Matthew 12:1-21
“Lord of Rest & Man”
I.) Intro
II.) Vs. 1-8 Rest Outside
III.) Vs. 9-13 Rest Inside
IV.) Vs. 14-21 Two Responses To His Rest
Intro
The Story is told of a bone-weary father who came home late one evening. It had been one of those unbelievable days of pressure, deadlines, and demands. He looked forward to a time of relaxation and quietness. Exhausted, he picked up the evening paper and headed for his favorite easy chair by the fireplace. About the time he got his shoes untied, into his lap dropped his five-year-old son. “Dad. Let’s play!” He loved his boy dearly, but his need for a little time all alone was, for the moment, a greater need than time with Junior. But how could he maneuver it? There had been a recent moon probe and the newspaper carried a huge picture of earth. With a flash of much-needed insight, the dad asked his boy to bring a pair of scissors and some transparent tape. Quickly, he cut the picture of earth into various shapes and sizes, then handed the pile of homemade jigsaw puzzle pieces to him. “Tape it all back together, son, then we’ll play, okay?” Off scampered the child to his room as dad breathed a sigh of relief. In less than ten minutes the boy bounded back with everything taped perfectly in place. Stunned, the father asked: “How’d you do it so fast, Son?” “Aw, it was easy, Daddy. You see, there is this picture of a man on the back of the sheet. And when you put the man together, the world comes together.” Jesus had just spoke on how to put man back together, the key was coming to Him, attaching or yoking yourself to Him & learning of Him & His character. All this was spoken within the context of the promise of rest. Now we come to more opposition & the first time where we are told that Pharisees planed to kill Jesus. All of this you will find had to do with His statements concerning the Sabbath.
To understand this we need to understand the significance of the Sabbath, as well as what it had become. The Sabbath was of divine institution. Two reasons are given for its observance in Israel:
1.) God’s resting on the seventh day of creation (Gen. 2:2, Exodus 20:8-11)
2.) Israel’s having been a “slave in the land of Egypt” and having been brought “out of there by a mighty hand and by an outstretched arm” (Deuteronomy 5:15).
Latter the Sabbath was instituted by Moses in Exodus 16:23-29. It was a means of binding together more closely the chosen people and keeping them apart from the rest of mankind. The 7th day was the day Israel was called to be sanctified to the Lord its God, because God blessed and hallowed the day at the creation by resting on it. Simply put the Sabbath was a means of grace by which the Lord provided man rest from that which burdened him.
Upon hearing Jesus’ promise of rest, the Pharisees would of thought; “We don’t need any rest for we have the Sabbath.” The Scribes had devoted 24 chapters to what they called instructions for keeping the Sabbath. There are 39 major categories with 100’s of subcategories just on the topic of what constituted work. The day was to be a day set aside for joy & delighting in the Lord, but the people were so concerned about what was keeping & what was breaking it that there was no rest or delight in the Lord. For instance, it was permissible to carry a chair across the lawn, but if it was dragged & left a mark then there was a chance that it could cut a blade of grass or put a rut in the lawn & it was forbidden to plow or to cut the grass. So you can see all the confusion over this day & it’s rules.
Vs. 1-8 Rest Outside
Vs. 1-2 We must again remember that Matthew presents Jesus as the King, thus this is not in chronological order, it is presented to establish Jesus reign over all of life.
Vs.1) What Matthew does here is give some insight into how this group lived. They were traveling on the Sabbath & were close by grain fields & the disciples started pulling off some of the grain & eating it. Why? Because they were hungry. But why were they hungry? Because they were following the King who had said in 8:20 that “Foxes have holes & the birds of the air have nests, but the Son of man has nowhere to lay His head.” Jesus was so poor that He had nothing to feed these men save that which was provided by the road side. They were all about the Fathers business & they were not concerned about what they were to eat when they got hungry there was some grain close by & they began to eat.
I love the simplicity of the lives of this group. Don’t you see how this life enabled them to be others centered. The more complicated our lives become the more self-centered we become. Comfort breeds conceit; I know that is not what we want to hear but it is true. The more we have the more we worry about what we have. These men had nothing save the Creator of the universe & they were content. Paul would write years latter about this in his life in 1 Tim. 6: 6 “Now godliness with contentment is great gain.”
