Savage Street Church of Christ

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04_11_2018_Matt12And13DonRuhl

Healing and Signs

Matthew 12.15–50

Don Ruhl • Savage Street, Grants Pass, Oregon • April 4, In the year of our Lord, 2018

1. Matthew 12.15–21 | The Servant of Isaiah 53

   15 But when Jesus knew it, He withdrew from there. And great multitudes followed Him, and He healed them all.16 Yet He warned them not to make Him known, 17 that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Isaiah the prophet, saying:

   18 “Behold! My Servant whom I have chosen,
   My Beloved in whom My soul is well pleased!
   I will put My Spirit upon Him,
   And He will declare justice to the Gentiles.
   19 He will not quarrel nor cry out,
   Nor will anyone hear His voice in the streets.
   20 A bruised reed He will not break,
   And smoking flax He will not quench,
   Till He sends forth justice to victory;
   21 And in His name Gentiles will trust.”
   

   1. When Jesus knew what?
      1. Read the preceding context.
      2. The Pharisees plotted to destroy Jesus.
         1. Was Jesus afraid to die?
         2. If not, why did He withdraw from there?
   2. Yet, Jesus did not keep Himself from the public, because
      1. great multitudes were able to follow Him and
      2. He healed whoever needed a healing,
         1. which would have brought more people.
         2. However, why did He warn people not to make Him known?
            1. Not only would announcements about His healing powers bring more people, but
            2. this would also draw the attention of His enemies, and
               1. the time for His death had not arrived yet.
               2. Everything had to go according to the Father’s plan.
   3. What had Isaiah 53 prophesied about the Messiah?
      1. How did the situation with Jesus, as described by Matthew,
      2. fulfill Isaiah’s prophecy?
2. Matthew 12.22–37 | The Power to Heal

   22 Then one was brought to Him who was demon-possessed, blind and mute; and He healed him, so that the blind and mute man both spoke and saw. 23 And all the multitudes were amazed and said, “Could this be the Son of David?” 24 Now when the Pharisees heard it they said, “This fellow does not cast out demons except by Beelzebub, the ruler of the demons.” 25 But Jesus knew their thoughts, and said to them: “Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation, and every city or house divided against itself will not stand. 26 If Satan casts out Satan, he is divided against himself. How then will his kingdom stand? 27 And if I cast out demons by Beelzebub, by whom do your sons cast them out? Therefore they shall be your judges. 28 But if I cast out demons by the Spirit of God, surely the kingdom of God has come upon you. 29 Or how can one enter a strong man’s house and plunder his goods, unless he first binds the strong man? And then he will plunder his house. 30 He who is not with Me is against Me, and he who does not gather with Me scatters abroad. 31 Therefore I say to you, every sin and blasphemy will be forgiven men, but the blasphemy against the Spirit will not be forgiven men. 32 Anyone who speaks a word against the Son of Man, it will be forgiven him; but whoever speaks against the Holy Spirit, it will not be forgiven him, either in this age or in the age to come. 33 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. 34 Brood of vipers! How can you, being evil, speak good things? For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks. 35 A good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth good things, and an evil man out of the evil treasure brings forth evil things. 36 But I say to you that for every idle word men may speak, they will give account of it in the day of judgment. 37 For by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned.”
   

