He who is not with Me is against Me

Matthew 12:22-45 from the daily reading in the One Year Bible

Then a demon-possessed man who was blind and mute was brought to Jesus, and He healed him, so that the mute man spoke and saw.²³ All the crowds were amazed, and were saying, “This man cannot be the Son of David, can he?” ²⁴ But when the Pharisees heard this, they said, “This man casts out demons only by Beelzebul the ruler of the demons.”

²⁵ And knowing their thoughts Jesus said to them, “Any kingdom divided against itself is laid waste; and any 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 If I by Beelzebul cast out demons, by whom do your sons cast them out? For this reason they will be your judges. ²⁸ But if I cast out demons by the Spirit of God, then the kingdom of God has come upon you. ²⁹ Or how can anyone enter the strong man’s house and carry off his property, unless he first binds the strong man? And then he will plunder his house.

The Unpardonable Sin

³⁰ He who is not with Me is against Me; and he who does not gather with Me scatters. ³¹ “Therefore I say to you, any sin and blasphemy shall be forgiven people, but blasphemy against the Spirit shall not be forgiven.³² Whoever speaks a word against the Son of Man, it shall be forgiven him; but whoever speaks against the Holy Spirit, it shall 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 make the tree bad and its fruit bad; for the tree is known by its fruit. ³⁴ You brood of vipers, how can you, being evil, speak what is good? For the mouth speaks out of that which fills the heart. ³⁵ The good man brings out of his good treasure what is good; and the evil man brings out of his evil treasure what is evil. ³⁶ But I tell you that every careless word that people speak, they shall give an accounting for it in the day of judgment.³⁷ For by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned.”

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

⁴³ “Now when the unclean spirit goes out of a man, it passes through waterless places seeking rest, and does not find it. ⁴⁴ Then it says, ‘I will return to my house from which I came’; and when it comes, it finds itunoccupied, swept, and put in order. ⁴⁵ Then it goes and takes along with it seven other spirits more wicked than itself, and they go in and live there; and the last state of that man becomes worse than the first. That is the way it will also be with this evil generation.”

In today’s text Jesus says:  “He who is not with Me is against Me; and he who does not gather with Me scatters. Therefore I say to you, any sin and blasphemy shall be forgiven people, but blasphemy against the Spirit shall not be forgiven. Whoever speaks a word against the Son of Man, it shall be forgiven him; but whoever speaks against the Holy Spirit, it shall not be forgiven him, either in this age or in the age to come.”   So first we see that there can be no neutrality concerning Jesus. We are either for Him or against Him, and even more if we are not working to gather others into the kingdom, we are scattering. Those who say Jesus is a good teacher or a good role model, but that He is one of many ways to God and heaven are not with Jesus. He says:  “I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me.” (John 14:6) Jesus says: "If you love Me, you will keep My commandments.” (John 14:15)  The commandments we are to keep are not just the ones we choose, but all of His commandments. We are to love, to forgive, to treat others as we would want to be treated and also be His witnesses, to preach the gospel, to gather with Him, lest we scatter. 

Look at the second condition, consequence or result of not being with Jesus. He says:  “Therefore I say to you, any sin and blasphemy shall be forgiven people, but blasphemy against the Spirit shall not be forgiven. Whoever speaks a word against the Son of Man, it shall be forgiven him; but whoever speaks against the Holy Spirit, it shall not be forgiven him, either in this age or in the age to come.”    There are many accounts of people who were guilty of terrible sins being forgiven. David was an adulterer and a murderer and yet it is through his line that Jesus geneology is traced. That Jesus line is traced through every type of sin, tells us that there is no sin past or present that is beyond the redeeming power of the cross. Yet, blasphemy agianst the Holy Spirit shall not be forgiven. 1 John 1:8-9 says:  If we say that we have no sin, we are deceiving ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.   Redemption and forgiveness is available to every person for every sin. In John 16:8-11, Jesus says:  “And He (the Holy Spirit), when He comes, will convict the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment; concerning sin, because they do not believe in Me; and concerning righteousness, because I go to the Father and you no longer see Me; and concerning judgment, because the ruler of this world has been judged.”   The sin that is unforgiven is the sin which the Holy Spirit convicts someone of, yet it remains unconfessed, they say they have no sin. The sin which is unforgiven, is the sin of the one who has had the revelation of the redeeming power of Christ, yet does not believe.  

Look at what Jesus says:  “The men of Nineveh will stand up with this generation at the judgment, and will condemn it because they repented at the preaching of Jonah; and behold, something greater than Jonah is here. The Queen of the South will rise up with this generation at the judgment and will condemn it, because she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon; and behold, something greater than Solomon is here.”  Jesus says something greater is here. The Holy Spirit which convicts the world of sin is that which is greater. The men of Ninrveh repented at the preaching of Jonah. The Queen of the South sought the wisdom of Soloman. The Holy Spirit is greater at bringing conviction. The Holy Spirit has more wisdom than Solomon. In John 14:26 Jesus says: “The Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all that I said to you.” “Whoever speaks against the Holy Spirit, it shall not be forgiven him, either in this age or in the age to come.”  

Finally, at the end of today’s text, Jesus says:  “Now when the unclean spirit goes out of a man, it passes through waterless places seeking rest, and does not find it. Then it says, ‘I will return to my house from which I came’; and when it comes, it finds itunoccupied, swept, and put in order. Then it goes and takes along with it seven other spirits more wicked than itself, and they go in and live there; and the last state of that man becomes worse than the first. That is the way it will also be with this evil generation.”    That is why it is so important to understand what Jesus says in John 14:16-17: “I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may be with you forever; that is the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it does not see Him or know Him, but you know Him because He abides with you and will be in you.”  The Holy Spirit can and will fill every area of our lives that has been left empty and open from the removal of the unclean things of the world. It is vital that we not only seek to remove all anger, bitterness, hatred and evil from our lives, but that we also be filled with the love, compassion, forgiveness and righteousness of the Holy Spirit.  Galatians 5:16-25 says:  I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not carry out the desire of the flesh. For the flesh sets its desire against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; for these are in opposition to one another, so that you may not do the things that you please…  Now the deeds of the flesh are evident, which are: immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmities, strife, jealousy, outbursts of anger, disputes, dissensions, factions, envying, drunkenness, carousing, and things like these, of which I forewarn you, just as I have forewarned you, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. Now those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. If we live by the Spirit, let us also walk by the Spirit. 

Heavenly Father, Lord Jesus Christ; precious Holy Spirit; come fill me. Occupy every area of my life. May I fully know the greatness of the reality that You are with me and in me. Through the power of Your indwelling presence may I also be with You. May I gather with You and not scatter. Thank You heavenly Father, Lord Jesus Christ and precious Holy Spirit. Amen.