Sermon Tone Analysis

Read Matthew 12:22-32;

Introduction:

Last Week: How to Continue to Serve God with Effectiveness and Passion

We are to emulate Jesus’ God-Focused, Spirit-Empowered, and Grace-Infused Ministry.

Today: We are reminded that Spirit-Empowered Ministry will always be faced with opposition.

Matthew: Jesus has gone about doing serving God and people.

He has been:

Preaching the Good News of the Kingdom of God

Healing the Sick

Delivering the oppressed

And pouring out compassion upon the crowds of people

Some people have still rejected Him.

.. Especially the religious leaders.

Some do not believe He is the Messiah

They are not happy that He has called out their own self-righteousness

And in our text today, the tension between Jesus and the Pharisees continues.

The narrative begins by Jesus’ healing a man who is blind and mute; He casts out a demon so that the man could both talk and see.

This undeniable miracle happened right in front of a crowd of people.

You would think that everyone would be thrilled and overjoyed: and many were.

But others (particularly the Pharisees), astonishingly, became even more hard-hearted towards him.

Many people opposed Jesus during His earthly ministry; and He promised that opposition would always be present in the lives of those who follow Him.

The Christian life is not easy.

Sermon on the Mount: Narrow is the gate and difficult is the way that leads to life.

But here is what we are reminded of our text today: Following Jesus is well worth the cost.

We must continue to serve Him, even in the face of opposition.

Thesis: The way in which we respond to Jesus in this life is everything; it has eternal consequences.

That’s what we see in our text.

We will look at the different responses to Jesus and the consequences of those responses.

(I will even address the unpardonable sin).

I.

The Responses (to Jesus Healing and delivering this demon-possessed man).

A. The Crowd’s Response

Matthew 12:22–23 (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.

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

The Crowd is Amazed at what Jesus has done.

This is an undeniable miracle.

i. Could This Be the Son of David?

Israel’s first King was a man by the name of Saul.

He failed miserably, and God rejected Him.

But God raised up another king—namely, David—who was not a perfect person—but was someone who loved God and led well.

He was a champion king of Israel.

In 2 Samuel 7, Nathan the prophet speaks to King David and says, “12When your days are fulfilled and you lie down with your fathers, I will raise up your offspring after you, who shall come from your body, and I will establish his kingdom.

13 He shall build a house for my name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever.”

This promise is that David’s throne would be established forever through His Son, and that He would build a temple.

This text points, first, to David’s son, Solomon, who take the throne after David.

He would be king, and he would build the temple.

But his story didn’t end well, Solomon’s temple was eventually destroyed.

And after Solomon came a host of pretty bad kings, which led to Israel’s downfall… and it looked like their story was over.

The passage ultimately points to the Messiah, the kingly figure who would come and rescue God’s people and would inaugurate God’s Kingdom on the earth.

The Jews have been waiting and longing for, this King… this Messiah.

And now the crowd of people that are witnessing Jesus’ healing of the demon possessed man, are marveling at Him and wondering if He could be the Messiah (but they still have their doubts, because Jesus—by there estimation—Jesus doesn’t really fit the part.

Illustration of Dr. Craig Keener (You would never meet him on the street and think he was a professor).

Soft Spoken

Humble

Not Pretentious

Not well-dressed

Joe Girdler - Wanted to take him to lunch… he chose McDonalds

Look the part or not, Dr. Keener is one of the most renowned intellectuals and theologians in the world today.

Similarly, to the crowd in our text, though Jesus’ miracles are like nothing they’ve ever witnessed, He doesn’t not fit the part of the Messianic King.

Jesus doesn’t Look Like the King they are expecting (he not dressed in kingly attire)

He doesn’t act like the King they are expecting (one who would bring military conquest).

He should be surrounded by well-trained soldiers, not fisherman.

He is not bloodthirsty… he is merciful and gentle.

Application: Some people are slow to believe in Jesus as their Savior, because of misconceptions of who He is:

They think that if Jesus was truly loving, that all their dreams should come true...

Though Jesus doesn’t look the part that the crowds are expecting, the fact that Jesus is the Messiah, is becoming more evident… and their minds are blown.

They Respond in Amazement, believing that He might be the Messiah.

The Pharisees—by contrast—are angry and are convinced that Jesus is NOT the Messiah.

B. The Pharisees’ Respond in Anger

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.”

The Pharisees cannot deny the miracle that they just witnessed.

They cannot deny any of the miracles that Jesus has done.

There is no smoke and mirrors.

Yet, they still reject and renounce Jesus.

Think about a wife who is so hard-hearted against her husband that—no matter the good that he does—she cannot accept him; she cannot respect him.

She cannot see herself with him and happy.

She can’t enjoy the good that she does.

Why?

She is blinded by the callousness of her heart.

In a sense, that is what is going on here.

Jesus has called out the Pharisees on their hypocrisy.

He has called them to repentance.

He claims to have the authority to forgive sins.

And now they are so heart-hearted towards Him and the things of God, that no matter how many miracles they witness, no matter how many Scriptures they see being fulfilled in Him—they simply cannot accept Him as the Messiah.

They are so cynical, so hard-hearted, that they make the outrageous claim that Jesus cannot be empowered by God, thus He must be empowered by Satan.

Application: (It is amazing what a calloused heart can do to us).

II.

Jesus’ Defense: How Does Jesus Respond to These Claims?

Jesus begins dismantling the Pharisees accusations through logical arguments.

He points out how the Pharisees Accusation is both illogical and hypocritical.

A) Illogical

Matthew 12:25–26 (ESV)

Knowing their thoughts, he said to them, “Every kingdom divided against itself is laid waste, and no city or house divided against itself will stand.

And if Satan casts out Satan, he is divided against himself.

How then will his kingdom stand?

Jesus’ makes that logical argument that if Satan uses Him as his agent to cast out demons (who are also his agents), then he is divided against himself, and his kingdom would crumble.

This would be like shooting your own soldiers in battle.

Jesus assumes that Satan is more rational than that.