Matthew 12:46-50 Our True DNA!

Matthew 12:46-50  While Jesus was still talking to the crowd, his mother and brothers stood outside, wanting to speak to him.  Someone told him, “Your mother and brothers are standing outside, wanting to speak to you.”  He replied to him, “Who is my mother, and who are my brothers?”  Pointing to his disciples, he said, “Here are my mother and my brothers.  For whoever does the will of my Father in heaven is my brother and sister and mother.”

We see in the above verses that familial relationships are not as important as heavenly relationships.  Jesus points to his disciples and explains to the crowd that they are his true, eternal brothers, sisters, and mothers.  He knows that eternity with God in a family relationship is the inheritance of people who put their trust in his works and not their own, for He is divine, sent from God the Father.  On earth his purpose is to enlarge the household of God by making new creatures, humans who are born again because they trust in Jesus’ works: his death and resurrection.  He, the Son of God, paid the full price for mankind’s liberty from sin and death.  Jesus died and rose again to birth new creatures who will be known forever as children of God, adopted into the heavenly family of the eternal Father.  The Christ was placed in the raiment of lowly flesh to accomplish the work necessary to make people holy as God is holy.  But we do see Jesus, who was made lower than the angels for a little while, now crowned with glory and honor because he suffered death, so that by the grace of God he might taste death for everyone.  (Hebrews 2:9)  Tasting death, He elevated us to a place of righteousness, for He, The Perfect One, paid the complete price for our redemption from sin.  By accomplishing this act of love that the Father God requested, we are forever in the raiment of holiness.  This holiness allows us to be in the presence of God, experiencing his love for us.  After our death, we boldly approach the throne of God, for we are as He is, holy, perfect because our Substitutionary is perfect.  In bringing many sons and daughters to glory, it was fitting that God, for whom and through whom everything exists, should make the PIONEER of their salvation PERFECT through what he suffered.  Both THE ONE WHO MAKES PEOPLE HOLY AND THOSE WHO ARE MADE HOLY ARE OF THE SAME FAMILY.  (Both Jesus and we are holy.)  So Jesus is not ashamed to call them brothers and sisters.  (Hebrews 2:10-11)  As born-again children in the household of God, we are finally at home with our Father.  The prophets of old in their prayers would emphasize that God was their God: “O Lord of Heaven’s Armies, my king, MY GOD!”  This theme was often in their chanting of their prayers.  As Christians we know full well because of the Spirit in us that God is our God, The Father of the household, the Keeper of all power, forever.  Knowing all this and being from God, divine in the flesh, Jesus was willing to tell the crowd that the disciples they saw around him were truly his brothers, family members of the household of God.  He would make them eternal as He is.  This of course was all realized after the cross, for the blood of Jesus cleanses us from all unrighteousness, making us perfect in every way!  

In justifying why they are his brothers, Jsus says, For whoever does the will of my Father in heaven is my brother and sister and mother.  He implies to the crowd that they too can be his brother, sister, or mother.  They too can enter into that close relationship with him, but they must be willing to do the will of the Father.  But what is God’s will?  Are we to do the works of God through our own energy and willpower?  All humans who seek God have this question in their hearts.  The Islamic believers add up their good works and hope that they surpass their bad activities in life.  For them, they must top off their lives with more good than bad to secure a seat in the heavenlies.  Other religions have similar ideals.  Good over bad is the mantra of their faith.  A drunk in the gutter will sometimes say, “Yes, I am bad, my life is not worth much, but I have done more good than the drunk down the street.”  His evaluation of his life is based on comparison with others.  Yet all of this assessment of good and bad falls short in the perspective of the Bible.  We can do marvelous things, holding our spiritual selves together for long periods of time with good works.  We can fill our diaries with the wonderful deeds we have accomplished, but the Bible does not grade us on our accomplishments alone.  God evaluates us on his standard of perfection.  On one side of the gold scale is our lives and on the other side of the scale is God’s perfection.  Can there be a balance with our so-called perfection on one side and God’s on the other?  No, such an attempt is futile.  We are found wanting, needing perfection in place of our sins on our side of the scale.   As it is written: “There is no one righteous, not even one; there is no one who understands; there is no one who seeks God.  All have turned away, they have together become worthless; there is no one who does good, not even one.”  (Romans 3:10-12)  This idea of our unrighteousness is anathema to our flesh.  We do not want to accept God’s assessment of our lives.  Of course, we do wonderful things and we act with uprightness much of the time, but we are not measured by our standards of right living.  We are measured according to God’s complete righteousness.  We have mysteries and shadows in our lives that are hidden from view, but God measures the heart and any wickedness in it.  If we are honest under this thorough assessment, the scale does not remain balanced but tips toward the evil within us.  The psalmist does not treat kindly any man or woman who does not hold the knowledge of God in his or her heart.  The fool says in his heart, “There is no God.”  They are corrupt, their deeds are vile; there is no one who does good.  The Lord looks down from heaven on all mankind to see if there are any who understand, any who seek God.  All have turned away, all have become corrupt; there is no one who does good, not even one.  (Psalm 14:1-3)  All people whether they acknowledge God or not should know sins are seen by God, and they are not forgiven by him unless there is a price to be paid for them.  All fools believe otherwise: there is no need for any price to be paid for my wrongful acts or attitudes, especially if there is no God of retribution.  But Christ came for people who acknowledge their misdeeds, knowing they are not right with a holy God.  Jesus came as a Savior to mankind with a salvation salve that will cleanse forever the sins of all people.  Because of the price He paid for sin, God will not remember their sins anymore.  Their sins will be driven out of sight as far as the east is from the west.  These two directions will never meet, so sins are forever forgotten, no longer in existence.  

