On Thursday evening, September 20, 2001, I sat in front of my television, eager to hear the address of our president. Nine days earlier, our country had suffered the first attack of that scale on U.S. soil in my lifetime, as terrorists flew planes into the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, while another plane’s path was thwarted through the heroic effort of some passengers aboard.
President Bush stood to speak, and (uncharacteristically) representatives from both parties stood and applauded, as there was a moment of rare national unity. The President did his customary greetings, described the events that had transpired, and spoke of some safety measures that our country would take going forward. Memorably for me, the President said, “Americans have known surprise attacks, but never before on thousands of civilians. All of this was brought upon us in a single day, and night fell on a different world.” But the most memorable moment of the speech for me was when he said, “We will direct every resource at our command . . . every necessary weapon of war—to the destruction and to the defeat of the global terror network. . . . And we will pursue nations that provide aid or safe haven to terrorism. Every nation in every region now has a decision to make: Either you are with us or you are with the terrorists. From this day forward, any nation that continues to harbor or support terrorism will be regarded by the United States as a hostile regime.”1
When our president spoke those words, a sense of what I think can accurately be called “fear” came over me. It wasn’t some personal fear as if I were sympathetic to terrorists or willing to harbor them. Of course not. The sense of fear came from feeling the gravity of the situation, the gravity of the moment. In that moment, it felt like everyone listening was put on notice. There is a war going on in which two ideologies are at conflict, and you’ve got to choose sides. I was gripped by a sense of fear that one might feel living in one of these nations where Al Qaeda was present and active, knowing that neutrality was not an option. In that moment, those individuals were notified that they were caught in the middle of a war where they had to make a choice. They couldn’t go on thinking life was the same tomorrow as it was yesterday.
Matthew 12:22-37 is one of those kinds of moments in Matthew’s gospel. When we last looked at Matthew’s gospel, Jesus had withdrawn from further conflict with the Pharisees, as they plotted how they might kill him. But now the confrontation is resumed, this time over Jesus casting out a demon and the crowd responding as John the Baptist was expected to have responded to Jesus’ miracles. As Jesus cast the demon out of a demon-oppressed man who was blind and mute so that he could now speak and see, Matthew writes, “And all the people were amazed, and said, ‘Can this be the Son of David?’” (v. 23). That is, the exorcism and healing was so obviously the work of the Spirit of God that the crowd now began to openly wonder if Jesus was the promised Messiah.
The Pharisees, however, are not excited about this. Actually, to say they’re not excited is an understatement. The reality is, the response of the crowd forces them to see that they by no means have control of Jesus and the commotion that he is producing. They don’t want people to get excited about Jesus. They don’t want people thinking he’s some great representative of God. And now the crowd is beginning to wonder out loud if Jesus is the Messiah. They’ve got to do something before it is too late if they want to stop Jesus and potentially kill him. So, they lay out their own interpretation. They say, “It is only by Beelzebul, the prince of demons, that this man casts out demons” (v. 24).
Now, they almost had to go this route in order to counter the crowd’s astonishment at Jesus. After all, no one can deny that what took place before them was supernatural. And if it’s supernatural, and you’re not going to credit the Holy Spirit for that supernatural demonstration, then there’s only one other option. You’ve got to credit the supernatural source of this power to demonic activity and demonic power. You’ve got to charge Jesus with working by the power of Satan.
Jesus’ response is to note the absurdity of this charge. First, he just goes the commonsense route of showing how silly this charge is. Matthew writes in verse 25, “Knowing their thoughts [that is, knowing that their charge against him comes from wicked hearts that simply want to oppose Jesus], he said to them, “Every kingdom divided against itself is laid waste, and no city or house divided against itself will stand.”
Again, this is just common sense. If a kingdom all of the sudden engages in civil war, that kingdom isn’t going to last, let alone advance. So, if Jesus is casting out demons (i.e. agents of the devil in his kingdom) by the head of demons (i.e. who would be in charge of the demonic agents in the devil’s kingdom), then Satan’s kingdom will fall. Jesus notes, ‘If Satan casts out Satan, he is divided against himself. How will his kingdom stand?’” (v. 26). Again, common sense shows their charge is absurd.
