Matthew 13:10 says, And the disciples came, and said unto him, Why speakest thou unto them in parables?  The disciples asked Jesus why He spoke in parables.  This would have been a reasonable question.  We today may at times question why God works as He does.  This does not mean that we can refuse to allow God to work in His own way and still be true followers.  If we do question why God is working a particular way, we must be ready to hear and accept His answer.  Verse eleven states, He answered and said unto them, Because it is given unto you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it is not given.  Jesus said that He spoke in parables so that those who believed in Him could understand what He was saying, but so that those who did not believe in Him would not understand.  This does not mean that Jesus was trying to hide the truth of the gospel from some, but instead that in order to understand God's word that we must first have a personal relationship with Christ.  The meaning of the parables would be revealed to those who had accepted Christ for Who He is, and that is Savior and Lord.  We can never come to Christ by our own understanding.  Verse twelve says, For whosoever hath, to him shall be given, and he shall have more abundance: but whosoever hath not, from him shall be taken away even that he hath.  I do not believe that Jesus was referring to material things, but to the acceptance of the gospel.  Those who have accepted the gospel will have an abundance of faith, and those who will not will ultimately have everything taken away from them.  Verse thirteen states, Therefore speak I to them in parables: because they seeing see not; and hearing they hear not, neither do they understand.  Again, I believe that Jesus was referring to those who refused to acknowledge Him.  Many, many people today hear the word of God, but since they refuse to acknowledge Jesus as Savior and Lord, they do not understand what God's word is saying.  Verse fourteen says, And in them is fulfilled the prophecy of Esaias, which saith, By hearing ye shall hear, and shall not understand; and seeing ye shall see, and shall not perceive:  Another of the prophecies of Isaiah was fulfilled by the people not understanding what they saw Jesus do or heard Him say.  This does not mean that Jesus spoke in parables just to fulfill the prophecy, but that He knew that no matter how simply, some people will never hear and understand, because they do not accept Him.  Verse fifteen declares, For this people’s heart is waxed gross, and their ears are dull of hearing, and their eyes they have closed; lest at any time they should see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and should understand with their heart, and should be converted, and I should heal them.  Jesus said the the hearts of the people in His day had grown cold, and they refused to hear what He taught.  If they had, He would have saved them.  There are many people today whose  hearts are cold to the word of God.  They refuse to accept the fact that He is the only way to salvation, and therefore cannot be saved.  Verse sixteen says, But blessed are your eyes, for they see: and your ears, for they hear.  Jesus said that those who did hear and see what He did and understood and accepted His teachings were blessed.  This will always be true.  Verse seventeen declares, For verily I say unto you, That many prophets and righteous men have desired to see those things which ye see, and have not seen them; and to hear those things which ye hear, and have not heard them.  I believe that Jesus was saying that those prophets and righteous men who lived before He came could only live in hope of seeing the Messiah, but now He had come.  Though Jesus is not with us physically today, we can look back, if we put our faith in Him,  and know that His coming is not just a promise, but an accomplished fact.  Once we accept Jesus as Savior and Lord, then the Holy Spirit will help us to understand the teachings of Jesus more thoroughly.

