Day 26

Chase: Hello and welcome to the Point Church Podcast. We're really glad you're here. Before we jump in, if you'd like to stay connected, you can download the Point Church app. It's a simple way to find messages, resource, and what's happening. And if this podcast is helpful, take a moment to like, subscribe, and share. You can find us on YouTube, Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and Amazon Music. Let's get into today's episode. Hello everyone, and welcome back to the Point Church Podcast. I'm here with Pastor Sam. As we're going through the gospel of Matthew verse by verse for forty days, forty podcast. ⁓ we're so happy you're here today. ⁓ we're picking up ⁓ actually we're starting chapter twelve today. Uh-huh. So we'll get into that. In verse one it reads in chapter twelve at the time Jesus passed through the grain fields on the Sabbath, his disciples were hungry and began to pick and eat some heads of grain. When the Pharisees saw this, they said to him, See, your disciples are doing what is not lawful to do on the Sabbath. Yeah, the the Pharisees are just like nitpicking everything that Jesus does. They're really consumed with jealousy at this point, and you'll see further on it just grows. But what the Pharisees did for the Sabbath was it was this beautiful gift from God as a day to rest and worship and be with family. And they added all these extra rules and regulations that the Bible really didn't say, but they just kept adding to it. So they're finding anything to attack Jesus on. And he said to them, like Jesus, you know, said to him, Having you read what David did when he when he and those who were with him were hungry, how he entered the house of God and they ate the bread of the presence, which is not lawful for him or for those with him to eat, but only for the priests. Yeah, so he's telling a story about when ⁓ David's on the run and ⁓ King Saul is consumed with jealousy for David and attempts to kill him and as he's in hiding he's starving and he hides out in essentially a synagogue or a you know a church, I guess you could think of in our time, ⁓ and ate some of the bread that was reserved for the priests. And she's like, Hey, don't you remember that story? Like Yeah. Yeah, same thing. Mm-hmm. Verse five it says, Or haven't you read in the law that on the Sabbath day the priests in the temple violate the Sabbath and are in are are innocent? I tell you that something greater than the temple is here. If you had known what this means, I desire mercy and not sacrifice. Which is interesting because he's quoting I desire mercy, not sacrifice, which comes from Malachi, which is the same exact thing. ⁓ that Jesus said to the Pharisees who were at Matthew's house. Yep. So he's just over and over and over reiterating and he's like, I'm greater than the temple. Mm-hmm. And he goes on to say, you wouldn't not have condemned the innocent, for the Son of Man is the Lord of the Sabbath. Yep. So again, the Sabbath is a day of rest. It's a day of worship. It's a day of community. And it was like the high holy day of the week. Jesus like I am Lord even over this. I'm even greater than the Sabbath. I'm a true Sabbath. Yep. In verse nine it says, Moving on from there, he entered their synagogue. There he saw a man who had shriveled hands, and in order to accuse him, they asked him, Is it lawful to heal heal on the Sabbath? He replied to them, Who among you, if you had sheep that fell into a pit on the Sabbath, wouldn't take hold of it and lift it out? A person is worth far more than a sheep, so it is lawful to do what is good on the Sabbath. Yeah, again, they're just Doing anything they can to try and trap him. And he's like, Come on, like, Yeah. Come on. Yes, of course you can do good on the Sabbath. And then he goes one step further. He not only does good, but he shows another part of Sabbath is the restoring process of Sabbath. Being in a relationship with God restores creation back to, you know, before there was sin and death. And that's what he's about to do. Yep. Cause then he goes on in verse thirteen, then he told the man. Stretch out your hand. So he stretched it out and it was restored as good as the other. But the Pharisees went out and plotted against him how they might kill him. This is the first time we're seeing. Yeah. So they've gone from just jealousy to being like, This guy's gotta die. Like these are the religious leaders. That's just a thing that we always have to remember. Like, this isn't the secular Roman government. These are the religious leaders who in theory should have been Part of his disciples. And they're at time to kill him. Yeah. Yeah. They flipped the switch. Yes. Real quick. Mm-hmm. All right. And verse 15 it says, Jesus was aware of this and withdrew. Large crowds followed him, and he healed them all. He warned them not to make him known, so that what was spoken through the prophet Isaiah might be fulfilled. Here is my servant whom I have chosen, my beloved in whom I delight. I will put my spirit on him, and he will proclaim justice to the nations. He will not argue or shout, and no one will hear his voice in the streets. He will not break a bruised reed, and he will not put out a smoldering wick until he had led justice to victory. The nations will put their hope in his name. Yep. So a lot's happening in this passage. A lot of it goes back to the imagery we read about Jesus' baptism. ⁓ you know, this is my beloved son in whom I'm well pleased. You see the spirit descending like a dove on Jesus, like this is again being said here in Isaiah. ⁓ you put my spirit on him, he's my beloved, and then here's what he's gonna do. He's not gonna put up a fight, he's not, you know what I mean? Because they talk about again another prophecy of Jesus and Isaiah is like a lamb led to a slaughter. He didn't make, you know, a sound. So this is what he's gonna be like. But even this one who's like essentially a victim Of you know, injustice at his name, it goes on to say every knee will bow and every tongue will confess that Jesus is Lord. So this is again why he's come. Mm-hmm. In verse twenty two, it