February 18, 2024

Title: Rebuking The Naysayers

We have been studying Matthew’s account of the gospel. Matthew has been taking us step-by-step in how the religious leaders’ opposition has been increasing. This morning we will see the opposition come to an terrible head. ¶ We should not think however that, there is nothing for the Church to apply here. There will be.

1 Blasphemy Against the Holy Spirit
Matthew 12:22–37

22 Then a demon-oppressed man who was blind and mute was brought to him, and he healed him, so that the man spoke and saw. 23 And all the people were amazed, and said, “Can this be the Son of David?” 24 But when the Pharisees heard it, they said, “It is only by Beelzebul, the prince of demons, that this man casts out demons.”

• First we might notice that the crowd expected Messiah to perform many miracles.
• Jesus’ ministry drew their attention.
• Again we see the text that describes physical ailments associated with demon possession. In this case his blindness and muteness.
  - "23 And all the people were amazed, and said, “Can this be the Son of David?”
• Some have taken the the question from the crowd, largely, as a sign of their unbelief. (Constable)
• I don’t see this here.
• No body language. No tone of voice.
• The text is simply states that the crowd’s reaction was “amazed.”
• We should accept the text without reading in intent that is outside of what we are given.
• Also to rebut people drawing too many conclusion on the one sentence responses, we should remember that there was no newspapers, etc. >>
• Jesus was moving from place to place. Not everyone heard the message at the same time or saw the same miracles at the same time.
• Some were being exposed to Jesus later in his ministry.
• The crowd was asking the right question: Was Jesus the Son of David?
  • Many were sons of David. The crowd asked is this THE son of David.
  • = (Hebrew) The Messiah = (Greek) The Christ = (Translated to English) The Anointed One
• The crowd’s reaction is contrasted here with the Pharisees’ again. >>
• The conjunction “But” in verse 24 draws a sharp contrast of the crowd’s response to the religious leaders’ response.

The Pharisees now had let their mouths shift into high gear. Verse 24 But when the Pharisees heard it, they said, “It is only by Beelzebul, the prince of demons, that this man casts out demons.”

• Beelzebul = is a parody = lord of dung or of filth (Thayer) or lord of flies (Abbott-Smith)
• What the Pharisees accused Jesus of was the most blasphemous charge possible. >>
• The charge was, evil spirits—Satan’s minions—were cast out by Satan himself. Satan was casting out His own subordinates.

25 Knowing their thoughts, he said to them, “Every kingdom divided against itself is laid waste, and no city or house divided against itself will stand. 26 And if Satan casts out Satan, he is divided against himself. How then will his kingdom stand? 27 And if I cast out demons by Beelzebul, by whom do your sons cast them out? Therefore they will be your judges.

• “For Satan to cast out demons would amount to his casting out himself, since the demons do his work.” (Constable)
• What the Pharisees accused Jesus of was an impossibility as well.
• 28 But if it is by the Spirit of God that I cast out demons, then the kingdom of God has come upon you.
• The King of the Kingdom was right before their eyes. What a miss.
• The entire happenings of the earth—remember—we transferred to Jesus before this encounter.

Jesus draws His line in verse 30 Whoever is not with me is against me, and whoever does not gather with me scatters.

• Jesus’ point in this statement was that there can be no neutrality in one’s relationship to Him. Those who do not toe the line for King Jesus run from Him.
• There are millions of other options that the world offers to Jesus.
• Jesus demands allegiance to Himself.
• God sets the rules for humans.
• God has offered one contract: Aline yourself with His Son or you by default align yourself with the scattered kingdoms of Satan.
• This is just the spiritual reality of God.
• Man, naively believes he can set his own rules that ebb and flow and change at will to his every-changing mind and whims. COMMENT
• There comes a time that the opportunity to align with the kingdom passes the masses by.

31 Therefore I tell you, every sin and blasphemy will be forgiven people, but the blasphemy against the Spirit will not be forgiven. 32 And whoever speaks a word against the Son of Man will be forgiven, but whoever speaks against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven, either in this age or in the age to come.

• Start this section with a few poiints:
  • "References to the Spirit occur only twelve times altogether in Matthew’s [account of the] gospel, with one-third of them in chapter 12. “Most of the references describe the work of the Spirit in relation to [Jesus].”[1021] ³
  • Who is the Spirit? He is a person in God. The Father is very God of very God; The Son if very God of vary God; the Holy Spirit is very God of very God.
  • The Holy Spirit is a Person not an “it.”
• “Therefore” ties together what has already been said before: The kingdom was in front of them. The King had revealed Himself to them. The earth is under Jesus’ control. Now Jesus makes a spiritual law. >>
• Blaspheming of the Holy Spirit can never be forgiven. It is the unpardonable sin.
• Some say not trusting in Christ will cause the Holy Spirit not to indwell a person and therefore that is the unpardonable sin. ⁴ >>
• The sin does not apply in connection to Jesus (v 32).
• Attributing evil to the Holy Spirit is what the unpardonable sin is. COMMENT
• Can a believer do it? No. Turn to 1 Corinthians 12:3, Therefore I want you to understand that no one speaking in the Spirit of God ever says “Jesus is accursed!” and no one can say “Jesus is Lord” except in the Holy Spirit.

