Down an Unfamiliar Road

UPDATE FOR ALL MY WONDERFUL READERS

We have just finished the enlightening Chapter 12 in Matthew’s Gospel, where we saw how Jesus handled the criticism of the Pharisees that His disciples were picking up grain to eat on the Sabbath. He showed them what hypocrites they were to complain about Him and His followers when the great King David did the same.

But they weren’t through because they also criticized Him for healing a man with a shriveled hand on the Sabbath.  Once again Jesus pointed out that they would help a sheep that had fallen into a hole to get free, so why should they be against a man with a withered hand being set free.

Still they did not stop pestering Him.  A man who was blind and could not talk was brought to Him, and when Jesus set the man free these same critics blasphemed by saying He did so by the power of the prince of demons, Beelzebub.  Jesus quickly pointed out their foolish thinking by asking why would the devil throw out one of his own demons? That didn’t make any sense.

When the Pharisees saw that their criticisms didn’t work, they then asked Jesus for one more miraculous sign to prove that He was the Messiah.  So He told them to look for a sign similar to the one the prophet Jonah experienced.  That is, Jonah spent three days and nights in the belly of a sea monster created by God especially for that occasion, and in the same way, He would spend three days and three nights in a tomb before He too would emerge alive for ever and ever.

Then we were told that Mary the mother of Jesus, and some of His brothers showed up to talk with Him.  So Jesus used that occasion to talk about who His spiritual mother and brothers.  In other words, that His followers can be part of two families, their physical family, and their spiritual family.  Jesus did not come to earth to produce physical children, but spiritual children.  And just as He was the Son of God, they too would become children of God.

Next week we will have a pleasant walk through Chapter 13 of Matthew. All of what happened here in Chapter 12 would motivate Jesus to share some more important truths about this spiritual family of God He came to redeem from sin and release from the burden of the Laws of Moses which had become impossible to obey.  We are going to learn a lot, I hope you will walk with us.

God bless you for all your dedication and love for His Word.  I pray He will bless you with understanding, wisdom and love.

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.

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NEW TESTAMENT CONTEXTUAL COMMENTARY

by Dr. Robert R. Seyda

GOSPEL OF MATTHEW

CHAPTER TWELVE

Part V

Verse 40: Jonah was in the stomach of a big sea creature for three days and three nights. In the same way, the Son of Man will be in the grave three days and three nights.

By the time Jesus came to earth, this story about Jonah was already an accepted part of Jewish history. One of their most celebrated historians, who lived during the time of Jesus, records: “It is reported that Jonah was swallowed down by a whale, and that when he had been there three days, and as many nights, he was vomited out alive upon the Euxine Sea,¹ and without any injuries to his body; and there, in his prayer to God, he obtained pardon for his sins, and went over to the city Nineveh, where he stood so as to be heard, and preached, that in a very little time they would lose the dominion of Asia. And when he had proclaimed this, he returned home. I have given this account about him as I found it written in our books.”² Therefore, those listening to Jesus knew exactly who He was referring to and what happened to him.

It is also worthwhile to note that in Jonah’s story it is said, “Adonai prepared a huge fish³ to swallow Jonah; and Jonah was in the belly of the fish for three days and three nights.”⁴ Here we see it says that “ADONAI prepared” a sea creature for this purpose. Therefore, Jonah was not swallowed by chance. Likewise, what would happen to Jesus was not by chance. His death and resurrection were planned by the same God before the beginning of the world.

One venerated Jewish commentator had this to say about Jonah: “The God of Blessing assigned the fish this task for a specific time. At the exact time that Jonah was thrown into the sea, the fish was assigned to be in the right spot to swallow him. And this fish is not naturally in this sea. And this was one of the miracles.”⁵ Rabbi Kimchi likens this special preparation to the specific food that king Nebuchadnezzar assigned to Daniel and the other selected youths of Judah.⁶ To put it another way, it was all planned. So if the Jews were willing to accept the story about Jonah, why shouldn’t they then be willing to accept the story that Christ was telling them. After all, if it took three days of Jonah being in the belly of the whale to get the citizens of Nineveh converted, then surely these Jews should have converted after our Lord came out of His three-day rest in the tomb.

Even though Jews counted any part of a day as representing a full day, still there are critics among the Jewish leaders that Jesus likened His stay in the tomb to that of Jonah in the whale’s belly. They say: “It is impossible for Jesus to have been in the heart of the earth for three days and three nights since He was crucified on Friday evening and arose early Sunday morning, and even if they should argue that part of the day is considered a whole day, there would still be only three days and two nights.”⁷ However, these critics are taking their timetable from the accepted Christian record rather than looking at their own.

This is the proverbial case of pointing out the splinter in someone’s eye when you have a beam in your own. Here’s what we know: In ancient Israel, including the first century A.D., preparations for the Passover feast took place on “Preparation Day.” In the middle of the afternoon, at what is often referred to as “twilight” on that day, the Passover lamb was sacrificed at the temple in Jerusalem. After sunset, when Preparation Day had ended and the Feast of Unleavened Bread had begun, the lamb and other specific foods for the Passover feast were eaten.

Now, Jesus was crucified and died on Preparation Day. Traditionally, this has been thought to have been on a Friday. However, it can be demonstrated that Jesus’ crucifixion and death occurred not on a Friday (the sixth day of the week), as has been traditionally accepted, but rather on the previous day, Thursday (the fifth day of the week). The week during which the following occurred in the month of Aviv (also called Nisan) of that year:

1. Jesus entered Jerusalem riding on a donkey (on Palm Sunday, Aviv 10), as prophesied in Zechariah 9:9;

2. He was crucified four days later (on Thursday, Aviv 14); and

3. He was resurrected from the dead on the third day after that (on Sunday, Aviv 17).

The first two points are a fulfillment of Scripture where the first Passover lambs were to be taken in on the tenth day of the first month (Aviv or Nisan) and slaughtered four days later, on the fourteenth day of that month.⁸ The third point is a fulfillment of Jesus’ own prophecy here in this verse. In addition, the scripture does not say He rose “after” three days, but “on” the third day.⁹

Some people may find this disconcerting, especially since the crucifixion of Christ has been celebrated on Friday since 325 AD when the council of Nicaea decided that was the day. So as we can see, even back then it was a question being deliberated. But the main factor is that He died on the cross and He rose from the tomb. Whether the Jewish calendar is to be trusted or the decisions of a council is not the point. But as scholars, we should always keep our minds open to possibilities before we pronounce them as absolutes. In fact, some Bible scholars think Jesus was crucified on Wednesday.¹⁰

Verse 41: On judgment day, you people who live now will be compared with the people of Nineveh, and they will be witnesses who show how guilty you are. Why do I say this? Because when Jonah preached to those people, they changed their way of living. And you are listening to someone greater than Jonah, but you refuse to change your ways!

You would think that by now the Pharisees and scribes would finally come around; that they would see the truth and be ready to learn more. But Jesus knew better. So their request that He back up His words with action only got them more condemnation as being spiritually blind and deaf. He was not sent from God to be a court jester for their amusement and entertainment. He had already shown them enough to convince anyone that Jesus was the Messiah. Another miracle was not going to change their minds. They would just go away bragging about how they got the prophet from Galilee to do their bidding. But whether they liked it or not, there were going to witness a miracle of God’s own making.

It is important to note that if the story of Jonah was nothing more than a fairytale or a borrowed myth from some other culture, then our Lord would not have used it as part of His teaching. If this story were thought to be bogus or unreliable, then the Jews would not have included in their earliest written version of verbal traditions.¹¹ So Jesus was speaking of something they all held to be respectable and truthful. Also, in Jewish writings, we find that many commentators believe that this fish was not a normal part of the species in that area.¹² That God had created this creature just for this occasion because no one was ever swallowed after this incident and survived to tell about it. So it is not just a happenstance that Joseph of Arimathea had purchased a tomb exactly where it needed to be for our Lord to lay before His heavenly Father called Him back from death.

But the key factor is the 3 days, where Jonah was out of sight and communication with anyone, only to suddenly appear alive and well. This, says Jesus, is the same manner in which the Son of man will be hidden in the heart of the earth for three days, and will then suddenly appear alive and well. But here’s the difference. After Jonah’s deliverance from death, he went to Nineveh and the people repented. But on this occasion, someone of greater stature than Jonah was speaking to them but they refuse to listen and change. So, on Judgment Day God will point to the people of Nineveh and then to the Jews and ask, “If they could believe a simple prophet, why couldn’t you believe my Son?”