Matthew 13:1 says, The same day went Jesus out of the house, and sat by the sea side.  We are not told if Jesus actually spoke to His mother and brothers when they came requesting that He come to them.  We should never expect Jesus to come to us on demand to meet our requests, but we should always go to Him to seek His will.  We are told that later that day that Jesus went out of the house and sat by the sea side.  Verse two states,  And great multitudes were gathered together unto him, so that he went into a ship, and sat; and the whole multitude stood on the shore.  The crowds were still flocking to Jesus.  If He went to the sea side to rest, it did not work.  Jesus once again went into a ship to separate Himself from the crowd.  They set on the shore close to the boat.  It would be wonderful if people had that same desire to be close to Jesus today, but even then I believe most were there simply because of the miracles Jesus was performing and not because they saw Him as the promised Messiah.  We cannot come to Jesus simply expecting earthly blessings, but must come to Him through faith that He truly is the Messiah, the Savior of mankind.  Verse three states, And he spake many things unto them in parables, saying, Behold, a sower went forth to sow;  We are told that Jesus spoke to the crowd on the shore in parables, which have been described as earthly stories with heavenly meaning.  Though the message of salvation is simple, we must actually us our brains to understand it, and the same applies to understanding the Bible.  Jesus always has and always will make understanding His teachings simple, if we only listen and think about what He says.  The multitudes may have been there looking for miracles, but Jesus gave them the simple truth instead.  Jesus began by speaking of a sower who went out to sow.  Though He didn't say so directly, the sower in this parable was Jesus, Who was sowing the gospel to those around Him.  Verse four says, And when he sowed, some seeds fell by the way side, and the fowls came and devoured them up:  Jesus said that some of the seed fell by the wayside and were devoured.  The purpose of the sower did not change when some seed did not fall on fertile ground, just as our purpose in sowing or spreading the gospel does not change just because some do not respond or even attempt to destroy it.  Verse five states, Some fell upon stony places, where they had not much earth: and forthwith they sprung up, because they had no deepness of earth:  Jesus said some seed took root and sprung up in soil not deep enough to sustain them.  Some people profess to accept the gospel, but their faith is not deep enough to sustain them when trouble comes, and they wilt away from the gospel.  It takes more than just a shallow profession of faith to live a successful Christian life.  We must be rooted deep in our faith in Christ.  Verse six says, And when the sun was up, they were scorched; and because they had no root, they withered away.   This is what I just discussed.  Not being rooted deeply, the plants faded in the heat of the sun.  Verse seven says, And some fell among thorns; and the thorns sprung up, and choked them:  I believe this means that some people hear the gospel, but because they are more concerned about those around them who oppose the gospel, they refuse to accept it.  Even in the midst of unbelievers who scorn those who follow Christ, we must always proclaim Him.  We cannot afford to allow others to prevent us from accepting Christ, but many people allow friends or family to do just that.  Verse eight declares, But other fell into good ground, and brought forth fruit, some an hundredfold, some sixtyfold, some thirtyfold.  Some seed fell on good ground, and all brought forth fruit to varying degrees.  As followers of Christ, we are the ones the good seed fell on.  We have heard and accepted the gospel and have our lives deeply rooted in Christ.  As such, we are expected to bring forth fruit, or reach others with the gospel.  We will not all be as successful, but we must continue to sow the seed.  Verse nine warns, Who hath ears to hear, let him hear.  I believe that this means more than just physically hearing the parable, but understanding what Jesus was really saying.  As followers of Christ, the Holy Spirit will always lead us to the understanding of what God has to say to us.  We simply have to be actively listening.

Matthew 12:46 says, While he yet talked to the people, behold, his mother and his brethren stood without, desiring to speak with him.  Though Jesus was no longer speaking to the Pharisees directly, He was continuing to speak to the common people.  Sometimes, those who consider themselves to be the religious authority of the world are the least likely to listen to Jesus, because He might threaten their authority and position in the world.  We are told that Jesus's mother and brothers came desiring to speak to Him.  I wonder how Mary and her other children felt about Jesus.  We know that Mary knew of the miraculous birth of Jesus, but what had she shared with her other sons?  For whatever reason, they were outside and wanted to speak to Jesus.  Matthew Henry points out that they should have been inside wanting to hear Jesus.  Instead, they were outside wanting to speak to Him, and interrupted His teaching to do so.  As Matthew Henry points out, sometimes those who are the closest to a person are less likely to listen to them.  Verse forty-seven states, Then one said unto him, Behold, thy mother and thy brethren stand without, desiring to speak with thee.  Someone interrupted Jesus to tell Him that His mother and brothers were standing without wanting to speak with Him.  It is a wonderful thing that we do not have to have someone go to Jesus to tell Him that we would like to speak to Him.  Mary and the brothers of Jesus could have gone directly to Him and listened until He was through speaking.  Sometimes, we may feel that our desire to speak to Jesus is more important than anything else, but sometimes when we come to Him we may need to first listen to what He has to say.  It could be that Mary and the brothers of Jesus felt that what they wanted should come ahead of what anyone else needed.  We need to be careful that this isn't our attitude. In verse forty-eight Jesus asks, But he answered and said unto him that told him, Who is my mother? and who are my brethren?  This was a rhetorical question basically.  Who would people say the mother and brothers of Jesus were?  I believe that Jesus was implying that they were still looking at Him in earthly terms.  Verse forty-nine states, And he stretched forth his hand toward his disciples, and said, Behold my mother and my brethren!  In this statement, Jesus was speaking spiritually.  No one person is spiritually more important to Jesus than any other, no matter who they may be in the eyes of the world.  In verse fifty Jesus declares, For whosoever shall do the will of my Father which is in heaven, the same is my brother, and sister, and mother.  Jesus tells us that this not only applied to His disciples, but to anyone who would accept Him as Savior and Lord, which is the first necessarily step before being able to do the will of the Father. This includes everyone who accepts Jesus, including you and me.  We become brothers and sisters to Christ and each other.

