43 “When the unclean spirit has gone out of a person, it passes through waterless places seeking rest, but finds none. 44 Then it says, ‘I will return to my house from which I came.’ And when it comes, it finds the house empty, swept, and put in order. 45 Then it goes and brings with it seven other spirits more evil than itself, and they enter and dwell there, and the last state of that person is worse than the first. So also will it be with this evil generation.”
Jesus' Mother and Brothers
46 While he was still speaking to the people, behold, his mother and his brothers stood outside, asking to speak to him. 48 But he replied to the man who told him, “Who is my mother, and who are my brothers?” 49 And stretching out his hand toward his disciples, he said, “Here are my mother and my brothers! 50 For whoever does the will of my Father in heaven is my brother and sister and mother.” Matthew 12: 43-50 ESV
Matthew 12: 43-50 Reform verses Rebirth
When the unclean spirit has gone out of a person - Huhh? We go back to the context, the people Jesus has been addressing, the antagonist He has been dealing with. The Pharisees have a moral system, they are esteemed by men as religious, dressing the part, playing the part. Their confirmation comes from each other and the ignorance of those who think that they're holy because they conform to a code. I go to church, I tithe, I fast, and then there are the, "I don'ts", don't drink, don't associate with publicans, don't cuss, etc... These men probably don't even go to church (synagogue) to learn anymore, because they already know everything, it's just to check off a box. This is outward reform, cleaning the outside of the cup, and these are the most difficult people to reach, the "good people". Well, there are a lot of people who think they are good, in fact most people think this, every way of a man is right in his own eyes. Roman Catholics, Mormons, Jehovah's Witnesses, Muslims, Buddhist, Hindus, even liberal atheist, and naturalist have codes, rules to live by. Modern evangelicalism has for the most part embraced codes, and even elevated these so much so that to have any part in common is as good as salvation. Jesus is offering Himself as the only way, but to those, who have the words written about Him, the time of His visitation goes unnoticed. They don't recognize Him, because He doesn't recognize their religion.
1The king’s heart is a waterway in the hand of the LORD; He directs it where He pleases. 2All a man’s ways seem right to him, but the LORD weighs the heart. 3To do righteousness and justice is more desirable to the LORD than sacrifice.… Proverbs 21: 1-3
…22And he who swears by heaven swears by God’s throne and by the One who sits on it. 23Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You pay tithes of mint, dill, and cumin. But you have disregarded the weightier matters of the law: justice, mercy, and faithfulness. You should have practiced the latter, without neglecting the former. 24You blind guides! You strain out a gnat but swallow a camel.… Matthew 23: 22-24
It finds the house empty - This is super important, what does Christ tell Nicodemus? You must be what? Born again. What is that? It is to be born of the Spirit, that which is born of the flesh, all men, that is corrupted, fallen in Adam. Those born of the Spirit are changed, having the Spirit dwelling in them. The unclean spirit finds this place unoccupied.
A demon can only inhabit someone if he finds it empty – that is, without the indwelling Spirit of Jesus Christ. If it is empty, it does not matter to the demon if it is also swept, and put in order. “The devil has no objection to his house being swept and garnished; for a moralist may be as truly his slave as the man of debauched habits. So long as the heart is not occupied by his great foe, and he can use the man for his own purposes, the adversary of souls will let him reform as much as he pleases.” (Spurgeon)
…2He came to Jesus at night and said, “Rabbi, we know that You are a teacher who has come from God. For no one could perform the signs You are doing if God were not with him.” 3Jesus replied, “Truly, truly, I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God unless he is born again.” 4“How can a man be born when he is old?” Nicodemus asked. “Can he enter his mother’s womb a second time to be born?”… John 3: 2-4
…26I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; I will remove your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. 27And I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes and to carefully observe My ordinances. 28Then you will live in the land that I gave your forefathers; you will be My people, and I will be your God.… Ezekiel 36: 26-28
