Mateus 12
H.A. Ironside · Citado em PreceptAustin
Mateus 12
Ironside commenting on the parallel truth in Mark 3:28-29+ writes that this passage "was never intended to torment anxious souls honestly desiring to know Christ, but the verses stand out as a blazing beacon warning of the danger of persisting in the rejection of the Spirit’s testimony of Christ until the seared conscience no longer responds to the gospel message." (Mark 3 Commentary) I like what S Lewis
Mateus 12
Ironside adds that here Jesus "calls for a clean-cut distinction between evil and good. Every tree is known by its fruit. His life of holiness was the testimony to the reality of His claim. Their evil lives were the evidence of their corrupt hearts." (H. A. Ironside Commentary – Matthew) Make...make (both )(4160)(poieo) normally means to make, do, accomplish but here is used in a specialized sense to refer to mental activity and thus the idea is to consider, regard or suppose. Good (2570)(kalos) describes that which is inherently excellent or intrinsically good, providing some special or superior benefit. Kalos is good with emphasis (as discussed below) on that which is beautiful, handsome, excellent, surpassing, precious, commendable, admirable. Bad (rotten) (4550)(sapros) from sepo = cause to decay, to putrefy, to rot away, be corrupted) describes that which is rotten, putrefying, corrupt, disgusting, perishing, rank, foul, putrid, worthless (e.g., in Mt 7:17,18 = fruit, in Mt 13:48 = fish). In secular writings sapros was used to describe spoiled fish, rotten grapes on the ground, crumbling stones. The basic meaning relates to the process of decay. Sapros is used of things unusable, unfit, bad. It describes that which is harmful due to the fact that it is corrupt and corrupting or defiling. Broadus - There the thought is that we must test character (TREE) by conduct (FRUIT); here it is that conduct (including speech) is all the more important because it corresponds to and reveals character. Only Matthew records Mt 12:33-37 which deals with one's words and ultimately the consequences of those words for in verse 37 Jesus said "by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned." He is speaking to the Pharisees who had just spoken evil words that damned them because their words revealed the corruption that was in their hearts. They had just accused Jesus of performing His miracles by the power of Satan and in so doing they had blasphemed the Holy Spirit and committed a sin which could not be forgiven. Recall that Jesus had given an almost identical illustration earlier in His concluding words in the Sermon on the Mount warning the Jewish crowd about false prophets (or false shepherds). Now He speaks to the Pharisees in the same language, so clearly the implication is that they were the FALSE PROPHETS/SHEPHERDS! “Beware of the false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly are ravenous wolves. 16 “You will know them by their fruits. Grapes are not gathered from thorn bushes nor figs from thistles, are they? 17 “So every good tree bears good fruit, but the bad tree bears bad fruit (THE SAME Axiomatic TRUTH AS IN THE PRESENT PASSAGE). 18 “A good tree cannot produce bad fruit, nor can a bad tree produce good fruit. 19 “Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire (HE IS SPEAKING OF THEIR ETERNAL DESTINY - COMPARE WITH Mt 12:37). 20 “So then, you will know them by their fruits. (Matthew 7:15-20+) To reiterate, Jesus is telling (commanding) the Pharisees to make up their minds. If a tree brings forth good fruit (AS HE DID), then the tree is good. While they could not deny Jesus' GOOD FRUIT, as their continued reaction toward Him in the rest of the Gospel of Matthew shows, they adamantly refused to call Him a good tree! Why? Well, it was not so much what they said, but WHY they said it. The heart of their problem, was the problem of their hearts, which He will now address. Matthew 12:34 “You brood of vipers, how can you, being evil, speak what is good? For the mouth speaks out of that which fills the heart. NET Offspring of vipers! How are you able to say anything good, since you are evil? For the mouth speaks from what fills the heart. GNT γεννήματα ἐχιδνῶν, πῶς δύνασθε ἀγαθὰ λαλεῖν πονηροὶ ὄντες; ἐκ γὰρ τοῦ περισσεύματος τῆς καρδίας τὸ στόμα λαλεῖ. NLT 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. KJV O generation of vipers, how can ye, being evil, speak good things? for out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh. ESV You brood of vipers! How can you speak good, when you are evil? For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks. NIV You brood of vipers, how can you who are evil say anything good? For out of the overflow of the heart the mouth speaks. ASV Ye offspring of vipers, how can ye, being evil, speak good things? for out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh. CSB Brood of vipers! How can you speak good things when you are evil? For