Matthew 13:16-17

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16 But blessed are your eyes for they see, and your ears for they hear; 17 for assuredly, I say to you that many prophets and righteous men desired to see what you see, and did not see it, and to hear what you hear, and did not hear it. ~ Matthew 13:16-17

Today, we return to our study of Matthew 13 where the Lord Jesus taught the people using parables. A parable is a common understood story that eventually renders a spiritual truth. Since we were born sinful, we had to be rescued from the clutches of sin in order to have a relationship with God. Our sin separated us from God. This is why the Lord Jesus came to pay the penalty for sin. He did this in order to free us from the clasp of the devil. Once we are "born again" we are positioned to enter into a personal relationship with God. As time goes on, we discover we are getting to know the Lord for ourselves and to understand His teaching. This scenario always begins with a heart that is receptive to the voice of God. The Lord Jesus taught in parables in order to enable those who sincerely seek the truth to discover it and even more truth. He also taught in parables in order to hide the truth from the insincere.  

In the parable of the sower that preceded today's passage, the Lord Jesus used the illustration of the farmer to describe why He came to this earth. In this parable the farmer spread His seed or the secret to the kingdom of God. First, His seed encountered shallow soil. Due to the shallowness of heart, these people are those who never enter into a personal relationship with God because the truth never penetrated their hearts. To them, the truth was never really a priority.

The second type of soil, the rocky soil, describes those who showed interest in the truth and even expressed joy over its discovery, but, only for a short time. Initially this person got excited about the Gospel, but his excitement waned. His problem was he got excited about the truth but it was not important to him. So, he missed the reality of the Gospel and he never entered into a personal relationship with God through the Lord Jesus Christ. 

The third type of soil describes the person who showed some receptivity to the truth but it really never penetrated his heart because the deceitfulness of riches choked the truth out of his life. For this person the seed was smothered out by the weeds which prevented it from maturing. The root system of the weeds represented the hard times that came to aid the development of his potential faith. Since He did not prioritize the truth of God or the God of truth in his life, he did not benefit from it. He was turned away by the fertilizer of trials.

The fourth type of soil describes those who have good and productive soil. This is the person who hears the word, receives it, and the word bears fruit in and through his life. These reveal that to the degree that they invest in God's culture will be the degree that will they will reap of God's fruit in and through their lives. The key to it all is the willingness of the heart to yield to God and His truth. And then, it is up to God to produce the results which He has promised He will do only if we allow Him.

In v.16 of today's passage we read, "But blessed are your eyes for they see, and your ears for they hear."

The blessing of God is attracted to the heart that desires Him. Seeing and hearing are always involved in the revelation of God to our hearts, but it is always more than seeing with our physical eyes and hearing with our physical ears. Our hearts must be involved. Giving our heart to God is not a one-time occurrence, it is an ongoing process. As we do this, slowly our souls come more into line with the will of God for our lives. Prayer and the study of God's Word are essential to this process which enables us to embrace change when it comes. Remembering the faithfulness of God is key in this scenario. When we look back and focus on the track record of God in our lives, we will be reminded of those times when God was true to His promises to us. This is the fertilizer needed to move forward into deeper intimacy with God.

The message of the Bible is that our faith is not of us, it is the gift of God. Without the faithfulness of God, there is no faith. The message of the Bible is that we were made alive to God not of our will, but of the will of God. The message of the Bible is that God is the only One who has revealed in our hearts the light of the knowledge of the truth. For those who respond to the truth, we must never forget that it was due to the graciousness of God that we came to understand our need for the Savior. Through the blessing of divine revelation we come to see the utter emptiness of the self life. 

In v.17 of today's passage we read, "For assuredly, I say to you that many prophets and righteous men desired to see what you see, and did not see it, and to hear what you hear, and did not hear it."

All of the Bible points us to the Lord Jesus Christ. The prophets wrote about Him and His coming. They longed to see it come to fruition. Of course, hundreds of years, even thousands, transpired before He came to this earth. The morning the Lord Jesus rose from the dead, two very sad and discouraged disciples were slowly walking along the road to their hometown of Emmaus.  As they walked, the two were going over and over the events of the last several days. They had believed the Lord Jesus to be the Messiah. They had placed all their hopes on Him. Then, in a gut-wrenching turn of events, He was suddenly arrested, tried like a common criminal, and crucified on the cross. All of this, even though He was completely innocent of the slightest sin! He had to be innocent to fulfill His calling to redeem wretched mankind. At some point along their journey, a man in traveling clothes, whom they thought to be a stranger joined them and walked along side of them. They soon discovered it was the Lord Jesus. Beginning at Moses and all the Prophets, He revealed to them how the whole of the Old Testament Scriptures points us to Him.

Sadly, the only thing that can prevent us from receiving divine revelation is the stubbornness of the fallen human heart. But, for those hungry and thirsty enough to be blessed to be given revelation from God, these recognize the futility of all other explanations for this life. Back to our brothers on the road to Emmaus. It was then that the Lord Jesus opened their thinking that they might understand the Scriptures. No-one would understand the Scripture were it not for the illuminating work of the Holy Spirit in the process. He opens the ears of the deaf and He opens the eyes of the blind, those humbled enough to cry out to Him for help. The darkest hour is always just before the dawn, so we should always be people of hope and prayer, not gloom and defeatism. The Holy Spirit has a great track record of turning situations on a dime only if we let Him.

Matthew 13:10-15

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10 The disciples came to him and asked, "Why do you speak to the people in parables?" 11 He replied, "Because the knowledge of the secrets of the kingdom of heaven has been given to you, but not to them. 12 Whoever has will be given more, and they will have an abundance. Whoever does not have, even what they have will be taken from them. 13 This is why I speak to them in parables: 'Though seeing, they do not see; though hearing, they do not hear or understand. 14 In them is fulfilled the prophecy of Isaiah: You will be ever hearing but never understanding; you will be ever seeing but never perceiving. 15 For this people’s heart has become calloused; they hardly hear with their ears, and they have closed their eyes. Otherwise they might see with their eyes, hear with their ears, understand with their hearts and turn, and I would heal them.'" ~ Matthew 13:10-15

Today, we return to our study of Matthew 13 where the Lord Jesus is teaching the people by the Sea of Galilee. That day He utilized seven parables in His teaching. In them He drew His hearers attention to biblical faith which says to God, "I give up! I can never make myself right before You, so I trust You and depend on You completely to do what I cannot do myself." This kind of faith is altogether incompatible with the idea that our good works can somehow give us a right standing before the perfectly holy God. Such faith will, though, yield a certain measure of obedience in those who give it safe haven in their soul.

In v.10 of today's passage we read, "The disciples came to him and asked, 'Why do you speak to the people in parables?'"

After the crowds had gone home the disciples came to the Lord with questions about His parables. One of the greatest signs that we have been "born again" is that we seek the truth. But, most often, we want the truth when it serves our purposes only. The true sign that we have entered into God's family is when we are confronted by the truth, and, we conclude: the truth must win. This will never mean that we will be perfect this side of heaven, but it does mean that we will be the servants of truth, not the other way around. 

In v.11 of today's passage we read, "11 He replied, "Because the knowledge of the secrets of the kingdom of heaven has been given to you, but not to them. 12 Whoever has will be given more, and they will have an abundance. Whoever does not have, even what they have will be taken from them. 13 This is why I speak to them in parables: 'Though seeing, they do not see; though hearing, they do not hear or understand."

It is the cross of Christ that justifies us before God. His perfect sacrifice brings us into relationship with God. The believer who is growing in his fellowship with God will increasingly know the secrets of God. The Greek word translated "secrets" in v.11 is the word from which we get our English word "mystery." The combination of the words questions and mystery provide for us the makings of the stage where a grand pursuit ensues. This is what our fellowship with the Lord is all about. When we entered into our personal relationship with Hm, we entered the pursuit. And, the more of Him that we get to know, the more of Him we will want. The development and the deepening of any relationship is largely based on this kind of a pursuit. To the degree that we invest our being in the pursuit of anyone will determine how deep that relationship grows.

