Moving Through Matthew Response to the Messiah: Blasphemer
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This morning as we start I want to introduce you to a word and then define another word.
1. Pericope
“an extract from a text, especially a passage from the Bible.”
1. Pericope
“an extract from a text, especially a passage from the Bible.”
2. Blasphemy
“extreme slander or speaking against God”
Matthew 26:63-65
Matthew 26:63–65 (ESV)
And the high priest said to him, “I adjure you by the living God, tell us if you are the Christ, the Son of God.” 64 Jesus said to him, “You have said so. But I tell you, from now on you will see the Son of Man seated at the right hand of Power and coming on the clouds of heaven.” 65 Then the high priest tore his robes and said, “He has uttered blasphemy. What further witnesses do we need? You have now heard his blasphemy.
So to speak against God, to say something bad against God is to blaspheme. And we will see that word used this morning as we move through Matthew. In fact the word is used in the pericope in my ESV version.
So open your Bibles and lets look at our text today.
Matthew 12:22-32
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.” 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. 28 But if it is by the Spirit of God that I cast out demons, then the kingdom of God has come upon you. 29 Or how can someone enter a strong man’s house and plunder his goods, unless he first binds the strong man? Then indeed he may plunder his house. 30 Whoever is not with me is against me, and whoever does not gather with me scatters. 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.
(pray)
Now last week we saw Jesus withdraw from the crowds and go to a new area and healed many people. And he spoke of a prophesy from Isaiah pointing to the beloved servant. And we highlighted 9 different characteristics of Jesus through these verses. But many of those characteristics showed his goodness, compared the the false teachers (pharisees that were trying to say that he was not the Messiah. And eventually in Matthew 12:14 “14 But the Pharisees went out and conspired against him, how to destroy him.”
So at the end of this prophesy about the Messiah from Isaiah 41, in Matthew 12:21 he says “21 and in his name the Gentiles will hope.”” In other words the Messiah came for every man. Every man that would come to Jesus and believe he will give him the hope of eternity.
And this really made the Pharisees angry. Because they thought, that when the Messiah came (their own thoughts of a Messiah) he would be for the Jewish nation only. But they were so blinded by their rage against Jesus that they didn’t recognize the Scriptures that they knew. They were experts in the Scriptures, and the book of Isaiah to a Jewish religious man was very important… yet they were consumed with hate for Jesus and were planning to get rid of him.
The Incident (Matthew 12:22)
Look at Matthew 12:22“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.
The Incident (Matthew 12:22)
“Then” in the original Greek is the word “tote” (tot’-eh). Described as “very loose”
“demon-oppressed man”
Now we have seen something like this before. Going to Matthew 9:32-33
32 As they were going away, behold, a demon-oppressed man who was mute was brought to him. 33 And when the demon had been cast out, the mute man spoke. And the crowds marveled, saying, “Never was anything like this seen in Israel.”
So this miracle wasn’t new to Jesus. A demon-oppressed man was brought to him, he couldn’t talk, he couldn't see, and so Jesus again show the power he has as the promised Messiah, and he heals him. And immediately he begins to speak and see.
The Incident (Matthew 12:22)
The Reactions (Matthew 12:23-24)
Now the reaction from the crowd back in chapter Matthew 9:32-33 ...
Matthew 9:32–33 (ESV)
32 As they were going away, behold, a demon-oppressed man who was mute was brought to him. 33 And when the demon had been cast out, the mute man spoke. And the crowds marveled, saying, “Never was anything like this seen in Israel.”
…the same is seen here in Matt 12:23 “23 And all the people were amazed, and said, “Can this be the Son of David?””
That is the reaction of the crowd, Could this be the Son of David? The promised Messiah? They were looking for a King, a conquerer, but because every good Jew knew what was written by the prophet Isaiah, they new that he was also a healer. Isaiah 35:5-6
5 Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf unstopped; 6 then shall the lame man leap like a deer, and the tongue of the mute sing for joy. For waters break forth in the wilderness, and streams in the desert;
The people, at least this crowd who saw this began to think, is this really him? But ten there is another reaction, this one from the Pharisees..
