NEW TESTAMENT CONTEXTUAL COMMENTARY

by Dr. Robert R. Seyda

GOSPEL OF MATTHEW

CHAPTER TWELVE

Part VI

Verse 43: When an evil spirit comes out of a person, it travels through dry places looking for a place to rest, but it finds none.

Now, we must go back to verse 24 to see where this statement by Jesus is connected to His discourse. Our Lord was casting out demons, and the Pharisees and others claimed He was doing so by the power of the prince of demons, Beelzebub. So Jesus is now cautioning them to be careful when dealing with demonic spirits. Of course, in their own writings, it says: “A righteous person–what does he do? He watches his step on the path so the Divisor of Evil cannot cling to him, as it is written: ‘Though she urged Joseph day after day, he did not yield to her,’ to what she proposed day after day. For the unclean spirit, the Divisor of Evil, seduces a man ‘to lie beside her’ in hell, to be condemned there ‘to be with her’.”¹ What they are pointing out is that demons are never idle, they are always active, seeking victims to control.

But our Lord uses an interesting term when telling what demons who have been expelled do, in that they wander in “dry places” looking for rest. Some English translations use the term “waterless places.” This is the way the earliest Hebrew version of the Gospel puts it.² Scholars believe that this idea comes from what we find in Isaiah where it says that the kingdom of Babylon would become like a desert, with wild animals and birds living in their houses.³ The same thing is repeated when God will punish Edom, where snakes are added to the list.⁴ So it became a metaphor for areas that were haunted by eerie creatures. Bishop Hilary sees this spiritual application by saying: “When God’s grace was imparted afresh to the nations, flowing as a living fountain through the cleansing water [of baptism], there was no place for the spirit to continue living among them, and indeed he had no rest with them.”⁵

Interestingly, we find in ancient Greek Orphic demonology that evil spirits were divided into different classes based on where they functioned best. There were Celestial demons, Aerial demons, Aquatic demons, Terrestrial demons, and Subterranean demons.⁶ In one Jewish apocryphal book found in the Catholic Bible, we read this: “Then the angel Raphael took the devil, and bound him in the desert of upper Egypt.”⁷ Then in another Jewish apocryphal book we read: “No seducer corrupted me on a desert plain, nor did the destroyer, the deceitful serpent, defile the purity of my virginity.”⁸ Then in another such book, we find this: “And further the Lord said to Raphael: ‘Bind Azazel by his hands and his feet and throw him into the darkness. And split open the desert, which is in Dudael, and throw him there’.”⁹

This may help us understand why this legion of demons kept the man in Gadarea out in such a forsaken area. But when the demons asked to enter the swine, our Lord knew their intentions so He had the swine run over a precipice into the water. Therefore, even when a demon is cast out of one human dwelling, our Lord tells them this:

Verse 44: The wandering evil spirit says, “I will go back to the home I left.” When the evil spirit arrives back to that home, it is still empty. It is all neat and clean.

Does this then discourage the unclean spirit from moving back in? Is it sympathetic and decide not reoccupy its old habitat since it is now clean and tidy? In his commentary, Bishop Hilary gives us this: “Because of the concern of those who were living there before, the place had been kept clean and adorned for the incoming dweller. Then seven spirits even more evil entered in—as many as there were the gifts of grace offered by Christ which God’s all-embracing wisdom had placed there with a sevenfold glory.¹⁰ In this way the possession of wicked spirits was as great as the possession of grace would have been. Thus ‘the last state of that man becomes worse than the first,’ because the unclean spirit left the house for fear of the law but now returns with a vengeance because of the grace that was rejected.”¹¹

Verse 45: Then the evil spirit goes out and brings seven other spirits more evil than itself. They all go and live there, and that person has even more trouble than before. It is the same way with the evil people who live today.

You talk about being vindictive! A demon exorcised from its habitat is so mad and irritated in having to roam around homeless, that when it does get the chance to move back in, it brings in all of the most menacing fellow evil spirits it can find. I often heard my father, who was a minister, talk about people who were once believing and practicing Christians who backslid and returned to their sinful ways as being worse than they were before they got saved. So you don’t especially need to be demon possessed to experience this phenomenon, evil has a way of duplicating itself no matter at what level.

