Matthew 12:1-21
Lord of Rest and Man
Vs. 1-8 Rest Outside
Vs. 9-13 Rest Inside
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 bound 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 spoken on how to put man back together; the key was coming to Him, attaching or yoking yourself to Him, and learning of Him and His character. All this was spoken within the context of the promise of rest. Now we come to more opposition and the first time where we are told that Pharisees planned 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 a 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). Later, 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 have 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 constitutes work.
The day was to be a day set aside for joy and delighting in the Lord, but the people were so concerned about what was keeping and 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 and left a mark, then there was a chance that it could cut a blade of grass or put a rut in the lawn, and it was forbidden to plow or to cut the grass. So you can see all the confusion over this day and its 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.
1) What Matthew does here is give some insight into how this group lived. They were traveling on the Sabbath and were close by grain fields, and the disciples started pulling off some of the grain and 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 roadside. They were all about the Father’s business, and they were not concerned about what they were to eat. When they got hungry, there was some grain close by, and 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, and they were content. Paul would write years later 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 than 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 Pharisees always are. They go out of the way to catch some poor brother who is under grace because he is not wearing a suit with a tie, yet in so doing it they act with such pride and 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 and 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, and He is proud to defend them. Is that not great to be doing something that others question you for, and 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 of a king, priest, and 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, and they became real hungry, so they came to the house of God and ate the showbread, which was not lawful for them to eat; more than that, David gave some to his men to eat as well. David was a man after God’s own heart; David did this, and not a person ever said it was wrong. Human need is greater than ceremonial rituals.
Love is greater than law; relationships are greater than 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’s work? Jesus then declares that He is greater than the temple. If the priests could break the law for the service in the temple, and it was 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 and 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 than the Sabbath, the day of rest, for He gives rest to men’s souls.
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, and 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 and worshiping Him, for that is the sole basis of our service. 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 their church. How tragic when a church is no longer His house; it is so & so’s church. When a church becomes more interested in its programs and what it does that it identifies with these more than 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, and worship Jesus.
10) Sometimes the enemies of Jesus do Him more good than they do harm. What a compliment they give the Lord here. There is a man with a withered hand, and then there is Jesus, and they know that He is the type of person who is going to heal him. They were looking for something to accuse Him, and 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.
. 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, and He cares for His sheep.
Folks, Jesus is more than 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, and he has come to rescue them from the pit and 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 and your hand was the one withered. Would you look at the Lord and 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; his hand is made whole. How many times does the Lord tell us to stretch out our withered lives, and 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 relationships. 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 to their rejection:
1.) He withdrew: That is, He was waiting on the Father’s timing.
2.) He healed them all—all on the Sabbath. Is that not great? He touched them all, for He was Lord and 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 a way that the Father got the glory. Today I see these guys, and 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, and 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 throw you out or put you out. No, He will be patient and 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?
Vs. 22-30 By Who’s Authority?
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 and 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 and 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 outmanned and outgunned. 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 radioed a simple but profound message: “Turn on the lights! Turn on the lights! ”But the lights never went on, and 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 servicemen. 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 someone to turn on the lights, and no lights will come on. That is the case with the Pharisees and 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 than Jesus took.
B.) Blind: More than just being demon-possessed, this man had physical damage that was 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 its name, for you had to use it’s name in the incarnation, but in the case of a mute well, the name would not be known.
So the result of Jesus’ encounter with this man is that he is made whole and all of the damage done to him is reversed. Simply put, this 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? I mean, they have seen “professional” and 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, and 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 God’s 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 cannot be produced by their religion, and 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 and came up with an explanation to counter the question. There could be only one other explanation as far as power and authority were concerned; if the work that 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 on the people slip away. The people were already coming to Him for healing, and 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 and 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 possesses 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 him 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 course, was not what any of them were ready to say. It is hypocritical to accuse someone of doing something by the power of the devil when they themselves were doing the same thing and 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 and 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, and He was none other than the Messiah.
For Jesus to do what He did, he would have to be more than 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 and me. The shed blood of Jesus has enabled us to enter into his house and proclaim liberty to the captives.
V. 30 There can be no middle ground in what you think of Jesus. Years ago the Doobie Brothers did a song in response to the Jesus movement of the 70’s with the title “Jesus is just alright with me.” Their point was not for 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, and 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 cannot be in the middle. The clear understanding as to being 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 cannot confuse the essential differences of these two kingdoms. To say I’m with Christ and not be involved in gathering is an impossibility.