Matthew 12:38 says, Then certain of the scribes and of the Pharisees answered, saying, Master, we would see a sign from thee.  The scribes and Pharisees were always quick to attempt to discredit Jesus.  They asked Jesus to show them some sign that He was indeed the Messiah.  I believe they asked more from the belief that Jesus could not give them a sign than the hope that He would.  Some people today attempt to put conditions on their believing God.  They demand some particular sign before they will even acknowledge that God exists.  Verse thirty-nine states, But he answered and said unto them, An evil and adulterous generation seeketh after a sign; and there shall no sign be given to it, but the sign of the prophet Jonas:  Jesus told them, and tells us as well, that those who seek a sign before believing in Jesus as Savior are a wicked and adulterous generation.  Jesus further said that the only sign would be the sign of Jonah.  Verse forty continues, For as Jonas was three days and three nights in the whale’s belly; so shall the Son of man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.  Jesus said that just as Jonah spent three days and nights in the belly of the whale, so would Jesus, the Messiah, spend three days and nights in the grave.  Then, just as Jonah was rescued from the whale, so would Jesus be resurrected from the grave.  For those Jesus was speaking to the sign was yet to come, but for us today it is something we look back on through faith as an accomplished fact.  Verse forty-one declares, The men of Nineveh shall rise in judgment with this generation, and shall condemn it: because they repented at the preaching of Jonas; and, behold, a greater than Jonas is here.  Even though God had been ready to destroy Ninevah before Jonah preached God's word to them, they repented.  Jesus said that the people of Nineveh could rise in judgment against God's chosen people around Jesus who did not repent at the preaching of Jesus, Who was much greater than Jonah.  Verse forty-two says, The queen of the south shall rise up in the judgment with this generation, and shall condemn it: for she came from the uttermost parts of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon; and, behold, a greater than Solomon is here.  Jesus said that the queen of the south came to hear the wisdom of Solomon, but that those around Jesus refused to hear Him, though He was much greater than Solomon.  There will always be people who will listen to the wisdom of the world more quickly than they will to the gospel of Christ.  Verse forty-three says, When the unclean spirit is gone out of a man, he walketh through dry places, seeking rest, and findeth none. Jesus said that even when the unclean spirits leave a person that they may still not have a safe place to stay.  When we accept Jesus as our Savior and Lord, our situation in life does not necessarily change.  The thief on the cross was still on the cross after he accepted Jesus.  Verse forty-four says, Then he saith, I will return into my house from whence I came out; and when he is come, he findeth it empty, swept, and garnished.  The man cleansed of the evil spirit returned to where he had lived and saw it as a better place to be than where he was after he was cleansed of the spirit.  Verse forty-five says, Then goeth he, and taketh with himself seven other spirits more wicked than himself, and they enter in and dwell there: and the last state of that man is worse than the first. Even so shall it be also unto this wicked generation.  Upon going in to where he had lived, the man became much worse off than he was before.  I believe this is an analogy to deciding to follow Christ simply for material reasons, and then deciding that things were better before.  We can never follow Jesus simply hoping for a better life materially and find peace and happiness.  Jesus said that just as the man who had the demon cast out but returned to where he had lived and ended up in a worse situation, that it would be the same for that wicked generation.  They had Jesus with them willing to heal them spiritually, but were often following Him for material reasons and soon turned away.  Jesus has already freed everyone from the power of sin, but often people say that it just cost them too much materially to follow Him, so they return to where they had been before spiritually, and they are even worse off than they were before.