This type of comparative judgment was not new to the Jewish mind. Their own Rabbi’s taught: “The poor, the rich, the sensual [egotistical] come before the [heavenly] court — They say to the poor: Why have you not occupied yourself with the Torah? If he says: I was poor and worried about my sustenance, they would say to him: Were you poorer than Hillel? To the rich man, they said: Why have you not occupied yourself with the Torah? If he said: I was rich and occupied with my possessions, they would say to him: Were you perchance richer than Rabbi Eleazar? To the egotistical person, they would say: Why have you not occupied yourself with the Torah? If he said: I was beautiful and upset by sensual passion, they would say to him: Were you perchance more handsome than Joseph?”¹³

The Rabbis shared that although Hillel was revered as a giant among the Rabbis, yet he worked each day of his life just to get enough money to go to the synagogue to hear the Word of God expounded on. And Rabbi Eleazar ben Harsom inherited 1000 cities and 1000 ships, yet each day he would take a sack of flour and carry it on his shoulder from city to city and province to province to study the Torah. And Joseph, who was so handsome that the wife of Potiphar endeavored to seduce him, yet refused to submit because of his faith in God. So they conclude: “Thus the example of Hillel condemns the poor, the example of Rabbi Eleazar ben Harsom condemns the rich, and Joseph the virtuous condemns the egotistical.”¹⁴

Therefore, Jesus comparing the people of Nineveh’s response to Jonah’s message with the response of the Jews of His day to His message was certainly permissible. But Jesus was not through, He has another comparison.

Verse 42: On the judgment day, you people who live now will also be compared with the queen of the South, and she will be a witness who shows how guilty you are. I say this because she traveled from far, far away to listen to Solomon’s wise teaching.¹⁵ And I tell you that someone greater than Solomon is right here, but you won’t listen!

Some more insight into the last judgment. Earlier Jesus said that people’s own words will be called as evidence either for or against them. Next, witnesses will be called to provide testimony in cases before the Judge. He had already mentioned Sodom and Gomorrah, Tyre and Sidon as witnesses against the doubters in Capernaum. Now He has brought up the people of Nineveh and adds the Queen of Sheba, a pagan who came to Jerusalem because she had heard so much about King Solomon and became a believer.

According to one legend, the kings of Abyssinia trace their descent back to a certain Menelik, the reputed son of the Queen of Sheba and Solomon. Well-known African traveler Hugues le Roux, a French writer and journalist, whose pen name was Robert Charles Henri Le Roux (1860–1925), wrote about the French colonies and about travel, and claims to have discovered in an Abyssinian manuscript in the Ge’ez dialect containing the earliest version of the story of Solomon and the Queen of Sheba, which had been known previously only known through popular verbal tradition.¹⁶ The ruler of Abyssinia in 1905, at the time of his victory over the forces of Italy, actually declared himself to be a descendant of the Judean lion. A study of the legend of Solomon and the Queen of Sheba having a son as it exists in the tradition of Axum, a place of pilgrimage to the west of Adua, was published in 1904.¹⁷

According to Jewish genealogy, Sheba was the son of Raamah, who was the son of Cush, the son of Ham, the son of Noah. Raamah and his son Sheba became successful entrepreneurs, and the prophet Ezekiel tells the people of Tyre: “The merchants of Sheba and Raamah traded with you. They traded all the best spices and every kind of precious stone and gold for your goods.”¹⁸ This queen is known by different names among the various Jewish Chroniclers.¹⁹ One Targumist says this country was also known as Zemargad, and so she was the Queen of Zemargad. In one Jewish document, we read: “Lilith, the Queen of Zemargad, launched an attack and seized [the sons of Job] and killed the young men.”²⁰

However, in another writing, we find: “Lilith, the Queen of Zemargad, has the form of a beautiful woman from the head to the navel, and from the navel down she is flaming fire. Her only intention is to arouse wars and all kinds of destruction. It was she who seized and killed the sons of Job. When God brings about the destruction of Rome and turns it into a ruin for all eternity, He will send Lilith there, and let her dwell in that ruin, for she is the ruination of the world, as it is said, ‘And Lilith shall repose there.²¹”²²

According to others, her name was Maqueda.²³ And yet others named her Balkis.²⁴ And a very reputable Jewish chronologist tells us: “The Queen of Sheba came to Solomon in his 15th year of reign her name was Aqaula. She crossed the Red Sea with great trouble and traveled far to listen to Solomon’s wisdom. She brought great riches and gave Solomon 20,000 weights of gold, nice perfume, balsam, persimmon fruit, and other gifts.”²⁵

And finally, the Jewish historian Josephus tells us that Herodotus said that in Egypt: “There a queen reigned, he calls her by her name Nicaule …. As for myself, I have discovered from our own books, that after Pharaoh, the father-in-law of Solomon, no other king of Egypt did any longer use that name; and that it was after that time when the forenamed queen of Egypt and Ethiopia came to Solomon.”²⁶

We must remember that in those days the basic form of communication was either verbal or the exchange of documents such as letters, decrees, and manuscripts copied and passed on. But in any case, we are not talking about an individual that was a mere footnote in history. She had great fame and was highly regarded. So for her to take the time, effort and expense to go visit Solomon, King of Israel, certainly forecasts well for Solomon’s reputation. Also, there was no reason for her to go unless there was some connection between the two other than reputation. So, for Jesus to point to Himself and say that someone greater than Solomon was standing before them, it should have clearly gotten the point across to these doubters. This should not have come as a surprise to them.

After all, their traditional teachings said that: “The king who will arise from David’s descendants will be a greater master of knowledge than Solomon and a great prophet, close to the level of Moses, our teacher. Therefore, he will teach the entire nation and instruct them in the path of God.”²⁷ Yet they rejected this man of wisdom and miracles. So once again, at the judgment seat God will ask these Jews, if the pagan people of Nineveh and the pagan Queen of Sheba could believe a simple prophet and an earthly king, then why could you not believe my Son the Prophet and King of kings who is greater than Jonah or Solomon? So often we have witnessed the idea of the last judgment portrayed as a mass production process with a cold-hardhearted, unsympathetic Judge passing out pre-stamped, autographed sentences in an emotionless monotone. Christ’s words provide a different picture, as does the vision of John.²⁸

NEW TESTAMENT CONTEXTUAL COMMENTARY

by Dr. Robert R. Seyda

GOSPEL OF MATTHEW

CHAPTER TWELVE

Part V

Verse 37: Even your idle words will be used to judge you. What you have said will show whether you are right or whether you are guilty.

With this verse Jesus now goes deeper into the subject and shows where the root of the problem really lies with these self-righteous religious leaders. No more than orange trees will produce figs, so a diseased tree will not produce perfectly healthy fruit. Therefore, how could these people whose hearts were filled with evil, think or say anything else. When David was being pursued by King Saul who accused him of various crimes, David said, “Let the Lord be the judge. I hope the Lord will punish you for the wrong you did to me, but I won’t fight you myself. There is an old saying: ‘Bad things come from bad people. That’s why I won’t do anything bad to hurt you’.”¹

A revered Jewish Rabbi made this comment on these verses: “So says the proverb of the Ancient One: the proverb of the Ancient One of the world.”² For this Rabbi, this was the entire Torah, which is the proverb of the Holy One, blessed be He. The Psalmist also met people with this attitude, “The wicked are too proud to ask God for help. He does not fit into their plans. They succeed in everything they do. They don’t understand how you can judge them. They make fun of all their enemies. They say to themselves, ‘Nothing bad will ever happen to us. We will have our fun and never be punished‘.”³

But our Master, along with Solomon, had a word of caution for them, “Those who accept correction show others how to live. Those who reject correction lead others the wrong way. People sometimes tell lies to hide their hatred, but saying bad things about someone is even more foolish. A person who talks too much gets into trouble. A wise person learns to be quiet. Words from good people are like pure silver, but thoughts from the wicked are worthless. Good people say things that help others, but the wicked die from a lack of understanding.”⁴

One Early Church Bishop points out that if we are called to account “for every careless word,” how much more will those who have blasphemed against the Spirit of the only begotten Son receive a more bitter punishment on the day of judgment. And if, Christ says, someone merely utters a slander against someone else, that one will by no means escape judgment. If they will give an account concerning an idle word, how much more so concerning a hurtful deed.⁵

Then Early Church preacher Chrysostom makes this point: “Do you see how far the Judge is from being revengeful? How favorable the account required? For it is not upon what someone else has spoken of you but from what you have spoken yourself. From this will the Judge give His sentence. This is the fairest of all procedures. It rests wholly with you to speak or not to speak. So it is not those who are slandered but the slanderers who have cause to tremble and be anxious. Those slandered are not constrained to answer for themselves concerning the evil things said of them. But the slanderers will answer for the evil they have spoken. And over these words danger hangs. So persons censured should be without anxiety, not being required to give account of the evil others have said. But the censurers have cause to be in anxiety and to tremble, as being subject themselves to be dragged before the judgment seat. Hence slander is indeed a devilish snare, and a sin containing no pleasure but only harm.…So the plotter first destroys himself. One who walks on fire burns himself up. One who smites others bruises himself. One who kicks against the goads draws blood from himself.”⁶

So in light of what Jesus says here and the understanding passed down from the disciples to those who would lead the church in its early days, this is something every believer should take seriously. To keep this in context, it should be considered still part of what Jesus is responding to at the beginning of the chapter, involving those who speak against the Messiah and His mission, planned and anointed by God the Father, and empowered by the Holy Spirit. It was enough for the Pharisees to demand some sign from Jesus to prove that His way was the true way. But they were not expecting what they were about to be given.

