Introduction (12:22-24)

• What about the times we need Jesus to be a warrior?
• Jesus has just described himself as gentle and lowly (11:29).
• Matthew has just described him as one who would not break a bruised reed or snuff out a smoking wick (12:20).
• But are there times we need Jesus to be more like a warrior?
  • In this passage, Jesus presents himself as the strong one who comes with a kingdom of power to liberate those Satan has bound.
  • And it’s all set up by a quick story that demonstrates his power.

22 Then a demon-oppressed man who was blind and mute was brought to him, and he healed him, so that the man spoke and saw. 23 And all the people were amazed, and said, “Can this be the Son of David?” 24 But when the Pharisees heard it, they said, “It is only by Beelzebul, the prince of demons, that this man casts out demons.”

The Episode:

• Movement 1. Jesus delivered a demon-oppressed man (22).
  • Note: The claim is that a demon oppressed this man by making him blind and mute, so that when Jesus healed him, he did so by defeating the demon (22).
  • Quick overview of demonology: demons are fallen angels who joined Satan’s rebellion and were cast out of their holy position (Matt. 25:41; 2 Pet. 2:4; Rev. 12:7-9), now serving under his authority to deceive the nations, carry temptation, and sow discord and destruction.
• Movement 2. The people responded in amazement and wondered how Jesus could be the Son of David (23).
  • The Son of David was a promised King (2 Sam. 7).
  • Is this the One?
• Movement 3. When the Pharisees heard the people’s response, they quickly conveyed their best explanation: Jesus had done this work by the power of Beelzebul—a nickname, by the time of Christ, for Satan—the prince of demons (24).
  • Example: Many of you have had this experience of people attributing your victory in Christ to something else—a fresh start, someone to listen to them, a cult, a guilt complex, brainwashing, etc.
• Note: Each movement passes by with what feels like intentional brevity—Matthew wants us to focus on Jesus’ response to the Pharisees’ accusation.
  • In his response we’ll learn a lot about how Jesus views what’s wrong with the world, along with what he does about it, how he does it, and why he does it.

1. What He Does—Liberate (12:25-29)

25 Knowing their thoughts, he said to them, “Every kingdom divided against itself is laid waste, and no city or house divided against itself will stand. 26 And if Satan casts out Satan, he is divided against himself. How then will his kingdom stand? 27 And if I cast out demons by Beelzebul, by whom do your sons cast them out? Therefore they will be your judges. 28 But if it is by the Spirit of God that I cast out demons, then the kingdom of God has come upon you. 29 Or 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. 

Jesus’ Response:

• Response 1: The Divided Kingdom. Any kingdom, city, or house that’s divided cannot stand (25). My work is to totally and comprehensively cast out Satan—he would never (and could never) do that to himself (26).
• Response 2: The Double-Standard. Your prejudice is showing. Your own sons cast demons out—are they doing so by the power of Beelzebul as well (27)?
• Response 3: Look around, demons everywhere don’t stand a chance around me—I cast out demons, it’s what I do. This is not a minor deceptive trick, but a Spirit-enabled, full-scale invasion of the kingdom of God (28).

Jesus is an invading warrior.

• • Satan is not a divided kingdom, city, or house—he’s a defeated house.
    • One stronger than the strong man has arrived to bind him and plunder his house (29).
  • Matthew has presented Jesus as an invading force.
    • His mission is to plunder Satan’s goods (29).
      • Jesus’ view of the world: ready to be plundered.
      • Example: David defeated Goliath, which meant the Israelites defeated the Philistines—we run in the victory of another.
    • Jesus stands as Isaiah’s divine warrior, the one who would rescue captives from the mighty tyrant.

• 24 Can the prey be taken from the mighty, or the captives of a tyrant be rescued? 25 For thus says the LORD: “Even the captives of the mighty shall be taken, and the prey of the tyrant be rescued, for I will contend with those who contend with you, and I will save your children.” (Isaiah 49:24–25, ESV)

• • • • Note: carry your children to him!
  • He wants to invade!
    • Our Joshua: “She will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.” (Matt. 1:21)
    • Imagery: the door is broken down, the strong man is bound, and Jesus is plundering.

2. How He Does It—By The Spirit (12:30-32)

30 Whoever is not with me is against me, and whoever does not gather with me scatters. 31 Therefore I tell you, every sin and blasphemy will be forgiven people, but the blasphemy against the Spirit will not be forgiven. 32 And whoever speaks a word against the Son of Man will be forgiven, but whoever speaks against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven, either in this age or in the age to come.

Radical Forgiveness

• First, notice the hopeful notes: all sins will be forgiven people, and whatever blasphemies they utter (31).
• What grace! In Jesus, all sins you’ve ever committed can be forgiven.
• So one must choose him. He said there is no room for a middle ground with him—whoever is not with me is against me, and whoever does not gather with me scatters (30).