Matthew 12:29 says, Or else how can one enter into a strong man’s house, and spoil his goods, except he first bind the strong man? and then he will spoil his house.   I believe that Jesus was asking how He could cast out devils, if He did not first bind Satan.  God has allowed Satan to have certain power in the world, but he has already been bound for those who put their faith in Jesus.  The only power that Satan has over those who follow Christ by faith is the power we grant him by our own self will.  Satan, or the Devil, can never make us do anything.  In verse thirty Jesus declares, He that is not with me is against me; and he that gathereth not with me scattereth abroad.  There really is no neutral ground with Jesus. We are either for Him, or we are against Him.  Those who profess neutrality about Jesus have made their stand as being against Him.  Verse thirty-one states, Wherefore I say unto you, All manner of sin and blasphemy shall be forgiven unto men: but the blasphemy against the Holy Ghost shall not be forgiven unto men.  We sometimes hear people speak about unpardonable sin, but Jesus says there is only one, and that is blasphemy against the Holy Ghost.  Blasphemy is attributing the works of God to the Devil or any other source, and that is what the Pharisees had attempted to do when Jesus cast out devils.  The ultimate blasphemy is attributing the work of Jesus to anything other than His bringing salvation to people under the power of the heavenly Father.  If we do not accept this fact by faith, then there is no forgiveness.  Verse thirty-two declares, And whosoever speaketh a word against the Son of man, it shall be forgiven him: but whosoever speaketh against the Holy Ghost, it shall not be forgiven him, neither in this world, neither in the world to come.  Jesus tells us that people can be forgiven for speaking against Him, but not for speaking against the Holy Ghost.  I believe that this is because once we accept Jesus as our Savior and Lord, at which time those times we spoke against Him are forgiven, the the Holy Spirit indwells us to guide us.  If we then speak against the Holy Spirit, we are deliberately sinning.  Verse thirty-three states, Either make the tree good, and his fruit good; or else make the tree corrupt, and his fruit corrupt: for the tree is known by his fruit.  Jesus says that a good tree bears good fruit, and a bad tree bears bad friut, and the tree is known by its fruit.  The analogy was about people.  If we are good, or have put our faith in Christ as Savior and Lord, then we will do things that bring honor to God.  If we are bad, or have not accepted Christ, then we cannot bring honor to God.  It is not enough to simply claim to follow Christ, but we if we are truly His, we must bear good fruit for Him.  Our fruit, or actions, will show the truth of our faith.  Verse thirty-four declares, O generation of vipers, how can ye, being evil, speak good things? for out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh.  Jesus called those around Him, which were still mostly those who professed to be God's people, a generation of vipers and asked how they could speak good things.  Jesus further said that what they felt in their hearts determined what they said.  This is still true today.  Verse thirty-five says, A good man out of the good treasure of the heart bringeth forth good things: and an evil man out of the evil treasure bringeth forth evil things.  Jesus tells us that the way we believe will determine the way that we act in life.  If God and His will are at the center of our lives, the things we do will be good and bring glory to Him.  The opposite is also true.  Anytime we act from self will or any influence other than we will of God, we cannot bear good fruit.  Verse thirty-six says, But I say unto you, That every idle word that men shall speak, they shall give account thereof in the day of judgment.  We will be held accountable for every word we speak.  I believe that this goes even further than the actual speaking, but also to our attitude when we speak.  We may say the right words without them having any meaning.  Verse thirty-seven says, For by thy words thou shalt be justified, and by thy words thou shalt be condemned.  I believe that the only words that we can be justified by are a true proclamation of Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord, and then all that we say should be guided by the Holy Spirit.