Our longings determine our search. The problem is the longing is most often created by thirst, and, we want our thirsts quenched quickly. But, it does not work that way. The more arduous the pathway to God will determine the glory discovered at the end of the search. But, we do not want to put in the hard work. This is why the Lord Jesus taught in parables, to aid those who are engaged with the truth and to hinder those who are not. Those who follow the Lord Jesus are known to be obedient to the truth, and, when this happens, we are being defined by God. To those who are being defined by His truth are given the secrets of the kingdom of God.

In v.14-15 of today's passage we read, "14 In them is fulfilled the prophecy of Isaiah: 'You will be ever hearing but never understanding; you will be ever seeing but never perceiving. 15 For this people’s heart has become calloused; they hardly hear with their ears, and they have closed their eyes. Otherwise they might see with their eyes, hear with their ears, understand with their hearts and turn, and I would heal them.'"

Based upon certain Old Testament passages like Isaiah 6:9-10, which the Lord Jesus quoted here, it was no surprise that Israel rejected the Lord Jesus as their Messiah. Interestingly, Isaiah wrote those words at a time of profound judgment on Israel. God had just pronounced a series of curses on them. He cursed them for all of their drunkenness and immorality. He also cursed them for their bribery and their oppression of the poor. He cursed them for their hypocritical religion. And then, at the height of all of that, King Uzziah died, and the country plunged into some of its darkest days. 

This was odd at the time because they were poised for kingdom dominance. Then, all of a sudden the judgment of God came in the form of the Babylonian captivity. It wasn’t long after that, Jeremiah echoed the message of Isaiah, and the enemy came and swept away the people into Babylonian captivity. That was the first fulfillment of Isaiah’s words. And the Lord Jesus reminded the people this was the second. In the final analysis we discover parables are a judgment on unbelief. The fact that the natural man does not understand the things of God is not only a statement about man's ignorance, it is a statement about God’s judgment on rebellious and stubborn man. 

When He came to this earth as a Jew, the Lord Jesus gave the people of Israel all they needed to conclude He was their long awaited Messiah. They just simply refused to believe in Him as their Savior. The fact that you and I have come to know the Lord Jesus Christ as our Savior reveals we understand this is not a statement about our intellect, it is a statement about God’s grace. It was His intervention in our hearts and minds that made us to see our need for the Lord Jesus and to believe on Him as our Savior.

Matthew 13:1-9

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1 That same day Jesus went out of the house and sat by the lake. 2 Such large crowds gathered around him that he got into a boat and sat in it, while all the people stood on the shore. 3 Then he told them many things in parables, saying: "A farmer went out to sow his seed. 4 As he was scattering the seed, some fell along the path, and the birds came and ate it up. 5 Some fell on rocky places, where it did not have much soil. It sprang up quickly, because the soil was shallow. 6 But when the sun came up, the plants were scorched, and they withered because they had no root. 7 Other seed fell among thorns, which grew up and choked the plants. 8 Still other seed fell on good soil, where it produced a crop—a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown. 9 Whoever has ears, let them hear." ~ Matthew 13:1-9

Today, we transition into Matthew 13 where the Lord Jesus is teaching the many who gathered on the northern shore of the Sea of Galilee. This day began back in Matthew 12:15 where the Lord Jesus taught in the synagogue. He began by quoting a most unusual prophecy that the message of God would go out to the Gentiles. Today's chapter consists of seven parables which the Lord Jesus told all in one day. In them He places emphasis on biblical faith. It has always been faith in the God of the Bible that has made man right with God and when our faith is met with His Word, things of eternity take place.

In v.1-2 of today's passage we read, "1 That same day Jesus went out of the house and sat by the lake. 2 Such large crowds gathered around him that he got into a boat and sat in it, while all the people stood on the shore."

It was the practice of the Lord Jesus to teach with the Lake as His backdrop. And, this time, He used a boat as His pulpit. As always, He taught the people concepts that are humanly difficult to understand. The words "gathered around Him" are key in it all. We do not gather around one another, we don't gather around the buildings we meet in. No, "we gather around Him." Coming to Him is the overarching theme of the Bible. He Himself said it in John 17, "This is eternal life that they may know you." We do not know those with whom we pursue not a relationship and God is no different.

In v.3 of today's passage we read, "Then he told them many things in parables, saying: "A farmer went out to sow his seed."

We love a good story because stories are known to aid us in our understanding. This life is truly about our pursuit of God and the stories we tell that come out of those pursuits. The Lord Jesus conveyed truth through telling stories. The Greek word translated parable, is a word that means "cast alongside of" and it is used 48 times in the New Testament. The Lord Jesus employed parables in one-third of His teaching. A parable is a story cast alongside something else in order to illustrate the truth for those with a willing heart to understand. The Lord Jesus utilized parables in order to convey to us something that was unknown to us before. The Lord Jesus taught the crowd this parable about the farmer who sowed seed in three types of ground which all failed to produce a result. We fail until we abide in the truth which God has given us.

In v.4-7 of today's passage we read, "4 As he was scattering the seed, some fell along the path, and the birds came and ate it up. 5 Some fell on rocky places, where it did not have much soil. It sprang up quickly, because the soil was shallow. 6 But when the sun came up, the plants were scorched, and they withered because they had no root. 7 Other seed fell among thorns, which grew up and choked the plants."

The first three responses to the seed were not adequate because the soil did not receive the seed so that it could germinate and grow roots. The unwilling heart represented by these three soils was too shallow in its understanding of reality. Receptivity to the words of the Lord Jesus increases our capacity to understand His parables and our ability to listen intently. Listening is such an art and the plumb line is His written word. When we are good at listening to Him, we will gain what we need to understand in a given moment. I believe this explains why so many reject God's word and His ways. 

Listening is hard work, yet, the more we do it, the easier it seems to become. When God speaks to us, He will always be consistent with His Word, the Bible. Of course, there are many situations in our lives that He doesn't speak to us in His word specifically, so we must be in His word in order to hear His voice. He will never contradict His Word when He speaks to us. When we were born again, we were given new ears. Now, our ears are tuned to the frequency of the voice of the Lord Jesus who said in John 10, "My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me."

In v.8 of today's passage we read, "Still other seed fell on good soil, where it produced a crop—a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown."

There are two main ways to get to know anyone. One way is to hear about them from someone else. Another is to hear from them for ourselves. The advantage we have in developing our relationship with God which is fellowship is that He tells us about Himself in the Scriptures. We call this His self-revelation. Essential in knowing God is to come to Him through His written and His Living Word. Of course, the Living Word is the Lord Jesus Christ. 

In Hebrews 11:6 we learn that the Lord Jesus rewards us with revelation about Himself when we seek Him. And, the seed in today's parable represents the Word of God. According to Romans 10:17, it is His word that creates faith in us. But not all who hear the word, as in this story, believe. The difference is that of the willingness of the heart. Faith operates in the arena of our soul which is made up of our mind, our will, and our emotions. Faith is an act of our will. This explains the different responses given in this parable. 

In v.9 of today's passage we read, "Whoever has ears, let them hear."

Listening is believing. God will always appeal to the deepest longings of our heart because He made us to be in a personal relationship with Him. The Lord Jesus said in John 17:3, "Now this is eternal life; that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent." 

When the human heart is left to itself, it will always be barren and empty. If we do not bring our heart before the Lord, "breaking up the fallow ground," as the prophet Hosea said, it will remain as it was when we were born into this world, barren and empty. The prophet Jeremiah said, "The heart is deceitful above all else, and desperately wicked." Solomon said, "Keep your heart with all diligence, out of it proceed the issues of life."

The receptivity of the human heart to the truth of God is evidenced by obedience. When we hear spiritual truth, and we give it safe haven in our heart and soul, more truth will be given to us. This is why some people get bored with Bible study, because they never allow the truth to sink deep enough into their soul. It is not given the chance to penetrate the heart and the soul.

The phrase, "Whoever has ears, let them hear," appears eight times in the New Testament. When the Lord Jesus addresses those who have ears, He refers to all who have been given His Word, no matter our age, ethnicity, language, or status. But there is a difference between having ears and having "ears to hear." It means we are allowing the Word of God to penetrate our heart and soul, leading to a confrontation of our natural way of thinking and then allowing God's way of thinking to define us. When God's way of thinking defines us, we will bear His fruit. It is up to us, the hearers, to decide whether to receive His life altering words or not. When we throw the welcome mat out before our heart for His word, He promises, eternal life will happen.