the mouth speaks from the overflow of the heart. NKJ "Brood of vipers! How can you, being evil, speak good things? For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks. NRS You brood of vipers! How can you speak good things, when you are evil? For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks. YLT 'Brood of vipers! how are ye able to speak good things -- being evil? for out of the abundance of the heart doth the mouth speak. NAB You brood of vipers, how can you say good things when you are evil? For from the fullness of th e heart the mouth speaks. NJB You brood of vipers, how can your speech be good when you are evil? For words flow out of what fills the heart. GWN You poisonous snakes! How can you evil people say anything good? Your mouth says what comes from inside you. BBE You offspring of snakes, how are you, being evil, able to say good things? because out of the heart's store come the words of the mouth. generation: Mt 3:7 Mt 23:33 Lu 3:7 Joh 8:44 1Jn 3:10 how: 1Sa 24:13 Ps 10:6,7 Ps 52:2-5 53:1 64:3,5 120:2-4 140:2,3 Isa 32:6 59:4,14 Jer 7:2-5 Ro 3:10-14 Jas 3:5-8 for: Lu 6:45 Matthew 12 Resources - Multiple Sermons and Commentaries Related Passages: Matthew 3:7+ But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming for baptism, he said to them, “You brood of vipers, who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? Matthew 23:33+ “You serpents, you brood of vipers, how will you escape the sentence of hell? Luke 3:7+ So he began saying to the crowds who were going out to be baptized by him, “You brood of vipers, who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? Luke 6:45+ “The good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth what is good; and the evil man out of the evil treasure brings forth what is evil; for his mouth speaks from that which fills his heart. AN EXCORIATING EPITHET Excoriate means to express strong disapproval of and derives from the idea of to "flay, strip off the hide!" An epithet is "descriptive name for a person or thing," a descriptive word or phrase added to or substituted for a person's name, an adjective or phrase that is used to express the characteristic of a person. Jesus now personalizes the parabolic saying (cf Mk 3:23+) in Mt 12:33. The epithet of Vipers was an apt comparison of the religious leaders to the poisonous snakes common in Palestine which were both deceptive and deadly for the teaching (works righteousness, legalism, etc) of these men would poison me n's hearts and minds and damn both themselves and their hearers to an eternal hell (Mt 23:15). And one has to believe that Jesus' pithy epithet cut to their hearts similar to the reaction of religious Jews in Acts. In Acts 5:33 "But when they heard this (especially Acts 5:30), they were cut to the quick and in tended to kill them." And in Stephen's speech to the religious Jesus Luke records "Now when they heard this (Acts 7:51-53), they were cut to the quick, and they began gnashing their teeth at him." (Acts 7:54) Jesus definitely got the attention of the Pharisees, even as did John the Baptist in a similar address in Mt 3:7+ "when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming for baptism, he said to them, “You brood of vipers, who warned you to flee from the wrath to come?" Both Jesus and John accurately saw through these hypocrites to the sinister, "serpentine" character of their hearts. This reminds me of Paul's warning to Timothy that (in the last days - 2 Ti 3:1) " evil men and impostors will proceed from bad to worse, deceiving and being deceived." (2 Ti 3:13) The Pharisees were deceivers whe were themselves deceived! Expositor's Greek Testament – John and Jesus agree in thinking the Pharisees a viper-brood. Both conceive them as morally hopeless. The Baptist wonders that they should come to a baptism of repentance. Jesus thinks them far on the way to final impenitence. But the point He makes here is that, being what they are, they cannot but speak evil. The poison of their nature must come out in their words. Zodhiates - The products of sin and hypocrisy are equivalent to the poisons of venomous snakes that prey on the unsuspecting. (Exegetical Commentary on Matthew) You brood (gennema) of vipers (echidna) (Mt 3:7+, Mt 12:34, Mt 23:33, Lk 3:7+) - You is the Pharisees (aka scribes in Mk 3:22+ = almost all were Pharisees) described in Mt 12:24 . And in Mk 3:23+ we see "He called them to Himself and began speaking to them in parables." Why did He call these vipers to Himself? Because He was aware that they had just made the accusation that (1) He was "possessed by Beelzubul" (Mk 3:22+) and (2) that He cast "out demons only by Beelzebul the ruler of the demons.” (Mt 12:24+) They manifested the nature of that old serpent, the devil, in their attitude toward Christ. Holman Apologetics Commentary on the Bible - Vipers are known for their subtle approach and attack, as was the original serpent (Genesis 3). In a similar fashion, the