Sermon Tone Analysis

Matthew 12:22-32

Introduction

By nature God is forgiving.

The Old Testament abounds with teachings about His forgiveness.

David declared, “For You, Lord, /are/ good, and ready to forgive…"  *Psalm 86:5*

Daniel said, “To the Lord our God /belong /mercy and forgiveness...”  *Daniel 9:9*

God described Himself to Moses as, “…The LORD, the LORD God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abounding in goodness and truth,* *keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin…”  (Ex.

34:6-7)

The Old Testament also abounds with examples of His forgiveness.

When Adam and Eve committed sin, God forgave them.

When Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob sinned, God forgave them.

When Moses sinned God forgave him.

The New Testament pictures God as supremely the God of forgiveness.

That is the essence of the gospel: God’s divine and gracious provision for the forgiveness of man’s sin.

*Ephesians 1:7 *In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace

*1 John 1:9 *If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us /our /sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

There are no sins so bad or so numerous that God cannot forgive them.

However, in the text before us our Lord declares that there is a sin that will not be forgiven.

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Jesus Demonstrates His Deity (12:22-24)

1B.

The miracle (12:22-23)

The action of the master (12:22)

Ø      This man was a broken reed

The* man* had multiple problems.

He was *demon-possessed … blind and mute*, and possibly also suffered deafness, so often associated with inability to speak.

Ø      This miracle was undeniable

Jesus seems to have performed the particular healing on this occasion especially for the benefit of the Pharisees, forcing them to make their verdict concerning Him public.

The amazement of the multitude (12:23)

Ø      The measure of their surprise

A*mazed, (*/Existemi/) means to be totally astounded, beside oneself with amazement and wonder.

Ø      The manifestation of their surprise

The very question the people *began* to ask among themselves—*“could this be the Son of David?” *reveals that they recognized such miracles as possible messianic signs.

That was the title later ascribed to Jesus by the crowds who welcomed Him into Jerusalem as their Messiah and King (Matt.

21:9; cf.

v. 5).

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The accusation (12:24)

The dilemma the they faced

Ø      The fact that the multitudes were seriously wondering if Jesus might be the Messiah drove *the Pharisees* to panic.

The decision they made

Ø      They had only one option.

Because Jesus’ power was indisputably supernatural, because the only two sources of supernatural power are God and Satan, and because they refused to recognize Jesus as being from God, they were forced to conclude that He was an agent of Satan.

Ø      He must serve* the ruler of the demons*, for whom *Beelzebul** *(or Beelzebub) was a popular title, derived from the name of an ancient Canaanite deity.

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Jesus Defends His Deity (12:25-32)

1B.

The Lord answers their accusations (12:25-30)