Second, he puts the Pharisees in a place where they have to give an account for their own followers. Jesus says, “And if I cast out demons by Beelzebul, by whom do your sons cast them out? Therefore they will be your judges” (v. 27). Now, by “sons” he doesn’t mean literally sons, but perhaps pupils or simply individuals in the Pharisees’ community. Some of these apparently had claimed to cast out demons. So, by what power would the Pharisees claim they’re doing this? The answer, of course, would be that they’re doing it by the power of God. After all, if they’re casting out demons, it must be by God’s power, right? So, the Pharisees are on the horns of a dilemma. Either they acknowledge that individuals from their own community cast out demons by the power of God because it could only be by the power of God that such a thing is done, or they acknowledge that their own followers could be working by the devil’s power. Either they have to condemn their followers as being guilty of the charge they’ve brought to Jesus, or they’ll have to admit that Jesus is doing this by the power of God. They want to admit neither, so they’re left speechless.
But then, instead of destroying their argument, Jesus begins to tell them precisely what is going on, and what he lays out is a picture of two kingdoms at war where all people are agents of one of these two kingdom. This is what I want us to see this morning. First, Jesus shows us once more that:
By his first two questions, Jesus has refuted the Pharisees’ claim that Jesus is casting out demons by the head of demons. The only logical conclusion is that he’s doing this by the Spirit of God. But if that’s the case, Jesus wants them to see, then this signals another reality, namely, the arrival of the kingdom of God. Jesus says in verse 28, “But if it is by the Spirit of God that I cast out demons, then the kingdom of God has come upon you.”
Now, in order to get this logic, we have to set a few things in place in our minds. First, Jesus has acknowledged that Satan has a kingdom. Remember verse 26 where Jesus said, “If Satan casts out Satan, he is divided against himself. How then will his kingdom stand?”
Jesus notes that Satan does indeed have a reign and rule that he is demonstrating in this world. He, by his power, blinds people, holds them in bondage, and leads them astray. He exercises power and rule. Again, that is to say, he has a kingdom. However, if the Spirit of God is empowering the casting out of Satan’s demons, then that must mean that there is another kingdom (or rule or reign) that is pressing against and overpowering the kingdom of Satan. More specifically, this must mean that the kingdom of God is present as well.
But why, more specifically, can we say that? Well, Jesus paints a picture. By casting out the demon and the demonic stronghold he had on this man’s life so that the man was blind and mute, this involved binding of Satan’s power. Jesus pictures it as if this man were held in bondage as a treasure belonging to Satan in Satan’s house. Jesus asks, “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” (v. 29).
That is, Jesus doesn’t want the onlookers to miss what’s going on when he frees this man from demonic oppression. This man is held captive by the power of Satan as a subject in Satan’s kingdom. But Jesus, as a demonstration of the power of the kingdom of God, is actually binding Satan, leaving him unable to do anything, while he goes into his house (as it were) and takes his goods, which in this case is this man whom he frees.
Yes, this world demonstrates at every turn that it is under the power of the evil one. Satan’s kingdom is alive and well. Men and women, boys and girls, are blinded in their sin and held captive in slavery by the one who holds the power of death, that is the devil, through fear of death (as Hebrews 2:14-15 tells us). His kingdom, reign, and rule in this world is powerful. But when Jesus Christ stepped onto the scene, we might say that there was a new sheriff in town. Or, better said, “God’s true king had come.” And God’s might is stronger than that of the devil. His kingdom will conquer the kingdom of Satan.
God’s kingdom is hear because Christ has come, lived, died, been raised, and is reigning at God’s right hand. And right now, God’s kingdom is forcefully and violently pushing back the kingdom of Satan. You and I are proof of it. If your faith is in Jesus Christ so that you are subjects of the kingdom of God, then that is true only because Jesus Christ, by his power, stepped in, pushed Satan to the side, and said, “I’ll be taking that one for myself, thank you very much.” And Satan was powerless to do anything about it because, as John says in 1 John 4:4, “He who is in you is greater than he who is in the world.”
