Matthew 12:22-45
Go on being filled with the Holy Spirit
The words you speak really matter. Joyce Meyer writes, ‘Every word we speak can either be a brick to build or a bulldozer to destroy.’ Whatever is stored up in your heart will sooner or later be expressed by your words. Be careful what you look at, read and think about. Fill your heart with good things and you will think good thoughts, speak good words and bear good fruit (v.33).
Jesus says, ‘… out of the overflow of the heart the mouth speaks. Good people bring good things out of the good stored up in them, and evil people bring evil things out of the evil stored up in them’ (vv.34–35).
You cannot change your thought patterns on your own. You need the help of the Holy Spirit – filling your heart with his love and good fruit.
Jesus says that every sin will be forgiven except for blasphemy against the Holy Spirit (vv.30–32). Sometimes people worry that they have committed the ‘unforgivable sin’. However, if you are worried about it, it is almost certain you have not committed it. There is no sin that cannot be forgiven if you repent and ask God’s forgiveness. The only ‘unforgivable sin’ is to refuse to repent and turn to Christ, resisting his Holy Spirit throughout your life.
The Pharisees and teachers of the law may have been in danger, since they attribute Jesus’ healing power to the prince of demons (vv.22–24). They have already seen plenty of miraculous signs from Jesus, but they refuse to acknowledge that Jesus’ power is the work of the Holy Spirit. When they say to Jesus, ‘How about a miracle?’ (v.38, MSG), it is as though they are putting Jesus under cross-examination.
However, Jesus’ reply turns the tables on them. Comparing himself with the Old Testament prophet Jonah, Jesus is referring to what would soon take place – his death and resurrection three days later (vv.39–40). The resurrection of Jesus is the ultimate sign of his identity.
Jesus gives two case studies from the Old Testament to show that the Pharisees already have enough evidence. First, when Jonah preached to the Ninevites they changed their lives. Jesus is greater than Jonah. Second, the Queen of Sheba recognised the wisdom of Solomon. Jesus’ wisdom is greater than that of Solomon. They, and we, need no more evidence.
Jesus uses a description of how evil spirits work to warn of the danger of turning back to our old lives having cleaned up ‘the house’. Jesus warns that when people return to their old sin, they often do so even more excessively (v.43 onwards), and that ‘the final condition – is worse than the first’ (v.45).
It is the Holy Spirit who gets rid of the demonic powers (v.28). Fight a daily battle to resist evil and ask to be filled with the Holy Spirit. The test of whether your heart is good is what comes out of your mouth. It is out of the ‘overflow of the heart that the mouth speaks’ (v.34).
Jesus says to them, ‘You have minds like a snake pit! How do you suppose what you say is worth anything when you are so foul-minded? It’s your heart, not the dictionary, that gives meaning to your words’ (v.34, MSG). The way to make sure that you say the right things is to make sure your heart is full of the Holy Spirit.
Lord, help me to fill my heart constantly with good things and guard it from evil. I pray today that you would again fill me with the Holy Spirit.