    

Jesus knows the Father’s will for us is to place our faith in him, living our lives for others.  For my Father’s will is that everyone who looks to the Son and believes in him shall have eternal life, and I will raise them up at the last day.  (John 6:40)  We will be raised into glory when we die—Jesus assures us of that truth, for we are one with him and God.  May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me.  I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one— I in them and you in me—so that they may be brought to complete unity.  Then the world will know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me.  (John 17:21-23)  We are IN CHRIST and Christ is IN GOD, so we are IN GOD, hidden in complete righteousness.  Now in this world, we must be about our Father’s business: to do good to others by loving them as we love ourselves.  We must use our gifts that the Spirit has given us to perform the works of God.  If that means pray, pray, if that means sing, sing, if that means create, create, and so forth.  All things are to be put at Jesus’ feet, under God’s authority.  As servants to God and as brothers and sisters to Christ, we should be obedient to God’s will for us.  He has set us free from the bondage of sin; we have escaped Egypt.  Now we must live as those who are not under the bondage of slavery.  Because of our freedom from the burden of sin, we should express joy about God’s deliverance, his goodness and love towards all people.  God possesses an enduring love for his creation, even though man has fallen into the pit of rebellion.  Adam and Eve could not stay with him in the Garden, for rebellion had contaminated their souls, but his love never left Adam and Eve.  Today his love extends to people in this difficult world outside of the Garden.  Through Jesus’ brothers and sisters, He is extending his love to the world.  For us Christians, each day should be a Father’s will day.  We are the earthly images of God.  Therefore, we should put off the works of the flesh and put on the works of the Spirit.   Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.  Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me—PUT IT INTO PRACTICE.  And the God of peace will be with you.  (Philippians 4:8-9)  If we put on the attitude and the works of the Spirit, we will live in PEACE.  But if we fail to live and think as God desires, our spirits will always be in chaos and anxiety.  The Spirit’s presence brings peace.  As brothers and sisters of Jesus Christ, we are to be as He is in our actions and thoughts.  Yes, Jesus was troubled at times.  He cried over Jerusalem’s waywardness.  He attacked the Pharisees and the teachers of the law for their obstinance to God’s goodness, his grace and mercy, but still Jesus resided in peace for He was doing the will of God.  We must be about our Father’s business.  Our familial life spirit is no more of the fleshly DNA composited in our fleshly bodies, but our true DNA component is of the Spirit of God who dwells within us.  We identify more with him than we do with our fleshly brothers and sisters.  They said to Jesus, Your mother and brothers are standing outside, wanting to speak to you.  Jesus says to each of us who are participating in this breakfast: Look around this table, these are my brothers and sisters.  Amen!    

  

Matthew 12:43-45 Strong and Free!

Matthew 12:43-45  When an impure spirit comes out of a person, it goes through arid places seeking rest and does not find it.  Then it says, ‘I will return to the house I left.’  When it arrives, it finds the house unoccupied, swept clean and put in order.  Then it goes and takes with it seven other spirits more wicked than itself, and they go in and live there.  And the final condition of that person is worse than the first.  That is how it will be with this wicked generation.”

Jesus is talking directly to the Pharisees and teachers of the law when He says the above statement: That is how it will be with this wicked generation.  The religious leaders of Jesus’ day had the responsibility of shepherding the people, leading them to know God.  Their teachings, attitudes, and lifestyles should have revealed clearly the God of Israel.  The law and its regulations that they expounded should have enlightened the Israelites to the nature of God; instead, these religious leaders used Moses’ law and their own additional regulations as a heavy burden, making the people suffer under the obligations of Judaism.  Jesus tells the priests and teachers of the law that they might achieve temporarily a people that are obedient to their teachings, but their efforts to keep the house of Israel clean and in order will eventually fail.  What they now believe is a powerful exorcism of ungodliness in the people’s house remains ephemeral and weak.  The evil kingdom has many spirits more powerful than man’s efforts to maintain order and cleanliness in his spiritual house.  Jesus tells them that keeping an evil spirit out of the house of Jacob might succeed for a while, but evil is never static, always seeking rest.  Evil will make attempts to occupy the domain of a person, a people, a country.  I will return to the house I left.  The best efforts of the priests and their laws will not keep the Israelites clean and law abiding.   When it (the evil spirit) arrives, it finds the house unoccupied, swept clean and put in order.  Then it goes and takes with it seven other spirits more wicked than itself, and they go in and live there.  And the final condition of that person is worse than the first.  Sadly, the final condition of the house will be worse than the first condition, for the occupation of many evil spirits will cause the people to follow many errant beliefs and activities.  In the wilderness, we see the devil’s attempt to occupy Jesus’ life.  He comes to him when Jesus is weak physically, for He has been fasting.  The devil and his spirits always use places of weakness in mind and spirit to attack humans, to occupy their house and to have them do their will, not God’s will.  The devil comes to Jesus in the wilderness where food and water are lacking.  He believes this place is where he will succeed in deceiving Jesus, have Jesus serve him and not God.  Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, left the Jordan and was led by the Spirit into the wilderness, where for forty days he was tempted by the devil.  He ate nothing during those days, and at the end of them he was hungry.  (Luke 4:1-2)  In the wilderness, Jesus uses the word to combat the devil’s temptations.  But this does not discourage the devil, as with the focus above, for Jesus said to the Pharisees, the evil spirit decided to occupy the house again with help from other evil spirits.  We see the devil leaving Jesus in the wilderness, but with the intentions of coming back again, tempting Jesus to follow the devil’s will and not God’s.  When the devil had finished all this tempting, he left him until an opportune time.  (Luke 4:13)  Otherwise, as with the evil spirit in the above verses, the devil intends to come back again in Jesus’ life, to try to occupyJesus’ house with the devil’s will.  