These previous two verses are plainly connected by the narrative, but they are not confined to the same time frame. The words that we speak being the main subject and main point of reference aim both to the past and to the present. We are not warned about future words yet unspoken. At the same time, there is little said of receiving any present retribution, other than the normal embarrassment, rebuke and accusations of perjury, but we are admonished about their role future judgment. This becomes a very difficult situation then. Although what we have said in the past and say now in the present may slip from our memory, they will be our indictment in the future judgment.

Most everyone of us has either uttered or heard this remark, “I wish I could take back what I said,” or “I wish I had never said that.” But that’s like carelessly dropping salt instead of sugar into the coffee without first checking what was in the container, and then exclaiming “Oh, I didn’t mean to do that!” Those words alone will not change anything or remove the salty taste from the coffee. That’s why we need to be careful in what we say offhand or even in jest. Even more so when we are behind the pulpit or the lectern, especially what we say about God, Jesus, the Holy Spirit, the Word of God and other believers.

As believers, however, let us keep in mind that in Christ we are secure against double jeopardy; His forgiveness and blood covers any sin or spoken word when confessed and forgiveness is asked for. They will never haunt us again! Praise the Lord! That’s why the Old Testament Preacher said, “The most important thing a person can do is to respect God and obey His commands, because He knows about everything people do—even the secret things. He knows about all the good and all the bad, and He will judge people for everything they do.”⁷ So it is important that as soon as the Holy Spirit convicts us of wrong doing, to seek forgiveness with sincerity.

But the things our Lord was talking about were already anticipated by the Jews. A highly respected Rabbi said: “In the generation when the son of David [i.e., Messiah] will come, scholars will be few in number, and as for the rest, they will be unable to see the truth because their eyes will be filled with tears caused by disappointment and grief. Multitudes of trouble and evil decrees will be promulgated anew, each new evil coming before the other has ended.”⁸

A lot of this anticipated turmoil and confusion would be caused because liberal Rabbis rewrote the law to fit their own views. We are told: “When adulterers multiplied, the ceremony of the bitter water was discontinued, and it was Rabban Yohanan ben Zakkai who discontinued it, as it is said [i.e., thereby fulfilling the prophecy,]: ‘I will not punish your daughters when they commit harlotry, and your daughters-in-law when they commit adultery, for they themselves consort with lewd women …’⁹”¹⁰ This was confirmed by the venerated Jewish theologian, Rabbi Moses Maimonides.¹¹

Verse 38: Then some of the Pharisees and teachers of the law answered Jesus. They said, “Teacher, we want to see you do a miracle as a sign from God.”

Here we are reminded about the story of King Shimon Bar Kozibah being mistaken as the Messiah by Rabbi Akiva because no one asked him to perform a miracle.¹² The story of King Kozibah took place in 135 AD, so it was already understood that the Messiah would be able to perform miracles. King Kozibah proclaimed himself the Messiah in the days of the writing of the Jewish Mishnah. He led a revolt against the Romans who controlled the land of Israel at that time. At first he was successful, however gradually the Romans recaptured the Land. Bar Kozibah and his men became isolated in the city of Betar.¹³ During the fast days lamenting over the destruction of the First and Second Temples which is called Tisha B’Av, and falls on the ninth day of the lunar month of Av,¹⁴ the city of Betar fell to the Romans, and hundreds of thousands were killed.

But this was not a one-time event, Jewish literature has stories where such signs were requested, so the Pharisees were only doing what had been done before. For instance we read: “The disciples of Rabbi Jose ben Kisma asked him, ‘When will the Messiah come?’ — He answered, ‘I fear lest you demand that I give you a sign proving that my answer is correct.’ They assured him, ‘We will demand no sign you.’ So he answered them, ‘When the gate of Caesarea Philippi falls down, is rebuilt, falls again, and is again rebuilt, and then falls a third time, before it can be rebuilt the son of David will come.’ They said to him, ‘Master, give us a sign.’ He protested, ‘Did you not assure me that ye would not demand a sign?’ They replied, ‘Even so, we desire one’.”¹⁵

In this story we see the main reason why the Pharisees were seeking a sign. Just as Rabbi Kisma feared, they did so to determine if he was telling the truth or telling a tale. The sign they sought was similar to the one the Egyptians asked of Moses to prove that he was sent by God, and what King Herod asked of Jesus, to walk on water so He could believe Him to be the Messiah. But regardless of the reason of the Pharisees and scribes to request a miracle as proof of Jesus’ Messiahship, our Lord gave them an answer I’m sure they were not expecting.

Chrysostom is not impressed with what the Pharisees were doing. He writes: “Just when they ought to be kneeling before Him, to admire, to be amazed and submit, they still refused to cease from their wickedness. And note their words too, teeming with flattery and pretension. For they tried to draw Him out in their deceptive way. First they insult, then they flatter Him; now calling Him a demoniac, now again Master, both out of an evil mind. No more self-contradictory words were ever spoken. This is why He rebukes them severely. Note that when they were questioning Him roughly and insulting Him, Jesus reasoned with them gently. But when they were flattering Him He reproached them with greater severity. They imagine that He is in control of neither passion and that He can be at one moment moved to anger and in the next moment softened by flattery.”¹⁶

Verse 39: Jesus answered, “Evil-minded and sinful people are the ones who want to see a miracle as a sign. But no miracle will be done to prove anything to them. The only sign will be the miracle that happened to the prophet Jonah.”

There is a good possibility that their evil and sinful mindedness was due to their refusal to believe what they saw and had the fortitude to test the Son of God, the Messiah, so as not to depend on faith to convince them. But just like God gave Noah the sign of the rainbow once the flood was over that it would not happen again, so a sign had already been prepared to proved that Jesus was truly the Anointed One. Jesus comes right out and tells them about Jonah so they need not guess or decipher what He was talking about.

Early Church writers had their views on what Jesus was saying here. For instance Origen states: “That generation was evil, on account of the influence that had come to be in it from the evil one. It was adulterous because it had left her natural husband—the word or law of truth—and had come to be wedded to a lie. The law which is ‘in the members’ of our flesh wars against ‘the law of the mind.’ It is an adulterer of the soul. Every opposing power, when it has intercourse with the soul unfaithfully—the soul that has as its bridegroom the Word of God—causes the soul to commit adultery.”¹⁷

Then we have the commentary of the author of an early commentary on Matthew. He offers this paraphrase as a possible conversation between Jesus and His detractors: “Do you wish to see a sign? Where were you when the devil, chastised by Me not with a whip but with a word, cried out, ‘What are we to do with you, Jesus of Nazareth? Have You come here to torment us before the time? We know that You are the Son of God.’¹⁸ The devils became aware of My power, and how is it that you have failed to see the sign of My works? Where were you when the blind seated by the wayside cried out, ‘Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on us,’¹⁹⁸ that we may see?”²⁰ In other words, the writer feels that Jesus had every reason to tell these hard-headed unbelievers that they are worse than demons, at least the evil spirits recognize who He is and yet they refuse to submit to the obvious.

This same writer goes on to address the sign of Jonah. He says: “Why do the Jews seek signs and the Greeks seek wisdom? God pointed to the sign of the stumbling block of the cross to both the Jews and the Greeks. Thus those who wish to find Christ not through faith but through wisdom will perish on the stumbling block of foolishness. Those who wish to know the Son of God not through faith but through a demonstration of signs will remain trapped in their disbelief, falling on the stumbling block of His death. It is no small wonder that the Jews, considering the death of Christ, thought He was merely a man, when even Christians—as they purport to be but really are not—because of His death are reluctant to declare the only begotten, the crucified, as incomparable majesty.”²¹

NEW TESTAMENT CONTEXTUAL COMMENTARY

by Dr. Robert R. Seyda

GOSPEL OF MATTHEW

CHAPTER TWELVE

Part IV (Con’t)

Verse 34: You snakes! You are so evil-minded. You are incapable of saying anything good. What people say with their mouths comes from what fills their hearts.