Matthew 12:46-50

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46 While Jesus was still talking to the crowd, his mother and brothers stood outside, wanting to speak to him. 47 Someone told him, “Your mother and brothers are standing outside, wanting to speak to you.” 48 He replied to him, “Who is my mother, and who are my brothers?” 49 Pointing to his disciples, he said, “Here are my mother and my brothers. 50 For whoever does the will of my Father in heaven is my brother and sister and mother.” ~ Matthew 12:46-50

Today, we conclude our study of Matthew 12 where the culture of the Lord Jesus and the culture of the religious leaders of Israel could not have been made clearer. Matthew wrote his gospel account in order to give us a clear picture of the Lord Jesus Christ as the King of Israel. The supernatural world knew His identity, but most of the people of Israel didn't, including His disciples. The theme of relationship verses religion is continued in today's passage. This is why the family of the Lord Jesus was given front and center attention in this narrative. If we do not have a personal relationship with God through the Lord Jesus, we are not in His family.

In v.46-47 of today's passage we read, "46 While Jesus was still talking to the crowd, his mother and brothers stood outside, wanting to speak to him. 47 Someone told him, 'Your mother and brothers are standing outside, wanting to speak to you.'"

Matthew informs us at this point in the narrative that the family of the Lord Jesus had arrived to speak with Him. Even though His mother believed in Him as the Messiah, His half brothers and sisters didn't. This explains why they had a hard time understanding Him and His ministry. In fact, they had earlier suggested that He go to Jerusalem to do His ministry because, as they believed, He would have a larger audience. It has never been about numbers with the Lord Jesus. But, this is the type of thing our unregenerate default mode does to us: it clouds our ability to recognize God, His work in our lives and in this world. 

In v.48-50 of today's passage we read, "48 He replied to him, 'Who is my mother, and who are my brothers?' 49 Pointing to his disciples, he said, 'Here are my mother and my brothers. 50 For whoever does the will of my Father in heaven is my brother and sister and mother.'"

Once word was delivered to the Lord Jesus that His family was outside, everybody expected Him immediately to go out and see them. But He didn't. Instead, He looked around at those seated around Him and He acknowledged them as His family. The Lord Jesus Christ made it clear that His family is made up of those who believe in and are being defined by the God of the Bible. The point He made that day in a profound way was spiritual relationships supersede family relationships. This underscores the fact that the Word of God must have the final authority in our lives. It must be the deciding factor in the making of our decisions. Biblically speaking, there must always be a priority in our lives of spiritual relationships over any other relationships. Not that we should disregard our family, we should honor all. When our will is not aligned with the will of God for our lives, we must obey God.

The Lord Jesus was not denying the reality that Mary and his siblings were His family. He was not saying that He didn’t love them. He loved them as evidenced by His redemption of them on the cross. It was not until after the cross and the resurrection that the siblings of the Lord Jesus really believed He was the promised Messiah. In fact, James, one of His half brothers, wrote the epistle of James and became a leader in the church in Jerusalem. To be related to the Lord Jesus is not a physical thing, it’s a spiritual thing. 

The evidence of His identity had been piling up, and the people were slow to make the obvious conclusion and to make the subsequent confession that the Lord Jesus is God. This went on until after the resurrection. In fact, when the Lord Jesus came back to Galilee after His resurrection He appeared to more than 500 believers at one time in Galilee. And when the Holy Spirit came in the upper room in Jerusalem, about month later, there were only 120 gathered there. The resurrected Christ was seen by more than 500 after His resurrection and only 120 were there in that upper room in Jerusalem when the Holy Spirit came.

While on this earth, the Lord Jesus provided a lot of evidence for us to conclude His identity correctly. But, seeing is not always believing. The real world is an unseen world, a world that we can only access by the means of our faith, the Word of God, prayer and the Holy Spirit. It is a must that we are defined by the thoughts and culture of God as found in His Word. A key part of the process of learning to view all things through the lens of the eternal is growing in our faith in the God of the Bible. In order for our faith to grow in Him, we must entertain the questions that are created by our doubts. One of the twelve disciples, Thomas, was skeptical about the resurrection of the Lord Jesus and he wanted proof in order to believe. 

In John 20:27 we read, "Then Jesus said to Thomas, 'Put your finger here and look at My hands. Reach out your hand and put it into My side. Stop doubting and believe.' Thomas replied, 'My Lord and my God!'"

Then in John 20:29 we read, "Jesus said to him, 'Because you have seen Me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.'" 

Our faith demands that we believe without seeing. When we are to be sure of what we cannot see, there is little room for asking for proof!  But, God reveals Himself to us best as we go through the hardest of moments wherein we learn the correct questions to ask of Him. The key is that we run to Him with our questions. Learning to trust Him, even when we cannot see the outcome of the situation, is what enables us to see Him best, with our hearts. This, in large part, is a must for the development of knowing Him and making Him known.

Matthew 12:43-45

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43 When an impure spirit comes out of a person, it goes through arid places seeking rest and does not find it. 44 Then it says, "I will return to the house I left. When it arrives, it finds the house unoccupied, swept clean and put in order. 45 Then it goes and takes with it seven other spirits more wicked than itself, and they go in and live there. And the final condition of that person is worse than the first. That is how it will be with this wicked generation." ~ Matthew 12:43-45

Today, we continue our study of Matthew 12 where on the heels of delivering a man from demon-possession, the Lord Jesus taught the religious people that morality was not enough to be right before God. Religion is self-defined morality, not Savior-defined morality. Certainly morality is better than immorality, but morality is more dangerous than immorality, especially if one has not been born again. The moral are harder to get to the point where they see their need for a savior. Our morality often prevents us from embracing the brokenness that is needed for us to come to faith in the Lord Jesus. 

It is quite dangerous to embrace moral reformation without regeneration. The moral successfully clean up their lives on the outside, but neglect their heart, and as we have seen, the real issue is the condition of our heart. In Proverbs 4:23 we read, "Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it." Throughout the Bible we learn the condition of our hearts matters most to God because our hearts are the very foundation of our relationship with Him. And, the only way the heart is changed is when we have given it to Him. A broken heart precedes a transformed heart. And, if our heart is not broken, arrogance has a way of getting in the way. This is why the Lord gave us the Law of Moses which reveals our sin. The law requires complete obedience, but when we do not comply, hidden rebellion is brought out into the open. The rebellion of the human heart is identified when it meets up with the law. This must be dealt with and it is why the Lord Jesus told us that we must be born again.

In v.43-44 of today's passage we read, "43 When an impure spirit comes out of a person, it goes through arid places seeking rest and does not find it. 44 Then it says, "I will return to the house I left. When it arrives, it finds the house unoccupied, swept clean and put in order."

The Lord Jesus had just cast a demon out of a man and here He taught the people metaphorically. Through His words He reminded them that after the demon left the man and the man did not invite God to come to dwell within him, he had remained neutral regarding the Lord. This is what happens when we depend upon our goodness and morality to be made right with God. The religious leaders had cleaned up their lives but they remained prey to the enemy because they had not been delivered from him by being born again. 

According to v.44, the demon returned to the house from which he came and he found it unoccupied, cleaned out and put in order.  And therein, my friend, lies the problem with depending upon our morality to make us acceptable before God. The problem in the moral person's heart is it is unoccupied. The Spirit of God is not there to make his heart toward God alive. Morality without the Lord Jesus makes us double sons of hell. It is better to be immoral than moral without Christ. It is better to be irreligious than religious without Christ, because morality and religion are a seduction. Morality and religion give the deception that all is well with God when it is not. When a person comes to believe in his own righteousness, he is not redeemable because he sees not his need for the Savior.

Throughout the Bible it was never the immoral people who blasphemed the Lord Jesus. It was always the moral ones. It was never the harlots, prostitutes, or tax collectors. It was the religious people. It was the self-righteous people. When we are religious, moral people we are confident in our own righteousness. We are utterly deceived into believing that we have been delivered from the powers of Satan because we live moral lives.  