Matt 12:24
24 But when the Pharisees heard it, they said, “It is only by Beelzebul, the prince of demons, that this man casts out demons.”
Now I want you to see something very important here… The Pharisee could not discount that Jesus healed people, They were there, they saw the change… they could not deny that Jesus healed people. So the only thing they could do was to discredit him. To say that his healing were from the devil. That he was from the devil. Beelzebul is another name fro Satan.
Of all the things that Pharisee said, this could have been the most ignorant. They said he was Satan, prince of the demons. But the demons knew who Jesus was.
When Jesus was walking along back in Matthew 8, he came upon two demon possessed men around the area of the tombs, and how did they address him?
Matthew 8:29
Matthew 8:29 (ESV)
29 And behold, they cried out, “What have you to do with us, O Son of God? Have you come here to torment us before the time?”
He wasn’t of the devil, even the demons knew who he was. The Pharisees were trying anything they could to discredit them.
The Incident (Matthew 12:22)
The Reactions (Matthew 12:23-24)
The Reply (Matthew 12:25-37)
the divided kingdom (Matthew 12:25-28)
Matthew 12:25 “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.”
First Jesus replies with an example that is clear and understandable. A Kingdom or even a house which is divided will not stand. Think about this. If I came down here and said listen we are are going to to things this way at a Place of Hope. No one can have phones. You must be inside the gate by 6, you cannot be late to Bible Studies, and you have to come straight home from school. All fo those things I have placed before you as the rules and guidelines. Then I walk back to my house and Mom comes down. And then he say, don’t worry, if you want a phone you can have a phone, if you want to stay outside the gate pass 6, its ok, if you want to go to a friends house after school, don’t worry about it.
This would be a divided place. And it would not be healthy. Because some of you would like my rules and some of you would like Moms rules. You wouldn’t know who to listen to. And this place would become disorganized and dysfunctional. And if it continued like this for a long time, it could eventually come to ruin.
So Jesus sets up this example of a divided Kingdom and then he applies it to their words.
26 And if Satan casts out Satan, he is divided against himself. How then will his kingdom stand?
Jesus looks at them sand say, if you say I am Satan, then why would I cast out Satan? If that is true then Satan’s kingdom would not stand.
Then he gives them some sharp words...
Matthew 12:27-28
27 And if I cast out demons by Beelzebul, by whom do your sons cast them out? Therefore they will be your judges. 28 But if it is by the Spirit of God that I cast out demons, then the kingdom of God has come upon you.
(27) …by whom do your sons cast them out? The word sons here could mean other Jews. There is an account in Acts 19:13 where there were some Jews who tried to cast out demons...
13 Then some of the itinerant Jewish exorcists undertook to invoke the name of the Lord Jesus over those who had evil spirits, saying, “I adjure you by the Jesus whom Paul proclaims.””
So Jesus asks them whose name do these people use to cast out.
Then Jesus wraps up the first part of his replay in Matthew 12:28
28 But if it is by the Spirit of God that I cast out demons, then the kingdom of God has come upon you.
This is a bold statement in the face of the opposition. Jesus is saying if it’s true, that I cast out this demon by the Spirit of God… then the Kingdom of God is here.... in me.
Jesus’ second reply to them is seen in verse 29
The Incident (Matthew 12:22)
The Reactions (Matthew 12:23-24)
The Reply (Matthew 12:25-37)
the divided kingdom (Matthew 12:25-28)
the strong man’s house (Matthew 12:29)
Matthew 12:29 “29 Or how can someone enter a strong man’s house and plunder his goods, unless he first binds the strong man? Then indeed he may plunder his house.”
There was a Jewish thought at this time that when the Messiah came, he would bind up Satan. Now about 60 years later, John as he seeing the events of the final days of the earth, he writes this...
Revelation 20:2
2 And he seized the dragon, that ancient serpent, who is the devil and Satan, and bound him for a thousand years,
So Jesus is giving this picture of the power he has over Satan. He is the one who can enter the house and tie up Satan. He is more powerful and he has greater authority.