It is not surprising, that with what happened to Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden, that Jesus would refer to those who opposed His words as serpents. Early church theologian Bishop Hilary put it this way: “Jesus taught that a corrupt outlook on life arises out of a corrupted nature. He taught that from an evil storehouse nothing can come but what is evil. An account must be rendered to God for every idle, careless and useless word. We are to be condemned or justified by the words we speak. The mercy or the judgment we receive shall depend on the inward conviction we have about the Lord of heavenly glory.”¹

Again we must keep in mind who Jesus was talking to. These were those who ranted against Him, called Him an impostor, and denied His claims as being sent by God with the message of salvation by grace, and they also claimed that the power He had to heal the sick and cast out evil spirits came from the prince of demons. So how could they, who rejected the way, the truth, and the life, then go around telling everyone that what they had to say was the authentic message of salvation under the Law. If their hearts were pure within, they would have accepted the Anointed One from on high. But by their rejection of Him they identified the real fruit they were producing, and such fruit only comes from a tree that has gone bad and is infected by sin.

Verse 35: Those who are good have good things stored in their hearts. That’s why they say good things. But those who are evil have hearts full of evil, and that’s why they say things that are evil.

Jesus is not teaching the Jews anything new here. Their own Torah taught against saying things that could be hurtful and harmful: “Do not go around spreading slander among your people, but also don’t stand idly by when your neighbor’s life is at stake; I am ADONAI.”² It is an intrinsic part of many of sayings in their books of wisdom: “How blessed are those who reject the advice of the wicked;”³ “May the words of my mouth and the thoughts of my heart be acceptable in your presence, ADONAI, my Rock and Redeemer.”⁴ Also: “If you want a long life to see good things happen, keep your tongue from evil and your lips from deceiving talk”.⁵

Even in their own teachings we find: “For disaster follows a disaster, and wound a wound, and tribulation more tribulation, and bad news after bad news, and illness on top of illness, and all bad consequences such as these, one with the other: illness and regurgitation, snow and frost, fever and chills, famine and death, sword and captivity, and all kinds of calamities and pains.’ And all these shall come on an evil generation, which transgresses on the earth: their works are uncleanness and fornication, and pollution and abominations.”⁶ This may be the origin of what we call today, “When it rains it pours.”

Jewish Rabbis taught often on this subject. For instance, one Rabbi asked: “What is the meaning of these words: What will be done to you, and what more can be done to you, you deceitful tongue.”⁷ The same Rabbi then answers his own question: “The Holy One, blessed be He, said to the tongue: All members of the human body are standing up, you are lying down; all members of the human body are outside, you are guarded inside; not only that but I surrounded you with two walls, one of bone and one of flesh. One who bears evil tales almost denies the foundation of faith as it is said: Who have said: Our tongue will we make mighty; our lips are with us; who is lord over us?”⁸

The venerable preacher Chrysostom renders it in these words: “When wickedness is overflowing within, its words will pour out of one’s mouth. So when you hear someone speaking wicked words, do not suppose that the wickedness inside is no more than the words being used, but take for granted that the fountain from which it flows is deep and wide. For that which is spoken outwardly only a portion of the superabundance that lies within.”⁹ Or as we would say today, it’s only the tip of the iceberg. So Jesus was teaching something they were familiar with. Therefore, His conclusion was also part of their belief system.

Verse 36: I tell you that everyone will have to answer for all the careless things they have said. This will all happen on the day they stand before the judges.

What Jesus says here at the end helps frame the context of what He said just prior. It addresses the problem of people being sued for defamation. One well-known Rabbi shares the standard procedure in the process of determining guilt or innocence if libel has been committed: “The wording must either be: ‘The defendant is hereby acquitted, or the defendant is hereby found guilty. Otherwise, the verdict would appear to have been concocted. Therefore, the verdict must be framed this way: ‘After a decision by the judges, he was found innocent or not liable’.”¹⁰ The point here is when someone is brought to court for slander and denigration, the court must listen to both sides of the story. Afterward, their findings must be announced with clarity.

We can liken this to a person convicted by the Holy Spirit who stands at the altar to confess their sins and their need for forgiveness and salvation. They don’t reason with God or present evidence on their behalf as to why forgiveness should be given without their having to testify under oath. God knows all and sees all. So only a complete and honest confession will open the door to grace and mercy. The same thing that happened to Ananias and Sapphira when they lied to the Holy Spirit will happen on Judgment Day to those who lied their way out of recognizing their need for salvation while on earth.

Jewish scholars indicate that this procedure is designed to protect the truth more than it is the avoidance of gossip on who is telling the truth. But the Jews also saw this as a foreshadowing of the judgment yet to come. In their messianic writings we read: “When a man falls asleep, his soul leaves him and, ascending on high, gives the account of his deeds and acts and words.”¹¹ Also, another Rabbi taught: “Every deed, act or word a man speaks or does, the soul has to give an account of it.”¹² So not only is our Lord warning them of the libelous things they were saying about Him that could be taken to court but that eventually it will be judged by the Holy One on high.

Jerome gives his views on the day when everyone will give an account of what they have said or done while here on earth. He writes: “This, too, goes with what was said before, and the meaning is that on the day of judgment each person must render an account of his or her words. If an idle word which by no means edifies the listeners is not without harm to the speaker, how much more will you Pharisees, who criticize the works of the Holy Spirit and say that I cast out devils by Beelzebub the prince of devils, have to render an account of your criticism? An idle word is what is spoken without benefit to the speaker and the listener. We overlook serious things and utter frivolous things and tell old wives’ tales. One who acts like a buffoon and makes mouths drop with boisterous laughter and who utters disgraceful things—that person shall be held to account, not for an idle word but a slanderous word.”¹³

Behind this warning by our Lord to those who leave unconfessed evil thoughts and intentions in their hearts and minds, is the fact that either one confesses them in this world while forgiveness and reconciliation with God are available, or they must face God on Judgment Day when no such forgiveness will be offered. The same goes for those bad things people about one another. It is best to recognize guilt and ask for forgiveness early on, instead of waiting and letting the anger fester until it ends in tragedy.

I remember in 1967 the Beatles released a song titled: “All We Need is Love.”  Even today you hear Pastors in churches, people on television, and even songs on the radio that talk about having more love.  But the problem is not about needing more love, it’s the fact that most people don’t even use the love they already have.  Why ask for more when you don’t use what you’ve already got?  Here’s the secret.  The more you use the love you have, the more love you’ll have to use.  You see, love grows only when it’s active. So before you ask for more, make sure you need more. – Dr. Robert R. Seyda

While serving as a missionary in Europe, I arrived in Colmar France for an evangelistic crusade with little money in my pocket, my brakes having gone out and screeching loudly each time I used them, and my gas tank gauge almost on empty. I had just left a US Servicemen’s convention in Germany where the Spirit directed me to give the money I had in my wallet. But I was ready for God to do great things because I had asked our guest speaker at the Servicemen’s Convention, T. L. Lowrey, to pray for me when he got back to the USA. He told me he would be conducting a crusade in Dalton, Georgia and on the first night he would have special prayer for our revival.

The opening service was good but I didn’t see the openness to the Gospel I’d hoped for. Each night we had good singing and fellowship, but no one raised their hand to be born again. After a few nights of not seeing anyone come forward, I made a vow to God that I would go on a fast until someone came forward for salvation. A few days later, later as the pastor and I walked through the local city park to pass out fliers, inviting people to the meetings, people were courteous and accepted our fliers, but made no further inquiries.

Just as we were about to exit the park, we heard a young female voice hollering something in French. The pastor and I stopped and turned around to see a young lady running toward us with her hands waving in the air. When she got to where we were standing, somewhat out of breath she asked the pastor, are you preachers? The pastor nodded, and pointing toward me said, “We both are.” She began to cry as she poured out her story. Earlier in the week, she ran away from home. She was disillusioned by life and didn’t know where to turn for help. She had been living in the forest just above the town for several days. Even though she wasn’t a born again Christian, earlier that day she knelt beside a log and asked God to come to her aid. When she finished, she said a voice spoke to her, and told her to go down to the park and she would find two ministers there who could help her. At first, she hesitated, because she’d never heard a voice like that before. Finally, she decided to find out. Therefore, as she entered the park just as we were leaving, her heart told her we were the two ministers the voice spoke about. So, right there in the park we prayed with her to receive Jesus as her Lord and Savior.