This constant temptation of Satan is in every person’s life.  We can either do God’s will or the will of the devil.  We can either allow the demons of the kingdom of evil to demonstrate their will in us or we can yield to God’s authority in our house.  We, as Christians, know that Satan will be back, even when we have great victories overcoming him in our lives.  As we see in the above focus, when the devil loses out in our lives, we do not have a permanent inoculation from his input—he will be back again and again.  When an impure spirit comes out of a person, it goes through arid places seeking rest and does not find it.  Then it says, ‘I will return to the house I left.’  But we are not helpless when the devil seeks to devour us, for the Spirit of God is now part of our lives when we place our complete trust in Jesus and his works.  We no longer depend on obedience to the laws and regulations advocated by the priests of Jesus’ time.  We are not  people of the law, but people of the Spirit of God.  We do not live by good words passed down to us from previous generations: we live by every word that comes from the mouth of God as the Spirit gives unction.  The Spirit is the dynamo within us.  Literally the power of God abides in us, so we can be confident of his work to keep in abeyance the evil spirits’ attacks.  Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power.  Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes.  For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.  Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand.  (Ephesian 6:10-13)  We see Jesus once again attacked by the devil’s scheme in the Garden.  Jesus was feeling pressed by the devil to avoid the cross, but Jesus had the full armor of God present with him, the Holy Spirit.  He knew it was not the will of the flesh He desired, but the will of the Father, and the will of the Father was the cross.  As Paul said, be strong in the faith: strong in the Lord and strong in his power.  We are but children of God, but we are not powerless, for the Spirit has made us into the likeness of God with his power to resist the devil in times of temptation.  

           

Jesus in today’s scriptures comes against the Pharisee’s idea that law and regulations are the strength of God’s kingdom.  They despised Jesus’ teaching of faith.  They opposed him in many ways such as claiming Jesus’ disciples broke the Sabbath law by eating grain on that holy day.  They postulated that Jesus’ ministry of healing came from the devil, not God.  Rather than accept the good things Jesus did and the obvious wisdom in his teachings, they wanted Jesus to perform miracles as a magician on stage, hoping to open him up to ridicule.  Their unbelief, their envy of Jesus, was so strong that Jesus called them a bad tree, producing evil fruit.  He knew their hearts would not change.  They had hardened their hearts to God’s grace and mercy.  Jesus implied that their clean house would be contaminated by other more powerful evil spirits.  We see this prophetic word come to the foreground when they encourage the people to cry, “Crucify him,” on the day of Jesus’ crucifixion.  Later on, they persecuted the church, killing the righteous man, Stephen, by stoning him to death.  We see Saul (later Paul) filled with a murderous hatred for Christ’s followers, arresting Christians, persecuting both men and women.  In Paul’s own ministry, Jews followed him from city to city, intent on killing him.  The Roman commander, Lysias, has to arrest Paul to keep him from being stoned to death in Jerusalem.  Then Lysias used 470 of his soldiers to escort Paul away from Jerusalem to Caesarea, the headquarters of the Roman occupation of Israel.  Obedience to laws and regulations might keep a house clean for a while, but no power exists to fight against evil by mere works.  Jesus predicted that in everyone’s life, obeying God through self effort will eventually fail because the powers of the evil world are greater than the wisdom and knowledge of men.  Man cannot overcome evil through works.  Today, in every land, in every people, we see laws clamped down on man’s nature.  But evil survives and flourishes in the world.  A house or a country might seem good and righteous for a  period of time, but the devil will bring seven more evil spirits to contaminate any people or land that believes it has finally succeeded in being good and godly without the Holy Spirit.  The nature of man is always open to more evil.  The heart is deceitfully wicked.  The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure.  Who can understand it?  (Jeremiah 17:9)  Jesus understood that the law would never keep a person in right standing with God; the law could never keep a house forever clean.   Paul states this very well, As it is, it is no longer I myself who do it, but it is sin living in me.  For I know that good itself does not dwell in me, that is, in my sinful nature.   For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out.  For I do not do the good I want to do, but the evil I do not want to do—this I keep on doing.  Now if I do what I do not want to do, it is no longer I who do it, but it is sin living in me that does it.  (Romans 7:17-20)  Sin is present in the house whether the law is there or not.  The Bible says the law is a mirror, showing us our sin.  Evil is an active force in the hearts of men.  However, we do not live by law but by the power of the Spirit of God.  Therefore, we do not inherently succumb to the power of the flesh, for it is dead permanently.  We now live because the power the Spirit has made us new creatures.  All of this will be fully realized after the final death of the flesh.  Now we live by the Spirit, not by the will of the flesh.  The Spirit through faith in Christ’s work has made us free from the works of man and his futile efforts to please God.  Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit who gives life has set you free from the law of sin and death.  (Romans 8:1-2)  We are free from the final condition of evil occupying our house, for we have been freed from the works of the flesh, for the power of God, THE HOLY SPIRIT, is occupying our spirits.  When God freed us from sin and cleansed our house, He did not leave us empty; He filled us with the Holy Spirit.  No spirit of any kind that is obstinate to the works of God can come and reside in our souls.  We are free, free indeed!  

