Matthew 12:22-37

Good Fruit Bad Fruit
"Either make the tree good and its fruit good, or else make the tree bad and its fruit bad; for a tree is known by its fruit.
Matthew 12:33

In today's lesson, Jesus begins by rebuking the Pharisees, something HE does a lot. This time it's over their inability to distinguish between that which is good, and that which is truly evil. Most of the study relates around the statement Jesus makes in the middle of the study on how we can whether someone is really following HIM or not. The proof is in their fruit. A good tree bears good fruit, a bad tree bears bad fruit.

We do not have to cut open the trunk of an apple tree to figure out whether it is an apple tree or not. We just need to taste its fruit. Someone who is following Jesus, while still a sinner, will still stumble and fall from time to time, but we will still bear the fruit of repentance, and faith in Jesus. These words, such as the words the Pharisees had uttered, and such as our confession of faith in Jesus as our Savior and Lord, matter; they reveal what is really going on inside our hearts.

1. Introduction 

1. Prevalent philosophies 

1. Atheism,

1. God does not exist

2.  Agnosticism,

1. Don’t care if He exists or not 

3. Relativism,

1. No absolutes, everything is equally good

4. Coexist,

5. All faiths can get you to heaven

6. Recent poll, 95% believe in supernatural phenomenon , of those: 

1. 74% believe in angels

2. 50% believe in ESP

3. 29% believe in witchcraft

4. 22% believe in ghosts

2. Bible reveals a supernatural world 

1. God created the natural world

2. Satan and evil exist

3. Most humans deny the existence of a literal devil and hell 

1. They believe that Satanis a figurative expression

4. Bible recognizes the reality of Satan 

1. Six times other times the Gospels record Jesus casting out demons from afflicted people

1. Temptation in the Desert

(Matthew 4:1-11; Mark 1:12-13; Luke 4:1-13)

2. Demon in the Synagogue

(Mark 1:21-28; Luke 4:31-37)

3. The Possessed Swine

(Matthew 8:28-34; Mark 5:1-20; Luke 8:26-39)

4. Driving Out Demons by the Power of Demons?

(Matthew 12:22-32; Mark 3:20-30; Luke 11:14-26)

5. Jesus Rebukes Demons

(Luke 4:41)

6. The Disciples Are Unable to Drive Out a Demon

(Matthew 17:14-20; Mark 9:14-29; Luke 9:37-43)

7. Greek Woman’s Daughter

(Matthew 15:21-28; Mark 7:24-30)

8. Mary Magdalene

(Mark 16:9; Luke 8:2)

9. Jesus Warns About Satan

(Luke 22:31)

10. Jesus Sends Disciples out with Authority Over Demons

(Mark 6:7; Matthew 10:1, 8; Luke 9:1)

11. Jesus Predicts Exorcisms

(Mark 16:17)

2. Demon possession is real and powerful 

1. Chains could not restrain the demonized

2. Accompanied by sickness

3. The word demon is used 63 times in the New Testament 

2. (Matthew 12:22-23) The time Jesus cast demons from the blind, mute man 

1. The people wondered 

1. Jesus' intended effect

2. "Could this be the Son of David?" (Matthew 12:24-29)

