A Tale of Two Kingdoms

David Poland

Matthew: Kingdom Authority • Sermon • Submitted 2 years ago

Matthew 12:22–37

Parables

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The 35th Sermon in a series through the Book of Mattheww

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Psalm of the Day: Psalm 127

Psalm 127 ESV

A Song of Ascents. Of Solomon. Unless the Lord builds the house, those who build it labor in vain. Unless the Lord watches over the city, the watchman stays awake in vain. It is in vain that you rise up early and go late to rest, eating the bread of anxious toil; for he gives to his beloved sleep. Behold, children are a heritage from the Lord, the fruit of the womb a reward. Like arrows in the hand of a warrior are the children of one’s youth. Blessed is the man who fills his quiver with them! He shall not be put to shame when he speaks with his enemies in the gate.

Scripture Reading: Deut 30:14-19

Deuteronomy 30:14–19 ESV

But the word is very near you. It is in your mouth and in your heart, so that you can do it. “See, I have set before you today life and good, death and evil. If you obey the commandments of the Lord your God that I command you today, by loving the Lord your God, by walking in his ways, and by keeping his commandments and his statutes and his rules, then you shall live and multiply, and the Lord your God will bless you in the land that you are entering to take possession of it. But if your heart turns away, and you will not hear, but are drawn away to worship other gods and serve them, I declare to you today, that you shall surely perish. You shall not live long in the land that you are going over the Jordan to enter and possess. I call heaven and earth to witness against you today, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and curse. Therefore choose life, that you and your offspring may live,

Sermon

Good Morning Church! I Was glad when they said to me let us go and worship in the house of the Lord!

So I have decided that when we pull up to our house I am going to stop saying things to Desiree. As I mentioned Last week, as we pulled up to our house after our month long journey I said, I am not leaving for like 2 years, and she reminded me that we needed to go to my sisters wedding in NYC. SO that is why we missed last week. well, as we pulled up to the house I told Desiree, “OK, that's it, we are back to normal, I am so glad all that is over.” two days later she tested positive for Covid, and as you can tell, things are far from “back to normal”. But praise be to the faithful God, who is sovereign and rules, over even times and situations such as this. And I am glad that we have learned and figured out how to operate in such times that those of you who can be there can fellowship and God’s people can still be encouraged, and God’s word can still be preached, even if in a slightly different way.

SO with that being said we are continuing our journey through the book of Matthew. Today we will be looking at Matthew 12:22-37. Here we have a fairly famous passage, most assuredly a controversial one, but what should be for us a beautiful one. Lets begin jus by reading this passage in its entirety.

READ

These are the words of the Lord for us this morning, Lets Pray

PRAY.

So as you can see this is quite a full passage. we have the idea of the “strong man” we have the unforgivable sin, we have judgement for every careless word spoken, that's a lot of stuff. But before we dive into all that stuff, lets ask a question - what starts all of this? What is the context, and here i don;t mean all the things that have come before and after (although that is critical) but instead the context of what happens here, and we have to start by noting this all starts with a MIRACLE

The MIRACLE

we miss it because t sshort, but the miracle that occurs here s central to all that will happen after. Its all in one verse verse 22

Matthew 12:22 ESV

Then a demon-oppressed man who was blind and mute was brought to him, and he healed him, so that the man spoke and saw.

This is shared with us in what one commentator calls ADMIRABLE BREVITY. Not too many details, where exactly, we don't know. how exactly? we don’t know. what did jesus say to the man and or demons? we don’t know. But when we have such few details, the ones that we do have stick out, and are usually more important. And what I want to note here in this miracle is that we are given three critical thoughts that prepare our hearts to understand all that will come after. and helpful here to think in terms of three S’s

First is to note that the man was blind. The first S is sight. We have covered this before, but of all the miracles of Jesus, the far and away most common was was the curing of blindness. Why? it is because the physical blindness is a picture of the spiritual blindness that is rampant in the world. When we read miracles of the blind being healed immediately our thought should be - OK - this man could NOT see and now he can, what is it that I can’t see and now should be able to, or as is the case here, what is it that the people around can’t see, what blindness does EVERYONE ELSE need.

Secondly this man was not just blind, but he was a blind mute. Speaking is the second S and Speaking here is a theme that we cannot miss. Jesus speaks, This man cannot speak, and others in this passage probably SHOULD not speak. Speaking is all over this passage. Verse 23 - the people SAID, verse 24 the pharisees heard it and they SAID, jesus knowing their thoughts verse 25 he SAID. verse 32 whoever SPEAKS against the son of man and whoever SPEAKS against the Holy Spirit. verse 36 every careless word the SPEAK.