 

Matthew 12:38-42 One Greater than Solomon!

Matthew 12:38-42  Then some of the Pharisees and teachers of the law said to him, “Teacher, we want to see a sign from you.”  He answered, “A wicked and adulterous generation asks for a sign!  But none will be given it except the sign of the prophet Jonah.  For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of a huge fish, so the Son of Man will be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.  The men of Nineveh will stand up at the judgment with this generation and condemn it; for they repented at the preaching of Jonah, and now something greater than Jonah is here.  The Queen of the South will rise at the judgment with this generation and condemn it; for she came from the ends of the earth to listen to Solomon’s wisdom, and now something greater than Solomon is here.

Jesus said that those who have ears will hear, but the willfully deaf will never hear.  No sign will open up their ears.  Jesus is not gentle with the Pharisees and teachers of the law, attacking them with a frontal, devastating assessment of their spirituality: A wicked and adulterous generation asks for a sign!  Because they ask for a sign, He does not say they are just unbelievers, He says they are WICKED: full of evil, and ADULTEROUS: unfaithful, even in the most intimate relationships.  Of course, the Jewish leaders should have had a strong allegiance to the One who called their Father Abraham out of the land of Mesopotamia, the One who rescued them from their land of slavery, Egypt.  They were known as God’s chosen people to whom God revealed his likeness and holiness.  He was the God who brought them to Canaan and who gave them strength to drive out many nations from the land promised to Abraham.  However, even though Abraham was a man of faith who believed in the words of God, the religious leaders of Jesus’ day demanded a sign rather than believe in the words and deeds of Jesus.  Jesus rebukes them harshly for He knows they lack faith in the God they proclaim to believe, for if they were true believers in what they taught, they would accept Jesus’ words.  One order of the priesthood, the Sadducees, would not accept Jesus’ words as divine, for they believed only in the rational.  These priests could not accept Jesus as anything but a man.  But the Pharisees and the teachers of the law believed in a spiritual reality, but they would not accept Jesus as a spiritual leader.  Consequently, they beseeched Jesus to give them a sign to verify his divinity.  Of course, these spiritual leaders should have recognized that Jesus’ words and actions were directly from God.  Instead, they were the mockers, naysayers, thorns in Jesus’ flesh.  They followed him around, condemning him for healing on the Sabbath, unimpressed with demon deliverance, rejecting his teaching and activity as from the devil.  In today’s focus, we see them asking Jesus to perform a miraculous sign on their command.  Jesus is to be a sideshow event as with a circus or carnival.  “Come and see the marvelous acts this man will perform right before your eyes, an unbelievable sight, one you Jews will never forget.  Come in, be thrilled by the unimaginable!  Hurry!  Hurry!  Pay your coin and enjoy the show!”  Jesus would have none of it!  He told them that there would be a show, one they would never forget, one they would unknowingly participate in: But none will be given it except the sign of the prophet Jonah.  For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of a huge fish, so the Son of Man will be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.  Of course, this comment befuddled these religious leaders, for they could not understand  Jesus’ words.  Only after the event would they have any comprehension of Jesus’ resurrection.  Then they would reject the resurrection by telling falsehoods of what had happened to Jesus’ body when the tomb was found empty.  Jesus was right about them when he said: A wicked and adulterous generation asks for a sign!  Even the sign Jesus predicted would be given to them, they would not believe because their hearts were filled with their own pretentious ideas of their worthiness to God and the people.  The resurrection would smash to smithereens their religious order and their understanding of how to please the God of creation.

The people of Nineveh heard AND BELIEVED the words of Jonah as he traveled throughout the great city of Nineveh.  No sign was given them, no special intervention of God was played out before their eyes, only the words of Jonah were given to them.  Jonah obeyed the word of the Lord and went to Nineveh.  Now Nineveh was a very large city; it took three days to go through it.  Jonah began by going a day’s journey into the city, proclaiming, “Forty more days and Nineveh will be overthrown.”  The Ninevites believed God.  A fast was proclaimed, and all of them, from the greatest to the least, put on sackcloth.  (Jonah 3:3-5)  They believed Jonah’s prophecy about their destruction.  They believed so much that they even had the animals participate in the fast, clothing the animals in sackcloth.  They repented completely of their evil ways and their violence.  For they knew God hated sin with a fierce anger towards those who practice evil.  We see Jesus telling these religious people of his day that God hates sin and that the pagan Ninevites understood that in their hearts.  They were willing to repent, but the Jewish leaders He was addressing did not understand how far they were from God.  Their arrogance and supposedly preferred position with God made them wicked in heart, unwilling even to appreciate the law and regulations that they were claiming to know.  They demanded a sign from Jesus who loved the people, healed them and taught them about his Father in heaven.  The Pharisees and the teachers of the law were living in blindness, claiming to lead people, but in reality living in darkness.  Their darkness was so great that John the Baptist called them vipers and called for them to repent.  Jesus also called for their repentance, wishing for them to yield their hardened hearts.  But they needed new hearts for them to change their ways and attitudes.  For centuries before Jesus walked the earth and for centuries into the future, mankind has not had the ability to change on his own.  Our wickedness and adulterous hearts are part of our DNA.  Even today, we have enough weaponry in our hands to destroy the planet Earth.  As with all generations we live in need of transformed hearts, new hearts.  Jesus recognized this when He addressed the wickedness of his generation.  A deceiving,  adulterous people will demand a sign, rather than a change of heart. They will not accept the healing message of Jesus, his death and resurrection.  This hardness of heart exists in every people, nation, and ethnic group.  Unwillingness to accept the authority of God is part of the makeup of humans who have gone astray.  Paul said there was a law in him that would not conform to the will of God, but instead did what he did not want to do even though he knew what was right and good.  No one escapes this law of rebellion. If we are to display the works of God and enter his realm, Jesus said, Very truly I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God unless they are born again.  (John 3:3)

