Tensions Rise

Well, this past week we had some visitors stop by the building.

Evidently, last century, there was a leader from the Baha'i faith who came and spoke in this building.

And so every once in a while we'll have people who are adherents to the Baha'i faith come and kind of check out the historicity of what happened.

And if you're not aware, those people who align themselves with the Baha'i faith, the Baha'i faith embraces a kind of universal salvation that all religions lead to the same God.

Well, here we are and we have these people visiting the building who hold to a different belief than we do.

And so I found it an opportunity just to ask very respectfully a question to this couple.

And I said, well, what do you make of Jesus?

And it quickly became evident that both the husband and the wife, their understanding of who Jesus is was based upon what other people had told them.

That they hadn't seen in the Gospels themselves what the claim of the Gospels is about Jesus.

What he says of himself.

And so I asked, well, what do you think about Jesus' claims to be God?

They're quick to say, well, we believe he's a prophet.

And he's like a God.

There's a lot of opinions out there about who Jesus really is, isn't there?

This morning, I just want to lay before I say, would the real Jesus please come forward?

And in Matthew 12, the real Jesus comes forward.

We're going to see a series of conflicts between Jesus and the Pharisees this morning.

Tensions are rising.

What's becoming clear is there is an incompatibility between who Jesus is and what he claims the Scriptures teach and what the Pharisees claim the Scriptures teach.

Jesus says of himself that he is humble, gentle of heart.

He's revealing that he is the Messiah, the Christ, the all-authoritative King who has come to establish the saving reign of God on earth.

That's what the whole book of the Gospel of Matthew is about from beginning to end.

To show that Jesus is the Christ.

The Pharisees, though, have rejected Jesus as the Messiah.

That's just going to become more and more clear as we move through the Gospel of Matthew.

They reject him.

They reject his teaching.

They think he's a contrarian, that he is disruptive, and that he's a threat.

How about you?

Coming in this morning.

What do you think about the real Jesus?

Maybe you've come in and just to be all honest, you know that you've been mocking Jesus.

You think that religion is a crutch.

That Jesus is truly a historical figure, but you know what?

All the stuff about him has just kind of gone to a little too far.

You may say religion is okay, it helps people, but you yourself don't buy it.

Before you write Jesus completely off, would you listen this morning to what the Gospel of Matthew reveals about him?

Would you take it to heart what he claims about himself?

Or maybe you've come into the building this morning and you're kind of on the fence.

We're going to see a group of people in Matthew 12 to say, they're going to see him do a miracle and they're going to ask,

can this be the Son of David?

And maybe this morning you're approaching Jesus that way.

Can this be the one?

Can this be the one Messiah?

Well, it's good that you're asking the question, but just to let you know up front, you can't stay neutral on who Jesus is.

You can't stay neutral on his claims.

You're going to decide.

You're going to have to decide whether he is the Christ or not.

You're going to decide whether you're going to follow him.

And if you are a follower of Jesus and you've come in here this morning and you're kind of like thinking,

well, life's tough.

It's hard to be a follower of Jesus.

And you know what, sometimes I kind of wonder if it's all worth it.

This morning you're going to see some Christological fireworks out of Matthew 12.

And my prayer for you today is that you're going to find yourself strengthened in saying, oh, he is so worth it.

He is awesome.

So this morning, here's how we're going to proceed.

We're going to walk through all of Matthew 12.

We're going to walk through the four conflicts.

Let me just summarize.

There's a conflict between Jesus and the Pharisees over plucking of grains on the Sabbath.

That's the first one.

The second conflict is a conflict between Jesus and the Pharisees on Jesus healing on the Sabbath.

The third conflict is a conflict between Jesus and the Pharisees on by whose authority, power, Jesus is casting out demons.

The Pharisees say, by Satan you cast out demons.

The second conflict is a conflict between Jesus and the Pharisees on the Sabbath.

The final conflict is over the request for a sign.

So Sabbath, Sabbath, Satan, sign.

That's what we're going to do.

So four conflicts.

And after that, we're going to come back.

And I want you to see something in this passage that seems kind of out of place at first.

You kind of read it and you're kind of like, what is that doing there?

We'll come back to that.

And that's going to help you realize the good news of who this man is.

We're going to see the real Jesus this morning.

So let's start by looking at Matthew 12, verses 1-8.

Matthew 12:1–8

The first, this conflict between Jesus and the Pharisees.

Verse 1, we see the situation.

Jesus and His disciples are traveling on the Sabbath.