Vs. 31-37, The Unpardonable Sins. 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, and 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 He cannot and will not forgive 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 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 and then to reject that testimony is blasphemy. Why? Because there is nothing more the Holy Spirit can do for a person who intellectually comprehends who Jesus is but still does not want to receive Him as such.
Perhaps you are here, you know who Jesus is, and 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 and 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, and as he peeked 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 and ducked out the back doors of places, all avoiding this lawyer. Finally, the lifestyle this man was leading caught up with him, and he was hospitalized with terminal cancer and given only a few weeks to live. The door of his hospital room opened, and there in the doorway stood the lawyer face-to-face with the man he had been 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 too late for you if you continue to reject God’s 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 outside. 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 were the fruit of their sinful heart.
B.) Vipers: poison snakes. They can only speak forth what they possess in their hearts.
Vs. 35-37 tells us the heart is the treasury, and 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 “Howdy Doody time.” Upon investigation, they found that the original broadcast had hit some sort of asteroid and bounced back some 30 years later. It is because of this that we will give an 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, and 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?
Vs. 38-42 No Sign Of Life
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, and so in verse 14, they “took counsel against Him, how they might destroy Him.” This week we see the Pharisees ask for a sign and 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 cereal boxes, we have proof of purchase stickers. Our clothing has been inspected by numbers. We have even gone out and tagged animals to prove how far they travel, and 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 used to carry the abbreviated name and address of the Washington Biological Survey. It was changed due 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 and 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 and, 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, His statements about the Sabbath followed the miracle of healing the demon-possessed, blind, and mute man. All of this now led to this moment and 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 cannot rightly call a person a teacher and 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 and ask all sorts of questions, but they don’t really want to hear the truth.
39 Here we have the beginning of Jesus’ answer to them. 1.) Notice His two-fold statement concerning their request: “An evil and 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 and hurtful as it kept people away from the God who alone could make them whole. Jesus would say latter in Matthew. 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 worshiping religion above relationships. 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 addresses 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 God’s 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, and they responded by repenting.
Vs. 40: What a radical statement Jesus here makes. You can see their hatred towards Jesus as they started planning in verse 14 how they might destroy Him. Yet they did not understand that in succeeding, it would be the one and 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 rises from the dead.”
The obvious parallels of Jonah in that great fish are obvious. Jonah was thrown overboard into the sea, 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 and nights. First, as far as the Jews, any part of a day was counted as one, so Jesus was in the tomb or dead for 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, and resurrected.
B.) Vs. 42 Queen of the South (Sheba): This gentile queen was amazed when she heard of the wisdom of Solomon and traveled a great distance to hear him. Yet Jesus’ wisdom was far greater, and He was in the midst of the country, yet they would not hear Him. The similarity between Jonah and 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 without near as much evidence. A less enlightened people had responded with less enlightened preaching; thus, they would rise up and judge those who had greater knowledge and 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 possesses. This is a fascinating 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 out their 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 sad that inside every person is a God-shaped vacuum. Folks, we will try to fill that with all sorts of things, and not all of them are sinful, but only one will truly satisfy us, and that is what that space was lacking to begin with, Jesus. I found this out in 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 and began assembling just as the directions said. When I was finished, I was quite satisfied with my effort. The directions then told me to set aside the doors until the very end. Days later, when it came time to hang my doors, they would not fit nor work. So I went back and reread my directions, looking at all the part numbers.
Well, I had all the right parts, but I had put one piece in the wrong spot, but it fit, I thought to myself. 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 something into our vacuum other than 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 and finds it empty, swept, and 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.
Too many people in Christianity are trying to get non-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 than they were before and much less open to the truth of a true relationship with God. Oh, how said it is to see moral people without a relationship with Jesus, for their end state is far worse than being against Jesus. It is not enough that we are swept clean of the sins of our lives—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, and now we have His mother and brothers coming to Him to seek an audience with Him. Yet this is opposition, but with a different motive.
In Mark’s account, we are told that they were told of the growing opposition and were concerned for His safety. They said that “he was beside Himself.” Now verse 46 says 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, and perhaps they saw the expressions on the faces of the Pharisees.
They had accused Him of being demon-possessed, and 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 and hate; hers was motivated out of love and 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. “Hey, Jesus, your mom’s outside and 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 “whoever”? You can be by trusting in Jesus!