The Incident (Matthew 12:22)
The Reactions (Matthew 12:23-24)
The Reply (Matthew 12:25-37)
the divided kingdom (Matthew 12:25-28)
the strong man’s house (Matthew 12:29)
blasphemy against the Spirit (Matthew 12:30-32)
Then Jesus finishes this thought showing their response to the Messiah.
Matthew 12:30-32 “30 Whoever is not with me is against me, and whoever does not gather with me scatters. 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.”
I have told you many times, there are two possible realities that wait for you when you leave this earth. Whether you are alive when Jesus returns or at your death. There are two possibilities: Heaven or Hell. It pretty simple. You will either spend eternity with God in heaven or separated from him in hell.
And that is what Jesus is saying here… if you are not with me, you are against me. If you do not come to me you are scattered away from me.... forever, for all eternity.
Think of his words going back to chapter 3
Matthew 3:12
12 His winnowing fork is in his hand, and he will clear his threshing floor and gather his wheat into the barn, but the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire.”
The wheat are his, he gathers them, he keeps them, but the chaff he will burn with an unquenchable fire. That is a picture of heaven and hell.
Verse 31 & 32: Matthew 12:31-32 “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.”
Just a note her before we look into what Jesus is saying about blaspheming the Spirit. Look at the last few words.... “will not be forgiven, either in this age of in the age to come.”
“this age” points to when a person is alive on earth, but “the age to come” points to when a person has passed from this earth. Now I want you to understand something because of the area you live in. The Catholic Church is very prominent here and they believe that you can pray someone out of damnation into heaven. But the Jesus clearly states here that forgiveness cannot come “in teh age to come.”
A person has a lifetime to make that choose either to follow Jesus or deny Jesus. That lifetime may be short or long, but that is the period one has and it ends the moment they leave this earth.
Ok, so back to the blaspheming fo the Spirit.
Jesus says that every sin and blasphemy can and will be forgiven, if a person asks for forgiveness. We know that through other scriptures like
3 When iniquities prevail against me, you atone for our transgressions.
18 “Come now, let us reason together, says the Lord: though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red like crimson, they shall become like wool.
7 But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin.
But what about this blasphemy against the Spirit?
Matthew 12:32
Matthew 12:32 (ESV)
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.
There is a moment in history that is the most important moment for all mankind… that moment is when Jesus Christ was raised from the dead. He had paid or the sins of all mankind, risen three days later to prove he was God. In that moment there was a change for the people of that day. You see they may have rejected Jesus because they thought the Messiah was supposed to be someone else, but in that moment in time when he rose from the grave, and there was still a rejection, that is when someone would blaspheme the Spirit.
Jesus said in John 16:8
8 And when he comes, he will convict the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment:
“He” is the Spirit, and it is his job to convict the world of their sin and draw people to the Savior.
But here is the problem… people walk away from that drawing. People will hear the gospel preached, the spirit will convict them and draw then… but they refuse, and in that moment, they blaspheme the Holy Spirit.
Matthew The Beelzebul Controversy (Matthew 12:22–37)
Other sins might be forgiven; even the opponents of the Son of Man could be brought to a better frame of mind; but if people have made up their minds not to accept the witness of the Spirit, what further witness will convince them?
This week as I was studying this passage it brought to mind what it really means to be a Christian. You live in a country, and even in a region here is the Southeast is known as Christian.
Nigeria is nearly equally divided between Islam and Christianity.... Christians dominate in some central states (especially Plateau and Benue states), and the south-east and south-south regions.
Why is the area Christian? Because it’s not Muslim. Now think about that for a moment, should someone think they are a Christian because they are not Muslim?
Christian isn't something you are by chance, it is a commitment someone makes. It doesn’t end with a prayer, it starts with a prayer and then continues everyday until a person leaves this earth.
Jesus said in Matthew 16:24
24 Then Jesus told his disciples, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.