And there were actually regulations of the day on how far you could travel on the Sabbath.

And Jesus and His disciples were well within those regulations.

But the disciples were hungry.

And they're walking through a grain field.

And His disciples start picking grains of head off the crops.

And all of a sudden, there's this Pharisee on the scene.

Whip, whip, whip.

Whip, whip, whip, whip, whip.

Yeah, I'm Jacob.

Jacob Ben David.

I'm with the GPD, Galilean Pharisee Department.

Yeah, I'm here to enforce Sabbath regulations.

It appears as though, verse 2, your disciples are doing what is unlawful on the Sabbath.

Leon Morris in his commentary helps us to understand what's going on.

They were plucking grain, which technically is reaping.

They were rubbing to separate the grain from the husk, which was technically threshing.

They were blowing away the husks off the grain, which was technically winnowing.

And altogether, technically, this is food preparation.

Something that you're not to do on the Sabbath.

Whip, whip, whip.

So according to the man-made regulations of the Pharisees, Jesus' disciples were declared guilty for breaking the Sabbath.

The Pharisees were seeking to honor the Sabbath in a way that stayed nicely within the regulations, the man-made regulations, the tradition of the elders.

So the issue here is the right honoring of the Sabbath.

The Pharisees insist a good Jew must adhere to the tradition of the elders.

And there were so many rules governing the Sabbath, no one person could really remember them all.

But Jesus doesn't roll that way.

Jesus responds in verse 3.

And the way He responds is not by appealing to the tradition of the elders.

He responds by pointing them right to the Scriptures.

And Jesus points to two different passages that raise exceptions to what they are saying.

First, He points to David in 1 Samuel 21.

You see that in verse 3.

He says this,

Have you not read that David?

What David did.

And back in the Sermon on the Mount, He's talking to the people and He's saying,

Have you not heard?

There were uneducated people.

Now He's talking to the Pharisees who are well-educated.

Have you not read?

Have you not read what 1 Samuel 12 says about David?

David, on His fleeing from Saul, He shows up in a town and talks to the priest and says,

Hey, you got any bread for my boys?

My guys?

The priest says, No, we don't have any common bread, but we do have some holy bread.

And the holy bread of the time was reserved only for the priests to eat.

And so the priest asked David, David, are your guys clean?

Are they holy?

And David says, Yeah, they're holy.

And so the priest gives them the holy bread intended for just the priests.

And so what Jesus is saying, Hey, that was kind of out of bounds.

But the point of Jesus bringing up is saying,

David was never condemned for that in the Scriptures.

He goes on to raise another point.

Let me just say this.

Jesus is making the point that there's a place for mercy.

Mercy trumps the practice of ceremonial law.

There was a need and it was met.

The second appeal, he points to a practice that the Pharisees would have been very familiar with as well.

In verse 5, he says this,

Have you not read in the law how on the Sabbath the priests in the temple profane the Sabbath and are guiltless?

What does that mean?

Well, priests would serve on the Sabbath.

They would work on the Sabbath in order to facilitate all of the offerings and all of the other things going on in the Sabbath in the temple.

And so Jesus is raising, are you guys not aware of what the Scriptures say about priests serving on the Sabbath?

And the point is that there are situations when godly people profane the Sabbath but are guiltless in God's eyes.

So you take those two together and Jesus has just demonstrated through two biblical examples that the Pharisees aren't right.

These two examples contradict what they are saying.

And so Jesus is saying what my disciples are doing is not unlawful on the Sabbath.

Honoring the Sabbath does not mean we are unable to pluck grain and eat it as we advance the kingdom of heaven.

And so then he drops a rebuke in verse 7.

He's quoted, he's already mentioned this back in Matthew 9.

He says,

And if you had known what this means, I desire mercy and not sacrifice,

you would not have condemned the guiltless.

You would not have condemned my disciples if you knew what this meant.

But the Pharisees, if the Pharisees were actually looking to love their neighbors,

as themselves, they would have been merciful,

not insistent on keeping small details of man-made traditions.

They would know what God meant when he said,

I desire mercy and not sacrifice.

They wouldn't have condemned them.

They would have said,

Yeah, you do what you need.

You advance the kingdom.

You go.

What Jesus is saying to the Pharisees is,

you don't get God's heart revealed in the Scripture.

My disciples are guiltless.

The Sabbath isn't meant to deny mercy.

The Sabbath is actually a mercy.

Jesus makes some claims here.

Did you notice that?

Verse 6,

I tell you something greater than the temple is here.

Priests serve in the temple.