Jesus pushes for an application. 33 “Either make the tree good and its fruit good, or make the tree bad and its fruit bad, for the tree is known by its fruit. 34 You brood of vipers! How can you speak good, when you are evil?

• Jesus demands a decision: Commit. Commit to being a good or bad tree, one or the other. Don’t be a blend.
• We show who we are with our lives, what we value, what we care about.
• Henry had a great quip: “Unless the heart be transformed, the life will never be thoroughly reformed.”[1032, p 1267; Italics deleted.]
• Jesus pronounced judgment on the religious leaders in His audience in verse 34. You brood of vipers! How can you speak good, when you are evil?
• Rhetorical: “How can you speak good, when you are evil?” One cannot.
• “Everywhere else in Matthew where the “[brood] of vipers” … occurs, it refers to the Pharisees and other religious leaders (3:7; 23:33).” (Constable)
• Many—if not most—of the Pharisees were guilty of some religious sounding talk in their mouths but was really—as seen here—with the most heinous, vile things showing their hearts.
• Look at it in verse 34b For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks.
• Their mouths were speaking the most illogical, blasphemous things. Their lives and the lives of their disciples were producing evil.
• 35 The good person out of his good treasure brings forth good, and the evil person out of his evil treasure brings forth evil.
  • What a person treasures goes the direction of life.
  • When we treasure the things of God we bring forth good fruit.
  • When people are anti-god, they produce evil.
  • NOTE: Of course with statement should not be applied to mean that Christians will never say anything evil. COMMENT (cr. Constable)

But look at God’s standard in verse 36 I tell you, on the day of judgment people will give account for every careless word they speak, 37 for by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned.”

• “People’s words are what God will use to judge them eventually. Elsewhere Jesus said that people will be judged by their works as well (16:27; cf. 2 Cor. 5:10; Rev. 20:12). The careless word is the word spoken without deliberation.” (Constable) >>
• “One might think it insignificant, except that it reveals character. Every word spoken reflects the heart’s overflow, and God knows the heart. Therefore words are very important (cf. Eph. 5:3-4, 12; Col. 3:17; James 1:19; 3:1-12).” (Constable)
• Remember too: we are building our own custom judgement every moment of our lives.
• Are our works that of grace and mercy or of self-righteousness?
• “It is worth noting that in [Matthew] the breach between Jesus and the authorities is not definite until the Beelzebub charge.”[1033] ⁶ >>>>>>>
• “From this point on to the cross the nation is viewed in the [account of the gospel] as having rejected Christ as Messiah. The unofficial rejection by the leaders would become official when finalized at the cross.”[1034, Pentecost, The Words …, p. 208]

2 The Sign of Jonah

38 Then some of the scribes and Pharisees answered him, saying, “Teacher, we wish to see a sign from you.” 39 But he answered them, “An evil and adulterous generation seeks for a sign, but no sign will be given to it except the sign of the prophet Jonah. 40 For just 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 at the judgment with this generation and condemn it, for they repented at the preaching of Jonah, and behold, something greater than Jonah is here. 42 The queen of the South will rise up at the judgment with this generation and condemn it, for she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon, and behold, something greater than Solomon is here.

• Again we see varying degrees of judgment. We have talked about this recently. COMMENT
• Here we see “… something greater than Jonah.” And “… something greater greater than Solomon.”
  • Earlier we saw, “… something greater than the temple is here.” (Matthew 12:6)
  • Later in the NT we will see the woman at the well ask Jesus, “Are you greater than our father Jacob?” (John 4:12) The answer comes an indirect “yes.”
  • And the Pharisees ask Him, “Are you greater than our father Abraham, who died?” (John 8:53) The answer comes back “yes, I AM.”
  • Hebrews teaches that Jesus is “superior to angels.” (1:4)
  • And “… Jesus has been counted worthy of more glory than Moses [the deliverer of God’s people] …” (Hebrews 3:3a)
• Conclusion
  • Jesus is greater than Jonah, who rose up out of the great fish.
  • Jesus is greater than Solomon, the wisest man who ever lived.
  • Jesus is greater than all the priests who had ever worked at the temple.
  • Jesus is greater than Jacob, the father of the nation of Israel.
  • Jesus is greater than a father of faith, Abraham.
  • For Jesus is the Almighty, The Great I AM.

APPLICATION

• Have you seen a shriveled hand made whole?
• Have you seen a blind person see?
• The sign: Jesus’ resurrection!
• “The queen of the South will rise up at the judgment with this generation and condemn it, for she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon.”
• We have the wisdom of God in our hands this morning.
• These are the most important words to a person in the family.
• Let us read them, cherish them, study them and most importantly apply them.
• Let us respond to Jesus more in the days ahead.

Notes

Notes from above may not be in numerical order.

¹ Stanley D. Toussaint and Jay A. Quine, “No, Not Yet: The Contingency of God’s Promised Kingdom,” Bibliotheca Sacra 164:654 (April-June 2007):138.

