Matthew 12:15-32--By What Authority?

Matthew 12:15-32 English Standard Version (ESV)
God's Chosen Servant
15 Jesus, aware of this, withdrew from there. And many followed him, and he healed them all 16 and ordered them not to make him known. 17 This was to fulfill what was spoken by the prophet Isaiah:
18 “Behold, my servant whom I have chosen,
    my beloved with whom my soul is well pleased.
I will put my Spirit upon him,
    and he will proclaim justice to the Gentiles.
19 He will not quarrel or cry aloud,
    nor will anyone hear his voice in the streets;
20 a bruised reed he will not break,
    and a smoldering wick he will not quench,
until he brings justice to victory;
21     and in his name the Gentiles will hope.”

Blasphemy Against the Holy Spirit
22 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. 23 And all the people were amazed, and said, “Can this be the Son of David?” 24 But when the Pharisees heard it, they said, “It is only by Beelzebul, the prince of demons, that this man casts out demons.” 25 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. 26 And if Satan casts out Satan, he is divided against himself. How then will his kingdom stand? 27 And if I cast out demons by Beelzebul, by whom do your sons cast them out? Therefore they will be your judges. 28 But if it is by the Spirit of God that I cast out demons, then the kingdom of God has come upon you. 29 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. 30 Whoever is not with me is against me, and whoever does not gather with me scatters. 31 Therefore I tell you, every sin and blasphemy will be forgiven people, but the blasphemy against the Spirit will not be forgiven. 32 And whoever speaks a word against the Son of Man will be forgiven, but whoever speaks against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven, either in this age or in the age to come.
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Perhaps a strange title for today's blog, but in the first part of today's passage, Jesus identifies Himself as the chosen servant of God (essentially saying, "I am the promised Messiah."), but the religious leaders in the next portion of the passage try to stir up the people and say that He can only cast out demons because He himself is a demon and is Beelzebul, the prince of demons, and that He is doing the wishes of the devil--to deceive the people of God.

With that in mind, let's look more fully at both parts of the passage.  First, Jesus clearly proclaims His identity by quoting from various passages in Isaiah (cited at the end of today's blog if you'd like to read  these prophecies).  We have already seen God confirm the first prophecy at Jesus' baptism when He speaks from Heaven and says "This is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased" and we will see God say this again on the Mount of Transfiguration where the Father adds the imperative, "Listen to Him." at the end of His statement of pleasure in the Son.  At the same time we have also seen the Spirit of God come upon Jesus in the form of a dove (at His baptism), but now comes the part that the Jewish people had gotten wrong for so long--"...to proclaim justice to the Gentiles."  The Jews assumed this would mean that the Messiah would come as a conquering King (like we see in the book of Revelation at Christ's second coming) and would destroy all the wicked Gentile nations--especially those who had enslaved and mistreated the Jews for centuries.  But thank God that is not the "justice" that Jesus preached to the Jews and the Gentiles alike--His was a gospel of peace that He would offer Himself as the payment for our sins so that God's wrath would be satisfied for Jew and Gentile alike and that justice would be satisfied because He bore the pain and the penalty that we deserved.

Jesus quickly transitions to prophecies about the manner in which He would die, which is what makes me think that this was the "justice" that He had in mind.  He would be bruised and beaten, but not broken (no bone would be broken) and He would stand silent in the face of His accusers, offering no argument to defend Himself.  Nor did He fight back or order the angels at His command to fight for Him.  It would be obvious that the torture that He endured should be enough to kill Him, but He would not die until His mission was accomplished--to bring salvation for the Jew and the Gentile alike.  In this He would "bring justice to victory" and "in His name the Gentiles will hope.".

Not surprisingly after this, someone brought Jesus a man who had been oppressed by demons so that the man could not see or speak.  When Jesus healed the man the crowd immediately began to ask, "Can this be the Son of David" (the promised Messiah).  If I were Jesus, I might have answered with "Haven't you been listening? That's what I just said," but Jesus says nothing to them.  Instead the Pharisees seize the opportunity to confuse the people and try to remain both political and religious leaders of the people as Jesus now put both of those in jeopardy with His declaration.  They knew Rome would not tolorate someone who claimed to be the rightful heir to the throne of David (this is the question the people were asking---if He was the King of the Jews), nor would the allow for someone who said they were the one true God because all Roman citizens were only allowed to continue worshiping their gods as long as they paid homage to Caesar and made the declaration that "Caesar is Lord."  We'll see this come into play in the trial of Jesus when the religious leaders manipulate Pilate who was about to declare Jesus innocent by saying, "He claims to be a king" at which point Pilate takes Jesus back inside to question Him some more.  It will ultimately be this "crime" for which Jesus will die as the charges will read "JESUS, THE KING OF THE JEWS"