Jesus tells these religious leaders that his words possess more truth, more wisdom than even Solomon’s words. The queen of Sheba traveled far to hear Solomon’s words of wisdom, but Jesus  was a wiser man than even Solomon.  The Queen of the South will rise at the judgment with this generation and condemn it; for she came from the ends of the earth to listen to Solomon’s wisdom, and now something greater than Solomon is here.  Because they refused to believe in his teachings, but attacked him, they would be judged harshly by God.  Signs will not change people: faith in Jesus changes people.  By believing in his death and resurrection, taking it as our own death and resurrection, we become new creatures.  Signs, miracles, affirmations of God’s existence will never change the hearts of men.  Following after God through knowing his reality will never change the hearts of men.  The flesh desires a flash from heaven to reveal God’s reality.  In the Old Testament we see Elijah call down fire from heaven.  “Lord, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Israel, let it be known today that you are God in Israel and that I am your servant and have done all these things at your command.  Answer me, Lord, answer me, so these people will know that you, Lord, are God, and that you are turning their hearts back again.”  Then the fire of the Lord fell and burned up the sacrifice, the wood, the stones and the soil, and also licked up the water in the trench.  (1 King 18:36-38)  This sign was so great that even the stones and soil were consumed by fire, totally destroyed by God’s mighty power.  Of course the people who were silent before this demonstration fell to the ground and started to worship the only true God.  When all the people saw this, they fell prostrate and cried, “The Lord—he is God! The Lord—he is God!”  (18:39)  However, this sign did not change the hearts of the people.  They still abandoned God.  They were not obedient to the laws of God.  Their kings were still weak and sinful.  After this mighty sign from God, we see Jezebel threatening Elijah with death after knowing that all her priests of Baal were killed.  This fire from heaven did not intimidate her.  Her hardened heart was not changed.  We see Elijah fleeing from her into the desert.  Why did he not say, “Bring it on Jezebel— my God will destroy you too with fire.”  But God does not change the hearts of men by signs.  The heart is changed because faith brings the Spirit of God into our innermost being.  An unbelieving heart wants miracles, but a believing heart will trust God regardless of the circumstances.  Job said, even though He slay me, I will believe in him.  Elijah fled because he was playing on the field of flesh.  We are all on that field.  Supernatural plays might never be seen on this field.  The aches and pains of life might be evident on this field.  Even though desired, no quick ascension to heaven may be seen on this field.  Even Elijah, the man of miracles, is seen fleeing in times of stress on this field, but Elijah never lost his faith in God even though he feared sometimes.  Even though he played on the same field of life that we all play on, experiencing threatening and difficult situations, he still believed that God was in control of his life.  We who are people of God, say as Elijah said, MY GOD hears my words.  Then he cried out to the Lord, “Lord MY GOD, have you brought tragedy even on this widow I am staying with, by causing her son to die?”  Then he stretched himself out on the boy three times and cried out to the Lord, “Lord MY GOD, let this boy’s life return to him!”  (1 King 17:20-21)  This young boy came to life.  Jesus was in the grave three days and three nights.  He who was in the image of man stretched himself over us completely before God, his Father.  MY GOD, LET THEM LIVE.  We live because our God, Elijah’s God, causes us to live forevermore.  This game of life can be rough.  Sometimes we see no sign of God’s existence, but He lives in us, giving us life.  For One greater than Solomon has set us free!  

  

Matthew 12:33-37 Good Fruit!

Matthew 12:33-37  Make a tree good and its fruit will be good, or make a tree bad and its fruit will be bad, for a tree is recognized by its fruit.  You brood of vipers, how can you who are evil say anything good?  For the mouth speaks what the heart is full of.  A good man brings good things out of the good stored up in him, and an evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in him.  But I tell you that everyone will have to give account on the day of judgment for every empty word they have spoken.  For by your words you will be acquitted, and by your words you will be condemned.”

