Matthew 12:30

30 qui non est mecum contra me est et qui non congregat mecum spargit

Matthew 12:30 Meaning and Commentary

Matthew 12:30

He that is not with me, is against me
These words chiefly refer to Satan, and are a further proof, that Christ did not cast out devils by him; since they two are as much opposites, as can possibly be; Satan is not on the side of Christ, but an adversary to him; there is an original, and implacable enmity, between the serpent and the seed of the woman; there is an open war between them, and therefore one cannot be thought to lend assistance to the other. They were concerned in different things, had different views and interests, and so took different methods;

and he that gathereth not with me, scattereth:
Christ is the good shepherd, that gathers his sheep to himself, and into his fold, by the external ministry of the word, and internal efficacy of his grace; Satan is the wolf, that catches and scatters the sheep, and seeks to kill and destroy them: and since there is such an open war proclaimed and carried on between Christ and the devil, none ought to be neutral; whoever is not on the side of Christ, is reckoned as an enemy; and whoever is not concerned by prayer or preaching, or other means to gather souls to his word and ordinances, and to his church, and to himself, is deemed by him a scatterer of them.

Matthew 12:30 In-Context

28 si autem ego in Spiritu Dei eicio daemones igitur pervenit in vos regnum Dei
29 aut quomodo potest quisquam intrare in domum fortis et vasa eius diripere nisi prius alligaverit fortem et tunc domum illius diripiat
30 qui non est mecum contra me est et qui non congregat mecum spargit
31 ideo dico vobis omne peccatum et blasphemia remittetur hominibus Spiritus autem blasphemia non remittetur
32 et quicumque dixerit verbum contra Filium hominis remittetur ei qui autem dixerit contra Spiritum Sanctum non remittetur ei neque in hoc saeculo neque in futuro
The Latin Vulgate is in the public domain.