Church Fathers Commentary Matthew 12:30

"He that is not with me is against me, and he that gathereth not with me scattereth." — Matthew 12:30 (ASV)

St. John Chrysostom: After the third reply, a fourth follows: “He that is not with me is against me.”

St. Hilary of Poitiers: In this, He shows how far He is from having borrowed any power from the Devil, teaching us the great danger of thinking wrongly of Him, for not to be with Him is the same as to be against Him.

St. Jerome: But let no one think that this is said of heretics and schismatics, although we may also apply it to them. The context shows that it refers to the Devil, since the works of the Savior cannot be compared with the works of Beelzebub.

He seeks to hold men's souls in captivity, the Lord to set them free; he preaches idols, the Lord the knowledge of the true God; he draws men to sin, the Lord calls them back to virtues. How then can they be in agreement, whose works are so opposite?

St. John Chrysostom: Therefore, whoever does not gather with me and is not with me cannot be compared with me, as if he could cast out demons with me. Instead, he seeks to scatter what is mine. But tell me, if you were fighting alongside someone and he was unwilling to come to your aid, is he not therefore against you?

The Lord Himself also said in another place, “He that is not against you is for you” (Luke 9:50). This is not contrary to what He says here. For in this passage He is speaking of the Devil, who is our adversary, but in that one, He was speaking of a man on their side, of whom it is said, “We saw one casting out demons in thy name.”

Here He seems to allude to the Jews, classifying them with the Devil, for they were against Him and scattered what He was gathering. However, it is also reasonable to say that He spoke this about Himself, for He was against the Devil and scattered abroad the things of the Devil.