Vs.2) There are two great questions that come up in this verse.
A.) From the perspective of the law as it related to the Pharisees: What were they doing observing Jesus in the first place? One of the laws concerning the Sabbath was that they were not to travel more then 3,000 feet from their homes, clearly something they were breaking in order to catch Jesus at what they perceived to be breaking the law.
That’s the way Pharisitical types always are. They go out of the way to catch some poor brother who is under grace because he is not warring a suit with a tie, yet in so doing it they act with such pride & arrogance that they clearly are not of the spirit of God.
B.) As this relates to their complaint: Were these guys breaking the law? In Deut. 23: 24-25 there were provisions made for travelers. They could pluck the heads of grain with their hands, but they could not use a sickle. So this was not theft it was lawful.
Also notice that these guys had just started this when the Pharisees made their complaint; verse 1 says they had “began” to pluck the heads of grain. These guys were just looking for something to complain about.
Notice as well the affiliation already established between the disciple’s & Jesus. There is no mention of Him doing this, only His followers, yet their complaint is at Jesus. Jesus had no problem with what they were doing & He is proud to defend them. Is that not great to be doing something that other question you for & the Lord defends you!
Vs. 3-8 Here we are given Jesus’ answer to the Pharisees, it is given in a three fold argument from the perspective a King, priest & prophet. Then He declares something that made them mad enough to seek to kill Him, that He was over their Sabbath.
Vs. 3-4) You will find this story in 1 Sam 21:1-6. David the true King was fleeing the false king Saul & they became real hungry so they came to the house of God & ate the show bread which was not lawful for them to eat, more then that David gave some to his men to eat as well. David was a man after Gods own heart, David did this & not a person ever said it was wrong. Human need is greater then ceremonial rituals. Love is greater then law, relationship greater then rituals.
Vs. 5-6)This argument comes from Num. 28:9-10 where the priests worked on the Sabbath. If all work on the Sabbath was wrong then how could they justify the priest work? Jesus then declares that He is greater then the temple. If the priests could break the law for the service in the temple & it was of then surely serving the Lord which is greater then the temple would be OK.
Vs. 7-8) Here Jesus quotes the Prophet Hosea 6:6. Hosea was telling Israel that what God looks at is mercy not sacrifice. If a man brings a sacrifice & there is no mercy in his heart then his sacrifice is an abomination. The Pharisees were more interested in the outward where God is more interested in the inward.
Then Jesus declares that he is greater then the Sabbath, the day of rest, for He gives rest to men’s soles. In fact that is what they were doing when they took a break to pluck the grain. The most sacred symbol of the nation was the Sabbath & Jesus declares that they have missed the point of it for it was about mercy not sacrifice. It is about resting in Him, finding joy in being with the Lord. Folks we are at rest only in as much as we are enjoying fellowship with Jesus. Christianity is not about what we do for the Lord. It is about enjoying Him, worshipping Him; for that is the sole basis of our service.
Vs. 9-13 Rest Inside
Vs. 9-10 Again we have the scene that leads up to Jesus’ defense of His actions.
Vs.9) Notice the words “their synagogue”. It was not our or the. At first it was the house of God now it was theirchurch. How tragic when a church is no longer His house it is so & so’s church. When a church becomes more interested in it’s programs & what it does that it identifies with these more then it does with Him, then it is no longer His church it is theirs. God forbid we should ever be that way. Calvary Chapel ought to always be a place, no matter where we meet or how many attend, that seeks to love, exalt, & worship Jesus.
Vs.10) Sometimes the enemies of Jesus do Him more good then they do harm. What a compliment they give the Lord here. There is a man with a withered hand & then there is Jesus & they know that He is the type of person who is going to heal him. They were looking for something to accuse Him & in so doing they complemented Him.
Now their regulations said that you could do nothing that promoted healing for that would be work. If a person was bleeding you could only cover the wound, but you could not put on anything that might help keep out infection for that would be healing.
Vs. 11-13 Now we come to His reply. He answers their question by asking them a question.