That night the church was full, and the pastor told the story of the young girl. After the sermon, when I gave the invitation a number of people came forward to be born again. After prayer we asked them to give a testimony of what brought them there and what it meant to be forgiven. One lady told how that for months she was so desperate to get closer to God, to know Him better. She was a telephone operator in a business, and earlier that day she accidentally overheard a conversation in which one person told the other about an evangelist who was in town. At first she didn’t know what to do, but her hunger for God was so great she called the person back and asked where the church was located. Needless to say, not only did a revival break out, not only were people saved, filled with the Spirit and slain in the Spirit, but I was able to eat again with joy. I always believed in the promise Jesus made before His ascension that signs and wonders would accompany those who go out in His name, but after this experience it taught me that the list of those signs and wonders is a lot longer than the one Mark gives us in his gospel.

Later I received a letter from Dr. T. L. Lowery asking how the meetings went. I joyfully shared with him what God did through the Spirit during those ten days. Each time I saw him after that we both would smile in gratefulness to the Lord for answering prayer. It certainly instilled in my heart more faith in the words of the Lord Jesus when He said, “Truly I tell you that if two of you on earth agree about anything they ask for, it will be done for them by my Father in heaven.”¹

NEW TESTAMENT CONTEXTUAL COMMENTARY

by Dr. Robert R. Seyda

GOSPEL OF MATTHEW

CHAPTER TWELVE

Part IV

Verse 31: So I tell you, people can be forgiven for every sinful thing they do and for every bad thing they say against God. But anyone who curses the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven.

Early church preacher Chrysostom gives us an exposition on how this saying of Jesus may have been understood by His Jewish audience. He writes: “What is Jesus saying at this point? He is saying, ‘You have spoken many things against me. You have called me a deceiver and an adversary of God. These things I forgive you upon your repentance. There will be no penalty exacted. But blasphemy against the Spirit shall not be forgiven, not even to those who repent.’ But how could this be right? For even this was forgiven upon repentance. Many at least of those who said these words believed afterward, and all was forgiven them. What is it then that Christ was implying? That this sin is above all things inexcusable. Why so? Because they might have been ignorant of Jesus and who he might be, but of the Spirit they could not be ignorant due to their own previous experience. For the prophets had spoken by the Spirit. The Old Testament as a whole had an exalted understanding of the Holy Spirit. What he says, then, is this: ‘So be it—you may be offended at me, because of the humanity I have assumed. But you cannot say the same of the Holy Spirit. You cannot claim not to know the Spirit. Therefore your blasphemy has no excuse, and you will suffer the consequences both here and hereafter.’”¹

In case they did not get the point, Jesus reiterates it again:

Verse 32: You can even speak against the Son of Man and be forgiven. But anyone who speaks against the Holy Spirit will never be forgiven—not now or in the future.

The Jewish concept of blasphemy was tied to an incident in the Old Testament. It involved saying evil or profane things about God. So the essence of such blasphemy consisted of the irreverent purpose in using the words, and did not necessarily include the performance of any desecrating act. The Jewish law is based on the case of a blasphemer whose mother was an Israelite and his father was an Egyptian who made the exodus out of Egypt with the children of Israel.² He used God’s name YHWH – which is pronounced, “Yud-Heh-Wav-Heh” or Yahweh) as a curse word, so he was sentenced to be taken outside the camp and everyone who heard him do this was to lay their hands on his head as a sign of their witness, and then all the congregation should stone him. The judgment in his case was formulated in such a way as to become law.³ So it was not only the way he used God’s name, but the intent for which he used it.

Jewish Rabbis have also interpreted this blasphemy punishment in light of the Ten Commandments. They taught: “Come and hear: Rabbi Judah said: For everything from ‘Thou shalt not take [the name of the Lord thy God in vain]’⁴ and down to repentance procures atonement, for everything from ‘Thou shalt take’ and up to penitence procures suspension [of punishment] and the Day of Atonement procures atonement.”⁵ One Jewish commentator likened blasphemy to boring a hole in what was heretofore an unsealed chest, thereby making what was once untouchable now accessible. In other words, by denying a single element of our faith in God, a person totally abandons that faith to speculation and ridicule.⁶

So when Jesus spoke of blasphemy against the Holy Spirit, it may have been quite easy for His Jewish listeners to equate this with taking the name of the Lord God in vain. But when it came to the Holy Spirit, Christ had a new revelation. The implications and allusions in this section are numerous. However, we must not forget what Christ is unapologetic about and leave these verses in that context. The Pharisees accused Jesus of casting out demons by Beelzebub. Jesus in turn tells them that it is rather by the power of the Holy Spirit. So it is throughout the entire text, as well as in this pertinent part of His dissertation that this warning is given.

Consequently, it is quite clear that blaspheme against the Holy Spirit can be verbal and written, though not restricted just to these forms of communication. As we have mentioned, the Greek word for “blasphemy” here is rendered as “slander,” and “abusive language,” and elsewhere in throughout N.T. It basically means, for one to knowingly accuse the Holy Spirit of doing things that are counter to all that God and Christ stand for and hold sacred. The reason it is unforgivable, is not necessarily because it is so vile and evil, but because it makes it impossible for the Holy Spirit to convince and convict. To put it another way, if you are offered the only medicine that can cure your terminal illness and you reject and demean it, your chances of being cured and recover are destroyed. The same with the Holy Spirit and your opportunity to believe, receive, and be saved.

However, Jesus says that this type of spiritual suicide does not apply to His relationship with the unbeliever. We can understand this now, because after our Lord was arrested, tried, and nailed on the cross, fewer worse things could have been said about Him. Yet, in His own words He said, “Father, forgive them, they know not what they do.” The Jews themselves taught about forgivable and unforgivable sins. Their own rabbis said: “All Israel [even those who were executed by the court for their transgressions] have a portion in the World to Come, for it is written: ‘Your people are all righteous; they shall inherit the land forever, the branch of my planting, the work of my hands, that I be glorified.’⁷ But the following have no portion in the World to Come: He who says that resurrection is not a Torah doctrine, the Torah is not from Heaven, and anyone who denigrates Torah and Torah scholars.”⁸

Other Rabbis later commented on this teaching about the resurrection, and asked: “Why such severity? — A Tanna taught: Since he denied the resurrection of the dead, therefore he shall not share in that resurrection, for in all the measures of punishment or reward taken by the Holy One, blessed be He, the Divine act befits the human deed”.⁹ In other words, all punishment fits the crime. As a matter of fact, one Rabbi shared what had been passed on to him: “There are six things, the fruit of which man eats in this world, while the principal remains for him for the world to come, viz.: Hospitality to wayfarers, visiting the sick, meditation in prayer, early attendance at the house of study, rearing one’s sons to the study of the Torah, and judging one’s neighbor in the scale of merit”.¹⁰ Also, Rabbi Nathan speaks about the value of studying God’s Word. He says: “There is not a single precept in the Torah, even the lightest, whose reward is not enjoyed in this world; and as to its reward in the future world I know not how great it is”.¹¹

Taking all this together, we can see why speaking rudely and disparagingly against who the Holy Spirit is and what He came in the world to do after our Lord’s ascension is so critical. No one can come to the Father unless the Holy Spirit draws them to Christ and Christ becomes the door for them to enter through into eternal fellowship with the Father. In one of his sermons, Augustine speaks about perfect love as the gift of the Holy Spirit, by which sins are cast out, and the people of God gathered together in unity. The unclean spirit of man struggles against this gift. Toward the end Augustine says: “This refusal to repent has absolutely no forgiveness, neither in this age nor in the age to come, because repentance obtains forgiveness in this world in preparation for the next.”¹² In other words, forgiveness of sins is to open the door to eternal life, but if the Divine Agent sent by God to facilitate such forgiveness is pushed away, denied, or even cursed at, then forgiveness is impossible.