So, when the demon came back to find the whole place cleaned up, it was also empty. And if the living God is not present in a heart, therein we have a disaster. There really is no more serious danger than the danger of morality that blinds us to our need for the Savior. An attempt to clean up our lives without Christ is to be exposed to an even greater danger. There is no benefit in reformation without regeneration, and this is exactly what happened in this story. 

When the demon left the man, he looked for an arid place, a place where there is no water. And throughout the Scriptures water is compared to the Word of God. We often read of the water of the Word. It is the word of God that reveals our self-righteousness for what it is. It is the Word of God that defines things according to God's righteousness. This is why the demon searched for a waterless place. The demon wanted rest but he sought it apart from God. We are the same and we can only find rest in a personal relationship with God. Apart from God's Word and His will we will never find rest. We only discover this rest in coming to the Savior who is the only Righteous One. He is the only One who can provide for us real life.

In v.45 of today's passage we read, "Then it goes and takes with it seven other spirits more wicked than itself, and they go in and live there. And the final condition of that person is worse than the first. That is how it will be with this wicked generation."

This teaching of the Lord Jesus was a reference to the ministry of John the Baptist, where in a sense, the cleaning up of the life and the demons go out when that moral reformation takes place, because a vile, wretched, evil, unclean spirit might not be at home in a person trying to live a moral life. And so, the demon leaves initially. But if Christ isn’t invited in, that place stays empty. It is always an invitation for the demon to return. Then eight demons come back, and it will be worse. The empty house, then, speaks of the spiritual vacuum that is created when people get moral but don’t invite the Lord Jesus Christ to be their Savior. The reason morality is more dangerous than immorality is because the sinful person who is aware of his sinfulness has more vigilance than the moral person who has no such awareness. When a person becomes self-righteous and moral, he feels himself beyond the activity of Satan so that Satan can come in en masse, without that individual ever being prepared to deal with Him.

Matthew 12:38-42

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38 Then some of the scribes and Pharisees answered, saying, "Teacher, we want to see a sign from You." 39 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. 40 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. 41 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. 42 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." ~ Matthew 12:38-42

Today, we return to our study of Matthew 12 where the Lord Jesus has been compelling the religious leaders of Israel to believe He was the promised Messiah. In only months, the Lord Jesus will be crucified in Jerusalem on the cross by the very ones before Him at this moment. From this point onward the ministry of the Lord Jesus was spent convicting these religious people of their need for a savior. The Lord Jesus will speak of grace to the outcasts, to the tax collectors, to the prostitutes and to the criminals. Increasingly, He will concentrate on teaching His disciples, teaching them about His death and His resurrection and their ministry that would follow. 

In v.38 of today's passage we read, "Then some of the scribes and Pharisees answered, saying, 'Teacher, we want to see a sign from You.'"

Along with the common folk, the religious leaders of Israel had seen many signs most of which they dismissed. In fact, they accused the Lord Jesus of performing them by the power of Satan. Their request for yet another miracle revealed their hypocrisy because the Lord Jesus had been doing signs and miracles for years. One more sign was not going to convince these who were increasingly being defined by themselves instead of God. They had been deceived by the god of this world, Satan, yet they were guilty of self-deception. The worst deception is self-deception because when we deceive ourselves, we are doing both the deceiving and we are being deceived. This makes it difficult to identify the deception, as we are essentially creating our own version of reality. Since we are deceiving ourselves, there is no external party to hold us accountable for the falsehoods we have created.

In v.39-41 of today's passage we read, "39 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. 40 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. 41 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.'" 

In response to the religious leaders request for yet another sign, the Lord Jesus identified them as evil or wicked which was a word the Lord Jesus used at another time to describe Satan. The Lord Jesus spoke to the morally religious Jews, the ones most concerned with their adherence to the law of Moses and they could not hear Him. They were so religious that the whole of their lives were under the control of their religious duties and obligations and rituals. On the outside they were squeaky clean, but on the inside they were wicked in the most dangerous way. Their morality had blinded them from the truth.

When it comes to responding to the gospel we are better off being immoral rather than moral, irreligious rather than religious. Moral and religious people feel they are good enough and they see no need for a savior. The essence of the gospel is that we are damned by our sin and that we cannot be good enough to merit God's favor. These religious Jews hated the Lord Jesus for exposing their true condition. They did not understand that morality is not the same as spirituality. They believed they were good enough and they didn't understand that they desperately needed a savior.

The Lord Jesus identified these morally religious people as "an evil and adulterous generation" because they were separated from God by their sin. As the Old Testament sacrificial system reminded them daily, they needed a savior. Ironically, the evidence of their evil nature was proven by the fact that they were seeking yet another sign. With all of the evidence the Lord Jesus had given them, they didn't believe He was God. This is where many end up while seeking what is being offered rather than seeking the one offering. This is true of any relationship. Their love was not love, and any relationship build on this kind of a "love" will not endure the crevices of selfishness and greed.  

This is the most dangerous approach to life, to depend upon our morality to make us right with God. This is what caused the Jews to reject the diagnosis of their wretchedness. It is from the posture of need that our needs are truly met. These religious leaders were condemned in the presence of the only One who was the only one who could have saved them. They died in their sin because they were blinded by their self-righteousness.

Graciously, the Lord Jesus then drew their attention to two signs they had been given before but they didn't "get." In the same way Jonah was three days in the belly of the fish, so the Lord Jesus would be buried in the earth for three days. Just as Jonah came out of His virtual death alive, the Lord Jesus would come out of His actual death alive. This was the sign of Jonah. It was given to point us all to the Lord Jesus death, burial and resurrection. The unbelieving Ninevites believed in God as a result of Jonah's miracle. They got the message of judgment. They knew God was going to destroy them if they didn't turn from their sin. Mercifully, they saw their need for a Savior and they turned to God.

In v.42 we read, "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." 

The Lord Jesus then reminded them of another miracle they did not get. The Queen of the South, a Gentile, traveled many miles to garner Solomon's wisdom which was steeped in His submission to the God of all creation. Such people will stand up at the judgment and condemn the unbelieving Jews because they didn't believe in God's promise through Solomon. Again, their moral religion had blinded them from the truth. They were worse off than the evil Ninevites and the Gentile woman from the end of the earth who had very little spiritual privilege. 

These religious Jews were too comfortable in their houses of glass serving themselves. They needed the gift of brokenness but they returned the gift to the Sender. Brokenness is unwanted because pain is required. For them it was too hard to peer long enough into the eyes of pain to see its purpose. But, for those who do, it yields a wisdom that pushes us to the Savior. And, it is then that we see Him for the loving God that He is. And, when we see His heart, we will recognize that He is the truth who is trustworthy to depend upon and worthy to follow.

Matthew 12:33-37

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33 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. 34 Brood of vipers! How can you, being evil, speak good things? For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks. 35 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. 36 But I say to you that for every idle word men may speak, they will give account of it in the day of judgment. 37 For by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned. ~ Matthew 12:33-37

Today, we continue our study of Matthew 12 where we have learned that the unforgivable sin is resisting to respond properly to the wooing of the Holy Spirit to believe in the Lord Jesus as our Savior. The moment we believe in the Lord Jesus as our Savior, it is then that the Holy Spirit quickens and awakens our spirit to God. In John 3, the Lord Jesus referred to this moment as being "born again." When sin entered this world through the rebellion of Adam and Eve, mankind's spirit was made dead to God and alive to the devil. The moment Adam and Eve ignored God’s law, "Their eyes were opened and they realized they were naked." For the first time, mankind tasted rebellion and was awakened to the difference between good and evil. To that point in time, they had experienced no evil, no shame, and no guilt. But, with one forbidden bite, their spirits became dead to God and their souls and bodies began to die. 

In v.33 of today's passage we read, "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."

The moment sin entered the human existence, mankind died to God spiritually. That means man's spirit was no longer able to communicate with God properly. In fact, when man sinned in the Garden of Eden, his proclivity to relate to God was taken from him. The degeneration of man was caused by the serpent who was present in the Garden with Adam and Eve. According to Revelation 12, we find that the serpent, also known as the devil is none other than the dragon who was cast out of heaven. He was cast out of heaven because pride was found in him and he defined his life for himself. The rejection of God and His definition of all things is what the Bible calls sin which is what made everyone born since Adam and Eve sinful and therefore dead to God.