So even in this healing a picture is being painted. Spiritual blindness is a real issue and the words that we SPEAK are of critical importance. and Jesus can heal that, jesus is the Lord of (as we noted last week) mercy and there is hope and healing in his name. but in this particular miracle there is another twist that we cannot miss. Why is this man blind and mute? was he born this way? some accident? no, this man is being oppressed by demons. and here is the third thing to note, And the final S - this is the acting of supernatural powers.

I use this picture all the time because I feel like it is super important that we get this. The truth is a narrow road, and we do damage by jumping in and out of the ditches on either side. So the trap on one side is to assume, that because this blind mute man is that way because of demons all blind and muteness is the result of demon activity. Let me start here, not everyone who is blind or mute is that way because of demonic forces. Sometimes someone is born that way so that the power of God can be shown, sometimes these things happen as a consequence of living in a fallen world, sometimes we have NO idea why these things happen, but that is for God to know and for us to serve him. So it is dangerous to live in that ditch, but many of us, acknowledged the follow of that have gone to the other side.

While we live and operate in the power of Jesus Christ, while we walk in victory, we cannot ignore the fact that we battle not against the flesh but against spirits. We should remember Paul’s warning to the church in Ephesus

Ephesians 2:1–4 ESV

And you were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience— among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind. But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us,

Ephesians 6:10–12 ESV

Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might. Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil. For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.

The spiritual realm is real Satan is a deceiver, he is defeated, but looking to take down with him all that he can.

This miracle is really a miracle exposing the great divide between two kingdoms. there is the blind mute kingdom of darkness, Beelzebub, and darkness, and the kingdom of Heaven, the one that has arrived in the person and work of Jesus Christ, the one who opens the eyes of the blind and unstops the mouth of the mute, the one who gives light and life to those who trust in him. Sure, this is a brief miracle, but it is an important one, so with that lets dive in.

And we can and should note, as we so often have each ad every time Jesus has done or taught something, that there are TWO RESPONSES

Two RESPONSES

The first is shown to us in verse 23

Matthew 12:23 ESV

And all the people were amazed, and said, “Can this be the Son of David?”

The first response to The kingdom of heaven coming in might and power to open blind eyes and shout forth the power of God is wonder and amazement, it is praise and adoration. The people are amazed. WE have never seen anything like this, in all our days, this man was BLIND and could not speak and here he is describing to us in beautiful detail all the things that he is seeing! Who could do this? they wonder, and only one answer is acceptable to them, it must be the son of David. This is the messiah, for only he, only one called and used and equipped by God for such an incredible work would have the power and, as is key in Matthew, the AUTHORITY to do these things. Thinking in terms of the miracle we have just witnessed, the first response is to open your eyes and SEE the truth then SPEAK the truth, that Jesus is messiah, that he is Lord, that he is the Son of David, the Long awaited savior. It is to set your camp in the kingdom of heaven and live for him. But that is just one response, there is a second. this is the response shown by the Pharisees in verse 24

Matthew 12:24 ESV

But when the Pharisees heard it, they said, “It is only by Beelzebul, the prince of demons, that this man casts out demons.”

It is to see the miracle of Jesus, this GOOD thing, for at the heart of this is a man tormented and troubled and left blind and mute, and for him we cannot overstate the freedom and healing, his life was changed, and only for the better. and the Pharisees see this and state: only the devil can do such things. these things that look good, and seem good, they are in fact sinful to the core. This man is NOT the son of David, he cannot be, for what we are looking for, what we desire to see when we speak of the Son of David, the political victory, the (most likely) being a member of OUR group, this man is not that, so he must be of the devil. Again, the miracle is a helpful filter, they remain blind, and they speak lies as they show that though they CLAIM to be against the kingdom of evil they are it’s chief officers.

BUT this is a helpful thought for us, in two ways. ONE, we can check our own hearts. In what ways are we blind to what God is doing? how comfortable have we become in our blindness that when the light shines forth we cannot see God moving and working. and how is our speech broken? In what ways do we call right and good evil and evil and right good?

and secondly, why are we so surprised that the world responds to the message of the Gospel in the way that it does. When we read of abortion providers that are coming to our town, just a few blocks away and they have said such things as: I thank God for my abortion and know that God want me to perform abortions” why are we surprised? These pharisees saw JESUS right in from of them and remained blind, and spoke heinous evil things, and the world still does that.