Swept, and put in order - This doesn't bother the unclean spirit; he loves the Pharisees, the Sadducees, everyone who is right in their own eyes, even those who say, "Jesus loves you", as long as they don't know the real Jesus and have His Spirit residing in them. Look at this man, he is like I was, swept, I quit doing drugs after I overdosed the third time, I quit drinking myself into a coma after the doctor told me, "you have a bleeding ulcer, and you need to quit for 3 months to let it heal". I actually didn't quit right then, but I slowed down. I love my family, so I decided not to drink when I had to drive, why? Well, because logically it was a bad investment; you don't have to be right with God to figure that out, that is simple cause and effect. Drinking would hurt my marriage, speeding would give the police officer the right to give me a ticket, and that would cost me money. Knocking my coworker out would cause me to lose my job. Not doing what my boss ask, within moral reason, could get me fired, like not showing up. So this guy pulled the needle out of his arm, put down the bottle, quit chasing tail, stopped smoking cigarettes, lost weight, joined a church and started exercising. There were these groups when I was young, they called themselves the "Moral Majority", and J Mac points this out, and I think it's critical to understanding this. They were on the right side of the abortion issue. Logically, look at it, the people who say, "follow the science", they're part of a cult, called "the science", that doesn't follow science. They say, "it's my body", but they kill another body that is inside their body. People pretended back then that they didn't know when life began, but science, observation shows that it starts at conception, that DNA from a man is combined with DNA from a woman, and an individual, with their own DNA information is formed. Like God said:
4The word of the LORD came to me, saying: 5“Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, and before you were born I set you apart and appointed you as a prophet to the nations.” 6“Ah, Lord GOD,” I said, “I surely do not know how to speak, for I am only a child!”… Jeremiah 1: 4-6
So you can see this, be on the right side of history, realize that Planned Parenthood targeted the African American community, realize that racism is wrong because we all come from Adam and Eve. You can logically observe that nature is caloric, that it demands calories be burned, work gets done. From there you can apply that to your own life, develop a strong work ethic, appreciate a job well done, and realize the fallacy of socialist ideology. You can pay your taxes, give to charity, mow your neighbor's lawn and vote for those who hold up all these things, yet still die and bust hell wide open. You can do all these things and have a heart harder than the drug addict, the prostitute, the tax collector, the drunk and the pimp. You can take all these things to a holy God, all the long list of people that vouch for you, write recommendations on how good and deserving a person you are, and He will say, "depart from Me, ye that work iniquity, I never knew you." I look at my children, and of course I want them to "behave", you know, to be well mannered, a delight to those that encounter them. I like hearing how good of workers they are, but the people that are saying that, they won't be their ultimate Judge. My girls will stand in judgment without me, and I won't be able to vouch for them or take their place. I hope I have pointed them to God, that they realize that we don't just read the Scriptures and pray together every day to check off some box. We do it hoping in Christ, we do it because faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of God. We do it to know Him because we love Him. I don't want my kids to have a mere moral reform, to belong to some club, I beg the Lord to rip out their heart of stone and give them a heart of flesh, to conform all of us to His image. I want them to have compassion, patience and love for the people who disagree with them, and to take them the message of the gospel, not just the message of morality. You can confess with your mouth but not believe in your heart. You can sweep the house, but not have the Spirit, be totally duped and enamored with your system, but be full of demonic pride.
…5You welcome those who gladly do right, who remember Your ways. Surely You were angry, for we sinned. How can we be saved if we remain in our sins? 6Each of us has become like something unclean, and all our righteous acts are like filthy rags; we all wither like a leaf, and our iniquities carry us away like the wind. 7No one calls on Your name or strives to take hold of You. For You have hidden Your face from us and delivered us into the hand of our iniquity.… Isaiah 64: 5-7
…24You blind guides! You strain out a gnat but swallow a camel. 25Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You clean the outside of the cup and dish, but inside they are full of greed and self-indulgence. 26Blind Pharisee! First clean the inside of the cup and dish, so that the outside may become clean as well.… Matthew 23: 24-26
The last state of the person is worse than the first - Naturally, they give outward verification that they are good people, moral citizens. It doesn't look like they are drowning, I don't hear them cursing, she is a Sunday School teacher, he is a deacon. They tithe, their kids are well behaved, have nice, clean clothes on. It's a horrible state, because we are trusting in our own merit, believing that we have cleaned up our act so well that we are good people, and God has to take us, He has no choice but to accept such greatness. All the while we are dying in self righteousness, held up by our friends, commended by our peers. You don't need the Jesus of Scripture because you think you found your own way. There is nothing wrong with doing the right thing, but don't be self deceived, there is only One Way to be right with God and that is through His Son, and the works He is looking for are those of His Spirit.