Humanly speaking there is no one good. It is not until we believe in the Lord Jesus that we are born again and therefore made good. We become good because God's presence is found to be in us and if we are being defined by Him as evidenced in our obedience to Him, we will be known as good. But, even though we may be born again, if we are defined by sin we will be known as bad. We sin because we are sinners. We are not sinners because we sin. Sin is not something we become, rather it is a state of being that we are born into. This is why we must be born again.

In v.34-35 of today's passage we read, "34 Brood of vipers! How can you, being evil, speak good things? For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks. 35 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."

The Lord Jesus referred to the religious leaders as a "Brood of vipers." Given Lucifer is referred to as the serpent throughout the Bible, the Lord Jesus used this term to describe the Jewish religious leaders as sons of the devil. In Matthew 23:33, we read "You brood of vipers, how are you to escape being sentenced to hell?" In those days farmers burn the stubble of their fields to get the land ready for the next planting season. As the fires near the snake dens, the snakes slither away from the flames, but they often do not escape being consumed. Snakes fleeing the fire was a common sight in the days of the Bible. The designation of "brood of vipers" was meant to make the religious leaders aware of their own wickedness and then to call them to repent of the self-life. The ultimate message here is this: No one will escape the fire of God’s judgment by relying on their own works. 

In v.36-37 of today's passage we read, "36 But I say to you that for every idle word men may speak, they will give account of it in the day of judgment. 37 For by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned."

The word "speak" is repeated three times in today's passage. What we say reveals the content of our heart. The word "words" go hand in hand with the word "speak." The Lord Jesus had just delivered a man from demonic possession and the crowd who witnessed it asked if the Lord Jesus were the long-awaited Messiah. He of whom they asked was the Word who spoke the worlds into existence. Then the religious leaders of Israel accused the Lord Jesus of doing miracles by the power of Satan. To their erroneous accusation the Lord Jesus responded with one of His most forceful rebukes He ever gave while on this earth. He turned the religious leaders' words back on them to expose the evil power that was defining them. The Pharisees were so blinded by their own evil pursuits that they didn’t recognize the spiritual danger they were in at that moment. They spoke words out of the abundance of the evil in their hearts.

On the other hand, the Lord Jesus has been speaking to us since creation. The freedom the Lord Jesus offers enables us to embrace vulnerability with God. The Word of God is one of two primary means by which God deepens our personal relationship with Him. The other is the Holy Spirit. God uses His Word to pierce down to the inner most part of our souls in order to free us from the awful effect of sin on our psyche. The Word of God will always be faithful to diagnose the condition of our hearts and our souls. It is the knife God uses to penetrate the most vulnerable parts in our innermost being and lays bare our truest thoughts and intentions. 

Since the Word of God is powerful, by it all created things are made naked to God. This means all our disguises are exposed by the Lord. God always sees us as we are. No one can run from the omniscient God of the Bible. For everyone who has ever lived and ever will live, there comes a time when God confronts our lost condition. This is why I believe no one can ever say everybody has not heard the gospel. When we respond positively to God's Word, we will be defined by Him. And, when we are being defined by Him, we will most fulfilled. This is why the Lord Jesus said earlier in Matthew 5:6, "Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness for they shall be satisfied." 

Matthew 12:31-32

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31 Therefore I say to you, every sin and blasphemy will be forgiven men, but the blasphemy against the Spirit will not be forgiven men. 32 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. ~ Matthew 12:31-32 

Today, we return to our study of Matthew 12 where the Lord Jesus has just delivered a man from demon-possession and the religious leaders of Israel accused Him of casting out the demon by the power of Satan. In response, the Lord Jesus told them a story to help them see the reality of what was happening. The Lord Jesus was there to deliver all mankind from the clutches of the enemy, and, to present the gospel of the forgiveness of sin to all who were willing of heart enough to believe Him. 

In today's passage we read, "31 Therefore I say to you, every sin and blasphemy will be forgiven men, but the blasphemy against the Spirit will not be forgiven men. 32 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."

Blasphemy is defiant irreverence which does not allow the presence of God to enter within. The evidence that the Lord Jesus was the promised Messiah was piling up, but, the religious leaders had not yet responded affirmatively to that mountain of evidence. Due to their continual resistance, the Lord Jesus here gave them a jolting warning which didn't change their hearts. All through the Scriptures we learn that it is the Holy Spirit's responsibility to point us to faith in the Lord Jesus and to awaken us to God. This is why the Lord Jesus gave these religious leaders this warning. He told them if they continued to reject the witness of the Holy Spirit, they would run out of opportunities to do so. To reject the Holy Spirit's witness of the Lord Jesus as the Messiah is the unforgivable sin. This explanation makes all the sense in the world since it is believing in the Lord Jesus as our Savior that qualifies us for forgiveness from God and admission into heaven.

Many have wrongly concluded that the unpardonable sin is suicide or some other egregious sin. There is nothing here or in the parallel gospel passages that suggests such. It is important to note that the religious leaders had not yet committed the unpardonable sin when they accused the Lord of being of Satan. Otherwise, the Lord Jesus would have never warned them of the unpardonable sin. By His very words, we can confidently conclude they had not come to that point. But, they were very close. The fact that the Lord Jesus warned the religious leaders makes it clear that they had not yet committed the unpardonable sin which is resisting the wooing of the Holy Spirit to believe in the Lord Jesus as Savior. 

Since the religious leaders of Israel continued to resist the Holy Spirit, they died without being forgiven of their sin. Well, most of them because it was Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus, two former religious leaders of Israel who took the dead body of the Lord Jesus down from the cross and buried Him. Yet, there was still a chance that those had yet to believe would have been forgiven by God. Of course, this would have only happened had they followed the wooing of the Holy Spirit to believe in the Lord Jesus as their Savior. But, they refused the Holy Spirit's promptings. They had seen the Lord Jesus demonstrate power over the demonic realm and over disease and over nature, and they knew they had to give some sort of an explanation for His supernatural power. Since they were unwilling to say it was by the power of God that He performed the miracles, they accused Him of being possessed by Satan.

The religious leaders of Israel were close to rejecting the promptings of the Holy Spirit to believe in the Lord Jesus as the promised Messiah when they accused Him of being on Satan's side. And, since they resisted the wooing of the Holy Spirit to believe in the Lord Jesus, there would be no hope for them. There is no other basis for the forgiveness of our sin other than faith in the finished work of the Lord Jesus on the cross. We are forgiven when we believe in Him alone as our Savior for the forgiveness of our sin. But, if our hearts are resistant and we reject the claims of the Lord Jesus as the Messiah, the result is that there can be no forgiveness of sin for us. 

We have all struggled with the thought of whether God has forgiven us of our sin or not. We have also wondered if we lost His forgiveness due to our sinfulness. These doubts are necessary for the development of our faith and they also reveal the immaturity in our theology. We needlessly question like this if we have trusted in the Lord Jesus as our Savior. Once we have concluded the Lord Jesus is God, then we have not one thing to be worried about because He took our sin head on while on His cross and God forgave all of our sin as if we had never sinned in the first place.

The unforgivable sin is not some other evil behavior like suicide, murder, lust or malice. This is why the Lord Jesus came to this earth in the first place, to be our Savior. And, it is the Holy Spirit who does the work of wooing us to God and regenerating our hearts toward Him. It is the Holy Spirit who restores us to the Father through the Lord Jesus. What matters, then, is our responsiveness to the Holy Spirit who calls us to give our allegiance to King Jesus. Just as there is growth to our faith, there is growth to our allegiance to the Lord. The equation is the Lord Jesus work on the cross plus nothing that we do equals forgiveness of our sin. It is so simple and all we have to do is to believe and to receive from the Lord Jesus the free gift He longs to give us.