Thereby we can comprehend their methods to possess and repossess former victims. Here’s something to consider: some skeptics today dismiss the existence of demons and demonic power, saying that such actions as those described in scripture are signs of epileptic and manic-depressive behavior. However, demon possession as a plague appears to have diminished after Christ’s victory over the power and prince of the air (Satan.) Consequently, the diseases of epilepsy and manic-depression are still with us, but without demonic powers having the ability to evoke them into action. Nonetheless, there are serious acts committed to this day by people which are so hideous that we cannot help but believe that demonic powers are at work in these individuals. I personally have witnessed several people being delivered from what they called demonic possession. It is so real. But the power of Christ is just as real. Therefore, they should fear us more than we fear them.

The early church Patriarch of Alexandria gives us his understanding of those who are repossessed and thereby become souls of the lawless. He writes: “Now remember how the evil spirit inhabited the people when they were in Egypt, how they lived according to Egyptian customs and laws and became filled with all kinds of uncleanness. When they had been delivered by Moses and had received the law as a guide calling them to the light of true divine knowledge, the wicked and unclean spirit left them. But what happens when someone who has believed now disbelieves? The demons again take up their abode there with a vengeance. For just as the Holy Spirit, when he sees a person’s heart desisting from all uncleanness, abides and dwells and rests in that one, so also the unclean spirit likes to take lodging in the souls of the lawless.”¹²

We should also mention, that upon closer examination you will notice the grammatical disconnect between verses 42 and 46. This has led some to believe that this was either a literal comment by Matthew on what our Lord was saying or a figurative comment by Jesus on how this repossession by the demons compares to the Jews who having been given the opportunity to be free from the powers of the old covenant, have refused to be cleansed by God’s grace through Christ, and would, therefore, become even more corrupt in their ways and thinking in the future. They had just improperly asked Jesus to show them a miracle, after denouncing and ridiculing the miracles He already performed. In either case, we believe that these verses were inspired by the Holy Spirit and are therefore meant for our learning and understanding. In this portion of our Lord’s dissertation, it clearly indicates the characteristics of demons.

Verses 46-47: While Jesus was talking to the people, His mother and brothers stood outside. They wanted to talk to Him. Someone told Him, “Your mother and brothers are waiting for You outside. They want to talk to You.”

What Matthew records here had never happened before. We find out later that at this point in time the brothers of Jesus were not convinced that He was who everyone was saying He was, the Messiah. Mary’s actions at the cross and in the Upper Room would prove beyond all doubt that she knew that her child was the Son of God. Once again, we are compelled to understand this in a figurative way rather than a literal fashion. Jesus knew who His physical mother and brothers were, of this there is no doubt. But when it came to believing in Him as the Son of man sent from God, He had every reason not to consider His siblings as spiritual brothers. And that is the lesson behind His statement.

Another thing to consider here is Matthew’s mention of Jesus being inside some edifice teaching when His mother and brothers arrived outside. But He does not describe the place where Jesus was sitting. In my mind, I go back and connect this to what we read when Jesus left Nazareth and came to live in Capernaum.¹³ This then became the hub of His ministry. And after His sermon on the mount, He again goes back to Capernaum.¹⁴ Then when Jesus finished His ministry in Gadarea, He again returns to His home town, Capernaum.¹⁵ It was here that he raised the synagogue ruler’s daughter back to life,¹⁶ and then was followed by two blind men after He left the ruler’s house.¹⁷ They walked with Him until Jesus went indoors.¹⁸ Since they were still in Capernaum, it is only logical that Jesus had gone back to the house where He was living. So it was here that Jesus called His twelve disciples to Him,¹⁹ and instructed them on their mission for evangelism in Galilee before sending the out.²⁰

Then we are told that it was from there that Jesus launched His own ministry throughout Galilee.²¹ After He was confronted by the Pharisees because His disciples were picking grain on the Sabbath, He guided them to the synagogue nearby. And after His lecture to them, Matthew says He left that place many followed Him back to where He was going.²² It was there they brought a blind man to Him that was demon-possessed, and this is when the Pharisees accused Him of exorcising demons with the power of Beelzebub.²³ So it was here that Jesus began His illustration of Jonah being in the belly of the sea monster for three days with His being in the tomb for three days.²⁴ And in the middle of this story, we are told that His mother and brothers showed up. They no doubt had traveled the forty miles over from Nazareth to see Him. Based on this timeline, we can submit that Jesus was in His own house when this incident occurred.