1.) Notice that Jesus implies ownership of the sheep. He says; “What man among you who HAS one sheep..” Simply put they rescue the sheep because it is theirs. Now in the context of this Jesus is saying that mankind is His. He is their creator & He cares for His sheep. Folks Jesus is more then just Lord over the Sabbath He is Lord over mankind as well. If they would do so for a sheep that they own how much more right is it for Jesus who is Lord over mankind to heal those who are His sheep?
2.) It is unlawful not to do good. That is what He says here doing right is never out of season. He is the owner of mankind & he has come to rescue them from the pit & set them free from the things that bind them, to not do so would be evil.
3.) To demonstrate His Lordship He tells the man with the withered hand to stretch it forth. Suppose now you were that man & your hand was the one withered. Would you look at the Lord & say; “Gee, Jesus, I would like to but I can’t for my hand is withered!” I hope you would not. This man does just what Jesus tells him to do 7 his hand is made whole.
How many times does the Lord tell us to stretch out our withered lives & we tell Him we can’t. Won’t you just stretch forth your lives that He might touch them?
Vs. 14-21 Two Responses To His Rest
Vs. 14 Religion hates relationship. The Pharisees started to plan on how they could kill Jesus.
Vs. 15) Next we see the response of sinners; great multitudes followed Him.
A.) Yet He did two things in response of their rejection:
1.) He withdrew: That is He was waiting on the Fathers timing.
2.) He healed them all: All on the Sabbath. Is that not great He touched them all for He was Lord & cared for them as sheep without a shepherd.
Vs. 16) He wants them not to advertise this fact about Him. Jesus always ministered in such away that the Father got the glory. Today I see these guys & all they do is try to take the credit for “their” healing ministry. Oh how sad!
Vs. 17-21 This is a quote from Isa. 42. It speaks of Jesus.
Notice verse 20. Reeds were used for little flutes they would pick them put a few holes in them & make music. But a bent or bruised reed was of no value. Yet Jesus did not destroy them. Flax was used for wicks in lanterns to shed light. One that smoked would not shed light. Yet Jesus would not quench it. Judgment had not yet come so we see the patience of God. Perhaps you are like these reeds or this flax. Jesus won’t through you out or put you ought. No He will be patient & heal you until He can play beautiful music through. He won’t snuff out your smoke He will instead fan you into a flame until you bring light to the world!
Matthew 12:22-37
“Could This Be The Son Of David?”
I.) Intro
II.) Vs. 22-30 By Who’s Authority?
III.) Vs. 31-37 The Unpardonable Sin
Intro
As you will remember from last week Jesus is dealing with opposition to His ministry. Last week it was over His breaking the religious rules of the Sabbath this week the opposition centers around His authority. Having said that He was over the day of rest & over man the only thing they could now do is question His authority.
The story is told of a W.W. II armada off the Northern Atlantic in search of German U-boats. One evening, several of the pilots took off from the carrier & were told that they needed to be back by a certain time. One of the leaders of the squadron purposely stayed out longer hoping to spot more of the enemy. As the sun set a German armada entered the area. The U.S. fleet was in serious trouble for they were out-manned & out-gunned. The only way to survive was to keep radio silence. As the fuel of these planes began to run low the pilots began to radio for help, but there was no reply. Finally believing they were in the right area they radio a simple but profound message; “Turn on the lights, Turn on the lights!” But the lights never went on & in horror the men on the ships watched as one by one the planes crashed in the icy Northern Atlantic. To turn on the lights would have jeopardized the lives of all the other service men.
Folks there will come a time in the lives of those who refuse to trust in Jesus where they will no longer hear the Spirit of God calling them. In effect they will cry out for some one to turn on the lights & no lights will come on. That is the case with the Pharisees 7 their hard hearts.
Vs. 22-30 By Who’s Authority?
Vs. 22 Here we see the occasion that brought forth the responses seen in verses 23-24. This was a most difficult case for the man had three things that afflicted him:
A.) demon-possessed: This was not something that the religious establishment could not do, but it was something that required more time then Jesus took.
B.) Blind: More then just being demon-possessed this man had physical damage that were irreversible.
C.) Mute: To make matters worse the possessed man could not speak. It was the practice of that time when there was a person possessed that you would ask the demon it’s name for you had to use it’s name in the incarnation, but in the case of a mute will the name would not be known.
