Matthew 12:33-50: “Jesus Teaches That Spirituality Is Based
Upon Fruits, People Will Give Account Of Every Idle Word / Pharisees Ask Jesus
To Perform A Sign”
By
Jim Bomkamp
1.
INTRO
1.1.
In this next section of the book of Matthew Jesus
teaches about a variety of things
1.1.1.
We see that He caps the teaching that He began much
earlier in His Sermon On The Mount when He began to teach about knowing people’s
spirituality based upon their fruits
1.1.2.
Next, Jesus is going to talk about the day of judgment
saying that people will give account for everything which they have spoken on
that day
1.1.3.
Jesus will confront some Pharisees who come to Him
seeking Him to perform some sign
1.1.4.
etc., etc.
2.
VS 12:33 - “33 “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”” - Jesus caps
His earlier teaching about the fact that by a person’s fruit you will know them
2.1.
In this verse, Jesus reverts to the theme that He had begun earlier in
His Sermon On The Mount where He said that a good tree brings forth good fruit
but a bad tree bad fruit (Matt. 7:16-18)
2.2.
Jesus challenges the people here to commit completely to Him or to turn
completely away from Him, for He knows that riding the fence accomplishes the
same thing as turning completely away from Him
2.2.1.
We saw Jesus saying this same sort of thing in chapter 8 of this gospel
when He spoke to people who had a desire to follow Him but hadn’t counted the
cost
2.2.1.1.The scribe who wanted to
follow Jesus wherever He went yet was discouraged away, to whom Jesus replied
that the Son of Man had no place to lay His head
2.2.1.2.The man who wanted to follow
Jesus but only after he had buried his father to whom Jesus replied, ‘Let the
dead bury their own dead’
3.
VS 12:34-35 - “34 “You brood of vipers,
how can you, being evil, speak what is good? For the mouth speaks out of that which
fills the heart. 35 “The good man out of his good treasure brings forth what is
good; and the evil man out of his evil treasure brings forth what is evil”” - Jesus tells the Pharisees that what their
mouth speaks comes from that which fills their heart
3.1.
In illustration of this verse, I remember several years ago while I was
watching an NBA game that one of the players had said something that was
extremely cruel about his intention or desire to really harm another player,
and that same player later made the excuse about what he had said by saying
that what he had said was just something that wasn’t really him it just came
out of his mouth. To that reply, coach
Pat Riley said the same thing that Jesus says here, he said, “A person’s mouth
speaks what is really in his heart, he really is what he says”
3.2.
The mouth is an accurate spiritual barometer of where we are at in our
walk with the Lord and thus our spiritual maturity, and so in James 3:2-12,
James wrote the following,” 2 For we all stumble in many ways. If anyone
does not stumble in what he says, he is a perfect man, able to bridle the whole
body as well. 3 Now if we put the bits into the horses’ mouths so that they may
obey us, we direct their entire body as well. 4 Behold, the ships also, though
they are so great and are driven by strong winds, are still directed by a very
small rudder, wherever the inclination of the pilot desires. 5 So also the
tongue is a small part of the body, and yet it boasts of great things. Behold,
how great a forest is set aflame by such a small fire! 6 And the tongue is a
fire, the very world of iniquity; the tongue is set among our members as that
which defiles the entire body, and sets on fire the course of our life, and is
set on fire by hell. 7 For every species of beasts and birds, of reptiles and
creatures of the sea, is tamed, and has been tamed by the human race. 8 But no
one can tame the tongue; it is a restless evil and full of deadly poison. 9
With it we bless our Lord and Father; and with it we curse men, who have been
made in the likeness of God; 10 from the same mouth come both blessing and
cursing. My brethren, these things ought not to be this way. 11 Does a fountain
send out from the same opening both fresh and bitter water? 12 Can a fig tree,
my brethren, produce olives, or a vine produce figs? Neither can salt water
produce fresh””
3.3.