² See Barclay, 2:41-43, for some instances of Jewish exorcisms; and Deissmann, pp. 259-61, for the translation of a Jewish exorcism text.

³ E.g., Ryrie, Biblical Theology …, pp. 74, 76.

⁴ Constable wrote: " God would not forgive this sin because the person who committed it in Jesus’ day was thereby strongly rejecting Jesus as the Messiah. [1027] Even today, the only sin that a person can commit that God will not forgive, and that will result in his or her eternal damnation, is rejection of Jesus Christ (cf. John 3:18). Attributing Jesus’ works to Satan was blasphemy of the Spirit in Jesus’ day, and this resulted in damnation." Constable cited “McClain, Alva J. The Greatness of the Kingdom, An Inductive Study of the Kingdom of God. Winona Lake, Ind.: BMH Books, 1959; Chicago: Moody Press, 1968,” p 315.

⁵ Constable’s following statement introduces that justification is based on individual’s character. This is a serious mistake! Constable wrote: “Obviously, Jesus did not mean that if a person was able to say all the right words, he or she could deceive God and win salvation by clever speech. The basis of justification and condemnation is character, but words reveal character, so they become the instruments by which God judges.”

⁶ M. Kiddle, “The Conflict Between the Disciples, the Jews, and the Gentiles in St. Matthew’s Gospel,” The Journal of Theological Studies 36 (January 1935):37.

Works Cited

Scripture quotations [unless otherwise noted] are from The ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Click here to access the works cited web-page for this document, save those marked as “Notes” or “Other Works Cited”–if any. Most of these cited works correspond to the verses they are outlined with. In the case of general background information and references, one will find cited material with the Bible books the citations are associated with. ¶ Furthermore, there may be numbered notes that are URL linked; these are usually retained numbered notes from Thomas Constable’s, “Dr. Constable’s Expository (Bible Study) Notes.” These links are preserved “as is” at the time of this work’s formation and I usually include other citation information from Constable as well (e.g. authors’ names).

Other Works Cited

Note: All of the resources below were cited in at least one of the sermons in the Book of Matthew but not necessarily this one.

Augsburger, David. Dissident Discipleship. Brazos Press, 2006.

Barclay, William. Barclay’s Daily Study Bible. Westminster Press, 1955-1960. Sourced digitally from studylight.org/commentaries/eng/dsb.html.

Blomberg, Craig L. Matthew. New American Commentary, vol. 22, ed. David S. Dockery, et al., Broadman Press, 1992. May be sourced from archive.org.
https://archive.org/details/matthew0000blom

________. Preaching the Parables: From Responsible Interpretation to Powerful Proclamation. Baker Academic, 2004. Sourced from archive.org.
(https://archive.org/details/preachingparable0000blom/page/82/mode/1up)

Bruce, Alexander Balmain. The Training of the Twelve. Ed., A.C. Armstrong and Son, reprint 1984, Kregel Publications, 1971 edition.

Carson, D. A. “Matthew.” The Expositors Bible Commentary, Frank E. Gaebelein, Ed. et al., Zondervan, 1984.

_______. The Sermon on the Mount : an Evangelical of Matthew 5-7 Exposition. 1978, Baker Book House, fifth printing, 1989. Sourced from archive.org.
https://archive.org/details/sermononmounteva0000cars/page/54/mode/1up

_______. When Jesus confronts the world : an exposition of Matthew 8-10. Originally published by Inter-Varsity Press in 1988, Paternoster, 1995. Sourced from archive.org.
https://archive.org/details/whenjesusconfron0000cars/page/n3/mode/1up

Chambers, Oswald. My Utmost for His Highest. Our Daily Bread Publishing, web ver.

France, R. T. The Gospel According to Matthew. W. B. Eerdmans Publishing, 1985.

_______. The Gospel of Matthew. W. B. Eerdmans Publishing, 2007. Sourced from archive.org.
https://archive.org/details/gospelofmatthew0000fran/page/n6/mode/1up

Gibson, J. Monro. “St. Matthew.” Expositor’s Bible Commentary. William R. Nicoll, Editor. Sourced from Bible Portal. Click here for a list of the authors of the EBC.

Harrington, Daniel J . The Gospel of Matthew. Sacra Pagina Series, vol. 1, A Michael Glazier Book, Liturgical Press (publ.), 1991. Sourced from archive.org.
https://archive.org/details/gospelofmatthew0000harr/mode/1up

Hendriksen, William. New Testament Commentary: Exposition of the Gospel According to Luke. Baker Book House, 1984.

Phillips, John. Exploring the Gospels: John. Loizeaux Brothers, 1988.

Plumptre, E. H. “Matthew.” Commentary for English Readers, Charles John Ellicott, Compiler/Editor, Lord Bishop of Gloucester Cassell and Company, Limited, 1905. Sourced from BiblePortal.com. Click here for a list of the authors of the CER.

Robinson, Monte. The Way of Discipleship. Independently published, 2021. Web, aimdiscipleship.org/book.html, accessed Oct 2023.

Wiersbe, Warren. The Wiersbe Bible Commentary. 2 Volumes, David C. Cook, 2007.

Yancey, Philip. The Jesus I Never Knew. Zondervan, 1995.

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