Sermon Tone Analysis

STALKING JESUS

Last week Jesus withdrew from his previous conflict with the Pharisees over healing the shriveled-handed man on the Sabbath, a large crowd followed Jesus and he healed them all.

Not wanting to cause more strife than necessary with the Pharisees, Jesus tells the crowd to not spread the word about him.

Matthew then tells us tell us that everything about Jesus to point fulfills God's promise to through the Prophet Isaiah Suffering Chosen Servant who will bring "justice through to victory [and in whose name] the nations will put their hope."

Because of the enormous crowd following him, Jesus was easy to find.

Jesus was not looking for trouble.

The Pharisees, however, were ready to rumble, and they were stalking Jesus.

RIGHT QUESTION; WRONG ANSWER

Matthew tells us that "they, probably meaning the crowd, brought him a demon-possessed man who was blind and mute, and Jesus healed him, so that he could both talk and see.

All the people were astonished and said, "Could this be the Son of David?"

But when the Pharisees heard this, they said, "It is only by Beelzebul, the prince of demons, that this fellow drives out demons."

Beelzebul in this context is a synonym for Satan.

The Pharisees accuse Jesus of doing good, through the power of Satan, the prince of evil.

It was not their most brilliant work of logic.

But before we go there, it is important for us to see that the people were asking the right question.

"Could this be the Son of God."

The question itself is a sign that God is at work.

Jesus healed the man completely.

Jesus set this demon-possessed, blind, and mute man free from the satanic evil that bound him.

Now completely transformed, this healed man could physically and spiritually see Jesus, and physically and spiritually speak to Jesus and speak rightly about Jesus.

Through this mighty miracle, the Holy Spirit was at work drawing people to Jesus by opening their spiritual eyes and ears to see and hear Jesus.

It was the Holy Spirit working among them that prompted them to ask, "Could this be the Son of David?"

This is a spiritual question.

In his book Experiencing God, Henry Blackaby said based on Romans 3:10-11 and John 6:44,

[slide] People do not seek God on their own initiative.

People don't ask questions about spiritual matters unless God is at work in their lives.

When you see someone seeking God or asking questions about Christianity, you are witnessing God at work.

That is something only God does in people's lives.

God in his love and mercy by the power of the Holy Spirit causes us to seek him.

The Holy Spirit was at work in the crowd causing them to ask the right questions about Jesus.

But the Pharisees gave the wrong answer.

I think Matthew wants us to understand the demon-possessed, blind and mute man is a picture of the spiritual condition of the Pharisees.

The Pharisees sincerely thought they were serving God.

They believed they spoke for God and were correctly teaching the ways of God to others.

When Jesus heard the Pharisees call the work of God's Spirit, the work of Satan, that told him all he needed to know about their spiritual condition.

Jesus begins logically and theologically to lay bare before the Pharisees and the crowd, the actual condition of the Pharisees' hearts.

Jesus begins by saying,

EVERY KINGDOM DIVIDED AGAINST ITSELF WILL BE RUINED.

Jesus is saying, look guys, let's think about this.

Satan's gig is world domination.

He wants to control all the people and the systems of the world that he can.

Satan will not work against himself to give up control of someone over whom he has control.

That makes no logical sense.

So, clearly, Satan does not empower my work.

Then Jesus turns the argument back on the Pharisees, who also practiced exorcisms, usually with spells and special paraphernalia like pagan sorcerers or magicians.

In effect, Jesus says, "If it takes the power of Satan to cast out Satan, then by whose power are you boys casting out Satan - let's talk about that!

Then Jesus piles on.

I can't be casting out Satan by the power of Satan that makes no sense, but if I am casting out Satan's demons by God's Spirit, then the Kingdom of God has come upon you.

Here's the deal.

I am the strongman who comes into Satan's house, binds him up, and then takes back everything and everyone belonging to me.

Now, who is strong enough to bind Satan and do with Satan anything he chooses?

That's right, only God can do that.

Can you hear me?

No, you can't hear me because your hearts are so hardened against the work of God through me you can't hear, see, or believe!

In your hearts, you've already tried, convicted, and killed me.

Let me make one thing perfectly clear.

WHOEVER IS NOT WITH ME IS AGAINST ME

If you are not gathering people into the kingdom with me, then you are working against the kingdom.

WHEN THE KINGDOM OF GOD COMES UPON US, THEN WHAT?

When the kingdom of God comes upon us, we must declare to whom our loyalty belongs.

Each of us must answer the question: Am I for God and what he is doing right here and right now?

Or am I against God and what he is doing right here, right now?

Jesus is clear that when the kingdom of God comes upon us there is no middle ground.

We are in the kingdom and heir to all its benefits, or we are outside the kingdom with none of its benefits.

REFUSING TO COME INTO THE KINGDOM THROUGH THE WORK OF THE SPIRIT IS UNFORGIVEABLE

Jesus says that a person can have some misunderstandings about him and even speak against him and receive forgiveness.

Forgiveness comes when one recognizes and receives the work of the Holy Spirit drawing one to belief in Jesus.

When one comes to see, believe, and confess the truth about Jesus, Jesus forgives all our sins.

Seeing, believing, and confessing only takes place through the work of the Holy Spirit in one's life.

How do we get into the kingdom?

We must see, hear, and believe in Jesus.

Jesus is the one and only way into the kingdom of God.

For God's Kingdom, one is in or out.

There is no middle ground.

There are no gray areas.

A complete and final rejection of the work of the Holy Spirit in one's life - a failure to be all in for the Kingdom is the blasphemy against the Holy Spirit, God does not forgive in this life or the next.

Unbelievers commit this sin when they harden their hearts against the work of the Holy Spirit, drawing them to salvation.

As a believer in Jesus who walks with him in love and obedience, there is no way you can commit this sin because it is only by the gracious work of the Holy Spirit in your life that you came to believe in Jesus and live in love and obedience to Him now.

To be in the kingdom, we must be loving, loyal, obedient servants of the King.

In Matthew, Jesus is clearly the king of the Kingdom.

Jesus is the Son of David, the rightful heir to the throne, the promised Messiah of Israel.

If we are not loving, loyal, and obedient servants of King Jesus, it does not matter what we think about ourselves, or what labels we use to describe ourselves - we are not in the kingdom.

Being in the kingdom does not mean that we are perfect.

But it means that we have a perfect heart in the sense that the blood of Jesus washes our heart clean from sin.

Then, it is our deep desire, intention, and highest aim in life to be a loving, loyal, obedient servant of King Jesus.

We desire to become more and more like him.

Our desire for Jesus grows.

The closer we grow to him, the more we desire Him.

The more we desire him and grow closer to Him, the more we become like Him.

What if we don't feel that desire, or we feel that desire is weakening in us?

What can we do?

There is only one thing we can do.

We pray to our Father in Heaven and ask Him to do what only He can do, which is birth within us, an ever-increasing desire to love and obey Jesus.

If we are sincere in that prayer, God will answer it, because that is his highest aim for our lives - to become more and more like Jesus.

Finally, Jesus literally gets to the heart of the matter, saying,

[YOU] MAKE A TREE GOOD AND ITS FRUIT WILL BE GOOD; [YOU] MAKE A TREE BAD AND ITS FRUIT WILL BE BAD.

Here, Jesus tells the Pharisees to examine themselves.

A good person, like a good tree, produces good fruit, or yields good outcomes.

Likewise, an evil person, like a bad tree, produces bad fruit or yields bad outcomes.

In opposing Jesus, the Pharisees proved themselves to be evil.