no matter how small or seemingly insignificant, is known and recorded by God.)

⁷But even the very hairs of your head are all numbered (presents a degree of knowledge which is beyond the ability of any human being to comprehend). Fear not therefore: you are of more value than many sparrows (for those who truly follow the Lord, these words should greatly comfort all Believers; our every action is known by Him, and He will superintend every action, if we will allow Him to do so).

⁸Also I say unto you, Whosoever shall confess Me before men, him shall the Son of Man also confess before the Angels of God (if we confess Him before men, however painful that testimony might be, He will confess us before Angels):

⁹But he who denies Me before men shall be denied before the Angels of God (if we disown Him before men, He will disown us before Angels; these Passages declare to all that Jesus Christ, the poor Galilee Rabbi is in truth King of kings and Lord of lords!).

THE UNPARDONABLE SIN

¹⁰And whosoever shall speak a word against the Son of Man, it shall be forgiven him (that is, if forgiveness is sought [I Jn. 1:9]): but unto him who blasphemes against the Holy Spirit it shall not be forgiven (this blasphemy cannot be committed by those who make no profession of the Lord; this means that only professors of religion commit this sin; there is no forgiveness for this sin and, in fact, the perpetrators will not even seek forgiveness).

OPPOSITION

¹¹And when they bring you unto the Synagogues, and unto magistrates, and powers (officials), take you no thought how or what thing you shall answer, or what you shall say (simply means not to be full of anxiety; it does not mean that no preparation should be made, but only that trust must be placed in the Lord to provide the suitable answers):

¹²For the Holy Spirit shall teach you in the same hour what you ought to say (the Believer should always look to the Holy Spirit for leading and guidance).

COVETOUSNESS

¹³And one of the company said unto Him, Master, speak to my brother, that he divide the inheritance with me (the insensibility and rudeness of the natural heart is here exhibited; this man interrupted the Lord, making a ridiculous request).

¹⁴And He said unto him, Man, who made Me a judge or a divider over you? (Had the Lord interfered in Civil Government, He would have placed Himself in the power of His enemies; that was not His place. He dealt with souls, and directed mens attention to another life that lies beyond the grave.)

¹⁵And He said unto them, Take heed, and beware of covetousness (the desire of wrong things, or attempting to obtain right things in the wrong way): for a mans life consisteth not in the abundance of the things which he possesseth (most of the world tries to find life in possessions; however, there is no life in these things; Life is found only in Christ [Jn. 14:6]).

THE RICH FOOL

¹⁶And He spoke a Parable unto them, saying, The ground of a certain rich man brought forth plentifully (riches, if rightly acquired, should be thought of as Blessings from God, and treated accordingly):

¹⁷And he thought within himself, saying, What shall I do, because I have no room where to bestow my fruits? (The fruits had been given to him by God, and should be used accordingly. But instead he will heap them up unto himself, which regrettably, is what most do.)

¹⁸And he said, This will I do: I will pull down my barns, and build greater; and there will I bestow all my fruits and my goods (he was meant to use these fruits for the Glory of God, which was to take the Gospel to the world, but instead he did the opposite).

¹⁹And I will say to my soul, Soul, you have much goods laid up for many years; take your ease, eat, drink, and be merry (the truth was his soul had nothing; in fact, he had provided for the flesh, but he hadnt provided for the soul; how many rich Christians, regrettably, fall into this same category?).

²⁰But God said unto him (what is God saying to me and you?), You fool (the Lord is saying the same to all who follow in the train of covetousness), this night your soul shall be required of you (sooner or later, this night will come): then whose shall those things be, which you have provided? (He didnt give them to God, and now these things are to be squandered.)

²¹So is he who lays up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God (if riches come, they can either be used for self or God; which are they?).

WORRY

²²And He said unto His Disciples, Therefore I say unto you, Take no thought for your life, what you shall eat; neither for the body, what you shall put on (dont worry about these things).

²³The life is more than meat, and the body is more than raiment (in other words, take care of the spiritual, and the Lord will take care of the material and the physical).

²⁴Consider the ravens (an unclean fowl): for they neither sow nor reap; which neither have storehouse nor barn; and God feeds them (no matter how lowly they are): how much more are you better than the fowls? (If the Lord feeds buzzards, dont you think that He will feed us, that is, if we truly trust Him?!)

²⁵And which of you with taking thought (by worry) can add to his stature one cubit? (Of all creation, man alone is given to worry, fear, rebellion, sin, and unbelief.)

