MattheW 12:45 | 1555 it self will not stand. 26 If Sa tan drives out Sa tan, he is di vid ed against him self. How then can his king dom stand? 27 And if I drive out de mons by Be el ze bul, by whom do your peo ple drive them out? So then, they will be your judg es. 28 But if it is by the Spir it of God that I drive out de mons, then the king dom of God has come upon you.
29
“ Or again, how can any one en ter a strong man’ s house and car ry off his pos ses sions unless he first ties up the strong man? Then he can plun der his house.
30
“ Who ev er is not with me is against me, and who ev er does not gath er with me scat ters. 31 And so I tell you, ev ery kind of sin and slander can be for giv en, but blas phe my against the Spir it will not be for giv en. 32 Any one who speaks a word against the Son of Man will be for giv en, but anyone who speaks against the Holy Spir it will not be for giv en, ei ther in this age or in the age to come.
33
“ Make a tree good and its fruit will be good, or make a tree bad and its fruit will be bad, for a tree is rec og nized by its fruit. 34 You brood of vi pers, how can you who are evil say any thing good? For the mouth speaks what the heart is full of. 35 A good man brings good things out of the good stored up in him, and an evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in him. 36 But I tell you that every one will have to give ac count on the day of judg ment for ev ery emp ty word they have spo ken. 37 For by your words you will be ac quit ted, and by your words you will be con demned.”
The Sign of Jonah
12:39-42pp— Lk 11:29-32 12:43-45pp— Lk 11:24-26
38
Then some of the Phar i sees and teach ers of the law said to him,“ Teach er, we want to see a sign from you.”
39
He an swered,“ A wick ed and adul ter ous gener a tion asks for a sign! But none will be giv en it ex cept the sign of the proph et Jo nah. 40 For as Jo nah was three days and three nights in the bel ly of a huge fish, so the Son of Man will be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth. 41 The men of Nin e veh will stand up at the judg ment with this gen er a tion and con demn it; for they re pent ed at the preach ing of Jo nah, and now some thing great er than Jo nah is here. 42 The Queen of the South will rise at the judg ment with this gen er a tion and con demn it; for she came from the ends of the earth to lis ten to Sol o mon’ s wis dom, and now some thing great er than Sol o mon is here.
43
“ When an im pure spir it comes out of a person, it goes through arid plac es seek ing rest and does not find it. 44 Then it says,‘ I will re turn to the house I left.’ When it ar rives, it finds the house un oc cu pied, swept clean and put in or der. 45 Then it goes and takes with it sev en oth er spir its more wick ed than it self, and they go in and live there. And the fi nal con di tion of that per son is worse than the first. That is how it will be with this wicked gen er a tion.”
12:26 If Satan drives out Satan Jesus argues that, if Satan were facilitating exorcisms, he would be counteracting his own attempts to control the world, because he is the ruler of the demons( compare note on 10:25). 12:27 your people Refers to Jewish exorcists. 12:29 enter a strong man’ s house Jesus uses this illustration to assert that he already has defeated Satan( the strong man)— which is why he can expel demons( plunder the house). Jesus’ analogy likely comes from Isa 22:15 – 25. Compare Mk 3:27 and note. 12:31 blasphemy against the Spirit Speaking with degradation against God’ s truth( compare 1Ti 1:20). In this case, it refers to the Pharisees’ claim that Jesus’ power comes from Satan, rather than the Spirit of God.
12:33 – 37 The Pharisees’ assessment of Jesus’ power reveals their true nature. As the fruit of a tree indicates the nature of a tree, so their actions indicate their evil intent.
12:34 You brood of vipers See note on Mt 3:7.
12:38 – 42 Some Pharisees wish to see a sign from Jesus to prove his authority. The only sign they will receive is Jesus’ resurrection, which he refers to metaphorically. Compare 16:1 – 4.
12:38 Pharisees and teachers of the law Two groups of Jewish religious leaders. See note on 2:4; note on Jn 1:24. 12:39 adulterous generation Adultery is widely used in the Bible as a metaphor for sin and unfaithfulness to God( e. g., Isa 57:3; Eze 16:32; Hos 1 – 3; Jas 4:4). the sign of the prophet Jonah Jonah’ s rescue from the great fish was a sign that the prophet and his message were from God. Similarly, the ultimate sign validating Jesus would be his triumph over death( Mt 12:40). Although the Pharisees likely did not understand Jesus’ statement, they might have recalled it after his resurrection. 12:40 three days and three nights See note on Lk 24:1. Son of Man See Mt 8:20 and note. 12:41 they repented at the preaching of Jonah In contrast to many of Jesus’ contemporaries, the recipients of Jonah’ s message— who were Assyrians, the enemy of God’ s people— repented. See Jnh 3. 12:42 The Queen of the South Refers to the Queen of Sheba, who visited Solomon and marveled at his wisdom( 1Ki 10:1 – 13; 2Ch 9:1 – 12). In contrast, the scribes( teachers of the law) and Pharisees refuse to accept the wisdom of one greater than Solomon.
12:43 – 45 Jesus describes the evil and adulterous generation in terms of a disembodied spirit who returns to its host with greater severity.
12:45 seven other spirits Seven is often used as a number of completeness or totality in the Bible; here, the possession by demons involves a complete takeover of the person. this wicked generation Despite his many miracles, Jesus’ divine authority is called into question repeatedly. This parable warns against such stubborn disbelief. By rejecting Jesus, the generation will become