So the result of Jesus’ encounter with this man is that he is made whole & all of the damage done him is reversed. Simply put this case was a case that the Pharisees could do nothing to help.
Now folks a great many of us face issues that we think nothing can be done. I want you to notice that this man did not come to Jesus he was brought. Do you know of people who are missed up? I mean they have seen “professional” & still they are the same. Bring them to Jesus!
Vs. 23-24 This miracle produces two responses upon unbelievers.
A.) Vs. 23 First, upon the multitudes, they are amazed & they begin to wonder if this may be the hoped for messiah. Be careful here; they do not say that Jesus is the Son of David; they asked if it could be. They are moved by the Spirit of Gods work in this miracle to question their minds as to who Jesus might be. The multitudes see the work of Christ they know that such a work can not be produced by their religion & they are forced to think beyond their religion to the hope of that religion the Messiah.
B.) Vs. 24 Second, it produces blasphemy. I believe that it was upon hearing the questioning of the multitudes that the Pharisees huddled & came up with an explanation to counter the question. There could be only one other explanation as far as power & authority were concerned, if the work which Jesus had just done was not of God then the only other power known to them was the devil. These guys were seeing the possibility of their hold upon the people slip away. The people were already coming to Him for healing & such what if they no longer needed the Pharisees? Beelzebub was the name of a Canaanite god by this time the name was used to describe the ruler of the Abyss the place where demons dwelt.
Vs. 25-30 What we have here is the response of Jesus to the Pharisees assertion that He worked miracles by the power & authority of Satan.
A.) Vs. 25-26 Jesus first response is to tell them that such an assertion is illogical. Why would Satan cast out Satan? If Satan was casting himself out of man then he was defeating himself, thus his kingdom would not last. The Pharisees would need to explain how Satan would benefit from doing such a thing.
Note: Jesus does affirm that Satan has a kingdom, He will also affirm that Satan posses men. He also seems to affirm that the Jewish exorcists were at least in some cases successful, verse 27.
B.) Vs. 27 The next argument Jesus uses is that such an assertion against must be made as well against their own practice. In other words to assert that He is in league with the devil is to say the same about those among them that were casting out demons as well. That of coarse was not what any of them were ready to say. It is hypocritical to accuse some one of doing something by the power of the devil when they themselves were doing the same thing & claiming it was by God. So Jesus points out that they need to ask themselves the same question.
Vs. 28-29 Here Jesus has them cornered. Since there can be only two possibilities of power & authority. And they have ruled out Satan’s then the only conclusion that can be made is that Jesus did His work of casting out demons by the Spirit of God. That being true then the Kingdom of God was upon them & He was none other then the Messiah.
For Jesus to do what He did he would have to be more then equal to Satan He would have to have defeated him. That’s the argument Jesus uses here in verse 29. Satan is cast out by the Spirit of God. Folks it is the cross that has bound the strong man for you & I. The shed blood of Jesus has enabled us to enter in to his house & proclaim liberty to the captives.
Vs. 30 There can be no middle ground on what you think of Jesus. Years ago the Dubbie Brothers did a song in response to the Jesus movement of the 70’s it’s title “Jesus is just all right with me.” Their point was not before Jesus or against Him. May I just say that you according to this verse don’t have that option. There are only two types of people in the world & they are easy to distinguish because they have two different missions. Jesus says; “Those that are with Him who gather & those that are against Him who scatter.” You right now are either on one side or the other you can not be in the middle. The clear understanding as to be able to determine what side you are on is based upon the central activity of your life. It is not what you say that determines what side you are on it is what you are doing. You are either gathering people towards Jesus or you are scattering them away. You can not confuse the essential differences of these two kingdoms. To say I’m with Christ & not be involved in gathering is an impossibility.
Vs. 31-37 The Unpardonable Sin
Vs. 31-32 Based upon what He just said Jesus now warns the Pharisees that they are in danger of committing the unpardonable sin. Now every sin we have ever committed can be forgiven. That is great news. It can be forgiven based upon agreeing with God that it is sin, receiving His payment of death as our penalty & accepting His love for us as the sole reason for forgiveness. Now I don’t know about you, but I am thankful for the truth of this. Yet it is clear that Jesus is now saying that there is one sin that can not, will not be forgiven a person.
