Matthew 12:22-32
Choose the King!
Read
Matt. 12:30 He who is not with Me is against Me, and he who does not gather with Me scatters abroad.
Pray
Intro
√ Choose the King
You’ll remember that the driving point of Matthew’s Gospel is to present Jesus as the King!
To demonstrate convincingly that Jesus fulfilled the Messianic prophecies of the Old Testament…
…therefore, the reader should place his/her faith in Jesus as the promised Messiah Who came to save us from our sins.
Yet, within the story we find that there is a growing opposition to Jesus and the Message He brings.
The chief adversaries of Jesus are the religious leaders, the Scribes, Pharisees and Herodians who are now openly hostile to Jesus and are seeking to kill Him!
In the midst of this struggle are the people whom Jesus is trying to reach!
They’re caught between wanting to trust in Jesus because of the mighty works they’d seen Him do…
…and their fear of offending the religious leaders if they do so!
In our text this morning we find that the time has come for the people to make a choice, to believe that Jesus is truly the King…
…or to reject Him and side with the religious leaders who refuse to trust in Jesus as their Messiah.
Ap. Choose you this day
There are some decisions that can be put off…
Ferrari or Masaratti?
…it can wait.
But, once you know Who Jesus is, it is imperative that you chose Him quickly because none of us have tomorrow and another opportunity to choose Jesus.
Ex. D.L. Moody and the Chicago fire
So, in our study this morning we find that the conflict between Jesus and the Pharisees heats up, Jesus provides ample evidence that He is the Messiah, and calls the people to make a choice!
Whose Son is Jesus?
Whose Power does He have?
Whose side are you on?
Choose the King!
Whose Son? (vs. 22-24)
Matt. 12:22 Then one was brought to Him who was demon-possessed, blind and mute; and He healed him, so that the blind and mute man both spoke and saw.
Matt. 12:23 And all the multitudes were amazed and said, “Could this be the Son of David?”
Matt. 12:24 Now when the Pharisees heard it they said, “This fellow does not cast out demons except by Beelzebub, the ruler of the demons.”
√ Whose Son?
Once again we find that someone brings a person to Jesus needing a touch of His power.
While we don’t know who that someone was, some Bible students have suggested that it was the Pharisees…
…perhaps seeking another opportunity to make Jesus look bad.
How? By bringing Him a really tough case!
In fact, it would be comical if it wasn’t a real person!
The man wasn’t just sick, or diseased, he was…
“…demon-possessed, blind and mute”! ~ vs. 22
…kind of a worst case scenario.
Yet, without any effort Jesus casts the demon out and heals the man!
√ Son of David
The common people in the crowd immediately recognized the significant miracle that Jesus did and asked…
“Could this be the Son of David?
…that is, the Messiah! (Ref. 2 Sam. 7:14-16)
The Jewish people to whom Jesus was ministering finally connected the dots and understood that Jesus was doing the work of the promised King.
For no one else could do the things that Jesus was doing, therefore, He must be the Son of David (& Son of God)!
√ Son of the Devil
Ah, but not everyone in the crowd recognized the awesome display of God’s power in this miracle. The Pharisees attribute the miracle to the power of the Devil!
“This fellow does not cast out demons except by Beelzebub, the ruler of the demons.” ~ vs. 24
Ex. Beelzebub
Beelzebub literally means…
“lord of the flies”
…commonly used for Satan, thought to be derived from the word…
“Baal-Zebub”
…god of the Philistine city of
So, the Pharisees are in effect saying that Jesus isn’t the Son of David, rather, they’re saying He is the son of the Devil!
A rather shocking conclusion!
But, their response reminds us that ultimately every supernatural work has a source behind it…
It’s done either by the power of God, or the power of the Devil.
There’s no neutral ground.
Ex. Pharaoh’s magicians
They were able to duplicate some of the miracles that Moses did.
Ex. the false prophet during the Tribulation
Will deceive the whole world with miracles.
Ap. Our duty is to judge correctly the source of the power behind the miracle worker.
The criteria for making a correct judgment is the fruit of the person’s life.
In the example of Jesus’ life the fruit is all good!
