Matthew 12:43-50

Introduction

English Standard Version Chapter 12

Return of an Unclean Spirit

43 “When the unclean spirit has gone out of a person, it passes through waterless places seeking rest, but finds none. 44 Then it says, ‘I will return to my house from which I came.’ And when it comes, it finds the house empty, swept, and put in order. 45 Then it goes and brings with it seven other spirits more evil than itself, and they enter and dwell there, and the last state of that person is worse than the first. So also will it be with this evil generation.”

Jesus’ Mother and Brothers

46 While he was still speaking to the people, behold, his mother and his brothers stood outside, asking to speak to him. 48 But he replied to the man who told him, “Who is my mother, and who are my brothers?” 49 And stretching out his hand toward 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.”

As we reach the end of chapter 12 we also reach the end of a section in Matthew that originally began in chapter 11. I’ve said repeatedly, as we’ve moved through these texts, that these two chapters appear to be a loose compilation, or collection, of responses to Jesus’ teaching and ministry.

We witnessed the questions and doubts of John the Baptist and his disciples, we watched Jesus’ condemnation of several cities in Galilee for their unwillingness to repent despite his countless display of miracles, we heard Jesus’ delight in his Father’s choosing to reveal the Gospel to little children, to those who humble themselves, and finally, we’ve spent several weeks together witnessing the hatred of the Pharisees toward Jesus and his ministry, and how it’s prompted within them even the desire to destroy him.

A warning to the Pharisees

And it is within that context that we read verses 43-50. In fact, within verses 43-45, we encounter Jesus’ final words of warning to the Pharisees, at least for now. And this time his warning is given using a short parable. He says to the scribes and Pharisees there in verse 43,

English Standard Version Chapter 12

43 “When the unclean spirit has gone out of a person, it passes through waterless places seeking rest, but finds none. 44 Then it says, ‘I will return to my house from which I came.’ And when it comes, it finds the house empty, swept, and put in order. 45 Then it goes and brings with it seven other spirits more evil than itself, and they enter and dwell there, and the last state of that person is worse than the first. So also will it be with this evil generation.”

What Jesus does not mean

The question then is what does Jesus mean by this parable? And I think one of the best ways we can answer that question is to first consider what is not meant by this parable. Most of us, are very prone to reading the Scriptures in bite-sized pieces, some of us have even taken time to memorize certain verses or groups of verses. While this can certainly be a good thing, even encouraged, we should also realize the danger of consuming Scripture in small pieces.

One of those dangers is overlooking, or failing to take into consideration, the broader context of the verses we read. Those verses are simply a part of an author’s letter or book, and more than that, the author’s book is a part of the even broader collection of writings we call the Bible. And when we read our bite-sized Scriptures we must be very diligent to see those few verses in light of their broader contexts, because if we don’t we’re much more likely to misunderstand the intended meaning of those verses, we risk misunderstanding what the author intended for us to understand. This is especially important for this generation, as we’re a generation of sound bites and memes, and it’s easy, and tempting to neglect the hard work of studying the Scriptures beyond those sound bites and memes.

Not a teaching on demonology

So, that being said, verses 43-45 are not intended to be an isolated teaching on demonology. In other words, this text is not meant to teach us directly about demons and how they behave, or how the spiritual realm works, it’s not meant to give us instructions on how to perform exorcisms.

The fact is, both the old and new testaments are vague on the subject. Now, we know that demons are real, we know that they can possess people, tempt us, and are agents of the devil himself, but the Bible spends little time teaching us of the inner-workings of demonic activity. And I believe that’s for good reason, because it would detract from the point of the Bible’s overarching story. God hasn’t given us his Word to satisfy our every curiosity, rather, he’s given us the Scriptures to make us wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus, for training in righteousness, that we may be complete and equipped for every good work ().

A rejection of God’s grace

So, Jesus isn’t taking time to give the Pharisees a lesson on demonology. Instead, when we look at the context of these verses we see that Jesus is using an analogy of demonic possession to warn the Pharisees and their generation of the consequences associated with rejecting God’s grace through his Son.

of their mere outward moral reform coupled with their rejection of Jesus himself. In essence, he’s warning them of the consequences of their self-righteousness.

The futility of moral reformation

These verses are also intended to demonstrate the futility and the consequences of man-made moral reformation. In other words, a personal attempt to cleanup your life, to try and rid yourself of sin and unrighteousness, and to build for yourself a righteousness of your own, apart from God’s Son.

Now, let’s look more closely there at verse 43,

English Standard Version Chapter 12

43 “When the unclean spirit has gone out of a person, it passes through waterless places seeking rest, but finds none.

Demons and waterless places

In Israel it was a common understanding that demons were associated with desert or wilderness like places. This was assumed because of the lack of rain in these areas, no rain meant no crops, and no crops meant no blessing from God, therefore it was assumed that such places were ideal for demons to roam. This is particularly interesting because it was also in the wilderness where Jesus was led up by the Spirit of God to be tempted by the devil.

A parable of warning

So Jesus uses this idea to paint a picture for the Pharisees, a picture of an unclean spirit who has gone out of a person (presumably even cast out), passing through waterless places seeking rest, but finding none. Then Jesus continues in verse 44,

English Standard Version Chapter 12

44 Then it says, ‘I will return to my house from which I came.’ And when it comes, it finds the house empty, swept, and put in order.