   1. Does verse 22 mean that all blindness and muteness is demon caused?
      1. No, but in this case, the demon blinded and muted the man.
      2. Jesus healed the man by casting the demon out.
   2. What did the multitudes mean by asking whether Jesus was the Son of David?
      1. This was a special way of referring to the Messiah or the Christ.
      2. They got their thinking first from Second Samuel 7.12–16.
      3. See also Psalm 89.35–37.
   3. Notice that the Pharisees did not deny the miraculous power of Jesus.
      1. What did they do instead?
      2. They attributed His power to the ruler of the demons.
   4. How Jesus answered their charge:
      1. Kingdoms, cities, and houses divided against themselves will not stand.
         1. What did Jesus imply?
         2. He implied that Satan would not do anything to bring down his kingdom.
         3. He implied that Satan has more intelligence and wisdom than that.
      2. If demons can only be cast out by Satan, then by what power do the sons of the Pharisees cast out demons?
         1. This was masterful.
         2. If they condemn Jesus, they condemn their own sons.
         3. If they approve of their sons, they have to approve of Jesus.
         4. If they approve of Jesus, they have to acknowledge that He did these things by the power of God.
         5. Yet, they found themselves condemning God.
      3. If Jesus cast demons out by the Spirit of God, the kingdom of God had come upon them, and that made Jesus the King.
      4. He explained why He cast out demons, for He sought to conquer the people whom Satan had taken captive.
      5. If they were not with Him, they were against Him.
      6. If they did not gather with Him, they scattered people from Jesus.
      7. He accused them of blaspheming the Holy Spirit.
         1. They blasphemed Him by equating Him with Satan.
         2. That showed how twisted their minds were.
         3. In such a state, they could not be forgiven.
      8. They needed to decide whether they wanted to be good or bad.
      9. Yet, they were not capable of speaking good things, because their hearts were evil.
      10. 10.They would answer for all their words in the Day of Judgment.
3. Matthew 12.38–42 | Seeking a Sign

   38 Then some of the scribes and Pharisees answered, saying, “Teacher, we want to see a sign from You.” 39 But He answered and said to them, “An evil and adulterous generation seeks after a sign, and no sign will be given to it except the sign of the prophet Jonah. 40 For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the great fish, so will the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth. 41 The men of Nineveh will rise up in the judgment with this generation and condemn it, because they repented at the preaching of Jonah; and indeed a greater than Jonah is here. 42 The queen of the South will rise up in the judgment with this generation and condemn it, for she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon; and indeed a greater than Solomon is here.”
   

   1. Feeling the bite from His refutation, they asked for a sign.
      1. Or perhaps, some of them were persuaded by his argument, but then they wanted to see a sign from Him.
      2. However, He had already done plenty of signs for them, for that is why they charged Him with casting out demons by Satan!
      3. Would another sign persuade them on His true identity?
   2. What did Jesus mean that an evil and adulterous generation seeks a sign?
      1. Were signs truly enough for them?
      2. How many signs had Jesus already done for them?
      3. Why would any other sign persuade them?
      4. People today say that they want to see a miracle, but
         1. why are the miracles of the Bible and
         2. the wonders of creation
            1. not enough for them?
            2. Would they truly accept Jesus as the Son of God, if they saw a miracle before their eyes?
   3. What is the sign of Jonah?
      1. The same amount of time that Jonah spent in the great sea creature,
      2. so would Jesus spend the same amount of time in the earth.
      3. To what did Jesus allude?
   4. Next Jesus did something that He did earlier in Matthew 11,
      1. He declared how Nineveh and the Queen of Sheba will condemn that generation.
      2. What did Jesus mean that a greater than Jonah and a greater than Solomon was there?
4. Matthew 12.43–45 | Unclean Spirits

   43 “When an unclean spirit goes out of a man, he goes through dry places, seeking rest, and finds none. 44 Then he says, ‘I will return to my house from which I came.’ And when he comes, he finds it empty, swept, and put in order. 45 Then he goes and takes with him seven other spirits more wicked than himself, and they enter and dwell there; and the last state of that man is worse than the first. So shall it also be with this wicked generation.”
   

   1. How does this fit the context?
   2. That generation had the opportunity of spiritual cleansing, but they did not take advantage of it, bettering themselves, but remained empty.
   3. They would suffer for their wickedness.
5. Matthew 12.46–50 | The Family of Jesus

   46 While He was still talking to the multitudes, behold, His mother and brothers stood outside, seeking to speak with Him.47 Then one said to Him, “Look, Your mother and Your brothers are standing outside, seeking to speak with You.”48 But He answered and said to the one who told Him, “Who is My mother and who are My brothers?” 49 And He stretched out His hand toward His disciples and said, “Here are My mother and My brothers! 50 For whoever does the will of My Father in heaven is My brother and sister and mother.”
   

   1. What did Jesus teach in this instance?
   2. Did He not teach that the spiritual connection is greater than the fleshly connection?