Sunday Morning Service

Matthew 12:22-50 (Click title for audio access)

"Jesus v. Religion, Pt.2" • 8.29.10 • Calvary Christian Fellowship, Sunday Morning Service

Intro.

- Jesus has begun to face His most harsh critics yet. The religious establishment had levied their attacks upon Him, claiming that He was a Sabbath breaker.

- Jesus has no respect for religious traditions. He is greater than the temple, greater than the Sabbath, in that He is the Lord of the Sabbath.

- In the section before us, you'll see that the desperation of the Pharisees piques again, as they look for any way to destroy Him.

- As they reject Him, Jesus begins to lay out the consequences for repeated rejection. We think that we are judging Him. Ironically, just the opposite is the case.

Text

• Matthew 12:22-24 : "Then one was brought to Him who was demon-possessed, blind and mute; and He healed him, so that the blind and mute man both spoke and saw. And all the multitudes were amazed and said, 'Could this be the Son of David?' Now when the Pharisees heard it they said, 'This fellow does not cast out demons except by Beelzebub, the ruler of the demons.'" : When you are confronted with truth, but refuse to acknowledge it, you will come up with something ridiculous.

- Case in point. Another indisputable miracle. This time a demon-possessed, blind and mute man. This man was afflicted and Jesus healed Him.

- We are not told how He did this. Whatever He did paled in comparison to what He accomplished. The demon which prevented a man from seeing or speaking was healed.

- This amazed everyone and it led them to a natural conclusion: Could this is the Messiah? Could He be the Son of David, the One who would rule on the throne of David perpetually?

- They may not have been definitive in their statement, but they were leaning in the correct way. The works that He was doing caused them to be open to that conclusion.

- Then Matthew says that the Pharisee heard about it. The sense is that He is setting up the difference in response between the common multitudes and the super educated Pharisees.

- The Pharisees, privy to the same information, seek an alternate explanation. They said that He was an agent of Satan. "This must be an inside job! Jesus is in league with the devil!"

- They are attributing demonic power to Christ's work.

• Matthew 12:25-27 : "But Jesus knew their thoughts, and said to them: 'Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation, and every city or house divided against itself will not stand. If Satan casts out Satan, he is divided against himself. How then will his kingdom stand? And if I cast out demons by Beelzebub, by whom do your sons cast them out? Therefore they shall be your judges." : Jesus knew their thoughts. It seems that they did not audibly articulate this theory.

- I imagine, for fear of the masses, that this was a secret musing among the Pharisees. Jesus exposes it clearly.

- It begins with the lack of logic: If Jesus was working with Satan, why not afflict more souls? Why would Satan give Jesus the power to remove demons?

- Presumably, it would seem that if Jesus were working with Satan, He would not only not deliver people from demons, but He would afflict others who did not have a demon yet!

- The Pharisees logic doesn't make any sense, but neither does any alternative to truth! If this were the case, Satan would be out of business. How then will his kingdom stand?

- At the same time, Jesus was not the only one that was performing exorcisms. Their "sons" refers to the Jewish exorcists. They also claimed to relieve people of demons.

- Where did their power come from and how was that different from Christ's power?

- The idea is that Jesus was doing something that was universally considered to be a good thing. Casting out a demon from anyone was a good action.

• Matthew 12:28-30 : "But if I cast out demons by the Spirit of God, surely the kingdom of God has come upon you. Or how can one enter a strong man’s house and plunder his goods, unless he first binds the strong man? And then he will plunder his house. He who is not with Me is against Me, and he who does not gather with Me scatters abroad." : The fact is that the Pharisees knew that there was only one explanation for freedom from demonic possession. It was the power of God.

- Jesus says that if His power is by the Spirit of God, then the logical conclusion is that He is the King of the Kingdom. The power of God's Kingdom is there.

- God is among you. You see the work. You sense His presence. Acknowledge that!

- There is no other way to explain it. Jesus provides an illustration. Nobody could go into the strong man's, or mighty man's home, unless he first subdues, ties him up.

- That is what the Lord was doing. He was rendering the enemy powerless. Jesus is more powerful than any legion of demons, yes, even Satan himself!

- They had accused Him of working with Satan, but the truth is that THEY were the ones who were working with Satan!

- They were not with Jesus, therefore, they were against Him. This is a scary indictment. Whoever is not with Christ, is against Him. The Pharisees were clearly against Him.

- Jesus gives another illustration here. There were people who gathered, ie. they pulled together to collect something.

- Otherwise, if they were not pulling together there was now a tug of war! The group with Jesus is gathering in and the group with the Pharisees is taking away.

- Jesus is telling the Pharisees that they were working against Him. They were working against God Himself!