There is an interesting Jewish story connected with this teaching that you may find interesting, that speaks of what we might call today “personal evangelism,” but under circumstances we may frown on if the context were repeated today. It goes as follows:

Once a man, who was very scrupulous about taking care of his coat upon which were sewn 613 threads that symbolized the 613 commandments in the Torah, heard of a certain harlot in one of the towns by the sea who accepted four hundred gold denarii for her hire. He sent her four hundred gold denarii and appointed a day to be with her. When the day arrived he came and waited at her door, and her maid came and told her, ‘That man who sent you four hundred gold denarii is here and waiting at the door;’ to which she replied ‘Let him come in.’ When he came in she prepared for him seven beds, six of silver and one of gold [arranged in the form of stairs]; and between each bed there were steps of silver, but the last were of gold. She then went up to the top bed and lay down upon it naked. He too went up after her in his desire to sit naked with her, when all of a sudden the four fringes of his garment struck him across the face; whereupon he slipped and ended up sitting on the ground. She also slipped off and sat upon the ground and said, ‘I swear upon Rome that I will not leave you alone until you tell me what blemish you saw in me. ‘I swear by the Temple, he replied, ‘never have I seen a woman as beautiful as you are; but there is one precept which the Lord our God has commanded us, with regard to it the expression ‘I am the Lord your God,¹³ is written twice signifying, I am He who will exact punishment in the future, and I am He who will give reward in the future. Now a precept struck me in the face as four witnesses testifying against me.’ She said, ‘I will not leave you until you tell me your name, the name of your town, the name of your teacher, the name of your school in which you study the Torah.’ He wrote all this down and handed it to her. There upon she went out and divided her estate into three parts; one third for government taxes, one third to be distributed among the poor, and one third she took with her in her hand; the bed clothes, however, she retained. She then came to the House of Study of Rabbi Hiyya, and said to him, ‘Master, give me instructions on how I can become a proselyte’ [meaning she was a Gentile]. ‘My daughter’, he replied; ‘perhaps you have set your eyes on one of the disciples?’ She there upon took out the script and handed it to him. ‘Go’, said he ‘and enjoy your acquisition.’ Those very bed-clothes which she had spread for him for an illicit purpose she now spread out for him lawfully as his wife. This is the reward of the precept in this world; and as for its reward in the future world I know not how great it will be.¹⁴

In this story the Jews were given an illustration of how the truth of God’s word will go with them, even into the quagmire of sin to remind them both of what is right and of God’s love. I’m sure that Jesus statement about forgivable and unforgivable sins did not leave His listeners shaking their heads, since it was already part of their theology. But how it applied to Him and the new covenant necessitated that the Master draw a further illustration for them.

Verse 33: If you want good fruit, you must make the tree good. If your tree is not good, it will have bad fruit. A tree is known by the kind of fruit it produces.

On the surface, this statement by Jesus is not all that profound or unusual, but it was not intended to be. He was painting a simple target for the next dart He was about to throw so they could see that it would hit in the middle of the bull’s eye. If they were willing to accept what conventional wisdom in the nature of growing an orchard, why could they then not accept His divine wisdom in the nature of man? Even though the product may be different, the principle is the same.

Early church preacher Chrysostom sees another application in what Jesus says here. He expounds: “Truly the distinction between trees is shown by their fruit. It is not that the fruit is known by the tree, for one need only to examine the fruit alone to find what kind of tree it is. But what if it is argued that the tree is inconsistent with the fruit? Nonetheless the fruit is what makes the tree known. His implication: It would be more consistent if you either found fault with my deeds or praised them, so that I could meet these charges openly. But having no fault to find with my works, the fruit, you pass the opposite judgment upon the tree, me. You call me a demoniac, which, as anyone can see, is self-evidently reckless. For a good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit.”¹⁵

In this case, our Lord’s words must be taken in the sense that the tree itself is not bad, it’s just that it was allowed to become bad and that is proven by the fruit it produces. In other words, all humans are born in innocence, but it is how they are raised and nurtured that will be evidenced by the fruit they bear. If people were born either good or bad, as we noticed in an earlier reference, then salvation would be of no value. Adam and Eve were created in innocence and purity, but they became bad through the work of the serpent. He is still at it today on every descendant of Adam that is born into this world.

Theologian Augustine gives us another interpretation to consider. He says: “Jesus is referring to those who think they are able, yet they are incapable of speaking good things or doing good works. This the Lord Jesus says they cannot do. For a person must first be changed in order for his works to be changed. But if a person remains in an evil state, that one cannot do good works. If he abides in what is good, he will not be found producing evil works.”¹⁶

NEW TESTAMENT CONTEXTUAL COMMENTARY

by Dr. Robert R. Seyda

GOSPEL OF MATTHEW

CHAPTER TWELVE

Part III (Con’t)

Verse 26: So if Satan forces out his own demons, then he is fighting against himself, so how can his kingdom ever survive?

The venerable Augustine of Hippo preached a sermon on this and stated: “So let the Pharisees choose what they want. If Satan could not cast out Satan, they could find nothing to say against the Lord. But if Satan can cast out Satan, let them look out for themselves all the more and let them abandon his kingdom because it cannot stand divided against itself.”¹ In other words, if they insist on the idea that Satan is foolish enough to go around casting out his own demons, then they should quickly exit his kingdom because it’s about to fall. They did not know that it would not be long before this same Jesus would raise His hands in victory over Satan.

The same message applies to those today who have rejected the opportunity to become part of the kingdom of God, because they enjoy serving the devil. Satan’s kingdom will soon be destroyed, never to rise again, because: “The devil, who deceived them, was thrown into the lake of burning sulfur, where the beast and the false prophet had been thrown. They will be tormented day and night for ever and ever…Then death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. The lake of fire is the second death. Anyone whose name was not found written in the book of life was thrown into the lake of fire.”²

And Early Church preacher Chrysostom offered this in one of his sermons: “Notice, Jesus did not say ‘demons,’ implying that there was a great deal of harmony in them toward each other. Rather, He said hierarchically, ‘If Satan casts out Satan, he is then divided against himself.’ But if he is divided, he is becoming weaker and being ruined. And if he is ruined, how can he cast out another? Do you see how great is the joke of the accusation, how great the folly, the inconsistency? It is not plausible that one would be said to stand by that which was likely to cause one to fall.”³

So Jesus uses this statement for His listeners to concentrate on the obvious factors of what happens when people who supposedly are part of a unified body begin to disagree with one another and fight against each other. Chrysostom points out: “Wars abroad are not as ruinous as civil wars at home. As with civil wars, so wars happen inside the body. In all things it is the same, but in this case Jesus takes his illustration from the public sphere, for what is more powerful on earth than a kingdom? Nothing. But nevertheless it perishes if divided against itself. And what would you say of a city, similarly, if it were to break down by its own weight? What great blame would fall on those who carry the burden of its affairs! And what of a family? Whether it is a small matter or a great one, it perishes when it revolts against itself. Furthermore, if I am possessed by a demon and through it cast out demons, there is dissent and strife between demons, and they rise up against one another. And if they rise up against one another, their strength is destroyed.”⁴ In this way, Jesus was pointing out the ridiculousness of accusing the devil of using Him to cast out one of his own demons.

Verse 27: You say that I use the power of Satan to force out demons. If that is true, then what power do your people use when they force out demons? You see! Your own people prove that you are wrong.

Now Jesus turns the table on His critics. Some scholars see a resemblance between the comparison of how He cast out demons and how some of the Jews were doing it, with the contest between Moses and Aaron and the magicians of Egypt.⁵ As such, their reasoning went against their own writings. We read in one of their texts where it tells how one demon named Ornias, saw the prince of demons and questioned him: “Who are you? The demon replied: ‘I am Beelzebub, the prince of the demons. And all the chief demons have their seats close to me. And it is I who make manifest the appearance of each demon.’” Then the writer of this vision says: “And he promised to bring all the unclean spirits to me in bonds. And I again glorified the God of heaven and earth, as I do always give thanks to Him.”⁶ Although this spurious work ascribed to King Solomon has no date, it contains traditional content that is extremely ancient in Jewish folklore.

So what are they going to do? If they believe that Jesus was exorcising demons by the power of Satan and they were unwilling to accept His claim as having such power from His heavenly Father, then they should look at their own exorcisms in the same light. In other words, they too were using the devil’s power to cast out demons. In the same vein, no doubt all those listening to Jesus had heard the story of a demon, named “ben Temalion,” being cast out of the Emperor’s daughter in Rome by a Rabbi.⁷ So how would they feel if that was attributed to the power of Beelzebub? Would that not contradict their charges against Jesus?

Another episode came up later in Ephesus when the Seven sons of Sceva tried to give the apostle Paul some competition.⁸ One early Church Father had to contend with this as well in his day. He relates how he was not shaken in his faith by those counterfeits which the devil is said to have performed among the Greeks; just as some were wrought by the Magi in Egypt, and others by the false prophets in Elijah’s days.⁹ Jesus wanted to leave no doubt where His power and authority came from, so He informs His distractors of the following:

Verses 28-29: I use the power of God’s Spirit to force out demons, and this shows that God’s kingdom has come to you. Think about this, whoever wants to enter a strong man’s house and steal his things must first tie him up. Then they can steal the things from his house.