In fact, even the Pharisees couldn’t find fault in His life, or any sin to accuse Him of!
The point is that Jesus was clearly operating by the power of God, not of Satan…
…therefore He must be the Son of David ~ that is the Messiah!
Whose Power? (vs. 25-29)
Matt. 12:25 But Jesus knew their thoughts, and said to them: “Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation, and every city or house divided against itself will not stand.
Matt. 12:26 If Satan casts out Satan, he is divided against himself. How then will his kingdom stand?
Matt. 12:27 And if I cast out demons by Beelzebub, by whom do your sons cast them out? Therefore they shall be your judges.
Matt. 12:28 But if I
cast out demons by the Spirit of God, surely the
Matt. 12:29 Or how can one enter a strong man’s house and plunder his goods, unless he first binds the strong man? And then he will plunder his house.
√ Whose power?
Matthew tells us that Jesus…
“knew their thoughts” ~ vs. 25
…and chose this opportunity to defend Himself.
Significant because we find very few examples where Jesus defends Himself or His ministry before His enemies.
The question then is, why now?
While we’re not told explicitly why Jesus speaks up now, I’d suggest that it was for the benefit of the people who were yet undecided about Him.
That is, while the Pharisees had already clearly made up their minds about Jesus and had chosen to reject Him as Messiah…
…there were people in the crowd who were torn between what they knew (the Pharisees), and trusting in Jesus.
Therefore, Jesus uses this opportunity to show that trusting in Him as Messiah is both rational and logical and worth the risk of offending the religious leaders.
Ap. We’re not called to a “blind” faith!
I love this section of scripture because it demonstrates that God has given us ample evidence to place our lives in Jesus’ hands!
Jesus presents three very rational arguments to prove that the Pharisees conclusion is wrong…
…and that the only rational explanation for the miracles that He does is that He really is the King!
That’s great news because it means that we don’t have disengage our minds to follow Christ!
Ex. The cults and false religion
They all demand a step of blind faith, to trust in something or someone that we know cannot be true.
To trust in a subjective feeling, or emotion…
…rather than objective truth.
By way of example…
The mystical teachings of Christian Science that deny the reality of a physical world.
The Book of Mormon purports to be the history of the
The “Heavens Gate” cult ~ denied the fact their telescope revealed.
But, the true and living God as revealed to humans through His Creation, and His prophets, and lastly His Son…
…gave us a brain to use and calls us to exercise it as we seek to know the ultimate truth about Him and the Way of Salvation.
So, beware of any teaching or doctrine that demands a blind faith.
Because true faith is based on objective truth!
Ex. Peter walking on the water
Before Peter got out of the boat he had an objective truth to stand on…
…that is, Jesus was already standing on the water!
Jesus’ arguments…
1) Not practical (vs. 25-26)
Jesus’ first argument is that the Pharisee’ accusation isn’t practical.
In every area of life, from the home to the throne, in our life experience we always find that a divided authority structure doesn’t last.
Doesn’t work in a home (divorce)
Doesn’t work in the kingdom (Civil War)
So, the Pharisees accusation that Jesus is casting out demons by the prince of demons just doesn’t match reality because to do so would mean that Satan was working against himself!
2) Not consistent (vs. 27)
The Pharisees and religious leaders practiced exorcism themselves (ref. Sons of Sceva ~ Acts 19).
So, if they believed that people could cast out demons by the power of God…
…then they would have to grant that Jesus did so too.
Otherwise, they would not be practicing a consistent theology. That is, Jesus points out that they can’t have it both ways.
Either both Jesus and their own disciples cast out demons by the power of God…
…or they are both operating under the power of the Devil.
So, the logic of the Pharisees is flawed because it’s not consistent with their theology.
3) Not logical (vs. 28-29)
Jesus’ final argument is that the Pharisees’ accusation is not logical.
He points out that freeing the demon possessed man is the work of the
That is, it furthers God’s work not the Devil’s.