This unclean spirit finds no rest in the wilderness, so it travels back to the person from which it was cast out, and when it arrives the unclean spirit finds the house empty, swept, and put in order. The man of whom the demon had possessed is all cleaned up now ready for someone to move in, the house is in order, but it’s empty. Notice the combination there, the house has been cleaned up but it’s empty.

House that remains empty

This is a picture of a person who has been set free to make a new start, they’ve been, in a sense, liberated by Jesus’ teachings. Or better yet, maybe they’ve experienced deliverance from an unclean spirit because of Jesus’ very presence and power, yet, after a time, when the unclean spirit returns, the man’s house has remained empty, devoid of the Spirit of God. And because this man has not embraced the grace of God, and remains uninhabited by the Spirit of God, he creates within himself a vacuum, a void, that this unclean spirit is more than willing to fill, and he returns without difficulty, and it says in verse 45,

45 Then it goes and brings with it seven other spirits more evil than itself, and they enter and dwell there, and the last state of that person is worse than the first.

English Standard Version Chapter 12

45 Then it goes and brings with it seven other spirits more evil than itself, and they enter and dwell there, and the last state of that person is worse than the first.

The Holy Bible: English Standard Version. (2016). (Mt 12:45). Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles.

So, the unclean spirit, seeing that the house has remained empty returns with seven other spirits, more evil than itself, to dwell there. You see, if you don’t get up and follow Jesus when he comes, you’re like a man who will ultimately be worse off than before Jesus came. Why? Because you didn’t follow after the Son of God, you neglected to embrace him in faith and follow him. You become merely a spectator rather than a disciple.

The futility of self-reform

You may have even tried to cleanup your life as a result of hearing and seeing Jesus, but because you’ve neglected, or refused, to follow him, you will ultimately be worse of than before. If that vacuum, if that void, isn’t filled with the Spirit of God, then it will be filled with a multitude of other things that’ll make you worse off than before. We cannot simply reform our own hearts. The Scriptures teach that we are dead in our sins and trespasses, you cannot reform a corpse, it’s a hopeless and futile endeavor. Instead, our only hope is the grace of God, our only hope is new life and the righteousness of Christ.

You see when Jesus died on the cross as an atonement, or as a payment, for our sin he not only bore our sin, not only was our sin imputed, or transferred to his account, but his righteousness was imputed, or transferred to our account. We not only need spiritual rebirth, but we need the righteousness of God found only in his Son. We have no ability to manufacture this on our own. However, the Pharisees, and many within their generation, were deceived into thinking that their works were enough, which unavoidably invited sins of pride, self-righteousness, and hypocrisy to flourish within them. This is why we read in verse 45,

English Standard Version Chapter 12

and the last state of that person is worse than the first. So also will it be with this evil generation.”

Discipleship

Now, as Matthew concludes his record of Jesus’ interaction with the Pharisees (at least for now) he leaves us with a brief account and word regarding discipleship. We read there, starting verse 46,

English Standard Version Chapter 12

46 While he was still speaking to the people, behold, his mother and his brothers stood outside, asking to speak to him. 48 But he replied to the man who told him, “Who is my mother, and who are my brothers?” 49 And stretching out his hand toward 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.”

While those who reject Jesus are ultimately his enemies, those who embrace him and follow him are called his disciples. They not only hear his words and observe his mighty works but they follow him, and as Jesus puts it, they do the will of his Father in heaven.

What Jesus is

The point of this section is to highlight the familial perspective of discipleship, or how his disciples are also a part of his family, that his disciples have been adopted into his family. How Jesus’ own Father in heaven becomes their’s as well, that they become co-heirs with him. And that they’re adopted into a family greater than even their earthly families.

Illustrating the priority of God’s family

So Matthew starts by giving us a picture of Jesus, inside of a house, with a crowed packed around him, with standing room only. And for the first time since the early chapters of his Gospel we encounter Jesus’ earthly family, his mother Mary and at least some of his younger brothers. They’re standing outside seeking to speak with him, we don’t know why, but that isn’t the point. And while, at first, Jesus seems dismissive and almost disrespectful toward his mother and his brothers by not immediately heeding their call, instead what we see is that Jesus is using this situation to teach his listeners an important point of discipleship, which is, the priority of God’s family.

He has already told his disciples in chapter 10 that “whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me, and whoever loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me,” and so he illustrates this here again. Not to diminish the command to honor his earthly mother but to demonstrate the priority of following him above all else.

Whoever does the will of my Father

And more than that, Jesus emphasizes the fruit of a true disciple, he says, “for whoever does the will of my Father in heaven is my brother and sister and mother.” In other words, you’ll know a true disciple by their works. You’ll know that they’re a part of the family of God by doing the will of Jesus’ Father in heaven. Not that their obedience will save them, but that their obedience will demonstrate the genuineness of their faith that unites them to Christ.

My prayer for us this morning is that we too would possess a faith that is genuine, that we would possess a faith in our Lord that compels us to follow him, to do the will of his Father in heaven. May our hearts embrace God’s Son, not forsaking his call to pick up our cross and follow after him, but seeking to do the will of our Father in heaven.

Prayer