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Matthew 6:24
No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon.

Joshua 5:13
And it came to pass, when Joshua was by Jericho, that he lifted up his eyes and looked, and, behold, there stood a man over against him with his sword drawn in his hand: and Joshua went unto him, and said unto him,Art thou for us, or for our adversaries?

Joshua 24:15
And if it seem evil unto you to serve the LORD, choose you this day whom ye will serve; whether the gods which your fathers served thatwere on the other side of the flood, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land ye dwell: but as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD.

gathereth.

Genesis 49:10
The sceptre shall not depart from Judah, nor a lawgiver from between his feet, until Shiloh come; and unto himshall the gathering of the peoplebe.

Hosea 1:11
Then shall the children of Judah and the children of Israel be gathered together, and appoint themselves one head, and they shall come up out of the land: for greatshall be the day of Jezreel.

John 11:52
And not for that nation only, but that also he should gather together in one the children of God that were scattered abroad.

and he who does not gather with Me scatters
This part of the verse highlights the active role required in following Jesus. Gathering with Him implies working towards the kingdom of God, akin to the imagery of a shepherd gathering sheep, as seen inJohn 10:14-16. The scattering refers to the consequences of not aligning with Jesus' mission, which can lead to division and disunity, reminiscent of the scattering of Israel due to disobedience (Jeremiah 23:1-2). Historically, Jesus' ministry was about gathering the lost sheep of Israel (Matthew 15:24), and this phrase calls for participation in that mission. Theologically, it reflects the eschatological gathering of believers at the end of the age, as prophesied in passages likeIsaiah 11:12. The imagery of gathering versus scattering also ties into the parable of the wheat and the tares (Matthew 13:24-30), where the final judgment will separate the faithful from the unfaithful.

Jesus opens with an unmistakable division: “He who is not with Me.”

• There is no safe middle ground. Neutrality toward Christ is impossible; allegiance is demanded (John 14:6;Joshua 24:15).

• In context, Jesus has just refuted the Pharisees’ charge that He casts out demons by Beelzebul (Matthew 12:22-29). By placing Himself at the center, He shows that every spiritual claim must be measured by loyalty to Him (Colossians 1:18).

• This call is personal: “with Me” stresses relationship, not mere admiration (John 15:4-5).

The Lord immediately states the alternative: indifference equals opposition.

•James 4:4 declares that “friendship with the world is hostility toward God,” echoing the same either-or reality.

•Matthew 6:24 adds, “No one can serve two masters,” reinforcing that a heart not surrendered to Christ is, by default, set against Him.

• Some point toMark 9:40 (“whoever is not against us is for us”) as contradictory. It is not. There Jesus speaks of someone actively honoring His name; here He confronts critics denying His work. When Christ is explicitly present, fence-sitting becomes hostility.

Christ moves from allegiance to mission.

• “Gather” pictures harvesting and shepherding—drawing people into God’s Kingdom (Matthew 9:37-38;John 10:16).

• Believers join Christ’s work (2 Corinthians 5:18-20). Refusing that partnership shows a heart out of step with Him (1 Corinthians 3:9).

• The verse invites every disciple to active participation; silence or passivity lets souls drift away.

Failure to gather has destructive consequences.

• Like a hired hand who abandons the sheep, the non-committed leave others vulnerable (John 10:12-13).

• False teachers “draw away the disciples after them,” scattering what Christ would unite (Acts 20:29-30;Ezekiel 34:4-5).

• Spiritual apathy fragments families, churches, and communities. Where Christ’s unifying presence is rejected, division inevitably follows.

Matthew 12:30 draws an unblurred line: we are either aligning ourselves with Jesus and His saving mission or standing opposed and contributing to spiritual ruin. Loyalty means active discipleship—walking with Him, proclaiming Him, and helping gather others into His fold. Anything less is, in His own words, to be “against” Him and to “scatter.”

(1) It may be addressed to the Pharisees, with the object of showing them what their words really implied. They were not due, as some might think, to mere indifferentism or to a judicial neutrality; such a relation to him was impossible. They were due to opposition of inner life and of outward energy. Thus their words denoted complete separation from him. This he brings out more clearly in the two following verses.

(2) This interpretation, however, would attribute to the Pharisees too great an ignorance of their own feelings of opposition to Christ, and it is therefore best to understand the verse as addressed to the many bystanders. Christ has do-fended himself from the accusation brought against him, and now urges these waverers not to be content with only not opposing him, but to take sides - for, in fact, they cannot help doing so. Indifference in this case is only another name for opposition; not actively to help is really to hinder. Thus understood, the lesson of this verse finds its parallel in vers. 43-45, by which, indeed, it is immediately followed in Luke.He that is not with me is against me; and he that gathereth not with me scattereth abroad. The first clause speaks of the inner disposition, that which forms the real being of the man; the second, of his energy. Observe that the figure of the second clause appears to be connected with that of ver. 29. If Christ's property is not collected, it is driven further from him. Christ and Christians must gather (John 11:52; cf. Bengel). Forgathereth (συνάγων), cf. alsoMatthew 3:12;Matthew 13:30. Inscattereth abroad (σκορπίζει) the thought almost leaves the simile of theσκεύη, and regards the persons signified. Notice that inJohn 11:52, referred to above, the two verbsσυνάγειν and (δια)σκορπίζειν, also occur; the figure there, however, appears to be taken from sheep (cf.John 10:12). Further,Mark 9:40 andLuke 9:50 record the saying, "He that is not against us is for us," which was addressed to our Lord's disciples. Both sayings are necessary; earnest Christians need to remember that when outsiders do anything in Christ's name, it must, on the whole, forward his cause (Philippians 1:18); the undecided must face the fact that neutrality is impossible.

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