The two examples he gave,

both with David and in the temple service,

focuses on priests.

Priests are part of it.

What Jesus is saying is,

hey, priests up to me were imperfect,

but you're looking at the perfect priest.

He goes on to say that the Son of Man,

it's a direct reference from Daniel chapter 7,

Daniel 7 · chapter mention

it's a messianic reference,

and then he says,

the Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath.

You've got to look at it in verse 8,

for the Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath.

That is a huge claim.

What he's saying is this.

He's got authority over the Sabbath.

The Sabbath belongs to him.

He knows what it's meant for.

The Sabbath is to refresh, not to condemn.

The Sabbath is to give mercy,

not to be merciless.

The Sabbath is to bless God's people,

not to stress God's people.

Jesus and the Pharisees

have fundamentally different understandings

of how to observe the Sabbath.

You've got the yoke,

the teaching of the Pharisees,

which was really heavy.

And then you've got the yoke of Jesus,

which was light and easy.

Jesus won, Pharisees zero.

Let's move on to the next conflict.

We see this in verses 9-14.

It's again a conflict related to the Sabbath,

but Jesus healing on the Sabbath.

The situation,

we see in verse 10,

note verse 9,

he went on from there

and entered their synagogue.

And so Jesus,

from that first conflict,

he doesn't linger.

He moves on.

He kind of withdraws a little bit,

which should raise some questions,

like, why is he doing that?

But here in verse 10,

he shows up in a synagogue

and there's a man there

with a withered hand.

And apparently,

there are Pharisees there too.

Whip, whip, whip.

Yeah, Simon Ben-Jacob,

I'm here with the GPD.

I noticed that there's a man

with a withered hand here.

Well, I'm just kind of wondering,

Jesus,

is it lawful

to heal him on the Sabbath?

And Matthew inserts in verse 10

that he's asked that

in order to accuse Jesus.

The Pharisees held that

someone could only be healed

on the Sabbath

if that person was on the verge of death.

So if you broke your leg

on the Sabbath,

so sorry,

you're going to have to wait

to the next day

to set that.

So the issue here

is again

what's permitted

on the Sabbath

and this Pharisee

is baiting Jesus.

He's saying,

hey,

is it lawful

to heal on the Sabbath?

And look at Jesus' response

in verse 11.

Jesus says,

which one of you

who has a sheep

if it falls into a pit

on the Sabbath

would not take hold of it

and lift it out?

He's saying,

hey, guys,

let's be honest,

seriously.

If you've got a sheep,

if you've got an animal,

you're going somewhere,

it falls on the pit

on the Sabbath,

what are you going to do?

He's going to pull it out, right?

Right!

He assumes

that they're going to say yes.

And then he kind of drops

what's called

a how much more argument

in verse 12.

So he's established

the fact that

people are going to

pull out their sheep

from a pit

on the Sabbath

because they want to do good

to their sheep.

And so Jesus

then goes on to say

in verse 12,

how much more value

is a man

than a sheep?

Get the logic?

If you're willing

to do good

to your animal

on the Sabbath,

how much more

should you be willing

to do good

to a fellow

image bearer

of God?

People are more valuable

than sheep.

So he draws a conclusion

in verse 12.

So it's lawful

to do good

on the Sabbath.

You've got to understand

what he's saying.

It's just not permitted

to do good

on the Sabbath.

It's lawful.

It's right.

It's to be done.

It fulfills

the intent

of the law.

Showing mercy

to others.

Loving your neighbor.

And so there's

a subtle claim here.

He's again saying

I'm the Lord

of the Sabbath.

Let's make sure

we know what the Sabbath

is meant for.

In Mark 2,

he says

man was not made

for the Sabbath,

but Sabbath

was made for man.

Man?

So the point

of all this

is this.

On the Sabbath,

God has given

this day

to refresh

his people.

To show mercy

to his people.

To bless

his people.

We do good

to one another.

It's the right

thing to do

on the Sabbath.

Sabbath.

And then he pulls

out a trump card.

In verse 13,

then he said

to the man,

stretch out

your hand.

The man

stretches out

his hand

and then in verse,

what we see is

it's fully restored.

Now,

could you imagine

that Pharisee

what he's thinking

at that point?

Not only was he

kind of rebuked,

but then Jesus

goes ahead

and does the good

thing on the Sabbath.

He does the very

thing that he was

being kind of

baited on.

He heals

this man.

So Jesus

and the Pharisees

have a fundamentally

different understanding

of observing

the Sabbath.

A day to do

good to others.