He illustrates this truth in vs. 29…
The “strong man” = Satan
“his house” = Demonic realm
The One who binds = Jesus
Plunder = Demon possessed man
Since He was able to deliver the man, He was also able to
institute the
If He were driving out demons by the power of Satan, He certainly (logically) could not be offering the people God’s Kingdom!
So, the Pharisees accusation can’t be true because it is not logical!
Ap. Have your reasons ready!
1Pet. 3:15 But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts, and always be ready to give a defense to everyone who asks you a reason for the hope that is in you, with meekness and fear;
That is, we’re to be ready as Jesus was to defend the faith that we have in Him and His claim to be the Messiah. The word, “defense” is…
“Apologia”
From which we get our English word…
“Apologetic”
Peter’s call then is that we should be ready to give an reasonable, logical, defense of our faith.
It isn’t blind, it isn’t subjective…
…it is a reasonable faith based on objective truth!
If the Christian faith is based upon anything less than Truth then we’ve got nothing that the false religions and cults offer to people!
Ex. Good place to start ~ read “The Case for Christ”
So, know the Truth about God so you can share it with confidence with the people who are undecided.
Whose side? (vs. 30-32)
Matt. 12:30 He who is not with Me is against Me, and he who does not gather with Me scatters abroad.
Matt. 12:31 “Therefore I say to you, every sin and blasphemy will be forgiven men, but the blasphemy against the Spirit will not be forgiven men.
Matt. 12:32 Anyone who speaks a word against the Son of Man, it will be forgiven him; but whoever speaks against the Holy Spirit, it will not be forgiven him, either in this age or in the age to come.
√ Whose side?
After presenting His case the Lord invites the people to make a clear decision, either they were for Him, or they were against Him.
Whose side would they chose?
That is, the people needed to make a choice and believe that…
Jesus was operating by the power of God…
…or the power of the Devil.
Which meant that He was either…
The Son of David, the King…
…or He was the Son of the Devil, a deceiver.
Jesus made it clear that each person in the crowd had to choose, He left them no middle ground.
Ap. No middle ground
Note that to chose neither to receive Jesus, nor reject Him, is still to chose against Him!
In the great spiritual battle for souls there are only two sides, God’s and the Devil’s!
There’s no neutral ground, no Spiritual
Important that you don’t remain undecided about Jesus because to do so means that you’re not on His side!
√ Blasphemy of the Holy Spirit
The consequences of our decision about Jesus and the source of His power are serious!
He tells us that all sins will be forgiven, except the sin of blasphemy of the Holy Spirit!
What is that?
In context it would seem that the blasphemy of the Holy Spirit is the sin of knowing that Jesus is the Messiah and that the miracles He did were by the power of the Holy Spirit…
…yet, attributing them to the power of the Devil.
Some suggest that this sin could only be committed by the religious leaders in Jesus’ day who were entrusted with identifying the Messiah.
Yet, chose to reject Jesus in spite of the fact that they knew Who He was! (ref. Parable of the wicked tenants)
Perhaps a better definition of the blasphemy of the Holy Spirit is to ask…
“What is the one sin that will keep a person out of heaven?”
…to reject Jesus as the King, the Savior of the world.
In essence the person who rejects Jesus is choosing to ignore the unique work of the Holy Spirit in Jesus’ life and ministry.
It’s to demote Him to the same level as every other man who has ever lived.
So, we could say that the blasphemy of the Holy Spirit is the sin of rejecting the testimony of the Holy Spirit as seen in the life of Jesus.
Ap. Have you committed the unpardonable sin!?
If you’re concerned that you have, that’s evidence that you haven’t!
That is, the work of the Holy Spirit is to convict people of sin and draw them to repentance.
If you’d committed the blasphemy of the Holy Spirit then you would no longer sense His conviction in your life.
The fact that you are concerned indicates that the Holy Spirit is still working in your heart.
So, if you’ve already asked Jesus to be your King, then you’re okay.
If you haven’t, then do it today because to not chose Jesus is to chose against Him!
Remember, there’s no middle ground!
Close
√ Choose the King
God has given us all the evidence we need to make an informed decision…
Creation testifies of His existence
Conscience testifies of His will
Jesus life testifies that He is the King!
…whose side are you on?