The Pharisees claimed Jesus’ power came from the evil one, but Jesus refuted that assertion by rational analysis.  Why would anyone use his allies to attack his own fortress?  Why would the devil use his demons to lessen his kingdom of evil?  That kind of reasoning does not make sense; it is beyond the bounds of absurdity.  But Jesus does not drop the subject.  After ridiculing their irrationality, He likens their internal corruption to a bad tree that produces evil fruit, leading to death rather than life.  Because they are totally wrong about Jesus and the nature of God’s mercy and grace, they do not produce fruit that restores or heals people.  They pass on their sickness of hypocrisy to the Jewish people.  Their perspective on life and their insincerity to live up to their own words allows Jesus to categorize them as poisonous vipers.  Their natural camouflage makes vipers hard to detect, so people can almost step on them before they are aware of their presence.  The Pharisees and teachers of the law spent much time in the synagogues and temples where the people congregated as well.  Although they knew and respected their religious leaders, the people could not assess well the hearts of their leaders.  But Jesus saw their hearts: He knew they intended to kill him because of their jealousy and fear of his popularity.  The religious leaders’ teaching in the temple and at the synagogues was not necessarily bad, for the law and GOD’S REGULATIONS revealed the Creator’s likeness, but their hypocrisy in not living up to God’s demands in their own lives crippled their message of knowing the Divine.  Also, their own additions to God’s requirements burdened the people, discouraged them from following the law.  Then Jesus said to the crowds and to his disciples: “The teachers of the law and the Pharisees sit in Moses’ seat.  So you must be careful to do everything they tell you.  But do not do what they do, for they do not practice what they preach.  They tie up heavy, cumbersome loads and put them on other people’s shoulders, but they themselves are not willing to lift a finger to move them.”  (Matthew 23:1-4)  The Pharisees’ hypocrisy overrode everything they taught.  Jesus’ teaching exposed their negligence in serving God wholeheartedly.  The religious leaders knew Jesus’ popularity with the people could hinder their preferred position in the culture.  Consequently, they fought Jesus and his healing activity, for they understood He was a threat to their leadership.  Their fear of Jesus was so strong they were willing to undermine even the good things that Jesus did such as healing people and casting out demons.  In today’s focus, we see Jesus so exasperated with the Pharisees’ lack of compassion for a demon-possessed man that He says, how can you who are evil say anything good?  He tells them that their attitude towards his good acts is maligning them, making them even more evil.  Make a tree good and its fruit will be good, or make a tree bad and its fruit will be bad.  They are becoming like a tree that produces only bad fruit.  Their attitude towards Jesus is making them even more disingenuous, more wicked.  Rather than rejoicing that the demon-possessed man was delivered from an evil spirit, they decided to conspire on how to kill Jesus.  The fruit they are now bearing was totally wicked.  Rather than producing good fruit to restore health to the Jewish people, they were delivering death to the people by planning to destroy Jesus.  Micah talks of destroying the fruit of life when he says, How miserable I am!  I feel like the fruit picker after the harvest who can find nothing to eat.  Not a cluster of grapes or a single early fig can be found to satisfy my hunger.  The godly people have all disappeared; not one honest person is left on the earth.  They are all murderers, setting traps even for their own brothers.  (Micah 7:1-2)  The Pharisees were setting a trap for Jesus who should have been their eternal, elder brother, but they were willing to eliminate the Fruit of Eternal Life from their Jewish brethren by murdering Jesus.  But they would not succeed, for there would be a resurrection, restoring eternal life to all who eat and drink of the fruit of the vine.  

Jesus warned the Pharisees that God would hold them accountable for their words and actions.  They might believe that they could fight against the goodness of God, the Lamb of God, but they would pay an eternal price for their behavior.  But I tell you that everyone will have to give account on the day of judgment for every empty word they have spoken.  For by your words you will be acquitted, and by your words you will be condemned.  In addressing his religious critics, Jesus reminded them that as leaders they should be issuing words confirming God’s goodness and revealing his likeness. The priests and the teachers of the law should have been overflowing with kind and healing words, supportive of what Jesus was doing for this demon-possessed man; instead, they were spouting off empty and fruitless words that had no eternal life.  Jesus said they would be judged harshly for these words on the day of judgment.  They should have been the first to issue supportive words, expressing their joy for such a great miracle.  They should have praised the God of grace and mercy, the One who loves the Jewish people with an enduring affection.  Instead their words and demeanor were the opposite of the attributes of the Holy Spirit: love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.  (Galatians 5:22-23)  They were critical of the healing, claiming the power came from the devil, not God.  Their lips spewed evil rather than goodness.  Jesus was upset with this kind of fruit, calling it what it was: evil.   He knew their tongues were too willing to issue long prayers in the community, but not willing to lift the heavy burdens from the people, not even from a demon-possessed man.  Outwardly, they seemed to be holy and reverent towards God, but inside He knew they were otherwise: Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites!  You are like whitewashed tombs, which look beautiful on the outside but on the inside are full of the bones of the dead and everything unclean.  In the same way, on the outside you appear to people as righteous but on the inside you are full of hypocrisy and wickedness.  (Matthew 23:27-28)  Their unwillingness to be true to God in words and deeds, made them a danger to the people’s spiritual health.  Their words were empty, not true.  They would praise God one minute, especially before people, then curse God’s people, even wanting to kill the Lamb of God.  They were double-minded in speech and actions.  James warns people about such duplicity,  With the tongue we praise our Lord and Father, and with it we curse human beings, who have been made in God’s likeness.  Out of the same mouth come praise and cursing.  My brothers and sisters, this should not be.  Can both fresh water and salt water flow from the same spring?  My brothers and sisters, can a fig tree bear olives, or a grapevine bear figs?  Neither can a salt spring produce fresh water.  (James 3:9-12)  Jesus knew the Pharisees were duplicitous in their speech and behavior.  He understood their evilness and called them out on the sinful condition of their hearts.  They hated him for this and intended to murder him.  