• Matthew 12:31,32 : "Therefore I say to you, every sin and blasphemy will be forgiven men, but the blasphemy against the Spirit will not be forgiven men. Anyone who speaks a word against the Son of Man, it will be forgiven him; but whoever speaks against the Holy Spirit, it will not be forgiven him, either in this age or in the age to come." : Consider the flow of thought that Jesus has been laying out. He has pointed to His authority over demons, saying in effect, that this pointed to His origin.

- His work was a witness to the Kingdom of heaven's presence. His presence would continue on Earth for another year. Words that were spoken against Him and every sin would be forgiven.

- That should encourage all of us: Every sin will be forgiven Him. We however, focus in on that one sin that cannot be forgiven, because we don't want to be guilty of that one!

- Even blasphemy against the Son of Man would be forgiven!

- Why is that? Because Jesus is a wonderful witness to God's work, but He is not the final witness to God's work. That job belongs in the life of this world to the Holy Spirit.

- Though Jesus would be gone, the witness of the Holy Spirit would continue. He would continue to point through believers, scriptures and soft suggestions, that Christ was real.

- To insult His work, to blaspheme Him, leaves the human in a horrible state. Please understand this: Jesus is talking to people who are unbelievers.

- He is speaking to a group of people who are not redeemed, who are looking for ways to ignore the reality of Christ. They have blasphemed Christ and are beginning to blaspheme the Spirit.

- Jesus is not saying that they had. He is warning them that they are on the way to doing so.

- After the Spirit is blasphemed and His witness relegated to foolishness, that rejection is final.

- God has no other witness to the reality of God's Son Christ.

- Jesus lets us know that this was the case in the age of Christ and it will be the case in the age to come. The Holy Spirit represents God's best hope for unredeemed humanity.

- This is a poignant word for those who reject Christ today. The sense here is that once they begin to hear about Christ, there is a clock that starts.

- Every time that a person hears about Christ, the Holy Spirit is sounding a bell in their ears. He is telling them that Christ is true and trustworthy.

- The more that person rejects any such knowledge, the more that they refuse to listen, the more hardened they become, until at some point, they have crossed the threshold.

- There is a point of no return. Seeing that there is no other redeemer and no greater witness, that person is beyond forgiveness.

• Matthew 12:33-37 : "Either make the tree good and its fruit good, or else make the tree bad and its fruit bad; for a tree is known by its fruit. Brood of vipers! How can you, being evil, speak good things? For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks. A good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth good things, and an evil man out of the evil treasure brings forth evil things. But I say to you that for every idle word men may speak, they will give account of it in the day of judgment. For by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned.'" : Jesus is telling the Pharisees and anyone else in history to come to a conclusion. Am I good or am I bad? The judgement will be in the fruit.

- What is coming from Christ's ministry that they saw? What can you say about it?

- The Pharisees would not make the decision. They saw good fruit, but reasoned that it came from a bad tree!

- Today, people need to be pointed to the good work that comes from a life devoted to Christ.

- I have had to remind people that there were not just televangelists in the world. There are poor pastors too!

- There are not just hateful protesters at the gay parade. There are Christians who give much of their time to caring for AID's victims!

- People are apt to think that Christ inspires all sorts of demeaning activities. They need to see a difference in you and I, and to hear about that difference from you and I.

- Jesus calls them snakes! They called themselves good, but their hearts were evil and evil proceeded. They thought evil of Christ in their hearts, so that's what their mouths spoke.

- What was that evil? To see Christ, refuse to acknowledge it, and now seek to explain it away. Maybe they thought that it wasn't that important. Their assessment couldn't be so valuable.

- Jesus says, WRONG! Ultimate wrong! For what they said, confirming what was in their hearts would be brought before them in judgment.

- On that day when God opens the books, they will hear their own words condemn them. They will hear their own rejection, a testimony if you will, and it will condemn them.

- I liken this to that moment in the court room drama where the verdict is up in the air, that is until the surprise eyewitness walks through the door.

- At that moment, it won't be someone else. It will be a video with that person saying their name and then hearing their own blaspheming words. Think of the utter terror!

• Matthew 12:38-42 : "Then some of the scribes and Pharisees answered, saying, 'Teacher, we want to see a sign from You.' But He answered and said to them, 'An evil and adulterous generation seeks after a sign, and no sign will be given to it except the sign of the prophet Jonah. For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the great fish, so will the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth. The men of Nineveh will rise up in the judgment with this generation and condemn it, because they repented at the preaching of Jonah; and indeed a greater than Jonah is here. The queen of the South will rise up in the judgment with this generation and condemn it, for she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon; and indeed a greater than Solomon is here." : Ok, Jesus, you want us to make a solid decision? You want us to come forward and make a declaration that defines our response to you? Show us a sign!"

- They wanted a token, some kind of event to mark Christ's coming from the Father. What they wanted here was some sort of celestial sign, like the re-alignment of planets!