A.) Blasphemy against the Spirit: Clearly in the context of this passage it is knowingly attributing the work of the Spirit of God, which is gathering in nature, to the work of Satan, which is scattering in nature.
In John 15: 26 Jesus declares “But when the Helper comes, whom I shall send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth who proceeds from the Father, He will testify of Me.” So the work of the Holy Spirit is to testify of WHO Jesus is. How did He do this? Well one way is but the working of miracles. Do you see now then what the blasphemy against the Spirit is? To know by way of the Holy Spirit who Jesus is & then to reject that testimony is blasphemy. Why? Because there is nothing more the Holy Spirit can do for a person intellectual comprehends who Jesus is but still does not want to receive Him as such. Perhaps you are here & you know who Jesus is & you don’t want to commit your life to Him, may I just warn you that you are in danger.
The story is told of a man who was a bit of a scoundrel in his community. He had broken several laws & was afraid that one day someone would come after him to take him to court. Sure enough one day there was a knock at his door & as he peaked through the window he saw that it was a lawyer that he knew in town so he ducked out the back door. A week or so later he received a letter in the mail declaring that the lawyer wanted to deliver in person an important paper. Well the man just knew that it was a subpoena. For 14 years the man refused all registered mail ducked out the back doors of places all avoiding this lawyer. Finally the life style this man was leading caught up with him & he was hospitalized with terminal cancer & given only a few weeks to live. The door of his hospital room opened & there in the door way stood the lawyer face to face with the man he was trying to give the letter to for 14 years. The old man just started laughing at the lawyer. “Go ahead serve me with your dumb old subpoena”, he said. “I’ll be dead in a few days any way.” The lawyer replied, “Subpoena?” “I don’t have a subpoena, I’ ve been trying to give you a document for 14 years that proved that you were the sole heir to your relatives 45 million dollar estate.” Folks, there may come a time when it is to late for you if you continue to reject Gods free offer of grace.
Vs. 33-37 The words of these Pharisees showed the depravity of their hearts. All of us ought to be inspecting the fruit of our lives. These Pharisees were all concerned about outward things all caught up in how things looked on the out side. Jesus uses two illustrations to describe the Pharisees.
A.) Trees: It was impossible for a bad tree to produce good fruit. The words showed the true condition of their hearts. The words that they spoke was the fruit of their sinful heart.
B.) Vipers: Poison snakes. They can only speak forth what they posses in their hearts.
Vs. 35-37 Tells us the heart is the treasury & it will bring forth either evil or good things.
“Idle word” means words that accomplish nothing literally blasphemous. Folks every word that the world speaks they will one day have to give an account of it. We are now told that sound waves never cease, instead they just diminish in intensity so that quite literally what you say goes on forever. Not that long ago a news station was interrupted in Chicago with the words it’s “Howdy Doody time.” Upon investigation they found that the original broadcast had hit some sort of asteroid & bounced back some 30 years latter. It is because of this that we will give account. Rom. 10: 9-10 says, “that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.”
Folks there is only one sin that will not be forgiven men that is the final rejection of Jesus. So if you are here this morning won’t you respond to the Holy Spirit?
Matthew 12:38-50
“Truly Seeking Jesus?”
I.) Intro
II.) Vs. 38-42 No Sign Of Life
III.) Vs. 43-45 An Empty House
IV.) Vs. 46-50 Standing Outside
Intro
As we have noticed over the last weeks Jesus is facing real opposition to His ministry. The religious establishment senses; based upon Jesus’ words, that the people will not need them any longer & so in verse 14 they “took counsel against Him, how they might destroy Him.” This week we see the Pharisees ask for a sign & Jesus’ refusal of a sign. This is not unlike what people do today; “If Jesus would just show us some sign then we would believe.” People are always saying that they want proof, but proof is right in front of them.
We are into seeking proof of all sorts of things today. On our serial box’s we have proof of purchase stickers. Our clothing has inspected by numbers. We have even gone out & tagged animals to proof how far they travel & so on. Knight-Ridder News service reported on a recent change on the inscription put on the metal bands used by the U.S. Department of the Interior to tag migratory birds. It seems that the bands use to carry the abbreviated name & address of the Washington Biological Survey. It was changed do to a letter they received from an Arkansas camper.