As Christians we willingly and wholeheartedly serve God with honest lips and good deeds.  Our spirits cannot track the path of the Pharisees, allowing a cold, heartless demeanor to exist in our lives.  We must meet people in the marketplace with compassion, grace, and mercy.  As Paul wrote, we should: Rejoice with those who rejoice; mourn with those who mourn.  (Romans 12:15)  We must avoid filling our mouths with empty words, especially in this electronic age where we can so easily communicate our thoughts without considering their impact on others.  We must be cognizant of using constructive not destructive words.  The Pharisees wanted to tear down the work of Jesus, not build upon his good works.  Fruitless and hurtful words distract from God’s work on earth—all will be judged for such empty speech.  Such words do not image God, but only support man’s fleshly perspective on life.  Let us not keep God hidden behind a curtain because of our lives, how we live and talk.  God has to be seen through our lives or He will not be seen at all.  All who are victorious will become pillars in the Temple of my God, and they will never have to leave it.  (Revelation 3:12)  Because we are people of the Temple, we should eagerly display the nature of God to people through words and deeds.  As the priests of old, God is our inheritance; we have no land that we settle on as those who are not priests.  We are to be in the presence of God forever as his children, born, adopted by him, always in his temple.  Praise God, we have his beautiful Spirit abiding in us even today.  The Pharisees and the teachers of the law did not possess God’s Spirit as we do, so they could mistakenly come against God directly by opposing Jesus’ works.  Sadly they fought God’s plan of delivering people from the bondage of sin.  But we are not as they; we are possessed by the very goodness of God.  Therefore, let us not entertain words of criticism and judgment that lead to destruction.  As lovers of God in his domain forever, we covet God the Father’s presence.  Therefore, let us live as people who want God actively in our lives.  He should be the strength of our lives, our purpose for living.  We rejoice as God rejoices when people are delivered from sin; we hurt as God hurts when people are hurting.  When people are floundering, not understanding the reason for life, we bring them Christ and his victorious resurrection, so they might better understand why they live.  The devil caused the religious leaders and elders of Jesus’ time to fight against the Good News, the resurrection story.  They fought to destroy Jesus, to thwart the plan of redemption.  The Bible says we are not like those who have no hope of eternal life.  We are the redeemed, filled with the Holy Spirit, abiding in the Temple of God.  As Jesus described in today's verses, the Pharisees became a tree that produced bad fruit, a tree that produced death rather than life.  But you dear friends IN CHRIST, live an existence that has been made good, partaking from a tree that produces good fruit, eternal fruit.  Love God with all your heart, mind, soul, strength, and love others as you desire to be loved.  If you seek to do that, the aroma of the Spirit of God will be upon your life.  Amen!   

Matthew 12:23-32 Good News!

Matthew 12:23-32  Then they 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.”  Jesus knew their thoughts and said to them, “Every kingdom divided against itself will be ruined, and every city or household divided against itself will not stand.  If Satan drives out Satan, he is divided against himself.  How then can his kingdom stand?  And if I drive out demons by Beelzebul, by whom do your people drive them out?  So then, they will be your judges.  But if it is by the Spirit of God that I drive out demons, then the kingdom of God has come upon you.  Or again, how can anyone enter a strong man’s house and carry off his possessions unless he first ties up the strong man?  Then he can plunder his house.  Whoever is not with me is against me, and whoever does not gather with me scatters.  And so I tell you, every kind of sin and slander can be forgiven, but blasphemy against the Spirit will not be forgiven.  Anyone who speaks a word against the Son of Man will be forgiven, but anyone who speaks against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven, either in this age or in the age to come.”

In the above scriptures, Jesus focuses on the danger of speaking against God’s power of deliverance: the Holy Spirit.  In this scene, we see Jesus healing a man who is bound by an evil spirit.  He is unable to speak or hear.  In reality, lacking speech and hearing isolated him from many of the activities of the world.  He could not relate well with his community or even with his family.  His behavior and antics were probably strange to the normal person, even making them somewhat fearful of him.  Jesus does not speak about his condition or his actions; He just heals him outright.  Then they brought him a demon-possessed man who was blind and mute, and Jesus healed him, so that he could both talk and see.  Jesus knew this man’s situation was caused by a demon, a severe and isolating infirmity.  However, Jesus was not merely addressing this man’s condition of bondage by casting out this demon.  He knew that all of Israel to some degree was experiencing the influence of this deaf and blind spirit.  He knew the only power that could deliver people was the power of God: the Holy Spirit.  Because of this reality, we later see Jesus talking about blaspheming the Holy Spirit.  Blasphemy of the Holy Spirit is unforgivable because the Holy Spirit is the power that will set men free from the bondage of the devil.  Jesus himself possessed this power.  THE SPIRIT OF THE LORD IS ON ME, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor.  He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to set the oppressed free, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.  (Luke 4:18-19)  Jesus understood the crowd before him had all been affected by the spirit of the evil one.  Even though they had ears, they could not hear well the voice of their Father, the Creator.  The devil’s corrupted nature had infiltrated the souls of men, keeping them from knowing God.  Sadly, rather than imaging the God of creation, people were manifesting darkness in their lives.  By not honoring the Creator, people groveled in the dust of the flesh, pursuing what they thought would satisfy their human desires, fixing not on God’s divine nature, but on their own nature of self-interest.   Furthermore, just as they did not think it worthwhile to retain the knowledge of God, so God gave them over to a depraved mind, so that they do what ought not to be done.  They have become filled with every kind of wickedness, evil, greed and depravity.  They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit and malice.  They are gossips, slanderers, God-haters, insolent, arrogant and boastful; they invent ways of doing evil; they disobey their parents; they have no understanding, no fidelity, no love, no mercy.  (Romans 1:28-31)  Of course this condition of sin has caused alienation between God and man.  Because the Pharisees’ lives were so distant from God, they claimed that Jesus’ power had to originate with the devil.  Jesus disputes this claim as nonsensical.  If Satan drives out Satan, he is divided against himself.  How then can his kingdom stand?  How can Jesus be in cahoots with the devil if He is attacking the devil’s domain!  And if it were true that He was the devil’s instrument by casting out demons, then what about the exorcising of demons by the Pharisees.  Are they also using the devil’s power to cast out demons?  Of course, the Pharisees could never agree with the idea of them being cohorts of the devil, so Jesus blows their reasoning of him being a partner with Beelzebub out of the water, for if He were a partner of the evil one, so were they. 