You do it

if your animal

got stuck in a pit.

How much more

should we do that

for fellow image bearers?

Jesus 2,

Pharisee 0.

Did you notice

verse 14?

The Pharisees

went out

and start to

conspire.

Tensions are

rising.

You know

they start

conspiring?

They start to

conspire to do

what?

To destroy

Jesus.

Now,

that's pretty

interesting

because it is

the Sabbath.

And I find it

quite ironic

that these

Pharisees

go now

to plan

to destroy

Jesus

on the

Sabbath.

It shows

you the

hardness

of their

hearts.

They don't

believe.

They're

standing

against.

Conflict

number three.

Jesus

has a

conflict

with the

Pharisees

about

casting out

demons.

It's in

chapter 12

verses 22

through 37.

Now,

I know

you're probably

wondering,

hey,

we just

skipped

verses 15

through 21.

And it's like,

that's okay.

We're going to

come back to it.

It's going to

make sense.

But here's the

situation going on

in verses 22

through 37.

A demon,

22 and 23,

a demon-oppressed

man,

unable to see

or speak,

is brought to

Jesus,

and Jesus

heals him.

And he heals

him by casting

out the demon

that was oppressing

him.

That doesn't

mean that all

blindness and

inability to

speech is

directly the

cause of

demonic oppression.

But in this

case,

it was.

And so the

man is

immediately able

to speak and

see,

and I would

have just

loved to

know what

he said.

But in

verse 23,

what we see

is this.

There was a

group of

people there

who were

watching this

take place,

and all the

people were

amazed.

And they

said,

can this be

the son of

David?

And what

they're saying

there is

this.

Could this

be the

Messiah?

Could this

be the

one who's

descended

of David

who's going

to reign?

2 Samuel

7.

Is this

the guy?

Is he

the Christ?

The one

who would

inaugurate an

everlasting

kingdom?

And in

verse 24,

we see the

accusation.

When the

Pharisees hear

about it,

they kind

of go

crazy.

And by

the way,

it's not

because it's

the healing

itself,

and it

doesn't seem

like it's

even the

amazement of

the crowd,

it's what

the crowd

is saying.

Can this

be the

Messiah?

And so

the Pharisees

are,

are they

actually

thinking that

this guy

could be

the Messiah?

We've

got to

squelch

this real

quick.

And so

what they

say is,

you can

read it

in verse

24.

It's not,

they say,

it's only

by Beelzebul,

the prince

of demons,

that this

man casts

out demons.

And Beelzebul,

the prince

of demons,

is Satan.

They're

reaching.

They don't

want him

to get

any kind

of

messianic

credit,

Jesus.

And so

they're

saying,

no,

no,

no,

no,

no.

That is

not the

power of

God at

work.

That's

the power

of Satan

at work.

He's

not the

Christ.

He's

casting out

demons

by the

power of

Satan.

So the

issue here

is,

whose

power is

Jesus

casting

out

demons?

Satan

or the

Holy

Spirit?

And

Jesus

responds

with a

multi-stage

response.

And so

in verse

25-30,

the first

stage in

what Jesus

is basically

saying is,

are you

guys

ridiculous?

If you

look at

verse 25,

he says

this,

every

kingdom

divided

against

itself

is laid

waste,

and no

city or

house

divided

against

itself

will

stand.

And if

Satan

casts out

Satan,

he's

divided

against

himself.

How

then will

his

kingdom

stand?

His

point

is like,

hey,

Satan's

not

dumb.

Even

Satan

knows not

to divide

his own

kingdom by

casting out

demons in

his name.

The demons

are doing

his work.

Why would

he cast

them out?

It's a

ridiculous

argument that

the Pharisees

are making,

but hard

hearts are

stubborn hearts,

and hard

hearts are

unwilling to

see the

things the

way they

are.

Hard

hearts have

a hard

time admitting

when they

are mistaken.

So,

Jesus is

saying,

hey,

what you're

saying is

actually pretty

stupid.

And then

in verse

27,

he takes

it a

step

further.

He says

about

the sons

of the

Pharisees,

he says,

if I cast

out demons

by Beezable,

by whom

do your

sons cast

them out?

Therefore,

they will

be your

judges.

And so,

what's going

on right

there is,

there was

a group

of people

associated

with the

Pharisees

who were

casting

out demons

too.

And what

Jesus is

saying,

hey,

man,

I've been

casting

out demons

for a

while now.

I've been

casting out

way more

demons than

your boys

have been

casting out

demons.