says, Then a demon possessed man who was blind and unable to speak was brought to him. He healed him so that the man could both speak and see. All the crowds were astounded and said, Could this be the son of David? When the Pharisees heard this, they said, This man drives out demons only by Beelzebub, the ruler of the demons. Yeah, so Beelzebub is a name for Satan, the ruler of the demons. Also is has secondary meaning, ⁓ like the Lord of the flies, the lord of death, the lord of, you know, just everything gross and vile. And so they're like he has authority over demons because he's a demon. They're just doing Anything to convince themselves he's not God anything. And he's about to show ⁓ Knowing their thoughts, he told them real quick, again, knowing their thoughts, yeah. He knows their thoughts. Yep. Every kingdom divided against itself is headed for destruction, and no city or house divided against itself will stand. If Satan drives out Satan, he is divided against himself. How then will this his kingdom stand? And if I drive out demons by Bezebel. Buh, by whom do your sons drive them out? For this reason they will be your judges. If I drive out demons by the Spirit of God, then the kingdom of God has come upon you. How can someone enter a strong man's house and steal his possessions unless he first ties up the strong man? Then can plunder his house. Anyone who is not with me is against me, and anyone who does not gather with me scatters. Therefore, I tell you, people will be forgiven every sin and blasphemy, but the blasphemy against the Spirit will not be forgiven. Whoever speaks a word against the Son of Man, it will be forgiven given him. But whoever speaks against the Holy Spirit, it will not be forgiven him, either in this age or the one to come. Mm-hmm. So this is often referred to as the unforgivable sin, this passage of scripture where ⁓ Jesus is saying, you know, there's this sin. Everything can be forgiven, but this sin. Like you can even speak badly about me, you can blaspheme me, but if you blaspheme the spirit, it's unforgivable. Yeah. In this life or the next. And what does that look like? Right. So the unforgivable sin. I ⁓ have had I had a roommate who was like, I think I for committed the unforgivable sin and was like confessing it. And he was like, I, you know. was just going and I was like, I don't think you did. And we like really went to the word on it and brought in some mentors and ⁓ we were able to come to an understanding what Jesus is talking about is the un the only sin that's unforgivable to God is rejecting his grace, rejecting the power of the spirit at work in you. So that's the only unforgivable sin is the sin you won't allow him to forgive. So saying like Again I can get into heaven without the spirit, I can get into heaven on my own righteousness, well what what's he gonna be able how can he forgive what you don't give him, you know? So anyone who truly is worried about committing the unforgivable sin really can't commit the unforgivable sin in many ways. But if you just are going through life, not interested in Jesus, not can you know, never turning your heart over to him, well, it it's the same message over and over. He's like, you can't save yourself. So I can't save you if you don't let me. So that's really what he's getting to is the unforgivable sin, because it's the spirit who does the work in us. Yeah. And rejecting the spirit is an unforgivable sin. It's basically let God love you. Yeah. And let him heal you. Yep. Mm-hmm. ⁓ verse thirty three, it says, Either make the tree good the tree good and its fruit will be good, or make the tree bad and it and its fruit will be bad. For a tree is known by its fruit, brood of vipers. How can you speak good things when you are evil? For the mouth speaks from the overflow of the heart. A good person's produces good things from its storeroom of good, and an evil person produces ⁓ evil things from its his storeroom of evil. I tell you that on the day of judgment people will have to account for every careless word they speak, for by your words you will be acquitted, and by your words you will be condemned. Yes, so again, Jesus is once again saying that good tree is known to be a good tree because it has good fruit. You know a tree is bad if the fruit is bad. This ties directly in with the spirit. If the spirit's in you and the spirit is healing you and making you new, first what you give him is your heart, what Jesus is calling the storeroom, because everything out of your heart is what comes out of your mouth as your words. If you Give that to the spirit, give that to Jesus, that's gonna become good. He's the one who's gonna make you good. Therefore, then fruit's gonna flow out of your life through your words, through your actions, through your deeds, all of that. But if you want to go up against the judge and say, I think I'm good enough, well, even your most careless words can condemn you. Mm-hmm. And again, it's goes back to Sermon on the Mount again and again and again. ⁓ you think you're good enough on your own? Have you watched every word? Again, have you watched every thought with lust, every anger? Is Jesus saying the same thing over and over again? Or are you willing to trust the spirit to restore your heart? And then out of that, good's gonna start flowing. Verse thirty-eight it says, Then some of the scribes and Pharisees said to him, Teacher, we want to see a sign from you. He answered them. An evil and adulterous generation demands a sign, but no one will be given to it except the sign of the prophet Jonah. For as Jonah was in the belly of the huge fish three days and three nights, so the Son of Man will be in the heart of the earth three days and three nights. Yeah, so Jesus is saying like here is the ultimate sign that I am who I am, is I it's gonna be like Jonah. Jonah, it says ⁓ like in the whale was all the way down. I believe the word they use is Sheol, Sheol, which is like another word for you know death. So there's actually some who believe that Jonah died in the whale and was brought back as a pre- you know, again, like to fulfill and Jesus is