²⁶If you then be not able to do that thing which is least (if we cannot change by worry even the smallest things), why take you thought for the rest?

²⁷Consider the lilies how they grow: they toil not, they spin not (whirling around in a state of mental confusion); and yet I say unto you, that Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these (the lily abides by Gods Creation, and if the Believer will do the same, he will enjoy the provision of that Creation).

²⁸If then God so clothe the grass, which is to day in the field, and tomorrow is cast into the oven (assures us of the fact that God even provides for that which is of short duration); how much more will He clothe you, O ye of little faith? (Speaks of Believers being eternal, and consequently, of untold value; to observe Gods glorious Creation and how He Cares for it, and then to doubt His Care for us is an insult to the Lord of the highest magnitude.)

²⁹And seek not ye what you shall eat, or what you shall drink (trust the Lord for these things), neither be ye of doubtful mind (a distracted state of mind, wavering between hope and fear).

³⁰For all these things do the nations of the world seek after (speaks of the worlds economy, and not Gods Economy): and your Father knows that you have need of these things (means that we are now in His Kingdom; therefore, we are in His creative Care).

³¹But rather seek ye the Kingdom of God (tells us what we are to truly seek); and all these things shall be added unto you (when we come to Christ, we leave the worlds economy and enter into Gods Economy, which the latter is a never failing economy).

³²Fear not (not a suggestion, but rather a Command), little flock expressing the Great Shepherds tender care for His Sheep); for it is your Fathers good pleasure to give you the Kingdom (this is the Kingdom of God, thereby, far greater than the kingdoms of this world).

RICHES

³³Sell that you have, and give alms (the idea is not to hoard and covet such as the world does; as God blesses us, we should give liberally and generously to His Work; however, we must make certain that it is His Work to which we are giving); provide yourselves bags which wax not old, a treasure in the Heavens that fails not, where no thief approaches, neither moth corrupts (lay up treasures in Heaven).

³⁴For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also (treasure here will fail because of thieves and corruption; however, treasure there, referring to Heaven, will never fail; the heart is ones very being; the implication is that if there is no treasure in Heaven, the person will not go there when he dies; no matter his profession, his heart is where his treasure is).

WATCHING SERVANTS

³⁵Let your loins be girded about, and your lights burning (working and waiting should characterize the Christian);

³⁶And you yourselves like unto men who wait for their Lord (refers to the Rapture of the Church), when He will return from the wedding (in essence, means to return from preparations for the wedding); that when He comes and knocks, they may open unto Him immediately (speaks of readiness at all times).

³⁷Blessed are those servants, whom the Lord when He comes shall find watching (proclaims those ready for the Rapture): verily I say unto you, that He (the Lord) shall gird Himself, and make them to sit down to meat, and will come forth and serve them (speaks of the Marriage Supper of the Lamb, with Jesus as the Host).

³⁸And if He shall come in the second watch (9 p.m. to 12 midnight), or come in the third watch (12 midnight till 3 a.m.), and find them so, blessed are those servants (the idea is that we are to be ready for His Coming at all times).

THE GOODMAN OF THE HOUSE

³⁹And this know, that if the goodman of the house had known what hour the thief would come, he would have watched, and not have suffered his house to be broken through (if one is truly watching for the Lord, then at the same time he will be watching as it respects Satan that the evil one not destroy his house).

⁴⁰Be you therefore ready also: for the Son of Man comes at an hour when you think not (regrettably, most of the modern Church doesnt think the Rapture will take place; this means that it will definitely take place, and very soon!).

THE UNFAITHFUL SERVANT

⁴¹Then Peter said unto Him, Lord, do You speak this Parable unto us, or even to all? (Peter is thinking of an earthly kingdom about to begin, with the Twelve paramount in that Kingdom; in fact, Jesus is speaking to all.)

⁴²And the Lord said, Who then is that faithful and wise steward (some have claimed that the steward refers to Ministers only; however, the very nature of the word pertains not to position, but to responsibility, which applies to all), whom his lord shall make ruler over His household, to give them their portion of meat in due season? (It is the steward who is faithful and wise.)

⁴³Blessed is that servant (stewards and servants are the same), whom his Lord when He comes shall find so doing (being faithful in what the Lord has called us to do, proclaiming the fact that such are also wise).

⁴⁴Of a truth I say unto you, that He will make him ruler over all that He has (a ruler in the Kingdom of God, which is yet to come, is the reward which the faithful and wise will seek, and not things of this world).