We Christians need constantly to be reminded of how important it is to
control what comes out of our mouth, for our mouth really can cause so much
destruction when it is not under God’s control, likewise so much blessing when
it is under His control
3.4.
From His calling the Pharisees a ‘brood of vipers’, we see that Jesus was
not concerned about being ‘politically correct’ and that He did not live in the
fear of man but of God, and thus what He said always represented accurately the
way that things really were. We could
say of Him, ‘He called a spade a spade’
4.
VS 12:36-37 - “36 “And I say to you,
that every careless word that men shall speak, they shall render account for it
in the day of judgment. 37 “For by your words you shall be justified, and by
your words you shall be condemned”” -
Jesus tells the people that on the day of judgment that every ‘careless
word’ that they have ever spoken they will ‘render account for’
4.1.
There is nothing that occurs anywhere in the universe to which the Lord
is not aware that is occurring, for He even knows every word that is spoken as
well as every thought that a person ever has
4.1.1.
The author of the book of Hebrews expressed this in Heb. 4:13, “13 And
there is no creature hidden from His sight, but all things are open and laid
bare to the eyes of Him with whom we have to do”
4.1.2.
I don’t know exactly how it shall be at the Great White Throne Judgment
of non-believers where they give account of all that they have done, a full
account of all of their sins, however every single thing done in the body from
birth to death shall they shall given an account for, and then non-believers
will have no excuse for their sins and they will experience the full thrust of
the wrath of God against them for their sins
4.1.3.
The Bema Judgment Seat for Christians will be a judgment of rewards, for
their will be no punishment that Christians will have to suffer for their
wrongs since Jesus on the cross suffered all of their shame and judgment for
those things, however at that judgment Christians will non-the-less give an
account of all that they have done in the body and then be rewarded according
to their good deeds done in Christ’s Name
4.2.
It is futile for us as Christians to think that we can hide anything from
the Lord, for He sees and knows all, therefore we would be wise to commit
ourselves to be pleasing to Him in all that we do, both in thought and in deed
5.
VS 12:38-40 - “38 Then some of the
scribes and Pharisees answered Him, saying, “Teacher, we want to see a sign
from You.” 39 But He answered and said to them, “An evil and adulterous
generation craves for a sign; and yet no sign shall be given to it but the sign
of Jonah the prophet; 40 for just as Jonah was three days and three nights in
the belly of the sea monster, so shall the Son of Man be three days and three
nights in the heart of the earth”” -
The Scribes and Pharisees seek a sign from Jesus
5.1.
It is so perplexing to me that these Scribes and Pharisees could see all
the things that Jesus did and said and then seek from Him a sign from heaven to
prove His claims concerning Himself
5.1.1.
These Scribes and Pharisees were so blind, having seen the marvelous
works which Jesus performed, yet they did not see them for what they were
5.1.2.
The miracles that Jesus performed were were unlike anything that had ever
occurred since the beginning of the world
5.1.2.1.Jesus’ miracles revealed His
omnipotence (all power)
5.1.2.2.Jesus’ miracles were
wonderful and beneficient to those who received them
5.1.2.3.If God were to come to the
earth as a man, the miracles which Jesus performed would be exactly what we
would expect Him to do
5.2.
Jesus tells these Scribes and Pharisees that they are ‘an evil and
adulterous generation’ because of their craving for a sign from Him
5.2.1.
God honors faith and He wants us to have faith, for faith is the channel
through which the Lord chooses to work through the lives of people
5.2.1.1.We Christians must always
approach the Lord in faith taking Him at His words and expecting Him to do all
the things that He promises that He will do
5.2.1.2.James wrote in James 1:5-8
about asking for wisdom that we must ask in faith and that we must not waver in
unbelief, for such a person should not expect to receive anything from the
Lord, “5 But if any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to
all men generously and without reproach, and it will be given to him. 6 But let
him ask in faith without any doubting, for the one who doubts is like the surf
of the sea driven and tossed by the wind. 7 For let not that man expect that he
will receive anything from the Lord, 8 being a double-minded man, unstable in
all his ways”
5.2.2.