Jesus in this healing of the demon-possessed man is pointing out that there is a fecklessness in the power of the religious order of that day.  This mute and blind man was taken to Jesus not to the Pharisees.  The Pharisees’ exorcising was probably ineffective.  People could see through the activities and teaching of Jesus that He had divine power, power even over demons.  Jesus knew the Pharisees’ thoughts of envy and hatred toward him, so He demonstrates his powerful kingdom by healing this man.  Demonstrating how powerful his kingdom is compared with their kingdom, He places his power juxtaposed to theirs.  In his kingdom there is deliverance; in their kingdom there is a form of Godliness, but no power.  The Pharisees functioned as those Paul described to Timothy: they had a form of godliness, but denied its power.  (See 2Timothy 3:5)  Jesus tells the Pharisees, if it is by the Spirit of God that I drive out demons, then the kingdom of God has come upon you.  He is saying, if I am doing these things that have never been done from the beginning of time, then a new kingdom has come to you.  For you know, if I were doing this in the weakness of a fleshly man, this man before you would still be bound by the spirit of Satan.  For the fleshly man is too weak to overcome the power of the spirit world.  I am telling you, I have released the hold of the demon on this man’s life!  He is able to live his life free from bondage because I have tied up the demon and cast him out of this man.  I ask you, how can anyone enter a strong man’s house and carry off his possessions unless he first ties up the strong man?   I have done this today.  If you are not with this work of goodness, then you are against me and the new kingdom I have established.  Jesus lets them know that they cannot be neutral on this deed of goodness.  If they are not with him, they are against him.  If they do not gather with him in promoting the deeds of God, then they have sided with the devil’s work of evil.  They are spreading disinformation, hurting the people they should be serving.  Jesus says, Whoever is not with me is against me, and whoever does not gather with me scatters.

Jesus has the same message today: Anyone who is not with me and the Spirit of God in me is on the wrong side of the fight between the evil one and a righteous God.  If we side with the devil by not working with Jesus, if we are idle, just watching, we have actually taken sides with Satan.  Jesus came to give freedom to people who are caught in the devil’s snare.  If we are on God’s side, we will work with Jesus, do his will.  A kingdom cannot stand unless all are working towards one goal.  The Spirit of God is one with the Godhead, the active force against evil, against the bondage within men.  Therefore, if you are actively discrediting this powerful force of God that is delivering men from bondage, you will not be forgiven, for you have sided with the wrong side: the devil and his cohorts.  I tell you, every kind of sin and slander can be forgiven, but blasphemy against the Spirit will not be forgiven.  We can speak against the Son of Man, claiming anything we want against him, but we cannot debunk the power of God through the Holy Spirit that is resident IN CHRIST.  Without the work of the Holy Spirit, mankind will never be delivered from his state of sin.  The Spirit alone releases man from his finiteness, his captivity to death.  To speak against this power that sustains all life, especially the life to come, is an offense that shall never be forgiven in this world and in the world to come.  For the Spirit of God provides eternal life for ALL who believe in the works of God through Jesus Christ the Lord.   As Paul wrote, And if the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies because of his Spirit who lives in you.  (Romans 8:11)  Breakfast friends, we are not those who reject God and his work in us.  We are those who trust in Jesus’ work on the cross, those He has made alive.  We do not crucify Jesus again by putting him out of our lives.  We serve him the best we can, so we have confidence that we are not blaspheming the work of the Spirit inside of us.  We hold true to that resident power that God has put within us.  As the writer of Hebrews assures those who might be anxious about their salvation, their place in God.  Even though we speak like this, dear friends, we are convinced of better things in your case—the things that have to do with salvation.  God is not unjust; he will not forget your work and the love you have shown him as you have helped his people and continue to help them.  (Hebrews 6:9-10)  Even though we might be anxious about how in our ignorance we treated the Holy Spirit in the past, we know by our lives that He is the resident power in us to eternal life.  Christ’s life displayed in our lives is the assurance that we are new creatures, bought by the blood of Jesus Christ.  Never lose the understanding that the power of God is resident in you.  You have been forgiven!  You now have eyes to see, ears to hear, and lips to proclaim the Good News, for the Spirit is alive in you.