Early church writer Apollinaris gave his summary of what we should see here. He writes: “That ‘His brothers’ did not yet believe in Him we learn from John,²⁵ while from Mark²⁶ we have also heard something else: for His own family tried to grab hold of Him, as though He were beside Himself.²⁷ On account of their frame of mind, the Lord does not often mention them as His own family. He points instead to those who are obedient. To believers, He applies all the terms of family relationship, those, namely, who had been joined to Him in the kindred fellowship of obedience. Even if temporarily He had a quarrel with Mary, as Simeon had foretold when he had said ‘a sword shall pierce through your own soul,’²⁸ she overcame these things, as was fitting, and the Lord graciously made mention of her at His passion and entrusted her to the beloved disciple.²⁹”³⁰

We can say the same today. You may go to the same church and sit in the same pew with others who identify themselves as believers, followers of Christ, and children of God. But unless they are committed to doing the will of their heavenly Father no matter the cost or effort, they are neither your brother or sister nor the brothers and sisters of Jesus. Let us revisit the subject of whether or not these brothers and sisters were children of Mary, or did she remain a virgin because of her chosen and holy status.

There are several theories that compete with one another. First, let’s lay the ground work. When Joseph asked Mary to be his wife, according to Jewish law she could have been as young as 12. Most Bible scholars put her between 15 and 17. Since most men did not marry until they reached the age of 30, that would certainly make Joseph much older than her. So, either these children who showed up here with Mary are called the brothers of Jesus because Mary had borne them after our Lord’s birth; or Joseph had been married before and had them with his first wife who may have died, thus prompting Joseph to wed Mary. In that case, Joseph would be even older since he married the first time at the age of 30.

The mitigating factors to consider are these. When Joseph had to go to Bethlehem to register for the census, there is no record of any other family members going with him and Mary. Also, their long stay in Bethlehem and then Egypt would make one wonder how his children were being taken care of in his absence before he finally returned to Nazareth after a two-year absence if they weren’t already. Not only that, but Joseph is never mentioned again as being in the company of Mary when she was in the presence of her son Jesus, except for their visit to Jerusalem when He was twelve.³¹ This is the evidence many scholars use to suggest that by the time Jesus became an adult, Joseph had died.

Early church theologian St. Augustine gives us an interesting exposition on Mary’s place in the church. He writes: “Isn’t it true that the Virgin Mary did the Father’s will, she who believed in faith, conceived in faith and was chosen so that, through her, salvation could be born for us among humans and was begotten by Christ before Christ was begotten in her? Holy Mary carried out, plainly and clearly, the Father’s will. Therefore, it is greater for Mary to have been a disciple of Christ than the mother of Christ. Indeed, it is greater and better to have been the disciple of Christ than the mother of Christ. Mary was therefore blessed because, even before she gave birth, she bore the Master in her womb.… Mary is holy and Mary is blessed, but the church is greater than the Virgin Mary. And why? Because Mary is a part of the church, a holy limb, an extraordinary limb, an outstanding limb, but she is only a limb of the whole body. If she is but a part of the whole body, greater indeed is the body than a limb. Christ is the head, and Christ is the entire head and body. What shall I say? We have a divine head. We have God as our head.”³²

Verse 48-50: Jesus answered, “Who is my mother? Who are my brothers?” Then He pointed to His followers and said, “See! These people are my mother and my brothers. Yes, anyone who does what my Father in heaven wants is My true brother and sister and mother.”

Here our Lord echoes the words of Moses who spoke concerning Levi, the father of the priesthood: “Of his father and mother he said, ‘I don’t know them’; he didn’t acknowledge his brothers or children. For he observed your word, and he kept your covenant.”³³ So certainly those who heard it should have had no quarrel with the author of the new covenant priesthood saying the same thing. However, I’m sure there were some who thought of the teaching on honoring one’s mother and abiding by whatever she requests: “They said, “Since that is what she deems to be the honor she wants for herself, that indeed is just the kind of honor he must pay to her.”³⁴

One well-known early church professor made this observation: “Jesus said these things, not in contempt of His mother and His brothers, but in order to show that He values more highly closeness of soul than any blood relation of the body. For it was necessary to say this, both for those who thought that it was more important for Him to interact with His own family, as well as for the instruction of those who were present. For just as He Himself says to the disciples, ‘he who loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me,’³⁵ in the same way, I think, Jesus sets a higher value on His disciples than on His earthly mother and brothers.”³⁶

Lest we forget, the brothers the people referred to were those with whom He had a family connection with, but the brothers and sisters He now talks about are those with whom He shares a spiritual relationship with His Father in heaven. It is also noteworthy that in both cases the Holy Spirit was involved. This should not surprise us then, today we often feel a closer relationship with our brothers and sisters in Christ than we do with our siblings in the flesh.