This is not a parable our Lord is using, it is common logic. I’m glad that instead of Matthew saying that Jesus heard what they were saying, he pointed out that Jesus knew what they were thinking. That is something we must always keep in mind when we talk to God. The Psalmist confessed to this truth: “LORD, you know what I want to say, even before the words leave my mouth.”¹⁰ God told the prophet Jeremiah, “Nothing can hide its deceit as well as the human mind. It can be a chronic problem, and no one really understands it. But I am the LORD, and I can look into a person’s heart. I can search a person’s mind and respond to what is really on their minds.”¹¹

In His brilliance, our Lord touches on the very thing the Pharisees and other religious leaders were trying to do. They wanted to cause a division in the kingdom Jesus came to establish, as well as to get His disciples fighting among themselves. He applies it to their ironic statement that evil powers were being evicted by an evil power, and asks if their efforts at exorcism was also done by using Satan’s power. And then the Master lands another knockout blow. Since He was doing all these miracles by the power of God’s Holy Spirit, then whatever power He was driving out must be weaker than the power He was using.

As a matter of fact, one of the earliest scholars and Christian theologians named Origen, who was born and spent the first half of his career in Alexandria, Egypt, wrote a work to a 2^nd century Greek philosopher and staunch opponent of Christianity, named Celsus, about the Jewish exorcisms of demons: “It is certain, however, that the Jews trace their genealogy back to the three fathers, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. And the names of these individuals possess such efficacy, when united with the name of God, that not only do those belonging to the nation employ in their prayers to God, and in the exorcising of demons, the words, “God of Abraham, and God of Isaac, and God of Jacob.”¹² Also, “Moreover, the phrases, ‘the God of Israel,’ and ‘the God of the Hebrews,’ and ‘the God who drowned in the Red Sea the king of Egypt and the Egyptians,’ are formulas frequently employed against demons and certain wicked powers.”¹³

So what Jesus said about the Jews casting out demons is proven to still be practiced by the 3^rd Century AD when Origen wrote this rebuke. It was so hard for these Jewish intellectuals to accept the changes that Jesus taught were needed in order to conform to God’s new covenant of grace that would rule in His kingdom. Jesus was on course to change their formula for water baptism, exorcising demons, healing the sick, and preaching righteousness and salvation. It was hard for them to accept. But I’m sure our Lord’s closing remarks were really hard for them to digest. He made it clear that either they were with Him or they were against Him. And since He was sent by God, then this was equal to being against God as well.

Verse 30: Whoever is not with me is against me. And anyone who does not work with me is working against me.

This was the same challenge Joshua gave the people of Israel, “Today you must decide who you will serve. Will you serve the gods that your ancestors worshiped when they lived on the other side of the Euphrates River? Or will you serve the gods of the Amorites who lived in this land? You must choose for yourselves. But as for me and my family, we will serve the LORD.”¹⁴ Then the Master launches into a sermon on the danger of speaking against God’s Spirit and what it would cost them if they did not change.

Early church theologian Chromatius gives us his interpretation of what Jesus is saying here. He writes: “By this Jesus meant that His work is one thing and the devil’s work another. For the devil is the enemy of human well-being. It is proper for the devil to scatter by destruction and for Christ to gather to salvation. Hence it is clear that one who is against the Lord cannot be with the Lord. Therefore, although the Lord seems to be repudiating those Pharisees who, unwilling to gather with Christ, have remained the Lord’s enemies and adversaries, He also speaks of all heretics and schismatics. Drawing impious conclusions against the church or the Lord by way of unorthodox teachings or schismatic beliefs, they aim to tear asunder and ravage the incorrupt body of the church and the unity of peace and faith. They are oblivious to Solomon’s words: ‘He who splits a log is endangered by it.”¹⁵”¹⁶

It is quite obvious that many will equate Chromatius’ use of the term “church” to mean the Roman Catholic church. However, this was early in the church history and for him there was only one church, even though it had archdiocese in both the east and the west. So it would be inappropriate to take his words as relevant to the whole body of Christ, no matter what branch of the Early Church.

Verse 31: So I tell you, people can be forgiven for every sinful thing they do and for every bad thing they say against God. But anyone who curses the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven.

This is one of the toughest sayings of Jesus to explain, even though it seems simple on the surface. The astute British theologian John Gill gives his interpretation:

By this is meant: not every ignorant denial of, and opposition to His deity and personality; nor all resistance of Him in the external ministry of the word; nor every sin that is knowingly and willfully committed; but it is a despiteful usage of the Spirit of grace, and opposing, contradicting, and denying the operations wrought, or doctrines revealed by Him, against a man’s own light and conscience, out of willful and obstinate malice, on purpose to lessen the glory of God, and gratify his own lusts: such was the sin of the Scribes and Pharisees; who, though they knew the miracles of Christ were wrought by the Spirit of God, yet maliciously and obstinately imputed them to the devil, with a view to obscure the glory of Christ, and indulge their own wicked passions and resentments against Him; which sin was unpardonable at that present time, as well as under that dispensation then to come, when the Spirit of God was poured down in a more plenteous manner.¹⁷

Any step in grasping the meaning of Jesus’ words is to begin with the word, “blaspheme.” This is a transliteration from the Greek “blasphēmia” which means: “to slander, detract, speech injurious to another’s good name; impious and reproachful speech injurious to divine majesty.” Jesus uses this word later in Matthew.¹⁸ But since Jesus was speaking Aramaic, we need to look at the Hebrew word for additional understanding. We find it used in Isaiah, and the Hebrew word is “gadaph,” which means: “to revile (use abusive language against) men and God.”¹⁹

We also find it first used in the Torah: “But an individual who does something wrong intentionally, whether a citizen or a foreigner, is blaspheming Adonai. That person will be cut off from his people.”²⁰ Then Isaiah’s prophecy against Sennacherib the king of Assyria employs this word again: “Whom have you blasphemed and reviled? Against whom made loud your voice, and haughtily raised your eyes? Against the Holy One of Israel!”²¹ And the final usage of the word reads thus: “Therefore, human being, speak to the house of Isra’el; tell them that Adonai Elohim says, ‘Moreover, your ancestors blasphemed me by breaking faith with me in still another way.”²²

From these examples we can see that blasphemy involves speaking against God in such a way that it separates God and the speaker to the point of irreconcilability. In summary, there were two ways to blaspheme: 1) willfully continuing to deny the Gospel when the Holy Spirit has made clear to you that it is true, or 2) attributing the works of the Holy Spirit to the Adversary (Satan); in the present context.²³ Seeing that the Holy Spirit is the only agent authorized by God to go out and get those souls whom He chooses, and bring them to Christ for redemption and salvation, once a person rejects and reviles the Holy Spirit there is no other way to reach God in order to receive forgiveness. It’s like someone drowning who continues to push away the life-vest thrown to them.

The problem with the priests, scribes, Pharisees, Sadducees and others is that they were stuck in the mud of man’s interpretation of what God said in His Word. Since they couldn’t speak directly to God, they took the words of those who said they could. So when God Himself came to them in the form of His Son, instead of rejoicing that now they could speak with God directly, they chose to stick with man’s words. The same case exists today. There are many who say they are followers of Christ, yet they do not speak to Him directly. They go through others. And when confronted with God’s Word to the contrary, they chose the words of men instead. This is serious, especially when you take the words of Jesus Himself who said: “If you are not for me, you are against me.”

NEW TESTAMENT CONTEXTUAL COMMENTARY

by Dr. Robert R. Seyda

GOSPEL OF MATTHEW

CHAPTER TWELVE

Part III

Verse 24: When the Pharisees heard this, they said, “This man is using the power of Beelzebub, the devil’s prince of evil spirits to force demons out of people.”

The healing of the man with the withered hand resulted in the people’s faith growing in Jesus as the Anointed One. But for others it was just another incident in their futile effort to classify Him as a fraud rather than a genuine Messiah. They were thereby risking the same end as what we find in Ezekiel.¹ This incident here is not a repeat of what we previously read in Chapter 9:32. In the former incident the demon-possessed were not blind. However, the outright dismissal of the miracle by the Pharisees was the same.

On this occasion Christ felt the necessity to give an exposition on the subject. One thing the devil cannot do is expel his own demons, anymore than he can save himself. Unfortunately, while we know of no civil war going on in the kingdom of darkness which threatens the devil’s authority and dominion over evil, there has been occasional wars in the kingdom of light here on earth where Christ’s authority and dominion over sin and righteousness have been challenged.

What Jesus said would happen to the devil’s kingdom should there be fighting amongst themselves, is true for heaven’s kingdom as well. As the old saying goes about wisdom: “What is good for the goose is good for the gander.” And why shouldn’t the people believe that Jesus was the Anointed One. Did not Isaiah say, “The deaf will hear the words in the book. The blind will see through the darkness and fog. The Lord will make poor people happy. The poorest people will rejoice in the Holy One of Israel?”²

Having just been embarrassed by our Lord, you would think that the Pharisees might reconsider and start examining the Scriptures to prove that He was the Messiah instead of looking for ways to disprove His claims. But their hearts were like that of Pharaoh. Even after all the miracles performed by Moses and Aaron in God’s name, he still would not believe. Look at all the good Jesus was doing! Look at all the people He helped and gave hope to! Look at the lives He changed through healing! Why wouldn’t they open their hearts to the light standing before them. Just like Pharaoh, the door to their hearts was too rusty from long periods of non-use and neglect.

