The Spirit of Jesus
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Welcome & Intro
Welcome & Intro
We’re so glad you’re with us
Redemption Church is a family-friendly home-based church - and we’re glad you’re with us online
We’re in our series: God With Us - (Matthew)
The title of my sermon is The Spirit of Jesus
We are in the second half of Chapter 12
As we studied before - Matthew is very structured
Five “books” within this gospel
Matthew begins with a Preamble (chaps. 1-2) - and ends with an Epilogue (chaps. 26-28)
Each of the five books contain a lengthy discourse of Jesus
Book I - Discipleship
Book II - Apostleship
Book III - Hiding of the Revelation (chaps. 11-13)
Israel is in disarray / dealing with the Pharisees (11-12)
Discourse of Jesus: teaching in Parables (13)
Book IV - Church Administration
Book V - Judgment
Last week, we looked at two stories - Jesus’ first encounters with the Pharisees
Based on their warped / legalistic view of the Sabbath law
We will look at more interaction with the Pharisees
But last week’s stories:
The disciples plucking heads of grain to eat - on the Sabbath
Jesus healing a man’s hand in a synagogue on the Sabbath
We learned that Jesus is the Lord of the Sabbath
And that it is lawful to do good on the Sabbath
The Sabbath law was given to us as an example from the Lord himself
He rested on the Seventh Day - and God’s people were to rest
The purpose of the Sabbath was given as a picture of us resting in Jesus
It was meant to illustrate God’s wonderful grace for us
That we don’t work for our salvation - our salvation has nothing to do with our works
That’s what it means to “rest in Jesus” - we rest in his work on the cross
We are saved by grace
For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God,
This is what the Sabbath means to us - that we now rest in Jesus
Jesus said, “Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.”
We find rest from our religious works
Following after religion makes us heavy laden with labor
Religion is all about our works
We find rest from looking to the world for the answer in life
Following Jesus means to rest in his grace - it is not of our doing
Scripture Reading
Scripture Reading
Matthew 12, beginning in verse 13
English Standard Version Chapter 12
13 Then he said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” And the man stretched it out, and it was restored, healthy like the other. 14 But the Pharisees went out and conspired against him, how to destroy him.
God’s Chosen Servant
15 Jesus, aware of this, withdrew from there. And many followed him, and he healed them all 16 and ordered them not to make him known. 17 This was to fulfill what was spoken by the prophet Isaiah:
18 “Behold, my servant whom I have chosen,
my beloved with whom my soul is well pleased.
I will put my Spirit upon him,
and he will proclaim justice to the Gentiles.
19 He will not quarrel or cry aloud,
nor will anyone hear his voice in the streets;
20 a bruised reed he will not break,
and a smoldering wick he will not quench,
until he brings justice to victory;
(Pray…)
My ESV Bible divides the last half of Matthew 12 into six sections:
1.) God’s Chosen Servant - including a quote from Isaiah
2.) Blasphemy Against the Holy Spirit
3.) A Tree Is Known by Its Fruit
4.) The Sign of Jonah
5.) Return of an Unclean Spirit
6.) Jesus’ Mother and Brothers
And probably the most shocking , and most controversial part of this chapter: Blasphemy Against the Holy Spirit
Verses 31-32 are the subject of many debates and speculation
The reason why is that Jesus told the Pharisees that there exists one sin which is unforgivable
And as Jesus put it, “either in this age or in the age to come”
Jesus seems to use plain language in this passage, but it’s still hard for us to grasp exactly what he meant
I think this is for obvious reasons: we don’t like to think that it’s possible that we, or anyone else, has the ability to commit a sin which God is either unwilling, or unable to forgive
Let me set the stage
This entire chapter contains intense interactions between Jesus and the Pharisees
After healing the man with the withered hand in the synagogue - the scriptures say in verse 14 that the Pharisees went out and “conspired against him, how to destroy him”
There is a lot of drama in this chapter
The very next verse: Jesus is aware of this and simply withdrew
But as the crowds followed him, the Bible says he healed them all and ordered the crowds to be quiet about it
And verses 18-21 quote Isaiah, as all of this was to fulfill prophesy
So Jesus is healing all of these people - and it mentions one person who Jesus healed:
A demon-oppressed man who was blind and mute
And after Jesus healed him, verse 24 says this
But when the Pharisees heard it, they said, “It is only by Beelzebul, the prince of demons, that this man casts out demons.”
First off - what an evil thing to say about the Lord Jesus Christ
But why do they say this after this man was healed?
It says that when Jesus withdrew, many people followed him - and he healed them all
But when it came to this one man - the one who was blind and mute -
The Pharisees say that horrible thing
But look at the reaction of the crowd in verse 23
And all the people were amazed, and said, “Can this be the Son of David?”
The Pharisees were jealous - but I think it was more than jealousy
To speculate that Jesus was the Son of David, was to say he was the Messiah
In their minds, that was blasphemy
Let me modernize this scene
How does the world react to the mention of Jesus?
In one sense, the world is okay when we talk about Jesus
We can talk about him - and pray to him - and go to church - as long as we keep it to ourselves
The moment you declare that Jesus is Lord - is when you’ve crossed the line according to the world
If Jesus is Lord - if he really is the Creator of the universe - and if he’s a personal God, then he is to be worshipped
And even the world knows to some extent - that means to repent and give up what they got going on
We’re back to repentance
Remember what Jesus preached?