2. Demonic experiences 

1. Legitimate demon-possession

2. Exorcism: with the authority of Jesus Christ the demons release their grip on a life

3. Occult

4. Spirit writing

3. Shattered: Exposing Windows of Evil

4. Why we may not see as much demon possession today 

1. Devil is a master deceiver: Deception can be more effective

2. An exorcism may lead to faith

5. No enemy more powerful than one who you don't think exists

3. (Matthew 12:24) The Pharisees' Response 

1. Accuse Jesus of being in league with the devil; doing tricks to get a crowd

2. Some accused Jesus of being a magician or sorcerer 

1. Lingering belief

2. Recorded in Rabbinic literature after the New Testament

3. Included in pagan writings

3. Beelzebub 

1. First mentioned in 2 Kings 1

2. Baal-Zebub 

1. Baal: Chaldean term for "lord"

2. Followed by a domain

3. Baal-Zebul: Master of the heavenly realms; Lord of Ekron

4. Beelzebub 

1. Lord of the flies

2. Lord of the dung

3. A derogatory statement against a false god

4. A term for Satan 

4. (Matthew 12:25-29) Jesus' Response 

1. Clear thinking and perfect logic 

1. If Satan casts out Satan, He works against himself

2. Civil war weakens a nation

3. A kingdom, city, house divided against itself will not stand

2. By whom do your sons cast out? 

1. Sons i.e., their disciples, associates

2. To seven sons of Sceva: "Jesus I know, and Paul I know; but who are you?" (Acts 19:15)

3. Underestimated the power of Satan

4. Underestimated the power of Jesus

3. Jesus claimed He received His power from God's Spirit 

1. A clear Messianic claim

2. Isaiah foretold a Spirit filled Messiah (see Isaiah 11, 42, 61)

4. Binding the strong man 

1. House: human body

2. Strong man: Satan

3. One who binds: Jesus

4. The binding of Satan on a worldwide scale takes place in stages 

1. Began during Jesus' public ministry

2. Death, burial, resurrection, ascension: guarantee the ultimate binding 

3. In reality: the millennial kingdom (Satan bound in Hades [see Revelation 20])

4. Ultimately: Satan cast in the lake of fire (see Revelation 20)

5. Satan has a degree of freedom today 

1. Talk to Jesus about Satan

2. Don't talk to Satan about Jesus

3. We don't bind Satan, Jesus does

6. Lucifer became Satan when God cast him out of heaven 

1. "I will ascend above the heights of the clouds, I will be like the Most High." (Isaiah 14:14)

2. Expelled from heaven, access to the God as a visitor

7. Accuser 

1. "Now there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the Lord, and Satan also came among them. And the Lord said to Satan, 'From where do you come?' So Satan answered the Lord and said, 'From going to and fro on the earth, and from walking back and forth on it.' Then the Lord said to Satan, 'Have you considered My servant Job, that there is none like him on the earth, a blameless and upright man, one who fears God and shuns evil?' So Satan answered the Lord and said, 'Does Job fear God for nothing?'" (Job 1:6-9)

2. "For the accuser of our brethren, who accused them before our God day and night, has been cast down." (Revelation 12:10)

3. "Satan was trained in the heaven of heavens"—Jonathan Edwards

5. (Matthew 12:30) "He who is not with Me is against Me" 

1. Context 

1. Jesus speaks of the harvest

2. The people like sheep without a shepherd

3. Pray for workers to bring in the harvest

4. The Scribes and Pharisees were making it difficult

2. "Now John answered Him, saying, 'Teacher, we saw someone who does not follow us casting out demons in Your name, and we forbade him because he does not follow us.' But Jesus said, 'Do not forbid him, for no one who works a miracle in My name can soon afterward speak evil of Me. 'For he who is not against us is on our side.'" (Mark 9:38-40) 

1. Sounds like a contradiction

2. In Matthew, it is a matter of salvation 

1. Jesus personally

2. Scribes and Pharisees

3. In Mark, it is a matter of service 

1. "Us" the group

2. Disciples were more concerned about themselves than the service

3. "Then Moses said to him, 'Are you zealous for my sake? Oh, that all the Lord's people were prophets and that the Lord would put His Spirit upon them!'" (Numbers 11:29)

4. As long as Christians hold to the essentials of the faith, there should not be division 

1. Person, nature, and work of Jesus Christ

2. Branch offices of the same business

6. (Matthew 12:31-32) Blasphemy of the Holy Spirit: The Unpardonable Sin 

1. "Therefore" demands context 

1. Pharisees ascribed Jesus' power to Satan

2. Their sin an attitude of the heart

2. Role of the Holy Spirit: Lead us to Christ 

1. "And when He has come, He will convict the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment:" (John 16:8)

2. Makes a person recognize their need for Christ

3. Reveals who Jesus is as sent from God

4. To reject Jesus is to reject the testimony of the Holy Spirit

3. The final rejection of Jesus 

1. To attribute what Jesus did to Satan

2. "There is sin leading to death. I do not say that he should pray about that."(1 John 5:16)

3. A reprobate mind

4. Concern that you have committed blasphemy of the Holy Spirit is evidence that you have not 

7. (Matthew 12:33-37) "Make the tree good and its fruit good, or else make the tree bad and its fruit bad"    

1. Exposes inconsistency

2. Tells the Pharisees to make up their minds

3. Fruit reflects the quality of the tree

4. Jesus calls us to be fruit inspectors 

1. "Judge with righteous judgment." (John 7:24)

2. Not a call to judge salvation

3. Begin with your own tree

5. Brood of Vipers 

1. Words of John the Baptist (Matthew 3:78)

2. Sons of slimy snakes!

3. Venomous words because of venomous thoughts

4. The bucket of the mouth reveals the wellspring of the heart

6. By your words you are justified or condemned 

1. Believers 

1. Penalty is paid

2. Sin is atoned for

3. Saved by grace through faith

4. Bema Seat 

1. Obedience rewarded

2. Loss of rewards by disobedience

2. Our mouths get us into trouble 

1. Of seven things God hates, three are sins of the tongue (see Proverbs 6:16-19)

2. "For we all stumble in many things. If anyone does not stumble in word, he is a perfect man, able also to bridle the whole body." (James 3:2)