Pharisees attempted to hide their own blasphemy by calling Jesus a blasphemer. But Jesus revealed the crux of the problem of the Pharisees—they blasphemed the Spirit because their hearts were evil. The words of accusation with which they slandered Jesus revealed their evil heart. (See The Gospels and Acts) How can you, being (present tense - continually) evil (poneros), speak what is good (agathos - morally good, kind, beneficial, useful)? - Having already "cut them to the quick" with His epithet that they were vipers, Jesus "cuts to the chase" as we might say today! He now diagnoses the ROOT as rotten, thus explaining why they could not bring forth the good fruit of good words, especially good words about Himself and His good works. And so as He often did, Jesus uses a rhetorical question to further engage the attention of the Pharisees (as if He did not already have it!). Notice first that Jesus draws a conclusion which must have made them squirm and grind their teeth at Him. Jesus' description of them as being evil is His assessment of their basic character, the ROOT of the problem of their evil words. Being (ontes) is present tense portraying these men as continually characterized by evil, and the active voice underscores that this condition reflects their own willful, volitional choice. They were not merely doing evil acts but were evil in their very essence, nature, and core character.They were totally depraved! This is why Scripture speaks of the depth of human depravity (cf. Ro 3:10–12). Significantly, the word for evil here is not kakos but poneros, which denotes active, harmful evil that seeks to corrupt and injure.This intensifies the point that their evil was not passive but productive, bearing destructive fruit. And so back to the question He asked - Could they speak what is good? Obviously they could not! It was not possible, for as we say today it was not in "their DNA!" Their DNA was DEPRAVED! In short, their nature itself was depraved, and thus their words inevitably reflected that inner corruption. We read a similar truth in 1 Samuel 24:13 "As the proverb of the ancients says, 'Out of the wicked comes forth wickedness" affirming that what proceeds from a person reveals what resides within. In Proverbs we read "The heart of the righteous ponders how to answer, But the mouth of the wicked pours out evil things." (Pr 15:28) The point is that the righteous man has a righteous heart and wisely thinks before answering. By contrast the wicked man (cf THE PHARISEES) does not just speak evil, but "pours out" or "gushes forth" evil! Evil is the natural outflow of their polluted stream! The Hebrew verb "pours out" (naba) in fact can mean to bubble up or gush out and so it vividly depicts the evil words "bubbling up" from this man's evil heart as if he is not even able to control or contain them (AND HE IS NOT!). This verb is also translated "belch forth," (Ps 59:7) which is even more picturesque of evil speech from an evil heart! It is repulsive to God! For - Term of explanation - Jesus explains why it was literally impossible for the Pharisees to speak what is good. The heart of their problem was the problem of their heart! The mouth speaks out of that which fills (perisseuma) the heart (kardia) - Now Jesus applies this to the Pharisees using another axiomatic truth. This is Jesus' main point. Evil words proceed from an evil heart. The evil words of the Pharisees divulged the true nature of their evil hearts. The word fills depicts their heart as full to the brim and spilling over, so to speak. Stated another way what is in our heart comes out of our mouth. How could we expect anything else to bubble up from their evil hearts and out of their foul mouths other than blasphemous words? Jesus expands on this truth in Mt 15:18-20+ declaring that "the things that proceed out of the mouth come from the heart, and those defile the man. For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, slanders. These are the things which defile the man; but to eat with unwashed hands does not defile the man." So the evil heart is not just the source of evil words, but of murderous acts, which finally came to fruition when the Pharisees were able to murder Jesus on the Cross! As Proverbs 23:7 says "as he thinks within himself, so he is." The Pharisees thought evil thoughts and thus were evil to their very core, ultimately these evil thoughts leading them to murder Jesus! 