Matthew 12:25-30

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25 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. 26 If Satan casts out Satan, he is divided against himself. How then will his kingdom stand? 27 And if I cast out demons by Beelzebub, by whom do your sons cast them out? Therefore they shall be your judges. 28 But if I cast out demons by the Spirit of God, surely the kingdom of God has come upon you. 29 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. 30 He who is not with Me is against Me, and he who does not gather with Me scatters abroad." ~ Matthew 12:25-30

Today, we return to our study of Matthew 12 where the Lord Jesus has just delivered a man from demon possession. Whereas in Matthew 1-10 the Lord Jesus is presented as the King, in Matthew 11-12 He is presented as the rejected King. The people's rejection of the Lord Jesus began with their doubt that He was the Messiah. Those doubts led to criticism which led to their indifference and then rejection. The religious leaders of Israel revealed their rejection of Him when they accused Him of working under the influence of Satan. Even for the most ardent skeptic, this seems like harsh criticism to level against a man who has been raising the dead, giving sight to the blind, and delivering the demon-possessed. But when the heart is hardened against God, there is no limit to the sort of criticism one will spew out. 

In v.25 of today's passage we read, "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.'"

The Lord Jesus knew the thoughts of the religious leaders of Israel. We shouldn't be surprised since as God He is omniscient. It was at that moment the Lord Jesus shared a logical defense to the religious leaders of Israel. He didn't do this for His benefit but for theirs. Essentially, the Lord Jesus built a case to accommodate the faith of the religious leaders when He told them, "If I am doing this by Satan's power then I'm diminishing Satan's kingdom. It makes no sense that Satan would cast out Satan." But, His case was rejected because He did not fit their definition of the Messiah. They couldn't understand that their sin had to be vanquished before their enemies could be crushed.

The kingdom of anyone who rejects the free gift of being made right with God will be brought to desolation or waste. Oh, it will not be God who will do the destructive work, it will be Satan who is bent on destroying everything God has pronounced as good. The wrath of God is the absence of His goodness and love in any context. The absence of God in any context will result in that context falling apart. In Colossians 1:16-17 we read, "16 For in him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things have been created through him and for him. 17 He is before all things, and in him all things hold together." The Lord Jesus spoke the worlds into being by just one word and "in Him" all things consist. This means the Lord Jesus holds the worlds from falling apart. He is the rebar, the glue to it all. Without His ability to hold all things together, we would be hurled into orbit.

In v.26-28 of today's passage we read, "26 If Satan casts out Satan, he is divided against himself. How then will his kingdom stand? 27 And if I cast out demons by Beelzebub, by whom do your sons cast them out? Therefore they shall be your judges. 28 But if I cast out demons by the Spirit of God, surely the kingdom of God has come upon you."

It was at this point that the Lord Jesus turned the tables on the religious leaders of Israel. His logic was sound which enabled Him to make a cogent presentation to His skeptics. The patience demonstrated here by the Lord Jesus underscores His character which they attacked. This is the way it is for those who shroud themselves in lies. Their lies made it impossible for them to think straight.

In v.29 of today's passage we read, "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."

The Lord Jesus demonstrated by His ability to tie up Satan, that He was and is greater than Satan. He took his property, controlled his hosts, threw out his demons, and He delivered the people who were captive to his system. The religious leaders of Israel knew well that Lucifer was the anointed cherub. They knew there was only one person who can bind the Devil and He stood before them. They just didn't believe the Lord Jesus was the promised Messiah.

In v.30 of today's passage we read, "He who is not with Me is against Me, and he who does not gather with Me scatters abroad."

Those who lack a personal relationship with God do not have His heart for others. Sadly, those who are against the Lord even lack His heart for themselves. As a result, they repel others by their rebellion against God. On the other hand, those who know God's heart for them, they not only love themselves but they love their neighbor as themselves. It is all about the heart and who sits on that heart. The road that leads to brokenness is most often long because the journey from head to the heart is one of the longest and most difficult journeys of all. This is why the Lord Jesus began this presentation to these religious leaders with a logical argument.

God knows everything there is to know about us and the amazing thing is that He still likes us. But, His love is only accessed through the sacrifice of His Son on the cross. His love is not dependent upon who we are or what we do but upon who He is and what the Lord Jesus did on the cross. It is through the cross that we have been given the truest definition of God's love toward us. He stopped at no expense to deliver us from the clutches of the evil one. Once we have become unafraid to admit everything that is wrong with us, it is then that we have become the objects of His love precisely because of our sincere cries for Him to help us. Such sincerity is based in our confidence in His unfailing mercy and unbelievable grace.

Matthew 12:22-24

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22 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. 23 And all the multitudes were amazed and said, "Could this be the Son of David?" 24 Now when the Pharisees heard it they said, "This fellow does not cast out demons except by Beelzebub, the ruler of the demons." ~ Matthew 12:22-24

Today, we return to our study of Matthew 12 where the Lord Jesus was imparting His culture to the people along with healing the sick and feeble of their infirmities. We all fall into one of two categories, we are either with the Lord Jesus or we are against Him. And, our eternal destiny is determined accordingly. In the war between God and Satan, between good and evil, between light and darkness, between truth and lies there is no middle ground. Those who do not believe in the Lord Jesus Christ are automatically in partnership with Satan whether they know it or not.

In v.22 of today's passage we read, "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."

On six different occasions in the Gospels, the Lord Jesus cast out of people demons that were inhabiting them. In today's passage, after a demon-possessed man was brought to the Lord Jesus, He healed him. This man was both blind and mute. His physical issues appear to have been the result of his demonic possession. This was nothing new for the Lord Jesus for He had shown His dominance over the demonic world before. But another exorcism didn't appear to make the people believe more in Him. They didn't need more miracles, they had witnessed the Lord Jesus heal many. Sadly, most didn't believe Him to be the promised Messiah, even though He showed His power over all of the dimensions in this world. 

In v.23 of today's passage we read, "And all the multitudes were amazed and said, 'Could this be the Son of David?'"

Seventeen verses in the New Testament describe the Lord Jesus as the "Son of David." But, how could He be the Son of David if David lived approximately 1,000 years before Him? The answer is He is the fulfillment of the Old Testament prophecies of the seed of David. The Lord Jesus Christ is the promised Messiah, which means He had to be of the lineage of David and He was just that.

While the people were amazed at the obvious miracle, some asked if the Lord Jesus was the promised Messiah. According to Luke 11:15, some concluded the Lord Jesus was from hell. They concluded He was of Satan, not of God. They concluded He was a liar and not of the truth. In fact, they concluded, He was the source of death, not life. As a result, the religious leaders of Israel opposed the Lord Jesus because it suited their self-righteousness to do so. Eventually, this is why the nation as a whole rejected Him. They didn't just sort of stumble into this, they were led into it by their false leaders. And it wasn't just the religious leaders that wanted the Lord Jesus dead. Eventually the whole crowd screamed, "Crucify Him!"  They had been deceived and brainwashed over a couple of years to buy the lie that the the Lord Jesus was not from God.

In v.24 of today's passage we read, "Now when the Pharisees heard it they said, 'This fellow does not cast out demons except by Beelzebub, the ruler of the demons.'"

The poor theology of the religious leaders threw them under the bus. They failed to see the real identity of the Lord Jesus, even though His miracles and message could not have been more clear. This is the nature of deception, it is guided by the rejection of a proper understanding of God.The Pharisees couldn’t deny that the Lord Jesus could drive out demons, so they accused Him of doing this miracle by Satan's power. They used the word "Beelzebub" which was one of the names of the Philistine god Baal. It means "lord of flies on dung." The Jews often used this name when referring to Satan. No rational person would assume their statement to be true. Satan would have been divided among himself had it been true.

This is the third miracle the Lord Jesus performed that elicited from His enemies the accusation that He was of Satan. Instead of rejoicing that God had sent the Redeemer, the religious leaders doubled down in their opposition of God. They rebelled against the truth of God’s Word and they sought to discredit the work and the character of the Lord Jesus. They loved their sin more than the truth they claimed to guard. Imagine being so blind that you could not distinguish the work of God from the work of Satan!

A sure sign that someone is losing the argument is when they start hurling insults at their opponent. This is called an ad hominem which is a personal attack against the source of an argument, rather than against the argument itself. Essentially, it means the person has no more substance to present, so, they get personal. Honesty with the truth is the obvious answer to the questions that come. The Lord Jesus offered the people that day the same that He offers you and me today and that is a personal relationship with the Father, wherein we experience His life which is eternal life. 