The adultery spoken of here is probably spiritual adultery which is so
often spoken of in the Old Testament where the people had turned away from the
Lord to follow other gods of their own making
5.3.
It is worth noting here that from the context of His remarks that Jesus
believed in the inspiration of the scripture concerning the entire sequence of events
related in the book of Jonah
5.4.
Jesus tells them that He will give the world one uncontradictable sign
which attests of Him and who He is, and this sign He calls ‘the sign of Jonah’,
IOW that just as Jonah was in the fish for 3 days and nights before being spit
up on the shores of Ninevah, He would be in the heart of the earth after His
crucifixion for three days and nights until He is resurrected
5.4.1.
There has been some confusion here concerning the fact that Jesus was
actually only in the grave for parts of three days, but not for three 24 hour
periods of time, however people often spoke then as they do now of parts of
days as encapsulating a day
5.4.2.
Jesus was crucified on Friday
evening and buried late in the night before the beginning of the Sabbath (Matt.
27:57-60) since the people could not take a person off of the cross without
violating the Sabbath, and then He arose before sunrise on Sunday morning when
Mary Magdalene and the other Mary came and found His tomb having been freshly
opened by the angels (Matt. 28:1-2)
5.4.3.
Many a sceptic has come to salvation having set out to prove that the
details given in the scripture of Jesus’ resurrection were erroneous and could
not have happened as presented
5.4.3.1.God has given
incontrovertible evidence of His resurrection to all who have open minds
6.
VS 12:41-42 - “41 “The men of Nineveh
shall stand up with this generation at the judgment, and shall condemn it
because they repented at the preaching of Jonah; and behold, something greater
than Jonah is here. 42 “The Queen of the South shall rise up with this
generation at the judgment and shall condemn it, because she came from the ends
of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon; and behold, something greater than
Solomon is here”” - Jesus tells
the people that the men of Ninevah as well as the Queen of Sheba shall condemn
them on the day of God’s Judgment
6.1.
Note first of all that Jesus solemnly believed and taught that there was
coming a future day of judgment and reckoning for all of the deeds people have
done in their bodies, and that for those who are not God’s people the judgment
shall be a judgment of condemnation
6.2.
When Jonah was finally spit out of the whale that had swallowed him and
began to preach the gospel to the wicked people of Ninevah they responded to
his message and repented of their sins
6.2.1.
Thus the people of Ninevah in Jonah’s day are more righteous than the
people now before Jesus who were refusing to rend their hearts and turn their
lives over to the Lord despite seeing Jesus’ works and hearing His teaching
6.3.
The Queen of Sheba is the Queen of the South, and when she heard of the
wisdom of Solomon she traveled up from
6.3.1.
Thus, the Queen of Sheba is more righteous than the people now before
Jesus who were not seeking God nor desirous to hear His wisdom
6.4.
Jesus tells the people here that He and His message are of greater
importance and should have a greater impact upon a person than either the
anointed preaching of Jonah or the wisdom of Solomon
6.4.1.
There shall be the greatest condemnation and subsequent judgment upon
people who listened to Jesus teach or saw His miracles and yet refused to
believe in Him
6.4.2.
The ultimate test of a person’s wickedness is what they choose to do with
God’s Son: believe in Him and submit
their life to Him, or turn away and refuse to let Him do His work in their life
7.
VS 12:43-45 - “43 “Now when the unclean
spirit goes out of a man, it passes through waterless places, seeking rest, and
does not find it. 44 “Then it says, ‘I will return to my house from which I
came’; and when it comes, it finds it unoccupied, swept, and put in order. 45
“Then it goes, and takes along with it seven other spirits more wicked than
itself, and they go in and live there; and the last state of that man becomes
worse than the first. That is the way it will also be with this evil generation”” – Jesus
teaches the people about the man who has a spirit cast out of him who returns
later but when it returns it brings with it seven other spirits more wicked
than itself
7.1.