like, it's gonna be like that. Like I'm gonna die, I'm gonna descend, but me coming back is the ultimate sign. Like water and wine is cool, feeding a five thousand is great, but the ultimate sign I am Who I say I am is that I'm gonna be like Jonah and I'm gonna die and after three days be brought back to life. That's how you'll know who I am. He's saying this language and they're probably all like what? What? Yeah, like he's he's telling them what's going to happen. Like he keeps doing it. This is like maybe the first time it's this explicit, but he's gonna keep telling them, guys, this is what's gonna happen. Guys, this is what's gonna happen. And then they're even even after his death, yeah. Like he's like they're like, What happened? And they're like three days. Yeah, I told you. I told you. Yes. Yeah. Yeah. Yep, and then in verse forty one it says, The men of Nineveh will stand up at the judgment with their generation and condemn it, because they repented at Jonah's preaching, and look, something greater than Jonah is here. The queen of the South will rise up at the judgment with this generation and condemn it, because she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon and look something greater than Solomon is here. Yeah, so Nineveh is where Jonah was sent to to preach repentance and they repented and turned away. So they're like, So G's like that wicked city is gonna look on you all and say, You didn't believe in him? Like we believed in Jonah. This guy's even better than Jonah. And then the queen of the south is the queen of Sheba. ⁓ so she came during the reign of King Solomon, who is the son of King David, wisest man to ever live. And she traveled, they believe, from like Ethiopia. Yeah. region all the way to hear him because his reputation was so great. So he's like Jonah preached repentance and his sign was resurrection almost. You know what I mean? Like a version resurrection. The teaching I'm giving is even greater than Solomon's wisdom and you still don't believe. So sh this woman's gonna feel like I sought Solomon out and you missed Jesus. Yeah. So he's again trying to wake them up and say I'm greater than Solomon, I'm greater than Jonah, all in one. All in one in verse 43 it says when an unclean spirit comes out of a person, it roams through waterless places looking for rest, but doesn't find any. Then it says, I'll go back to my house that I came from. Returning it finds the house vacant, swept, and put in order. Then it goes and brings with it seven others spirits more evil than itself, and they enter and settle down there. Have as a result, that person's last condition is worse than the first. That's how it will be also will also be with the e this evil generation. Yeah. So a few things on this. first is they believed that ⁓ evil spirits dwelt out on the waters. So that was, you know, just part of they were like they were over the waters. That's why it says looking it roams through waterless places. They believed over great seas is where That's why they think Jesus is a ghost when he walks on the water soon. They think he's like an evil spirit because that's where they believe they were. Yeah. ⁓ but then, you know, so he's saying, like, okay, it's not enough just to drive out a demon from a person and say, let's get rid of the bad and get them back to neutral, if you will. I'm gonna air quote neutral. You need to be filled with something greater, filled with the spirit, so they don't return back. ⁓ you can think of it as we have people who've talked about trying to break an addiction. You replace a habit with a habit. Mm-hmm. You can't just be like, I'm gonna stop smoking cigarettes and that's it. Okay, you might be able to stop for a little bit, but until you replace it with something better, something good, more than likely you're gonna slip back into a bad habit and addiction. And she's like, it's working on the spiritual realm as well. Until you're filled with the spirit, that's how you know, that's the goal. Not to be neutral, mm-hmm, filled with the spirit. forty six it says while he was still speaking with the crowds, his mother and brothers were standing outside wanting to speak to him. Someone told him, Look, your mother and your brothers are standing outside wanting to speak to you. He replied to the one who was speaking to him, Who is my mother and who are my brothers? Stretch stretching out his hand towards 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. Mm-hmm. Yeah, so Jesus' family has come. ⁓ other gospels talk about this is ⁓ possibly the same confrontation that they they think he's lost his mind, they think he's, you know, like gone too far. Because his own brothers, ⁓ James doubts him while he's alive. You know, it's not till after the resurrection that he believes. That Jesus is who he says he is, which I mean that would be tough. Like if your brother's like, I'm God, you're like, no, you're my older brother. Like, you're not God. So like I think he can be, it could be understood, but they're here, and Jesus is saying, again, I'm trying to demonstrate two things. You know, the the divide between biological families that I cause. He talked about that I came to bring a sword, that this is gonna be divisive. What I'm preaching is divisive. But the other thing that Jesus is saying is those who are faithful to me and do the work of the Father will be closer than a biological family. These are my mothers and brothers. These are my sisters. You know, those who do the work of the Father. Jesus again is communicating a spiritual family that is stronger than even our closest biological ties. ⁓ and he's like, That's what kingdom I'm bringing. So again, he's using this as a teaching moment. Yeah. And again, I just imagine he's just being bombarded with questions. It's not even like he's mi it's like giving a sermon. No. He he's just being hit, hit, hit like with different questions and he's just responding like yeah, genius level responses. It's amazing. It is. It is. And with that, we're gonna close out today and tomorrow we'll be starting a verse or chapter thirteen. So thanks for tuning in, everyone.