“Dear Sirs: While camping last week I shot one of these birds with your metal band. I think it was a crow. I read the band & followed the cooking instructions Wash. Biol. Surv. I just want to tell you that the bird tasted horrible.”
The new tags now read “Fish & Wildlife Service.” That is what happened to these Pharisees, they were cooked because they did not want reasons to believe they were looking for reasons not to believe.
Vs. 38-42 No Sign Of Life
Vs. 38 The word “then” is an important word as it relates to the Pharisees request. It is a word that indicates time & in this case helps to reveal motive. If the word then is not there we are speculating as to the motive of their question. You will remember that Jesus had just warned them that they were in danger of committing the unpardonable sin, which is knowing who Jesus is, but still refusing to give your life to Him. Before that was His statements about the Sabbath followed the miracle of healing the demon possessed, blind & mute man all of this now led to this moment & their request.
We can be safe in assuming that their motive was not sincere based upon their own words in verse 14, as well as the countless other signs that He was doing in front of them, to which they now attributed them to Satan. These folks did not really want a sign in which they might believe, they were wanting some thing in which they might attach some reason for His destruction.
Notice their use of the word “teacher”. You can not rightly call a person a teacher & then not accept His teaching. There are a great many people today who are not looking for a reason to believe instead they are looking for reasons not to believe. They will quote a few Bible verses & ask all sorts of questions but they don’t really want to truth.
Vs. 39 Here we have the beginning of Jesus’ answer to them.
1.) Notice His two fold statement concerning their request: “An evil & adulterous generation seeks after a sign.”
A.) Evil: The word means “harmful, or hurtful” both of which revealed their character. This was their influence upon the people around them. All their outward religion, concerned with looking right instead of being right was harmful & hurtful as it kept people away from the God who alone could make them whole. Jesus would say latter in Matt. 23:13 “But woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you shut up the kingdom of heaven against men; for you neither go in yourselves, nor do you allow those who are entering to go in.”
B.) Adulterous: This word describes their failure in their relationship to God. They had rooted out all the idol worship in the nation only to end up worshipping religion above relationship. Their God had in essence become themselves, for their righteousness was centered around how they practiced religion.
So it is to that group of people that Jesus now address His words. He gives two examples as to their history:
A.) Vs. 39b Jonah: Was the reluctant missionary who preached a one sentence message to the gentile nation Nineveh, “Forty days & Nineveh will be destroyed”. His message was not of grace but of judgment. Not to a people who were Gods special people, but to one city of a gentile nation. Further more Jonah did not love the people enough to die for them he wanted them to all die. Yet by that simple message the people of Nineveh responded in repentance. Simply put Jonah was a sign to that city & they responded by repenting.
Vs. 40 What a radical statement Jesus here makes. You can see their hatred towards Jesus as they started planing in verse 14 how they might destroy Him. Yet they did not understand in succeeding it would be the One & only sign to them. Jesus would later say in Luke 16:31 “If they do not hear Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded though one rise from the dead.” The obvious parallels of Jonah in that great fish is obvious. Jonah was thrown over to come the seas thus his death. Swallowed by the great fish, thus his burial. Lastly he was spit up on the shore thus his resurrection. That is the only sign that one needs to believe.
Now some people use this passage as an example of a contradiction. We know that Jesus was not in the tomb three days nights. First, as far as the Jews any part of a day was count as one so Jesus was in the tomb or dead three days. Second, the point of Jesus using this story is not the actual number, but rather, like Jonah was metaphorically, He too would be dead, buried & resurrected.
B.) Vs. 42 Queen of the South, (Sheba): This gentile Queen was amazed when she heard of the wisdom of Solomon & traveled a great distance to hear him. Yet Jesus’ wisdom was far greater & He was in the midst of the country, yet they would not hear Him. The similarity between Jonah & the Queen of Sheba is that they both dealt with gentiles; (Jonah preaching to them Queen of Sheba being a gentile). In both cases the response was positive. Simply put to argue that there is not enough evidence is foolish for we all respond to all sorts of things with out near as much evidence. A less enlightened people had responded less enlightened preaching, thus they would rise up & judge those who had greater knowledge & greater preaching. The greater amount of knowledge produces a greater amount of judgment if that knowledge is refused!