- They wanted something spectacular. Something akin to a spiritual 4th of July!

- I want to be clear here: Jesus has given them every sign necessary!

- It seems that the Pharisees were saying, "We just need one last proof." Jesus says, "What have you done with the proofs that you have? Blasphemed me and possibly the Holy Spirit!"

- When a person refuses to believe what he knows is true, there is no sign that will help him! "Oh, if they just saw a miracle!" Wrong, they see a miracle in you every time you come around!

- Jesus says that He had one sign for them. It would be the sign of Jonah. Jesus lets us in on the signifcance of Jonah's ministry.

- Jonah had been told to go to Ninevah, to a people who were feared national enemies of Israel. It would be akin to our being asked to minister the gospel to a group of radical Islamists!

- And not just any, but THE Radical Islamists that were responsible for 9/11. Jonah did not want to go, and in fact, traveled in the opposite direction.

- A big storm, some scared seamen and a big fish later, and you have what Jesus is referring to here. 3 days and nights, he was as good as dead, only to be spit up on the shores of Ninevah!

- He preached and the wicked people repented! In the same way, Jesus will bodily spend three days and nights in the heart of the earth.

- He will die, but like Jonah, on the third day, He will rise! That will be the sign that they are given. The people of Ninevah responded to Jonah. Jesus is greater than Jonah!

- Jonah did not want to go. He was disobedient. When they repented, he was depressed. Jesus was the opposite, willing to come, obedient on every point to God.

- Jesus was greater than Jonah in that He was not just a prophet, He was God in the flesh!

- Additionally convicting is that the Ninevites were wicked, lawless, violent people, who did not have the same amount of revelation that these Jews had?

- What about the Queen of Sheba? You can read her story in I Kings 10.

- She heard all about Solomon's wisdom and traveled a great distance to come and hear it. Jesus says, it was as if she came from the ends of the earth!

- She came just to hear Solomon and to have him answer some difficult questions. When she came, she saw and when she saw, she gave a gift of unparalleled proportion! It was a might gift!

- How much greater was Christ than Solomon!? The point that Jesus is making is that the heathens of yesteryear believed and responded.

- These supposed enlightened sons of the Kingdom chose to shut Jesus out!

• Matthew 12:43-45 : "When an unclean spirit goes out of a man, he goes through dry places, seeking rest, and finds none. Then he says, ‘I will return to my house from which I came.’ And when he comes, he finds it empty, swept, and put in order. Then he goes and takes with him seven other spirits more wicked than himself, and they enter and dwell there; and the last state of that man is worse than the first. So shall it also be with this wicked generation.'" : The Pharisees had not just rejected Christ's works and the Holy Spirit's words, but they had opened themselves up to the enemy's will.

- Jesus gives an insight into the unseen world of demon possession. That demon that is loosed goes out looking for another place to enter.

- If the place that he left lays vacant, then that demon will return with some friends, all of which will be more wicked than himself!

- Jesus is warning people about reformation, cleaning up their act, cleaning up their lives, without inviting Jesus to take possession of their lives!

- A person can stop any activity that they believe is unrighteous. Morality is not enough! Christ must be invited into a heart. Otherwise, the results, at least by implication, are devastating.

- Rejection of Christ is tantamount to opening yourself to all sorts of demonic persuasion and possession.

- That generation had the greatest witness. By rejecting it, they left themselves open to the greatest delusion!

• Matthew 12:46-50 : "While He was still talking to the multitudes, behold, His mother and brothers stood outside, seeking to speak with Him. Then one said to Him, 'Look, Your mother and Your brothers are standing outside, seeking to speak with You.' But He answered and said to the one who told Him, 'Who is My mother and who are My brothers?' And He stretched out His hand toward His disciples and said, 'Here are My mother and My brothers! For whoever does the will of My Father in heaven is My brother and sister and mother.'" : While all this was happening, Jesus was interrupted by a visit from His mother and brothers.

- They had come to see Him, in order to speak with Him. Matthew does not tell us what they wanted, though John 7 tells us that at a certain point in His ministry, even they did not believe in Him.

- One quick thought: Notice that He had brothers, plural, 4 that are listed in Mark 6, which also tells us that Jesus also had sisters! Mary and Joseph had several children after Jesus.

- That's a "just so you know!" Additionally, note that Joseph was not here, as he likely died, perhaps even prior to the ministry of Christ.

- They came seeking to talk with Him and Christ's answer is somewhat telling of their motives.

- He points to His disciples and says that they were His family. For that matter, anyone who was committed to the will of God was His family.

- What is the will of God? To believe in His Christ! Doing that puts you in a relationship with Christ!

Conclusion

- Jesus has rejected religion and reformation. He wants a relationship with us! This is so vital to tell our friends and neighbors: Jesus wants to make them family!