…4But when the kindness of God our Savior and His love for mankind appeared, 5He saved us, not by the righteous deeds we had done, but according to His mercy, through the washing of new birth and renewal by the Holy Spirit. 6This is the Spirit He poured out on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Savior,… Titus 3: 4-6
…8For it is by grace you have been saved through faith, and this not from yourselves; it is the gift of God, 9not by works, so that no one can boast. 10For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance as our way of life.… Ephesians 2: 8-10
5“Lord,” said Thomas, “we do not know where You are going, so how can we know the way?” 6 Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me. 7If you had known Me, you would know My Father as well. From now on you do know Him and have seen Him.”… John 14: 5-7
His mother and brothers stood outside - They wanted to talk to Him, but He was in the middle of teaching. I imagine they were concerned because what He was teaching was not going over so well. His brothers didn't believe in Him right away, though we know they did later, James was even the elder of the church in Jerusalem, but right now, they are probably worried about the reception and plotting of the Pharisees. Being related to Jesus by birth was no advantage, gave them no special knowledge to deal with this, and we will see later in the gospels how disturbingly dire his relationship was with his brothers.
…4For no one who wants to be known publicly acts in secret. Since You are doing these things, show Yourself to the world.” 5For even His own brothers did not believe in Him. 6Therefore Jesus told them, “Although your time is always at hand, My time has not yet come.… John 7: 4-6
Who is My mother, who is My brothers - His earthly family was in need of hearing this just as much as the crowd. They needed a savior. The cults make an idol out of Mary, but the truth of the matter is that if Jesus had not come, and did not die on the cross, she would have been lost for all of eternity as well. No one is glorified of their own works, we are dependent upon the works and blood of another, Christ, and only Christ.
And Mary said:
“My soul glorifies the Lord
47 and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior,
48 for he has been mindful
of the humble state of his servant.
From now on all generations will call me blessed,
49 for the Mighty One has done great things for me—
holy is his name.
50 His mercy extends to those who fear him,
from generation to generation. Luke 1: 46-50
…11This Jesus is ‘the stone you builders rejected, which has become the cornerstone.’ 12 Salvation exists in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved.” 13When they saw the boldness of Peter and John and realized that they were unschooled, ordinary men, they marveled and took note that these men had been with Jesus.… Acts 4: 11-13
Toward His disciples He said - To those who follow Him, who learn from Him, are believing in Him, He says of them, they are my family.
Now that’s a great truth. Jesus says, “To be related to Me is not a physical thing, it’s a spiritual thing. And these people who believe in Me are related to Me.” The natural question is, “Well, how do we get that relationship?” And He says, “By doing the will of My Father.” Notice He put in there, “The will of My Father who is in heaven.” They were asking for a sign from where? From heaven. And the Father had given them a sign from heaven, and I believe that’s why He says this. What is the will of the Father in heaven? Show you what it is. Back up to Matthew 3 verse 17. And at the baptism of the Lord Jesus Christ, “A voice from heaven” – and it’s the voice of the Father – “saying, ‘This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.’” What is the will of the Father then in heaven? That the people on earth acknowledge Jesus Christ as His Son. What is God’s will? Then what is it that they should do that is the will of the Father in heaven? It is that they should accept Jesus as His Son and be as pleased with Him as God is with Him.
In the seventeenth chapter of Matthew and the fifth verse, while on the mount of transfiguration, the voice of God again comes out of heaven. This time a bright cloud overshadows them and a voice out of the cloud, and this is what the Father says, “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.” Now that’s the same statement from the 3:17, and then He adds, “Hear ye Him.” What is God’s will? That you recognize the Son, that you believe in the Son, that you have a faith relationship with the Son. God’s will is that in believing through the Son you might have eternal life. - J Mac
28And we know that God works all things together for the good of those who love Him, who are called according to His purpose. 29For those God foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, so that He would be the firstborn among many brothers. 30And those He predestined, He also called; those He called, He also justified; those He justified, He also glorified.… Romans 8: 28-30
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