We, like these religious leaders, struggle with our doubts, too. We, even though born again, will always hear the whispers in our hearts that come from the unbeliever within. And, if we do not entertain the questions, we will take the safe path of being our own god. This is what the religious leaders of Israel did, they were not willing to embrace the Lord Jesus by honestly wrestling with their questions. They resisted the luring of the very God that they said they worshipped. Biblical faith invites us to wrestle with the skeptic that will always be within us until we are taking home to be with the Lord. The beauty of it all is that when we wrestle with the questions that threaten our faith, it hones our ability to see God with our hearts. Philip Yancey once said, "Faith means believing in advance what only makes sense in reverse." A wrestled with faith delivers answers that are useful when talking with honest skeptics. And, who knows God may even use the products of such wrestlings to save those who are headed to the fires of Hell.

Matthew 12:15-21

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15 But when Jesus knew it, He withdrew from there. And great multitudes followed Him, and He healed them all. 16 Yet He warned them not to make Him known, 17 that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Isaiah the prophet, saying: 18 “Behold! My Servant whom I have chosen, My Beloved in whom My soul is well pleased! I will put My Spirit upon Him, And He will declare justice to the Gentiles. 19 He will not quarrel nor cry out, Nor will anyone hear His voice in the streets. 20 A bruised reed He will not break, And smoking flax He will not quench, Till He sends forth justice to victory; 21 And in His name Gentiles will trust.” ~ Matthew 12:15-21

Today, we continue our study of Matthew 12 where the Lord Jesus has just healed a man with a withered hand in a synagogue in Galilee. Who knows how much anguish his hand brought to him but once he saw the purpose in it, I'm sure he was grateful for having had it for as long as he did. The purpose was to give the religious leaders of Israel yet another miracle performed by the Lord Jesus. This was another opportunity for those hard-hearted men to see the fulfillment of the many prophecies in the Old Testament coming to fruition before their very eyes in the Lord Jesus Christ. Sadly, their hearts grew harder as they rejected the truth over and over again, even though it was accompanied by many wonders, signs and miracles.

This merely proves miracles do not always improve the trajectory of our hearts toward God. Without some measure of brokenness, we will never come to faith in the Lord Jesus. Since the Fall, brokenness has always been the launching pad for biblical faith to be realized in us. Our brokenness attracts us to the cross of the Lord Jesus where He was utterly broken so that we could enter into a personal relationship with God. It is only the brokenness of the Lord Jesus that makes our brokenness yield meaning and purpose. His brokenness means we can forever know the comfort and security of the Father who is perfect in all of His ways.

In v.15-16 of today's passage we read, "15 But when Jesus knew it, He withdrew from there. And great multitudes followed Him, and He healed them all. 16 Yet He warned them not to make Him known."

The Lord Jesus did not observe the Sabbath as the Jewish religious leaders did. He observed the Sabbath in the way He intended it to be observed. The principle of rest behind it gives us an opportunity to be restored in our bodies, souls and spirits. The Sabbath gives us the opportunity to bring our week to a screeching halt in order to be rearranged by God. God meant the Sabbath to be a time for redirection and restoration. But the religious leaders of Israel ruined this simple command. In fact, they made it the worst day of the week. The religious leaders missed the true identity of the Lord Jesus because they were watching Him with no objectivity. They did this because they, at some point along the way, had begun defining themselves and their world for themselves. This led to a redefinition of God in their hearts which was shaped by themselves. Had they followed God's definitions, they would have arrived upon the Lord Jesus as their Messiah.

This is why the Lord Jesus proclaimed the gospel so that sinners could be forgiven and set free from all our guilt and shame. He illustrated this message as He continued to heal the many who came to Him. Physical healing has always been His encouragement to us to be healed in our spirit and soul. His message yields a meaningful life through a personal relationship with Him and the sure hope of eternal life. Christianity is not about our ability to measure up to the law, it's about our intimacy with God and with one another. Once we get that right, we begin to realize that we can live with our imperfections, flaws, and brokenness because God lives with these in us. We will even find ourselves more patient with others. And, even the unwanted things in our lives will be included in the ingredients of spirituality that God brings into our lives. 

With reference to the healings, the Lord Jesus warned the people not to make Him known. He didn’t want His miracles to be the focus of His ministry. And He didn’t want to keep feeding the wrong expectations of the people. He knew that one day He would ride into town, mounted on His great white horse, and take out all the enemies of Israel. This will happen at the end of the seven year Tribulation and just before the Millennium. Whereas during His first coming the Jews expected the King on His throne, they failed to recognize that He had to come first to be the Lamb of God who took away the penalty of our sin. Oh, there will come a day at the end of time as we know it that He will come as the conquering King but for now He has come as the redeeming Lamb.

In v.17-21 of today's passage we read, "17 that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Isaiah the prophet, saying: 18 'Behold! My Servant whom I have chosen, My Beloved in whom My soul is well pleased! I will put My Spirit upon Him, And He will declare justice to the Gentiles. 19 He will not quarrel nor cry out, Nor will anyone hear His voice in the streets. 20 A bruised reed He will not break, And smoking flax He will not quench, Till He sends forth justice to victory; 21 And in His name Gentiles will trust.'"

The Lord Jesus continued His ministry of healing which corresponded to His teaching on everlasting life because from the foundation of the world He agreed before the Father and the Holy Spirit to rescue man from sin and death. The sentence "Behold My Servant whom I have chosen, My Beloved in whom My soul is well pleased" is the basis to His whole ministry. He healed the people in order to fulfill such passages as Isaiah 11, 42 and 61 which Matthew quotes here to remind us that it was the Spirit of the Lord who enabled Him to do these miraculous things as predicted by the Old Testament prophets.

The justice the Lord Jesus declared was through His teaching but most profoundly through His cross. It was at the cross that justice or judgement on the behalf of all willing sinners was rendered. A better translation of the word justice would be judgement and it was on the cross that the judgement that all sinners deserve fell upon the Lord Jesus. God judged our sin in Christ's body as He hung on that tree.

We read, "He will not quarrel nor cry out"  which means He would be the lamb who was silent before His shearers. His sacrificial death on the cross made it possible for a bruised reed to avoid being broken. It was at the cross that a smoking flax would not put out. It was at the cross that we would learn that He sent forth justice to victory and that in His name, the Gentiles would trust. This was not expected by the religious leaders of Israel even though Isaiah told them in advance it would be the case. The religious leaders of Israel expected the Messiah to set up His kingdom by force, and make people worship God.

The smoking flax and the bruised reeds picture those stepped on, discarded, and thrown away. These are no longer able to play the required tune. They could also no longer give light. These are the kinds of people, like the man with the withered hand, the religious leaders did not value. But these are the kinds of people the Lord does not break. These are the people who qualify for salvation because they had embraced their brokenness.

Matthew 12:9-14

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9 Now when He had departed from there, He went into their synagogue. 10 And behold, there was a man who had a withered hand. And they asked Him, saying, “Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath?”—that they might accuse Him. 11 Then He said to them, “What man is there among you who has one sheep, and if it falls into a pit on the Sabbath, will not lay hold of it and lift it out? 12 Of how much more value then is a man than a sheep? Therefore it is lawful to do good on the Sabbath.” 13 Then He said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” And he stretched it out, and it was restored as whole as the other. 14 Then the Pharisees went out and plotted against Him, how they might destroy Him. ~ Matthew 12:9-14

Today, we continue our study of Matthew 12 where the Lord Jesus has experienced push back not only from the religious leaders of Israel but also the common folk. In context, the Lord Jesus had upset the religious folks when He declared Himself as greater than the Sabbath rest. The people didn't realize that as God the Lord Jesus was the author and the fulfillment of all that the sabbath taught in the Old Testament. These people should have recognized Him as the Lamb of God who came to deal a death blow to sin. It was their inaccurate understanding of their sinfulness that blinded them from recognizing their need for a Savior and the Lord Jesus was that Savior. This is why Matthew wrote His gospel, to reveal the Lord Jesus Christ as the Messiah, the Savior. Matthew consistently revealed how the Scriptures point to the Messiah. This is why the Lord Jesus performed signs and wonders. 