The solution is as simple as it is impossible, blind eyes need to see the hope and truth of the Gospel. When we go out with the message of Hope, when we go forth and attempt to “make disciples of all nations” we go to blind people who speak evil against the Lord of heaven and earth, who live for the world, and it is not up to me to open blind eyes, that is the ob, and gratefully business, of God.

Understanding that gives us access to see the next thought, jesus teaches TWO LESSONS

Two LESSONS

The first is found in verses 25-28 and is fairly simple to grasp, with powerful ramifications. Hearse the argument. If there is infighting in any kingdom, it will fall, this is true in the physical realm, and why deserters and traitors are treated so harshly, and it is true in the spiritual realm. So how does it make sense for satan to cast out satan? when you say it that way it just sounds stupid. So if you know that, and when your own people go casting out demons you realize that, why do you insist that Jesus casts out demons by the power of demons.

So Jesus pleads with them to open their eyes in verse 28

Matthew 12:28 ESV

But if it is by the Spirit of God that I cast out demons, then the kingdom of God has come upon you.

Jesus is basically saying, what you saw today was NOT kingdom of evil verses kingdom of Evil. that means your other option is kingdom of evil versus kingdom of heaven. one kingdom made a man blind and mute, the other healed him, Which kingdom will you serve. The kingdom of heaven as come upon you, it is, in fact, standing before you in the person of Jesus Christ. That’s lesson one.

Lesson two - the binding of the strong man. Lets read this together really quickly

Matthew 12:29 ESV

Or how can someone enter a strong man’s house and plunder his goods, unless he first binds the strong man? Then indeed he may plunder his house.

There are various ways that this quick parable has been interpreted, and a lot of people loose a lot of sleep about it, but I really don’t think it is that difficult. The strong man is the Devil. his house is his kingdom and his “goods” are the souls under his sway. So what is Jesus saying here. he is coming against this strong man and he will bind him, he will be defeated. upon binding him he will storm his kingdom and find souls that he will save. As O’Donnell says:

“you see, Jesus is not sitting on his heavenly throne being entertained by angels as they do somersaults in the sky. Rather he is on the front line kicking down the devil’s door and setting the captives free! This incarnational attack, we might say, began at his birth. His first victory was won in the wilderness, his most decisive victory was on the cross, and his final victory is still to come with the second coming. So, ‘far from belonging to Satan’s kingdom and using Satan’s power, Jesus has attacked [and will attack] that kingdom and overcome that power.’”

So here is the lesson from both of these - the kingdom of heaven is at hand, and it is moving and it is working, and it is WINNING. blind eyes are opening each and every day. moths that were once stopped are singing the praise of God the Father to the Glory of his Son in he power of the Spirit. The kingdom of heaven is here and the kingdom of heaven has been delivered by the power of Jesus. So with that authority, with that message of strength and power Jesus turns to two messages of JUDGEMENT!

Two messages of JUDGEMENT

Short and sweet, Jesus hits them with this simple thought, and we have all heard this phrase. verse 30: Who ever is not with me is against me. There is no middle ground in this battle, you cannot remain neutral in this battle, to remain neutral is to side with the devil. And in this fight stakes could not be higher. Ignoring the details on “the unforgivable sin” - you can read the gracepoint in your bulletin and come on Thursday to talk about that, but I will say this, if you are afraid you have committed that, let me help your conscious, that is evidence you have not! - Note what is at the center of this thought on the unforgivable sin - judgement in both this age - and more importantly at the end of verse 32 - the age to come.

Jesus is letting his hearers know that what is at stake is more than just the political kingdom the pharisees hope to set up, there is more than just thins life at stake here, spiritual blindness leads to eternal consequences, a refusal to see Jesus and to speak blasphemy leads to serious consequences.

He doubles down on this - a tree will be known by it’s fruit - and you will be judged - on the DAY OF JUDGEMENT - for verse 26 EVERY CARELESS WORD YOU SPEAK. not that it is not JUST the carefully thought out - and diplomatic - and sure words, but also the ones that jut come out. The corner of your bed that has broken your toe in the middle of the night might be a vehicle for more judgement to come your way as you let out a careless usage of the Lord’s name in vain. that thoughtless gossip shared at the proverbial water cooler is NOT without consequence for every careless word spoken will be atoned for.

In the battle of two kingdoms, which one you are in is of critical importance, but thankfully the messages of Jesus are NOT just judgement, but they are messages of JUDGEMENT AND HOPE!