There is a war going on. Two kingdoms are in conflict. Two kings are at war. But there is no doubt who the victor will be. One day the kingdom of God will push back and completely overcome the kingdom of Satan. Revelation 11:15 will become a reality, in which John pictures the redeemed of the Lord declaring, “The kingdom of this world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ, and he shall reign forever and ever.” We are at war, but the end is not in doubt. But this has implications for us, namely:
Just as I remember President Bush say that September evening, “Every nation in every region now has a decision to make: Either you are with us or you are with the terrorists,” so Jesus announces something similar. In verse 30, he declares, “Whoever is not with me is against me, and whoever does not gather with me scatters.”
There’s no option for someone to say, “I’m staying out of this war.” Either you bow the knee to Jesus Christ as king or you oppose him and remain a subject of the kingdom of Satan. There can be no middle ground. There can be no neutrality. You must choose whom you will love, trust, and serve.
And Jesus gives us the picture of how his kingdom is advancing against the kingdom of Satan. It is advancing through gathering. He parallels being with him with gathering and being against him as scattering. That is, the Lord’s kingdom is advanced and the kingdom of Satan pushed back as we go forth, in obedience to the Great Commission, and proclaim the gospel of Christ’s life, death, and resurrection so that people might hear, believe, be saved, and be transferred from the kingdom of Satan into the kingdom of our Lord. We gather his people with the gospel. So, either we’re trusting in Jesus and obeying him by gathering others, or we’re opposing him and scattering through our refusal to obey him. There is no middle ground, no neutral position where we can stand.
But how can people be gathered to Christ when we’ve sinned against him so grievously and have made ourselves captive to Satan’s kingdom through our sin and rebellion? There is great news. Jesus says in the beginning of verse 31 and the beginning of verse 32, “Therefore I tell you, every sin and blasphemy will be forgiven people. . . . And whoever speaks a word against the Son of Man will be forgiven.”
Now, I know there is a second half to both of those verses, but don’t miss the first half of verses 31 and 32 because you’re in a hurry to get to the second half because this is amazing news. With those words, Jesus isn’t saying that every sin is automatically forgiven. Otherwise, there’d be only this unforgivable sin that is spoken of that would condemn people to hell, but that’s clearly not the case. Judgment scenes throughout the Scripture note individual specific sins that people have committed. Jesus isn’t saying every sin committed is automatically forgiven. What he’s saying, I believe, is that every kind or category of sin is forgivable. Every kind of sin will be forgiven.
And that is great news, isn’t it? This means that our Lord is willing to forgive the murderer, adulterer, abuser, thief, gossip, slanderer, individual who has pursued homosexual acts, the fornicator, the arrogant, and on and on and on. There is no category of sin for which the Lord will say to us, “I know you are coming to me for forgiveness, but your sin is too great.” He forgives. So don’t despair. Don’t remain is your sin and refuse to come to Christ because you think you can’t have forgiveness. He is gathering his people, through the forgiving, cleansing, and transforming power of the gospel. And that is great and glorious news.
But, you may say, there is one sin he mentions that is unforgivable. That’s right. So, let’s look at that. In the latter half of verse 31 and 32 Jesus says, “But the blasphemy against the Spirit will not be forgiven. . . . Whoever speaks against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven, either in this age or in the age to come.”
Now, what is that? That question has been asked a lot. I just read the portion in John Bunyan’s autobiography this week where he struggles with whether or not he’d committed this unforgivable sin prior to his conversion, for he had spoken against the Lord numerous times and intentionally opposed him in his heart and mind.
Thankfully, however, Bunyan ultimately realized that forgiveness could be his through repentance and faith in the gospel. And I would add that those who want to repent, bow the knee to Christ, and find forgiveness need never worry about whether or not they’ve committed this sin, for I think the sin is linked to a hardened opposition against the Lord that does not manifest itself in seeking forgiveness and bowing the knee before the Lord. R. T. France is right to say, “This saying is a wake-up call to the arrogant, not a bogey to frighten those of tender conscience.”2
What is this sin, then? Well, in its context, we can say that it seems to be knowingly rejecting Christ’s claims and works and crediting to the power of Satan what you know is done by the power of the Holy Spirit. That is, at least, what it was in that context. And it’s hard to extrapolate from there. I’m not sure if you’re on safe ground to say this specific sin can be committed outside of its original setting where the incarnate Son of God is standing and performing miracles in front of you.