In v.9-10 of today's passage we read, "9 Now when He had departed from there, He went into their synagogue. 10 And behold, there was a man who had a withered hand. And they asked Him, saying, 'Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath?'—that they might accuse Him."

The Lord Jesus didn’t run away when the religious leaders accused both He and His disciples of wrongdoing. He cared so much He went right into their synagogue just to give them another opportunity to respond positively to the truth. Once He entered the synagogue, there was a man there who had a paralyzed hand. The word "withered" means dried up. When any part of the human body is drained of its fluids, it becomes "dried up." It becomes shriveled. Often God uses our weaknesses to help others. Our story with God was intended to become a part of others story with Him. This man's hand illustrated how the heart can be hardened against God. Once hard-heartedness sets in we toil hard in various ways so that we can find fault with God and others. In doing so, we protect ourselves which is in the long run our greatest enemy.

The religious leaders asked, "Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath?" The man with the withered hand didn’t mean anything to these religious leaders until he became useful to them in their attempt to trap the Lord Jesus. So, the religious leaders asked, "Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath?" They knew the Lord Jesus could heal, yet their blindness was seen through their question. They believed the Lord Jesus was empowered by Satan to heal. They asked this question so they might be able to find some kind of fault in the Lord Jesus. 

In v.11-12 of today's passage we read, "11 Then He said to them, 'What man is there among you who has one sheep, and if it falls into a pit on the Sabbath, will not lay hold of it and lift it out? 12 Of how much more value then is a man than a sheep? Therefore it is lawful to do good on the Sabbath.'"

The Lord Jesus responded to the ridiculous question of the religious leaders with a miracle for the man with the withered hand. Anyone would have rescued just one of their sheep because that was the job of the shepherd and sheep are not more important than people. To the religious leaders of Israel this man didn't mean anything. But to the Lord Jesus, he was one of the many reasons He came to this earth in the first place. For years this man's hand was the source of much anguish but that day everything changed. Sometimes, the Lord must isolate us before He will elevate us. According to Mark and Luke, the Lord Jesus brought this guy up in the front of the entire synagogue. It was a very dramatic scene. And then He asked a very important question of the religious leaders who were now out to get Him. If the religious leaders had affirmed that it wasn't  lawful to do good on the Sabbath, they would have been shown to be the heartless frauds they were. It was then that the Lord Jesus did great good to this man.

In v.13 of today's passage we read, "Then He said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” And he stretched it out, and it was restored as whole as the other."

At that point a chilling silence prevailed. In Luke 6:11 we read, "The Lord read their thoughts and they were filled with fury." In Mark 3:5 we are told, "Jesus was grieved at their hard hearts." The Lord Jesus was compassionate while the religious folk didn’t care if the man was healed. It was at that point that the Lord Jesus healed the man. This was a good thing because to know to do good and to have the ability to do good and to not do good is to do evil. Sadly, it was the religious folk who did evil that day. Clearly their hard-heartedness withered away their ability to reason correctly.

In v.14 of today's passage we read, "Then the Pharisees went out and plotted against Him, how they might destroy Him."

From this point on the religious leaders of Israel devised a plan to kill the Lord Jesus because they were unwilling to let Him be their God. Sadly, they saw the miraculous and they missed its significance. When this man was healed, it underscored the fact that the Lord Jesus was the Messiah! These Pharisees didn’t deny the miracle. In fact, it was the reality of the miracle that led them to do what they did. It was their stubborn hearts that caused them to use that man with the withered hand. They, yet again, failed in their attempt to derail the Lord Jesus. All of this just highlights the fact that it was their rejection of the truth that hardened their hearts.

When we seek the truth we will be to some degree defined by the God of the Bible who is merciful, kind, and good. The more       we respond positively to God's definitions of things, the more we will live in concert with what is right. The Lord Jesus came to this earth as a man so that we might enter into a personal relationship with the God of truth. This is how we experience and grow in His mercy, kindness, and goodness. That day the Lord Jesus healed the man with the withered hand so that something much greater could be experienced, and that something greater was the kind heart of God which leads us to abandon the self life in pursuit of life that has life.

Matthew 12:7-8

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"7 But if you had known what this means, 'I desire mercy and not sacrifice,' you would not have condemned the guiltless. 8 For the Son of Man is Lord even of the Sabbath." ~ Matthew 12:7-8

Today, we continue our study of Matthew 12 where the Lord Jesus was feeling the unbelief of not only the religious leaders of Israel but also that of the common folk. In our previous study we noted that the Lord Jesus allowed His disciples to work and to eat the harvest of their work on the Sabbath. As a result, the religious leaders of Israel accused them of sin. It was then that the Lord Jesus cited two Old Testament passages which vindicated the actions of His disciples. It was then that the Lord Jesus noted that He was greater than the Old Testament dwelling places of God. This, of course, was an indirect way of saying that He was God. This infuriated the religious leaders of Israel and this was the reason they began to plot to kill Him.

In v.7 of today's passage we read, "But if you had known what this means, 'I desire mercy and not sacrifice,' you would not have condemned the guiltless."

Previously, the Lord Jesus brought attention to the fact that the religious leaders loved the Sabbath more than they loved God. They didn't know God therefore they did not know the priorities of God. They didn't know that the Sabbath was designed by God to bring rest to the souls of those who worship Him. The Sabbath was meant to reflect what the other nine commands reflected: Love for God and love for one's neighbor. The religious leaders had made the Sabbath about their fatal understanding of God which led to their burdensome religious practices. They thought that God was so puny that He created the Sabbath for Himself not knowing that He created it to address the inner rest within man's soul. Without His rest, we are hampered in our attempts to love Him and others.

The religious leaders condemned the disciples of the Lord Jesus for working on the Sabbath but the disciples were not guilty of sin. Had the religious leaders understood the priorities of God, they would not have condemned the disciples. God desires a loving heart over rule ridged religion. It is only through our broken moments are we granted a heart for God and others. Our problem is discovered when we run from our pains, we are found running from God. The pains of life toughen our hearts to the point that they are made soft and pliable. We love because He loved us first. We give up on the kind of love that can’t be broken, a love that is kind, a love that protects, hopes, trusts, and perseveres. This is what the love of God looks like and those who know it not do not give it out. The love of God looks like the cross of Christ. God loves us so much He gave His one and only Son so that we could have eternal life. 

The word "sacrifice" points us to the Old Testament ceremonial system which was only a shadow of the cross of the Lord Jesus. It was at the cross that we saw God's heart best. At the end of the day, God desires a merciful heart that cares more about the needs of His people than anything else. Many get caught up trying to substantiate the truth not knowing they can't given their fallen condition. God has given us His perfect standards but He knows we will never attain to perfection. He would be less than God if He instructed us to strive for less than that which is perfect. But, He doesn't desire that we attain to those standards in order to overrule meeting the basic needs of people. This is why He desires of us mercy, kindness, and self-sacrifice.

This is nothing new for God because had He not been merciful to us, we would be dead. No sinner deserves God's mercy. But, since the Lord Jesus took our place of undeserved mercy, He has given us His place of deserved mercy. Mercifully, in the case of the Old Testament ceremonial law, God fulfilled that law to reveal His heart. After all, the ceremonial law was always a shadow of the cross of the Lord Jesus. God desires an obedient heart not just an obedient head. But, the religious leaders of Israel were a million miles from that.

In v.8 of today's passage we read, "For the Son of Man is Lord even of the Sabbath."

The Lord Jesus responded to the religious leaders again by pointing out that He created the Sabbath. He also pointed out that He was not only the author of the Sabbath, He was the fulfillment of the Sabbath. In fact, the reason Christians are not required to observe the Sabbath is due to the fact that He fulfilled it. In Hebrews 4 we learn that since the Lord Jesus lived a perfect life and died a perfect death and He rose from the dead, we, having believed that His work earned the forgiveness of God for us, we have entered into His rest. 

The Sabbath has always been a picture of the rest the Lord Jesus earned for sinners but the religious leaders of Israel ruined the illustration. Their understanding of the Sabbath snatched the heart out of the narrative. Again, this is why the Lord Jesus said, "Come over here on My side if you’re laboring and heavy-laden. My yoke is easy; My burden is light. You will find the gift of my rest with me."