Matthew 12:22 says, Then was brought unto him one possessed with a devil, blind, and dumb: and he healed him, insomuch that the blind and dumb both spake and saw.  Another person in need was brought to Jesus.  Not only could this person not see or hear, but he was possessed by a devil.  I believe that it would be safe to say that this person was pretty much helpless and hopeless.  That is really the way everyone comes to Jesus.  We are helpless and hopeless by our own abilities, and we are following the leadership of the Devil.  In this state, we need to come to Jesus and put our hope and trust in Him.  Jesus alone can heal us of our spiritual blindness and allow us to hear the truth of God.  When He does, the Devil will no longer have any power over us, unless we stop following the will of God.  Verse twenty-three states, And all the people were amazed, and said, Is not this the son of David?  The people were amazed, and they asked was Jesus not the son of David.  This was a reference to the awaited Messiah.  The people were curious, but Matthew Henry says they didn't wait around for the answer.  People may be curious about Jesus today, but until they come to the knowledge that He is indeed the only One Who can bring salvation, they will not be saved.  We must be able to declare without a doubt that Jesus is indeed the awaited Messiah, the Savior of all people who will accept Him.  Verse twenty-four says, But when the Pharisees heard it, they said, This fellow doth not cast out devils, but by Beelzebub the prince of devils.  Once more,, the Pharisees, the most religious of the Jews, attempted to discredit Jesus.  We can be the most devout person in eyes of the world, but unless we accept Christ as Savior and Lord, we are just as lost as the Pharisees were.  The Pharisees accused Jesus of working under the power of Beelzebub, or the devil.  It is a sad commentary that some of the most devout of those who were supposedly God's people not only failed to recognize the Messiah, but also tried to attribute His miracles to the power of Devil.  There are still people today, when they see a miracle, attempt to give the credit to anyone but God.  We, as followers of Christ, must never be guilty of doing that.  Verse twenty-five says, And Jesus knew their thoughts, and said unto them, Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation; and every city or house divided against itself shall not stand:  We could interpret this as Jesus reading the minds of the Pharisees, or as Jesus knowing how they tended to think.  Jesus answered their accusation by saying a house divided against itself shall not stand, meaning that if He were casting out devils in the name of, or by the power of, the devil, the He was working against Himself.  I believe there is another warning for us, and that is that as followers of Christ we should never do anything that is against His will.  Verse twenty-six says, And if Satan cast out Satan, he is divided against himself; how shall then his kingdom stand?  This is what was just discussed.  If Satan works against Satan, he cannot stand.  Verse twenty-seven asks, And if I by Beelzebub cast out devils, by whom do your children cast them out? therefore they shall be your judges.  Jesus asked if He were being successful in casting out devils by the power of Beelzebub then by whose power were the Jews casting them out.  The Pharisees would have to be the judge.  They could not single out Jesus as being empowered by the devil and say that others doing the same thing were empowered by God.  We must be careful to never attempt to discredit what other Christians are doing for God.  Verse twenty-eight says, But if I cast out devils by the Spirit of God, then the kingdom of God is come unto you.  Jesus said that if He was acting under the power of God, then the kingdom of God was come upon them.  Jesus was basically saying that if He were acting under the power, or authority, of God, then He was the awaited Messiah, and we each have to make the decision of whether He is or not.