So again they turn a blind eye and deaf ear to the wonders that Jesus is doing to glorify His Father in heaven. So they reach for the same lame explanation they used before about His using the power of the evil one to do His miracles.³ But despite of their stubbornness, they could not deny the miracle that just took place. So their effort here was to deprive our Lord of any recognition that He had such power. To do that, they naturally turned to attributing it to works of magic, which were often attributed to the power of Beelzebub. We find in Jewish writings that this denouncement of Jesus continued long after our Lord ascended into heaven.

One Jewish rumor that found its way into print comes from what one Rabbi was telling everyone: “Now, did not Ben Stada perform magic in this manner?” They said to them, 'Just because of one fool should we make all intelligent folk liable?”⁴ Later, another Rabbi asked: “Did not Jesus (using the code name Ben Stada) bring witchcraft up from Egypt by means of marks on his flesh? He was a fool, answered they. and you cannot offer as evidence what you gather from fools.”⁵ In an earlier edition of the Talmud we find this exchange: “Was he then the son of Stada the adulterer? surely he was the son of Pandira the virgin - Said Rabbi Hisda: The husband was Stada, the paramour was Pandira. But the husband was Pappos ben Judah? — His mother was Stada, an adultress. But his mother was Miriam the hairdresser? — It is as we say in Pumbeditha: 'This one has been unfaithful to her husband'.”⁶ When looking at all this jabber, it is clear these Rabbis made a self-fulfilling prophecy when they said, “You cannot present evidence gathered from fools.”

While their words are surely cryptic, it was the argument that Mary had been intimate with an adulterer and Joseph tried to cover it up with his story of an angel telling him that the child was the result of the Holy Spirit. But it shows how critics continued trying to destroy any evidence that might support Jesus of Nazareth as the Messiah. Would it not be noteworthy to stop and contemplate at this point that the critics and skeptics who argued that the story of Jesus was just an allegory, or at best an hyperbole about someone who pretended to be the Messiah, would continue to discuss and debate such nonsense years and years after He disappeared into the sky? Once you prove something is wrong, you don't keep on arguing over it.

Also, their choice of Beelzebub was not that unusual. One Jewish commentator stated: “Solomon, having departed from the words of the Law in the pride of his heart, was dethroned by Ashmodai, king of the demons.”⁷ In fact, in the Chaldean paraphrase of this scripture it reads: “When King Solomon was sitting upon the throne of his kingdom, his heart became elated with riches, and he transgressed the word of God; and he gathered many horses and chariots and riders, and he amassed much gold and silver, and he married wives from foreign nations. Whereupon the anger of the Lord was kindled against him, and He sent to him Ashmodai, the king of the demons, and he drove him from the throne of his kingdom.”⁸ Ashmodai (also Asmodeus) was the Greek name of a prince of demons. Jews believed that Beelzebub, also a prince, united the demonic kingdom and became the crown prince under Lucifer. As a matter of fact, a classification system was developed based on the Seven Deadly Sins that listed Ashmodai as the demon of lust.⁹

The recognition of demonic power by the Jews was legendary. One Rabbi claimed to have spoken to them: “Rabbi Joseph said: 'The demon Joseph told me that Ashmedai the king of the demons is appointed over all those who drink in pairs,’ and a king is not designated a harmful spirit since it is beneath his dignity to cause harm. Others explain it in the opposite sense: On the contrary, a king is quick-tempered and does whatever he wishes, for a king can break through a wall to make a pathway for himself and none can keep him from doing so.”¹⁰ This may explain why the Jews were willing to attribute the good deeds of Jesus to Beelzebub, since, although they were demonically inspired, they caused no harm. They also believed that there were three hundred kinds of demons, and they were divided into males and females.¹¹

Jews also referred to “the God of this world” as being the one who poisons all within and was the one who came to tempt Adam and Eve. They gave his name as, “Samael,”¹² which means “God's Poison.” They also call him the “angel of darkness, the great transgressor.”¹³ In a story by German Jews he is referred to as: “Fürst des Feindes” or “Prince of Enemies.”¹⁴ Also, Rabbis call him, “Prince of Gehenna.” Meaning, he was the demon prince in charge of this burning dump who voraciously demanded multitudes of victims.¹⁵ And Jewish messianic writers called him the angel “Duma,” the ruler of hell.¹⁶ I mentioned all of these because Jesus was fully aware of their belief in the hierarchy of demonic power under Satan's rule. We see this in His ensuing answer.

At this point we can clearly see a principle used and a method applied by those in Jesus's day, and continuing until this day, and that is to try and hide one's own disbelief and unwillingness to accept reality and truth by offering a distraction, and claiming that the person involved is not really doing what they say they are doing by the method they claim to be using. We often hear this argument by those who attempt to prove that magicians and mentalists are not really using magic – which does not exist, but are employing deception. Since many of Jesus' critics accused Him of being a magician, we can see why they took this path in their opposition to His miracles.

Verse 25: Jesus knew what the Pharisees were thinking. So He said to them, 'Every kingdom that fights against itself will be destroyed. And every city or family that is divided against itself will not survive.”

Out of this there comes one clear concept about the kingdom of Satan: although he and all his demons are wicked, evil and destructive, they don't fight each other. Unfortunately, we can't say the same about man's version of the kingdom of heaven here on earth. The demonic kingdom is one of cooperation and harmony in carrying out their evil mission. Therefore, it makes no sense for the devil to approve the casting out one of his own demonic princes who is doing a good job. This does not mean that Jesus was agreeing that this man had a demon who caused blindness and muteness, He was only pointing out that when confronted with such an illness even if it was caused by demonic power, Satan would not cure the man by getting rid of the demonic cause. Therefore, since Jesus did cure him, it was obvious that the devil did not have enough power to resist.

To point out His facts, Jesus parallels the inward workings of the kingdom of Satan in contrast with those of human kingdoms, where citizens have issues with their magistrates and as a result one tries to ousts the other. Likewise in large families, where the heads of different branches quarrel, fight and argue with each others so as to divide and conquer and thus become the matriarch or patriarch of the family. This the Jews were very familiar with. Even the schools founded by leading Rabbis tried to supplant one another in the minds of the people by claiming one as superior over the others. We see this illustrated in a vignette recorded in Jewish literature:

It happened with these four elders: Rabban¹⁷ Gamaliel, Rabbi Jehoshua, Rabbi Elazar ben Azariah, and Rabbi Aqiba, who went to the interior cities of Rome, in one of which there lived a friend of theirs, a philosopher – Rabbi Jehoshua asked Rabban Gamaliel if he would like to go and see their friend the philosopher, and he answered he would not. On the next morning, however, he asked him again, and he said he would. They then went, and Rabbi Jehoshua knocked at the door of the philosopher, and at once the philosopher concluded that this knock was in the manner of a wise man. When he knocked again, the philosopher arose and washed his face, hands, and feet. When he knocked the third time, the philosopher opened the door, and saw that the sages of Israel were coming from both sides of the street; namely, Rabban Gamaliel in the center, Rabbi Jehoshua and Rabbi Elazar ben Azariah to his right, and Rabbi Aqiba to his left, and the philosopher was somewhat puzzled as to the manner in which to greet them. He said to himself: “Whom of the sages shall I greet first? If I greet Rabbi Gamaliel first, I might thereby offend the other sages; and if I should address my greeting to all of them (without naming the one in charge), I will offend Rabban Gamaliel.” He therefore concluded to address them this way: “Peace to you, sages of Israel, and to Rabbi Gamaliel first”.¹⁸

On the other hand, an early church Bishop around 350 AD saw another factor here that would certainly connect these Jewish opponents of Jesus that came from their own history. He writes: “The Lord declared that a kingdom or city or house divided against itself could not stand. This was said in reference to the kingdom that the Jews themselves occupied under the rule of Jeroboam, the servant of Solomon, which was judged as abandoned before being divided. The Jews would lose entirely the city of Jerusalem, to which Samaria had been hostile. They would lose the dwelling place of God’s temple against which golden calves and the house of idols had been erected. He showed them that they ought rather to follow that kingdom that cannot be divided—that is, the heavenly and eternal one. The spiritual city of Jerusalem always remains fixed and immovable. No hostile power ever has been or will be able to overcome the true house of God. That house which is protected by the Son of God is quite safe.”¹⁹