Blasphemy of the Holy Spirit

• Context is important here. To understand the blasphemy of the Holy Spirit, one must look at the context surrounding Jesus’ statement.
  • The Pharisees knew Jesus was doing amazing things, but said Jesus did those things by the power of Satan or Beelzebul.
  • Immediately after Jesus’ warning, Mark is helpful to tell us: For they were saying, “He has an unclean spirit.” (Mark 3:30)
• Jesus was warning the scribes: You are coming dangerously close to blaspheming the Spirit, and for that there is no forgiveness!
  • The blasphemy of the Holy Spirit is a position which states that Jesus did not live, work, or die according to the Spirit of God’s power, but that Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection were not divinely fueled or empowered. He is not from the God of the Bible but must be explained in some other way. To blaspheme the Spirit is to reject who Jesus says he is.
  • Furthermore, since it seems the Pharisees were in danger of committing this sin but had not yet gone all the way there, it seems the blasphemy of the Holy Spirit is a final hardened position to which a person commits. It is not a random action, but a persistent and immovable attitude. The heart becomes so hard it will not shift. To this person, Jesus is not from God. 
  • This is the gospel.
• Historic pastoral caution. Blasphemy against the Spirit is marked by a hardened, arrogant, unconcerned impenitence—to worry you’ve committed it is to still be open to the gospel.

He invades by the Spirit’s power—celebrate him.

• They doubted. They thought his power demonic, not divine.
• We celebrate. Believers should be on the opposite end of the spectrum. We should confess that Jesus came in the Spirit’s power. We should celebrate his ability and grace and might.

3. Why He Does It—Our Justification (12:33-37)

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. 34 You brood of vipers! How can you speak good, when you are evil? For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks. 35 The good person out of his good treasure brings forth good, and the evil person out of his evil treasure brings forth evil. 36 I tell you, on the day of judgment people will give account for every careless word they speak, 37 for by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned.”

What did Jesus mean?

• Jesus makes a diagnostic argument.
  • Example: On board diagnostics scanner helps you find the trouble codes.
• He isn’t primarily telling the Pharisees to clean up their speech—he’s exposing what their speech has already revealed.
  • The tree-and-fruit image (33) establishes the principle: the nature of the tree determines the fruit, and the fruit makes the tree’s nature knowable (the tree is known by its fruit). Speech is fruit.
    • His point: eventually, out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth is going to speak, often with careless words (34, 37).
      • Example: the refrigerator funk is going to get out—the heart funk is going to get out as well.
  • So when the Pharisees attribute Jesus’s Spirit-empowered work to Beelzebul, their words aren’t an isolated slander—they are diagnostic evidence of an evil heart (34–35).
  • They would give an account for those words on the day of judgment, justifying or condemning them (36-37).

What did Jesus want?

• Jesus wanted the Pharisees to become good trees that produce good fruit (33).
  • His goal: Jesus is calling for conversion.
• He wants the same for us!
  • We cannot manufacture goodness—he must make us new!
    • New nature, heart, and roots.
  • Root: conversion, justification, and regeneration. The moment you place your trust in Jesus, God transforms your status in his sight. He forgives your sin, gives you a new nature, and plants you as a good tree in his kingdom.
    • Definitive transformation: you are made new.
  • Fruit: sanctification, perseverance, fruitfulness. Because God has made your root new, he makes ongoing transformation possible. You begin to speak, love, and live differently—not to get saved, but because Christ has already saved you!
    • Ongoing transformation: you are being made new.
• Example: Closing story: my vision of the prisoner.

Study Questions

Head (knowledge, facts, understanding)

1. When the Pharisees accused Jesus of casting out demons by Beelzebul, how did Jesus expose the logic of their accusation (12:25-29), and what three-part response did he give about a divided kingdom, their own “sons,” and the strong man’s house?
2. In context, what specifically is the blasphemy of the Holy Spirit (12:31-32)? Using the surrounding passage and Mark 3:30, explain why it is best understood as a settled, hardened position rather than a single careless outburst—and why the very fear of having committed it is evidence a person has not.

Heart (feelings, impressions, desires)

1. Jesus described himself as “gentle and lowly” (11:29), yet here he appears as an invading warrior who binds the strong man and plunders his house (12:29). How do both pictures sit together in your affections—and where in your life do you most need Jesus to be the strong one who liberates?
2. Isaiah pictures captives being rescued from a mighty tyrant, and Nate urged us to “carry your children to him” (Isaiah 49:24-25). Who or what are you longing to carry to this warrior-King, and what does it stir in you to know he wants to invade and set free?

Hands (actions, commitments, decisions, beliefs)

1. Jesus said, “out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks” (12:34), treating our words as diagnostic fruit of the heart’s root. What has your recent speech revealed about your heart, and what one concrete step of confession or change is Jesus prompting through it?
2. The sermon distinguished root (conversion, justification, regeneration) from fruit (sanctification, perseverance, fruitfulness), insisting we cannot manufacture goodness—he must make us new. Will you name today where you’ve been trying to produce fruit without the new root, and instead ask Christ to make you a good tree—then celebrate, rather than doubt, that he came in the Spirit’s power?