⁴⁵But and if that servant say in his heart, my lord delays his coming (regrettably, most of the modern Church falls into this category); and shall begin to beat the menservants and maidens (to not properly love God is to not properly love our neighbor as ourselves), and to eat and drink, and to be drunken (proclaims Believers who have ceased to believe and have, thereby, lost their way, which will ultimately conclude in the loss of their souls; as well, this completely refutes the unscriptural doctrine of Unconditional Eternal Security);

⁴⁶The lord of that servant will come in a day when he looks not for Him, and at an hour when he is not aware, and will cut him in sunder, and will appoint him his portion with the unbelievers (this clearly points to former Believers who have ceased to believe and will, thereby, die eternally lost [Heb. 6:4-6; 10:23-29]).

⁴⁷And that servant (one who had formerly been Saved), which knew his Lords will, and pre pared not himself, neither did according to His (Gods) will, shall be beaten with many stripes (degrees of punishment; people who have known God, but have turned from Him, will suffer greater punishment in eternity than will those who had little opportunity, if any, to know the Lord).

⁴⁸But he who knew not (did not know the Way of the Lord), and did commit things worthy of stripes, shall be beaten with few stripes (fewer stripes than his counterpart who had every opportunity). For unto whomsoever much is given, of him shall be much required: and to whom men have committed much, of him they will ask the more (from these Scriptures, Catholics claim the doctrine of purgatory; but purgatory is said to be purgative and not punitive; hence, these verses do not apply).

OPPOSITION

⁴⁹I am come to send fire on the earth (the Work of the Lord will bring about persecution; regrettably, most of it will come from that which refers to itself as the Church); and what will I, if it be already kindled? (This speaks of the terrible opposition of the Pharisees and Scribes against Him, which would mark the position of the apostate Church, even as it continues unto this hour.)

⁵⁰But I have a baptism to be baptized with (speaks of the baptism of suffering, which would lead to the Cross); and how am I straitened (pressed) till it be accomplished!

⁵¹Suppose ye that I am come to give peace on earth? I tell you, No; but rather division (His Object was to bring peace, but the effect was fire and sword; this effect was caused through the corruption of mans nature, for the presence of Christ brought to the surface the evil of the human heart; the depth of that evil and the hatred of the heart for God were manifested in the Cross; regarding division, Christ is not the cause of division, but the occasion of it; division is caused by the rebellion of men against the Gospel [II Cor. 2:14-17]):

⁵²For from henceforth there shall be five in one house divided, three against two, and two against three (because of Christ, the division in families has been obvious from that time until the present).

⁵³The father shall be divided against the son, and the son against the father; the mother against the daughter, and the daughter against the mother; the mother-in-law against her daughter-in-law, and the daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law (blood ties are not strong enough to assuage this hatred; it may be addressed toward the individual, but it is actually toward Christ).

THE PHARISEES

⁵⁴And He said also to the people (all the previous instruction had been given solely to His Disciples), When you see a cloud rise out of the west, straightway you say, There comes a shower; and so it is.

⁵⁵And when you see the south wind blow, you say, There will be heat; and it comes to pass.

⁵⁶You hypocrites, you can discern the face of the sky and of the earth; but how is it that you do not discern this time? (In these statements, the Lord warns the people of Israel of approaching judgment. He bases this warning upon two factors, signs and their own moral consciousness.)

⁵⁷Yea, and why even of yourselves judge you not what is right? (He accuses them of willful blindness to the Prophecies of Daniel, which define the actual appearing of the Messiah. This blindness was more inexcusable because of their intelligence in observing the weather. They could observe that, but they could not observe Him, and He was much more obvious than the weather.)

⁵⁸When you go with your adversary to the Magistrate (in this case, the Holy Spirit), as you are in the way, give diligence that you may be delivered from Him (in other words, get right with God); lest He (the Holy Spirit) hale you to the Judge (God the Father), and the Judge deliver you to the officer (the Angels), and the officer cast you into prison (into Hell).

⁵⁹I tell you, you shall not depart thence, till you have paid the very last mite (the condition of release laid down in this Verse is impossible to the sinner, for he could never discharge his indebtedness of a perfect obedience to Gods Law; the only answer is Jesus; He paid all the price that we may go free; simple trust in Him discharges all our spiritual debt; but Israel refused Him, even as most of the world refuses Him; consequently, if He is not allowed to pay the debt, then the individual must pay the debt, which is eternal Hell and, in fact, can never be paid).