But if we can draw from this example, I would say that just as the Pharisees knew the truth, rejected it, and showed themselves to be in hardened opposition to Jesus Christ from which they would not repent, so that stance by individuals today will result in unforgiveness and condemnation on the day of judgment. The warning is then that we must be careful to harden our hearts against the Lord Jesus Christ, turning from what we know to be true about him lest we find our hearts in a state of settled hardness and repentance impossible for us.
Again, you must choose. You bow the knee to Christ in faith in this war of you oppose him. There is no neutral ground. But Jesus also makes one final point:
Now, if you’re following the argument to this point, you might say, “But what if we just mistakenly don’t recognize Jesus and refuse to confess him as Lord because somehow it’s unclear to us that Jesus is God’s king and sits on the throne of God’s kingdom?” Jesus answers that this simply isn’t the case. Rather, those who bear the fruit of denying Christ and refusing to confess him as Lord will not do so in some honest mistake but because they have evil hearts that will manifest themselves in evil words, evil actions, and eventual condemnation.
Jesus compares us to good fruit trees and bad fruit trees, bearing good fruit or bad fruit. He says, “Either make the tree good and its fruit good, or make the tree bad and its fruit bad, for the tree is known by its fruit. You brood of vipers! How can you speak good, when you are evil? For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks. The good person out of his good treasure brings forth good, and the evil person out of his evil treasure brings forth evil. I tell you, on the day of judgment people will give account for every carless word they speak, for by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned” (v. 33-37).
Now, this may seem odd, long, confusing, and like Jesus changes metaphors midway, but the point is clear. The Pharisees were speaking their slanderous words of evil about Jesus because their hearts were evil. Like a rotten tree bears rotten fruit, their evil words showed that they had evil hearts at their core. Their words were mistakenly spoken but were representative of their evil hearts. Therefore, the Lord could point to their words to reveal their hearts on the day of judgment and condemn them. Evil hearts produce evil fruit.
Good hearts, on the other hand, bear good fruit. A good heart confesses good of Jesus. A good heart has a mouth that praises Jesus, confessing him to be the Christ, the Son of the living God. And a good heart will produce words that will be pointed to on the day of judgment as vindication of the Lord’s decree that we are justified.
Well, this sounds like we all need to be good then, right? After all, Jesus says, “Make the tree good and its fruit good.” Here’s the problem. We’re all evil by nature. We’re born with evil, sinful hearts, and out of that heart we produce sin. And the problem gets worse. We’re powerless to change our own hearts. That’s a pretty bad place to be, isn’t it?
But here’s some good news. The gospel message, the good news that God the Son took on a full human nature, lived a perfect life as the God-man, died on the cross to pay for our sins, and raised from the dead so that we might have salvation through repentance and faith in him is a powerful message. In fact, as that message is spoken, the Holy Spirit works through that message on occasion to take evil hearts and change them to good hearts. The Holy Spirit works through that powerful gospel message to take hearts that are opposed to Jesus and create hearts and love him, trust him, and want to obey him.
So, if you’re not a believer, I’ve prayed that the Lord would change your heart this morning through the proclamation of this good news of the gospel. And I hope that you’ll come to me or your neighbor and make known that you’re indeed repented of your sin, are trusting in the Lord for salvation, and want to make that profession of your faith public through baptism.
And if you are a believer, why don’t we pause and recognize the miracle of what’s taken place in our hearts. You don’t want to repent of your sin, trust the Lord, love him, and obey him naturally. Naturally you want to respond like the Pharisees did, denying who Jesus obviously is as you have an axe to grind against your creator. But by God’s grace, he’s opened your eyes. He’s called you to himself. And now he wants you to labor with your brothers and sisters to see his people gathered from all over the face of the earth, making disciples, baptizing them, and teaching them to obey Christ, their king. Therefore, let us now again publicly profess our faith in the crucified as risen king as we come to the table and commit ourselves by faith to obedience to his command. Amen.