And if

I'm casting

these demons

out by

the power

of Satan

and having

a tremendous

effect,

whose power

are your

guys doing

it by?

Then he

goes,

they will

be your

judges.

You should

go ask

them by

whose power

I am

casting

these demons

out.

They will

give you

an honest

answer.

And then

he goes

in verse

28.

He says

this,

but if

it's by

the Spirit

of God

that I

cast out

demons,

then the

kingdom of

God has

come upon

you.

It's like

he's saying,

well,

here's a

possible

alternative

that I'm

actually

casting out

demons by

the power

of God.

that it's

the Holy

Spirit working

through me

to cast

out the

very demons

you're accusing

me of

casting out

by Satan.

And if it

is that,

here's what

that means.

If I'm

casting out

demons by

the Holy

Spirit,

it means the

kingdom of

heaven has

come upon

earth.

And if the

kingdom of

heaven has

come upon

earth,

that really

seems to

say that I

am the

Messiah.

But they

were unwilling

to admit

that.

And he

gives this

illustration.

It's kind

of continuing

with this

thought of

if I do

this by

the power

of the

Holy Spirit.

In

verse

29,

he says,

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.

If I

do this

by the

Spirit

of God,

that means

I am

binding

the strong

man Satan.

It means

that I

am entering

his domain

and plundering

his house

for my

kingdom.

The kingdom

is advancing

in other

words.

It's a

sign.

If it's

by the

Spirit

of God

that he's

doing this,

it is

signaling

to everyone

who has

eyes to

see that

the kingdom

has arrived

and that

the king

is getting

it done.

Advancing

his kingdom.

So verse

30 is the

conclusion.

Jesus says,

whoever is

not with

me is

against

me and

whoever

does

not

gather

with

me

scatters.

He's

saying you

can't be

neutral,

guys.

Either you're

with me

or you're

against me.

Either it's

by the power

of Satan

I'm doing

what I'm

doing or

it's by

the Spirit

of God

I'm doing

what I'm

doing.

If it's

by the Spirit

of God

the kingdom

has come.

That's his

first stage.

The second

stage

he goes a

little

talks about

some things

that might

be uncomfortable

for us

to hear.

In verses

31 and

32

he goes

on to

say

start talking

about

blasphemy.

Blasphemy

of the

Spirit.

Again

this is in

response to

the charge

by the

Pharisees

that he's

casting out

demons

by Satan.

And Jesus

is responding

to that

in verses

31 and

32.

And what

Jesus is

basically

saying is

this.

You have

no idea

what you're

saying right

now.

Your hearts

are so hard

they point

to the

reality

that you

are now

beyond the

scope of

God's

forgiveness.

You are

saying things

that are

condemning

you.

The

context

here

clarifies

what

Jesus

means

by

blasphemy

against

the

Spirit.

Now I'm

guessing

if you're

a Christian

in the

room

you've

heard that

phrase

before

the

unforgivable

sin

and you

can start

stressing out

a little bit

and you're

like have

I

blasphemed

the Holy

Spirit

because

if I

blasphemed

the Holy

Spirit

that means

I am

beyond

the scope

of God's

forgiveness

and I

certainly

don't

want to

be

like

that.

The

context

makes it

clear what

Jesus

means by

blasphemy

of the

Spirit.

Speaking

against

the

Spirit.

Remember

I just

want to

see this

remember

in verse

28

Jesus

is

claiming

to

cast

out

demons

by

the

Spirit

of

God.

And

what

blasphemy

is

is

attributing

a work

of God

to

someone

other

than

God.