Vs. 43-45 An Empty House
Vs. 43 We need to connect this portion of scripture with Jesus’ words in verses 24-29. Satan’s house is the body of the person he possess. This is a facinating section as it gives insight into the demonic world.
A.) First it would appear that demons need some sort of human host in which to act it out it’s evil intentions.
B.) When it does not have such a place it has to seek out some person who will allow it access.
C.) Vs. 44 Most importantly we see that man is a container. It is said that inside every person is a God shaped vacuum. Folks, we will try to fill that with all sorts of things & not all of them are sinful, but only one will truly satisfy us & that is what that space was lacking to begin with, Jesus. I found this out on the practical realm recently. As I was putting together my metal shed one of the first things you do is put together the doors. So I carefully got together all the numbered parts & began assembling just as the directions said. When I was finished I was quite satisfied with me effort. The directions then told me to set aside the doors until the very end. Days latter when it came time to hang my doors they would not fit nor work. So I went back & reread my directions looking at all the part numbers. Well I had all the right parts but I had put one piece on the wrong spot, but it fit I thought to my self. The simple fact was it was not the right piece so the doors wouldn’t work as they were designed. That is what happens when we attempt to place some thing into our vacuum other then God, it fits, but it just does not work as we are designed.
D.) Vs. 44 Notice carefully the words of Jesus here. “he comes he finds it empty, swept, & put into order.” The key to all of this is that when the demon came back the man was empty. He was all cleaned up on the outside but he was not filled with Jesus. Folks we are meant to be possessed by the living God, where nothing of the world can ever dislodge His presence. To many people in Christianity are trying to get none Christians to behave better. They are out to clean up the world, trying to clean the fish before they catch it! Reformation is not enough. No! Only regeneration will do! These Pharisees had prided themselves upon getting rid of all idol worship in Israel, but they had not replaced it with a relationship they had replaced it with religion. So you know what? Religion had become their god.
Vs. 45 Now because of this they were more wicked then they were before & much less open to the truth of a true relationship with God. Oh how said it is to see moral people with out a relationship with Jesus, for their end state is far worse then being against Jesus.
It is not enough that we are swept clean of the sins of our life, drugs, alcohol, etc. We must be submitted to the one who has set us free.
Vs. 46-50 Standing Outside
Vs. 46-47 We now move to this last little section that at first glance appears to have nothing in common with the above sections. We have been speaking of the opposition that Jesus faced from the religious community & now we have His mother & brothers coming to Him to seek an audience with Him. Yet this to is opposition but with a different motive.
In Marks account we are told that they were told of the growing opposition & were concerned for His safety. They said that “He was beside Himself”.
Now verse 46 that it was; “while He was still talking”, that they came. I’m inclined to believe that they heard some of what was being said by Him & perhaps they saw the expressions on the faces of the Pharisees. They had accused Him of being demon possessed & Jesus Mother, the person who perhaps of all other humans was the closest to Him thinks that He has lost His senses. Theirs was motivated out of Jealousy & hate, hers was motivated out of love & concern. Yet they arrived at nearly the same conclusion. It is because neither of them understood relationship as it relates to doing the will of God.
Vs. 48-50 Here Jesus asks a question then makes a startling statement.
A.) Vs. 48 First of all for all those who put so much dependency upon the intercession of Mary it appears by this scripture that it would be missed placed. “Hey, Jesus your mom outside & wants to talk to you.” He did not say; “The blessed mother of God, all that she asks I do.” No. He says “Who is my Mother..?”
B.) Next Jesus reveals that the greatest thing in His life is not earthly relationships but spiritual ones. He says whoever does the will of my Father is my spiritual family. So what is the will of the Father? Jesus tells us in John 6: 40 “And this is the will of Him who sent Me, that everyone who sees the Son and believes in Him may have everlasting life; and I will raise him up at the last day.”
Is it not wild that we are Jesus’ next of kin? He chose us to be a part of His family. Are you a “whosoever”? You can be by trusting in Jesus!