The Pharisees were quick on their feet and suggested that Jesus didn't exercise authority over demons because He was God in the flesh and they had to obey him--no, they hypothesizes he must be demonized by a more superior demon that that the lesser demons had to obey and that this could be none other than Beelzebub the prince of demons (probably a false god that was so awful that it became associated with the devil himself).  Once again, Jesus shows His true identity though by knowing their thoughts before they say anything to Him.

Jesus responds by telling them how foolish it would be for a house or kingdom to be divided against itself--it makes no sense for a demon-possessed person to cast out demons from another demon-possessed person because this would weaken, not strengthen the kingdom of darkness.  Then Jesus turns it around and asks by what authority they cast out demons--the answer is probably that they didn't cast out demons and this is probably what Jesus means when he says they will be your judges (as we don't see anywhere else is Scripture where demons are given any authority to judge the non-believers).

Jesus then identifies the crisis for the people there saying that if He casts out demons by the Spirit of God then that means that the kingdom of heaven is upon them and they are rejecting the King and the kingdom.  Jesus identifies this as a hostile takeover of the kingdom of darkness by the kingdom of God in that He says that if a thief comes into a man's house to take what belongs to him, he must first bind the strong man of the house.  Jesus must first render Satan, sin, and death noneffective at the cross before He could rescue (steal away) anyone who belongs to that kingdom.  Then He can "plunder the house" at will.

Now comes one of the most contested passages in the Bible, but I think it makes complete sense in context.  Jesus says that every sin committed against the Son will be forgiven--we see this at the crucifixion when Jesus cries out, "Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do," but that the sin of blasphemy against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven.  Given the context of this passage, and that it appears that Jesus is saying that blasphemy against the Holy Spirit has been committed here, it appears that Jesus is talking about knowingly attributing the work of the Holy Spirit to the work of the devil in order to deceive people and cause those who have heard the truth, know the truth and understand the truth to believe an alternate story so that they will not believe.  In a sense this is unforgivable because someone going to these lengths has committed themselves to never believing no matter what evidence is shown to them, so they stand condemned already.  It is not so much that Christ is unwilling to forgive them as much as they are unwilling to accept that forgiveness and they are actively working against the stated mission of Jesus and the Spirit of God to bring all men unto Himself--both Jews and Gentiles (remember the first part of our passage today).  I will freely admit that I don't fully understand what blasphemy against the Holy Spirit is, but I know I haven't committed it because I have been saved and forgiven and Jesus makes it clear in other passages that He cannot lose anyone that belongs to Him, so it should be impossible for someone who is truly saved to commit this unforgivable sin.  It should be clear from this passage though that they YouTube trend of people trying to commit this sin is probably not what Jesus was talking about--though it does show the hearts of these people making these videos that perhaps they have committed this sin in their hearts as they would rather secure their place in hell than bend then submit to the King and His kingdom in the present if that's the price of forgiveness.  They choose to have no king other than themselves not knowing that the flesh and the devil work together to keep such people in bondage as part of the kingdom of darkness.

Remember that one day when Jesus returns as the conquering king and judge over all the world that every knee will bow in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father.  Even these Pharisees will one day be forced to admit the truth and stand in judgment for it if they never repented of their sins and believed the finished work of Christ and accepted Jesus as both Savior and Lord.

Isaiah 42:1-3 English Standard Version (ESV)
42 Behold my servant, whom I uphold,
    my chosen, in whom my soul delights;
I have put my Spirit upon him;
    he will bring forth justice to the nations.
2 He will not cry aloud or lift up his voice,
    or make it heard in the street;
3 a bruised reed he will not break,
    and a faintly burning wick he will not quench;
    he will faithfully bring forth justice.



Isaiah 61:1 English Standard Version (ESV)
61 The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me,
    because the Lord has anointed me
to bring good news to the poor;
    he has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted,
to proclaim liberty to the captives,
    and the opening of the prison to those who are bound;



Isaiah 42:4 English Standard Version (ESV)
​4 He will not grow faint or be discouraged
    till he has established justice in the earth;
    and the coastlands wait for his law.