Matthew - Week 36

A Tree and its Fruit 

READ 

Matthew 12:33-34 

33 “A tree is identified by its fruit. If a tree is good, its fruit will be good. If a tree is bad, its fruit will be bad. 34 You brood of snakes! How could evil men like you speak what is good and right? For whatever is in your heart determines what you say.” 

Jesus rebuked the self-righteous Pharisees. Their words were bad and their actions were worse. Their words revealed what was in their hearts. Jesus said they were like a “brood of snakes” and were “evil men.” Because the Pharisees had not trusted in Jesus as the Messiah (Christ), they were simply unsaved religious zealots. 

REFLECT 

Think about the fact that if your heart is good, your words will reflect that. 

RESPOND 

Jesus’ rebuke of the Pharisees in Matthew 12 reminds one of what He said in Matthew 7:15-17. Talk with a fellow believer about hearing what a person says but then watching his life to see if it matches up with his words. 

The Treasury of the Heart 

READ 

Matthew 12:35-37 

35 “A good person produces good things from the treasury of a good heart, and an evil person produces evil things from the treasury of an evil heart. 36 And I tell you this, you must give an account on judgment day for every idle word you speak. 37 The words you say will either acquit you or condemn you.” 

Words reveal what is in the heart. The heart is like a treasury from which the words come. In the judgment, a person will give account for his or her words because they reveal what is in the heart of each person. The only way for the heart to be good is by believing in Jesus as Savior. At that time, His righteousness is placed in the believer’s life. The believer is declared righteous because the righteousness of Jesus is given to him or her. 

REFLECT 

Be thankful that your heart can become good by trusting in Jesus as Savior. Then your words will reflect your heart. 

RESPOND 

With a fellow believer, read Romans 5:1; 8:1 and 2 Corinthians 5:21. You are made right with God and delivered from all condemnation by trusting in Jesus as Savior. Then your words will reflect what is in your heart. 

Prove Your Authority 

READ 

Matthew 12:38 

38 One day some teachers of religious law and Pharisees came to Jesus and said, “Teacher, we want you to show us a miraculous sign to prove your authority.” 

Notice those who were doubting Jesus: “teachers of religious law and Pharisees.” These are the ones who should have known more about their Scriptures than the average Jewish person. Even though the writings of the Law and the Prophets told about the Messiah, they were blind to these prophecies. This also reveals that just knowing information about the Scriptures does not make one a believer in Jesus. 

REFLECT 

You may be embarrassed that you do not know as much information in the Bible as some others. Remember, it is not the information that saves one but believing in Jesus as Savior.  

RESPOND 

Read Luke 16:19-31 to see what the rich man was told at the end of the passage when he wanted someone to return from the dead to warn his brothers not to come to hades where he was at the time. 

The Sign of Jonah 

READ 

Matthew 12:39-40 

39 But Jesus replied, “Only an evil, adulterous generation would demand a miraculous sign; but the only sign I will give them is the sign of the prophet Jonah. 40 For as Jonah was in the belly of the great fish for three days and three nights, so will the Son of Man be in the heart of the earth for three days and three nights.” 

This was Jesus’ answer to the teachers of the law and the Pharisees who wanted to see a sign. Jonah was a prophet to the northern 10 tribes of Israel who were being threatened by Assyria. Jonah did not want to go to Nineveh, the capital of Assyria. He preferred for God to judge the people. On his way he disobeyed and was swallowed by a great fish and spent three days and three nights in its belly (see Jonah 1:17).  

REFLECT 

You know more from hindsight about what Jesus said than the religious leaders did when He made these statements. 

RESPOND 

Jesus used the example of Jonah and the great fish to refer to His death, burial and resurrection (see 1 Corinthians 15:3-4). Some debate whether it had to be three 24-hr days or parts of three days. If three full 24-hour days were meant, the next tick of the clock would have been the fourth day, and the Bible says he rose from the dead “on the third day.” 

Nineveh's Judgment 

READ 

Matthew 12:41 

41 “The people of Nineveh will stand up against this generation on judgment day and condemn it, for they repented of their sins at the preaching of Jonah. Now someone greater than Jonah is here—but you refuse to repent.” 

When he eventually obeyed and arrived in Nineveh, Jonah preached its coming destruction in 40 days and the people repented (see Jonah 3:3-10). Yet when Jesus—someone greater than Jonah—arrived in Israel preaching a message of repentance, the people refused to repent of their sins. 

REFLECT 

Think of the opportunity the people had to hear Jesus when He lived on earth among them, and yet they would not believe in Him as Savior. 

RESPOND 

Consider the opportunity people have today of having the inspired word of God in written form and yet many do not believe in Him. Read 2 Timothy 3:16-17 and 2 Peter 1:20-21, and thank God for the Scriptures He has breathed out to be recorded for mankind to read.