He preached repentance
That’s really what this is about
If you accept that Jesus is truly Lord - then that means you need to change your ways
If you admit that Jesus is Lord, but you don’t repent - then he’s not your Lord - because you’re fine with what you got going on in your life
See how this works?
The world allows us to have our own “Jesus time” - we can go to church - and have our beliefs
But when we preach that Jesus is Lord of all - the world hates us - not because of us, but because of him
The people were watching Jesus and began to speculate:
Maybe Jesus is the Messiah
Maybe Jesus really is Lord
And the Pharisees weren’t having it
And the Pharisees declared that he was the devil!
But Jesus first called them out on their faulty logic
A kingdom divided doesn’t really make sense
Jesus drove out the demons from this man - but the Pharisees were claiming he did this under the authority of the “prince of demons”
Jesus is saying, “If I am the prince of demons - then why in the world would I heal a man and cast demons out?”
Then Jesus made his second point - verse 31 starts with the word, “therefore”
It means that Jesus is about to make his main point:
Every sin of blasphemy can be forgiven - even against the Son of Man
But blasphemy against the Holy Spirit will never be forgiven - not in this age, or in the age to come
Blasphemy of the Holy Spirit - means to say something against the Spirit
What is the role of the Spirit? Concerning the world: conviction. To blasphemy against him, means to shun that conviction and to not repent
Repenting and agreeing with God means to say something
because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.
You’re really confessing that Jesus is your Lord
Romans 10:9 has everything:
He’s now your Lord - which assumes you’ve repented of your worldly gods and idols
And if you believe God raised Jesus from the dead - it means you believe everything about Jesus
You believe in his death on the cross - you believe in the resurrection - and you believe in his life
Whenever I do a baptism, I always have them confess “Jesus is Lord” - and I ask if they believe that God raised him from the dead
Where is all of this going?
This is a tough passage
Let me give you some tips for when you come across a passage of Scripture that’s hard to understand
When you come across a tough passage:
1.) Look at it in context
2.) Interpret it with other Scripture
In context:
Verses 31-32 come from the discussion Jesus is having with the Pharisees
He’s responding to their utter blasphemy about their “prince of demons” comment
Notice the author of Matthew inserted “I will put my Spirit upon him” in verse 18
In other words - the Holy Spirit in Jesus represents his purpose
Jesus laid out part of his purpose early on: “Repent”
Therefore the Pharisees are ultimately going against that purpose - and against the Holy Spirit
I have to conclude that to blasphemy against the Holy Spirit - is ignoring the his conviction of the sin in your life
In a sense, God is unable to forgive you
You are the only one in the universe who has the power to reject the God of the universe from saving you
If you reject the Holy Spirit’s conviction in your life - then you can never be forgiven
Interpreting with Scripture:
Let’s quickly look at five of those sections in this chapter - they relate because it’s all one scene
We just looked at Blasphemy Against the Holy Spirit
Verses 33-36 A Tree is Known by Its Fruit
These are all the words of Jesus
He calls out the Pharisees because they can’t say anything good because they are evil
“For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks.”
This section is about the heart - good treasure comes from good people - evil treasure comes from evil people
And he makes the point that they will be judged and condemned by careless words
Not merely because of the words - but because of the heart
Verses 38-42 The Sign of Jonah
The Pharisees want a sign from Jesus - his answer is that they will witness the sign of Jonah
In other words, just like Jonah was in the belly of a fish - the Son of Man will be in the earth three days
Then he makes a reference to Nineveh - they repented at Jonah’s preaching - and they will be present at the day of judgment to condemn that generation
Verses 43-45 Return of an Unclean Spirit
Jesus seems to be making his first point - that it’s illogical to say that he cast out demons by the prince of demons
Then he equates his generation with the evilness of those demons
Verses 46-50 Jesus’ Mother and Brothers
Someone mentions that Jesus’ mother and brothers were standing outside
Jesus famously says, “Who is my mother, and who are my brothers?”
He points to his disciples and says they are his mother and brothers - and that anyone who does the will of his Father in heaven is his brother and sister and mother
Here is my grand summary of this chapter - you are either for Jesus, or you’re not
You either repent at some point, or you will dig in your heels and never turn to the Lord
It’s all reflective of your heart
Nineveh was full of pagans - they were against Israel - but they repented
Jesus put them in a higher position than these religious leaders because they did the will of the Lord
This passage demands that you decide where you stand :
Do you stand with Jesus?
Or with the world?
Nowhere does the Bible allow for someone to not be saved based on a technicality, or a mere utterance
If you’re worried that you said some things in the past that made God sad - let me ask you
Do you feel love and adoration for Jesus as he is revealed in the Bible?
Do you believe AND trust in the Lord Jesus Christ?
Even though you make mistakes like all of us, do you desire to live your life to honor him?
Do you affirm Romans 10:9?
Ultimately, we’re saved by grace - but nothing can be done for someone who continually rejects the conviction of the Holy Spirit
My prayer is that this does not describe you
(Pray…)