Jesus

himself

was

accused

of

blasphemy

back

in

Matthew

Matthew 9 · chapter mention

chapter

9

remember

he

tells

this

paralytic

your sins

are

forgiven

the Pharisees

are like

only God

can forgive

sins

you're

blaspheming

and then

what Jesus

does in

response is

in order

that you

may know

that the

Son of

Man

has

authority

to

forgive

sins

on

earth

get

up

walk

gets

up

and

walks

it

points

to

the

fact

that

he's

not

blaspheming

he's

God

in

the

flesh

now

Jesus

is not

being

accused

of

blasphemy

here

he

is

actually

saying

you

guys

are

blasphemy

you

guys

are

attributing

and he

talks about

two kinds

of

blasphemy

there's

the

blasphemy

against

the

Son of

Man

that

can

be

forgiven

and

then

there's

the

blasphemy

against

the

Spirit

which

cannot

be

forgiven

it

is

unforgivable

an

example

of

blasphemy

that

can

be

forgiven

is

a

word

against

the

Son

of

Man

it's

like

denying

that

Jesus

is

the

Christ

you

go

a

long

time

in

your

life

and

you're

like

he's

not

God

he's

not

my

master

he's

not

who

he

says

he

is

that

can

be

forgiven

remember

the

apostle

Paul

remember

how

long

he

persecuted

the

church

do

you

know

why

he

persecuted

the

church

because

the

church

was

proclaiming

that

Jesus

was

the

Christ

but

Paul

was

forgiven

of

that

so

what

is

blasphemy

against

the

Spirit

and

why

is

it

unforgivable

well

contextually

blasphemy

against

the

Spirit

is not

only denying

the Holy

Spirit's

work

not only

denying the Holy

Spirit's

power and

casting out

demons

but it's

actually

attributing

the Holy

Spirit's

work of

casting out

demons

to Satan

that's

blasphemy

against the

Holy

Spirit

it's

attributing

to Satan

what the Holy

Spirit is

doing

and what

it reflects

is a

hardened

heart

a

heart

so

hard

that

it

is

not

willing

to

consider

that

this

is

a

work

of

God

a

hard

heartedness

so

set

in

its

ways

it

sets

you

outside

of

forgiveness

God

hands

you

over

it's

a

blasphemy

that

goes

too

far

and

so

when

Jesus

says

it

will

not

be

forgiven

in

this

age

or

in

the

age

to

come

what

he's

saying

is

never

if

you

reach

that

point

of

settled

defiance

against

God

and

saying

there

is

no

way

the

Holy

Spirit

can

do

that

that

is

a

work

of

Satan

you've

crossed

over

generally

speaking

those

who are

concerned

about

blasphemy

against

the

Holy

Spirit

because

you're

concerned

about

it

it

usually

indicates

you

haven't

blasphemed

the

Holy

Spirit

because

those

people

who do

blaspheme

the

Holy

Spirit

they

don't

care

they

don't

it

doesn't

matter

they

are set

in their

ways

and

there's

no

turning

back

but

let me

tell you

something

I'm

not

sure

if

you

notice

this

I

frankly

find it

amazing

that

God

in His

grace

would

forgive

anyone

against

blaspheming

the

Son of

Man

could

you

imagine

that

God

is

willing

to

forgive

that

what a

God

so

this

is a

sober

warning

to

those

willing

to

hear

it

who

have

yet

to

blaspheme

the

Spirit

but

maybe

you've

already

blasphemed

the

Son

don't

go

there

you

still

can

be

forgiven

that's

stage

two

stage

three

of

Jesus

response

to

this

charge

that

he's

been

casting

out

demons

by

by

Satan

is in

verses

33

through

37

and

what

he

basically

says

is

this

hey

there's

a

cause

and

effect

relationship

between

what's

in

your

heart

and

what

comes

out

of

your

mouth

and

your

evil

heart

that

has

rejected

me

as

the

Messiah

and

it's

just

becoming

harder

and

harder

as

you

see

more

and

more

of

my

work

the

harder

it

gets

the

worse

you

speak

what

you

value

most

will

inevitably

show

up

in

your

speech

and

what

Jesus

is

saying

to

these

Pharisees

is

your

evil

heart

towards

me

is

revealed

by

your

evil

speech

attributing

to

the

Holy

Spirit

that

this

work

of

casting

out

demons

is

by

Satan

what

Jesus

is

saying

is

right

there

it's

like

your

words

condemn

you

it's

your

words

justify

the

verdict

that

you're

beyond

forgiveness

these

three

stages

of

Jesus

argument

in

response

to

this

charge

is

he

goes

from

ridiculous

you

guys

seriously

Satan

casting

out

Satan

it

makes

no

sense

to

blasphemous

do you

have

any

idea

that

what

you're

saying

is

horrid

it's

wrong

to

finally

saying

your

words

condemn

you

Jesus

three

Pharisees

zero

the

last

conflict

is

over

the

request

for

a

sign

in

verses

38

through

42

situation

some

scribes

and

Pharisees

in

verse

38

they

ask

Jesus

for

a

sign

show

us

something

to

demonstrate

who

you're

claiming

to

be

but

what

you need

to

understand

is

the

Pharisees

are

being

less

than

genuine

in

Mark

and Luke

when you

read

similar

accounts

of

this

the

asking

of

a

sign

is

followed

by

to

test

him

the

Pharisees

really

don't

want

to

be

convinced

that

Jesus

is

the

Messiah

they

just

want

him

to

do

something