This teaching doesn’t seem to have too much continuity with the other
things that Jesus had been teaching here, so it may be that Matthew just
included in his gospel this teaching of Jesus, along with other things Jesus
had taught at other times
7.2.
These verses do not tell us explicitly that the unclean spirit has been
cast out of this man, however I believe that this must be what happened, for
why else would an unclean evil spirit want to leave a man whom it had possessed
7.2.1.
The story of the legion of demons who request to be cast into the swine
while being cast out of the demon-possessed man living among the caverns
supports this idea
7.3.
The reason that the spirit returns
is because the man’s house does not become occupied by Jesus and the Holy
Spirit after having the demon cast out of him
7.3.1.
Jesus had cleaned and swept the man’s house, putting it into order, when
He had cast the demon out, however unless a person turns his life over to the Lord
it is inevitable eventually that the devil shall come to him and make an abode
with him
7.3.2.
This teaching just makes light of the fact that unless anyone turns to
Jesus his life shall eventually become the abode of demons, the devil is not
just going to leave some people alone and not bother them, he wants to dominate
and possess everyone he can
7.4.
Jesus teaches us that this lesson applies to the entire generation of
people alive in His day who had rejected Him as their Messiah and Lord,
therefore the people’s not gathering together to Him after hearing Him teach
and seeing Him heal will cause the devil to come and have his way with them
7.4.1.
I personally know many people who have ended up this way
8.
VS 12:46-50 - “46 While He was still
speaking to the multitudes, behold, His mother and brothers were standing
outside, seeking to speak to Him. 47 And someone said to Him, “Behold, Your
mother and Your brothers are standing outside seeking to speak to You.” 48 But
He answered the one who was telling Him and said, “Who is My mother and who are
My brothers?” 49 And stretching out His hand toward His disciples, He said,
“Behold, My mother and My brothers! 50 “For whoever does the will of My Father
who is in heaven, he is My brother and sister and mother”” - Jesus reveals here whom He considers to be
His true family
8.1.
We know from the scriptures that Jesus’ brothers were unbelieving until
after He had risen from the dead, and it appears that what Jesus’ mother and
brothers are attempting to do here is to take Him back home since it appeared
to them that He had really kind of gone off too far, and, that if He didn’t
tone down His preaching some the religious leaders would find a way to take His
life
8.2.
Jesus had great respect and love for His mothers and brothers, and the
point of this teaching is not to say that He didn’t love and respect them,
rather it is just for Him to communicate whom He really considered to be His
closest family, ‘whoever does the will of My Father who is in heaven’
8.2.1.
We know that Jesus loved His mother deeply for we see His love and concern for her when He hung
on the cross and His thoughts were upon His mother and that she be well taken
care of , and thus He asked the apostle John to take her into his house and
care for her
8.2.2.
Jesus considers us a mother, brother, or a sister if we are a person like Himself who seeks to
do the will of God in our life
8.2.2.1.What a blessing it is as a
disciple of Christ to be thought of as Jesus’ most intimate family, to be His
brother, sister, or mother
8.2.3.
It is interesting to me that Catholics can read passages such as this and
yet still desire to worship Mary
8.2.3.1.Mary was a faithful saint
and had an incredible blessing in being designated by God to be the mother of
our Lord. However, scripture records her
imperfections also, as well as the fact that she was no different than any
other saint who has tried to walk close to the Lord
8.2.3.1.1.Jesus’ words toward Mary
here are a rebuke for her, as well as His brothers, for their motives are
surely wrong in approaching Him at this time
8.2.3.1.1.1.We know that the scripture
tells us that Jesus’ brothers didn’t believe in Him until after His
resurrection