Matthew 12:9 says, And when he was departed thence, he went into their synagogue:  Jesus went to the synagogue, the place of worship for the Jews, after His confrontation with the Pharisees.  He was not hiding or running from them.  If we have those who would destroy our witnessing for Christ today, we can not run and hide, but we must simply continue about God's business.  Verse ten states, And, behold, there was a man which had his hand withered. And they asked him, saying, Is it lawful to heal on the sabbath days? that they might accuse him.  The "they" mentioned here were the Pharisees.  They brought a man with a withered hand to Jesus and asked if it were lawful to heal him on the sabbath.  They did this, not out of concern for the man, but to be able to accuse Jesus of violating God's law concerning the sabbath.  In verse eleven Jesus asks, And he said unto them, What man shall there be among you, that shall have one sheep, and if it fall into a pit on the sabbath day, will he not lay hold on it, and lift it out?  Jesus did not immediately answer their question, but asked them one instead.  Jesus asked if someone had a sheep fall into a pit on the sabbath, would they rescue it.  This would violate the law of the sabbath as the Pharisees interpreted it.  We can never allow the letter of the law of God as given in the Old Testament to overrule our actions done by faith in Christ, because Christ fulfilled the law.  This does not mean that we are to ignore God's law, but that we are to put the salvation of people above the letter of the law, especially those man made additions to the law.  Jesus said that He did not come to destroy the law, but to fulfill it as a way to salvation.  Verse twelve asks, How much then is a man better than a sheep? Wherefore it is lawful to do well on the sabbath days.  Jesus asked if they would save a sheep on the sabbath, then of how much greater a value was this man who needed healing.  I believe that Jesus was saying that people are more important than religious rules, and He was definitely saying people are more important than animals.  Verse thirteen says, Then saith he to the man, Stretch forth thine hand. And he stretched it forth; and it was restored whole, like as the other.  Having asked the Pharisees what they thought, Jesus did not wait for their answer before doing the right thing and healing the man.  We may ask others what they think about certain religious practices, but we can never allow the practice or their opinion to stop us from doing what we know God would have us do.  Verse thirteen declares, Then the Pharisees went out, and held a council against him, how they might destroy him.  When they questioned Jesus about His actions, He made the Pharisees look bad simply by asking them about scripture.  We can be certain that the scripture, the Bible, will never lead us to do anything wrong in the eyes of God.  The Pharisees, instead of celebrating the healing of the man went out to conspire against Jesus.  There are people all over the world today who not only reject Jesus, but conspire against Him.  Verse fifteen states, But when Jesus knew it, he withdrew himself from thence: and great multitudes followed him, and he healed them all;  Jesus knew what the Pharisees were up to, and He left, with large multitudes following Him.  As Jesus was going, we are told that He healed them all.  Though a physical healing is good, Jesus gives us something much greater, a spiritual healing, if we only put our faith in Him and follow Him.  Verse sixteen states, And charged them that they should not make him known:  As I have stated before, Jesus did not want the multitudes coming to Him for just a physical healing, and also God's timing for Jesus to be truly revealed as the Messiah was not yet come.  We must always work on God's schedule, and accepting Jesus as Savior and Lord of our lives must always come first.  Verse seventeen says, That it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Esaias the prophet, saying,  Then verse eighteen continues, Behold my servant, whom I have chosen; my beloved, in whom my soul is well pleased: I will put my spirit upon him, and he shall shew judgment to the Gentiles.  This was the fulfillment of a prophecy by Isaiah about the Messiah.  He would be a servant chosen by God Who had the spirit of God on Him and He would show judgment to the Gentiles.  Verse nineteen states, He shall not strive, nor cry; neither shall any man hear his voice in the streets.  People would not be crying out in the streets that the Messiah had come, nor would Jesus Himself shouting that He was the promised Messiah.  We cannot bring people to a saving knowledge of Christ, no matter how loudly we proclaim Him, until they hear His small, quiet voice calling them and respond.  Verse twenty says, A bruised reed shall he not break, and smoking flax shall he not quench, till he send forth judgment unto victory.  Matthew Henry says this refers to new believers, who are still weak.  God will protect them as they grow in faith.  Verse twenty-one declares, And in his name shall the Gentiles trust.  Jesus came first to the Jews, God's chosen people, but He came also for the Gentiles.  It was always God's plan to reach the whole world with His call to salvation.  The Jews were chosen for this purpose, but failed.  Through Jesus Christ, we as His followers have salvation, but we also have the responsibility to reach the world with the gospel.  We can indeed trust in the name of Jesus.