🙏 THOUGHT - When we point a finger at the Pharisees, we need to understand that 4 fingers are pointing back at us. Our heart is our greatest enemy. And even for believers who have been given a new heart, we still have the polluting effects of our fallen flesh! Notice that the first effect of being filled with the Spirit (Eph 5:18+) is speech which is exulting. In fact in Eph 5:19+ the very first word in the Greek sentence is laleo which refers to our speaking and in the present tense describes habitual speaking with positive even "lyrical" speech. When the Spirit controls our heart, He also controls our tongue. When we have grieved or quenched the Spirit, we need to be very cautious, for there is a high probability that non-edifying, even rotten ("fleshly") words will spew out of our mouth. In fact, if you are frequently spewing forth angry or bitter words, you can know that your heart is not right with God and you need to confess and repent any known sins, that the Spirit might be "re-activated" so to speak! Jeremiah describes the heart problem writing "The heart is more deceitful than all else ("incurably deceitful") And is desperately sick; Who can understand it?" (Jer 17:9) 🙏 THOUGHT - This teaching is very practical. You do not have to listen to a man or woman speaking for very long before you can have a fairly good gauge on what is filling their heart. This is not to advocate that you be judgmental, but rather that you be discerning. And the truth be told, when you discern that pollution is coming forth from the "overflow valve" of their mouth out of the "reservoir" of their heart, it might be best (if possible) to separate yourself for a time from their speech. Polluted speech will not likely had a positive impact you! And it possibly might even result in you producing polluted speech. Just a thought to keep in mind. As believers we are called to a higher "SPEECH STANDARD." And in one of the more important passages (in my opinion) on a believer's speech Paul gives a command (present imperative with a negative = stop doing this or don't begin) "Let no unwholesome (sapros - rotten, putrid, foul) word proceed from your mouth, but (AN IMPORTANT CONTRAST) only such a word as is good for edification (BUILDING UP, NOT TEARING DOWN) according to the need of the moment, so that (PURPOSE OF OUR WORDS "GIVE GRACE"! AMAZING!) it will give grace to those who hear." (Eph 4:29+) Of course the only way a believer can obey this supernatural command is by continually being enabled by a Supernatural Source, the Holy Spirit! Since our words are so important we should frequently pray the prayer of David in Psalm 141:3 "Set a guard, O LORD, over my mouth; Keep watch over the door of my lips." That is a prayer God will answer, for godly speech brings Him glory! Another great prayer would be "Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart Be acceptable in Your sight, O LORD, my rock and my Redeemer." (Ps 19:14) (Notice David's association of words from his mouth with the condition of his heart!) Brood (KJV - "generation")(1081)(gennema from gennao = to give birth to, beget, involving generation from gínomai = to become) is the product of the activity expressed by gennao and thus means that which is born or produced. Derived from gennao and related to ginomai (to become, come into being), the term emphasizes not merely existence but origin and nature, highlighting what something is because of how it came into being. It can denote literal offspring, but is often used figuratively to describe moral or spiritual lineage, as in Matthew 3:7 where John the Baptist rebukes the Pharisees and Sadducees as a “brood of vipers,” identifying them as the poisonous product of a corrupt spiritual source. Similarly, in Matthew 12:34 and Matthew 23:33, the term underscores that their words and deeds reveal their inner nature, for what is “born” reflects its parentage. Thus gennēma carries the idea that conduct and character are the visible offspring of one’s true spiritual origin, whether from God or from evil (cf. John 8:44). GENNEMA - 4V - Matt. 3:7; Matt. 12:34; Matt. 23:33; Lk. 3:7 Vipers (2191)(echidna) literally was an adder or other poisonous snake. Four times echidna is used as a figurative description of the Pharisees ((Mt. 3:7; 12:34; 23:33 and all the crowd in Lk 3:7) and once of a literal viper (Acts 28:3). Echidna referred to small poisonous snakes that lived primarily in the desert regions of Palestine and other parts of the eastern Mediterranean. Because they looked like a dried twig when they were still, a person collecting wood for a fire would often pick one up inadvertently and be bitten, as happened to Paul on the island of Malta. That particular viper was deadly, and when Paul suffered no harm from the bite, the superstitious islanders thought he was a god (Acts 28:3, 6). Vipers therefore had the understandable reputation for being both deadly and deceitful. "Vipers (e.g., the Nicander’s viper) were commonly believed to eat their way out of their mother’s womb; thus John’s calling the crowd “viper’s offspring” was even nastier than calling them “vipers.” Serpents would flee a burning field." (Bible Background Commentary) ESV note adds that viper was "A general term for any of a number of poisonous snakes in Israel, showing that the people had become the seed of the Serpent (Ge 3:15+)." ECHIDNA - 5V - Matt. 3:7; Matt. 12:34; Matt. 23:33; Lk. 3:7; Acts 28:3 Evil (wicked, bad) (4190) poneros from poneo = work or toil,