Last time we visited Jesus, He was healing the Centurion’s servant with just a word in response to the officer’s request – without even being in the servant’s presence! Also, we saw Christ raise a widow’s dead son and in addition, declare His God-given authority over everything.

            (See Miracles of Healing and Raising of the Dead).

         Now, we are going to witness Jesus butt heads with the Pharisees.

We’ve seen it before. He rebuked them at the apostle Peter’s house, when, as He healed the paralytic, Jesus told them that He had the authority on earth to forgive sins (see Do You Know Who Heals and Speaks for God?).

            He admonished them again at the apostle Matthew’s house whilst dining amongst sinners, which ruffled the Pharisee’s feathers. Furthermore, Jesus related a parable to them, which said that they were unable to receive His kingdom message, because they were so spiritually corrupt (see What Do You Know About Parables?).

            Lastly, we watched Christ heal in the Temple, on the Sabbath – a flagrant repudiation of the Pharisee’s twisted rules that they had attached to the Sabbath (see Defining the Sabbath, the Gathering of the Twelve and the Sermon on the Mount).

         Yet the Pharisees are in fact inviting these lively discourses, to try to catch Jesus in a lie, to get Him to blaspheme Himself. They were threatened by Christ, feeling He was usurping their authority. So, they wanted to build a case against Him that would warrant His execution.

            We left off last time with Jesus teaching in a town near Capernaum. Immediately after He finished, Christ was approached by (you guessed it) a Pharisee, who invited Him to dine in his home, and He went! (I don’t think Jesus ever wasted an opportunity to share His Gospel).

            When they arrived, a woman (whom the Bible only identifies as a ‘sinner’), approached Jesus, washed His feet with her tears, dried them with her hair, kissed His feet and anointed them with fragrant oil (Lk. 7:36 – 38).

            The Pharisee watches in disgust, thinking to himself that if Christ was a God-ordained prophet, He would have supernaturally known that this woman was a sinner, and would have rebuked her offerings.

            Jesus reads the Pharisee’s thoughts and tells him, that He has something to say, which was a parable. Within it, a creditor forgave two men who could not repay him. One of them owed the creditor 10x the amount as the other debtor. Jesus then asked the Pharisee which debtor would love the creditor more. He answered correctly, stating that it would be the one with the greatest debt (Lk. 7:40 – 43.).

            Christ turns to the woman and speaks conviction to the Pharisee:

“Look at this woman kneeling here. When I entered your home, you didn’t offer me water to wash the dust from my feet, but she has washed them with her tears and wiped them with her hair. You didn’t greet me with a kiss, but from the time I first came in, she has not stopped kissing my feet. You neglected the courtesy of olive oil to anoint my head, but she has anointed my feet with rare perfume.

“I tell you, her sins – and they are many – have been forgiven, so she has shown me much love. But a person who is forgiven little only shows little love. Then Jesus said to the woman, “Your sins are forgiven…Your faith has saved you; go in peace.” Lk. 7:44 – 48 & 50. NLT

            The woman loved much because of the great expanse of Christ’s forgiveness, which she knew was available, because of her faith in Him and His grace.

            This is the extraordinary saving grace love that God is willing to give all repentant sinners. The apostle Paul, using himself as an example, explains this beautifully:

I thank Christ Jesus our Lord, who has given me strength to do his work. He considered me trustworthy and appointed me to serve him, even though I used to blaspheme the name of Christ. In my insolence I persecuted his people. But God had mercy on me because I did it in ignorance and unbelief. Oh, how generous and gracious our Lord was! He filled me with the faith and love that come from Christ Jesus. 1 Tim. 1:12 – 14. NLT

         Afterwards, Jesus, His apostles, and some disciples (which included women who supported His ministry) went from town to town, preaching the Gospel.

            While they were doing so, Jesus healed a demon-possessed man that was heretofore blind and mute. The crowds (which now were always following Him) went wild and began to consider that He just might be the Messiah.

            However, these following crowds always contained some of those sneaky Pharisees. They protested, saying that Jesus drove out the demons using the power of the devil. That did not sit well with Him. He replies:

“Any kingdom divided by civil war is doomed. A town or family splintered by feuding will fall apart. And if Satan is casting out Satan, he is divided and fighting against himself. His own kingdom will not survive. And if I am empowered by Satan, what about your own exorcists? They cast out demons, too, so they will condemn you for what you have said.

“But if I am casting out demons by the Spirit of God, then the Kingdom of God has arrived among you. For who is powerful enough to enter the house of a strong man and plunder his goods? Only someone even stronger – someone who could tie him up and then plunder his house.” Mt. 12:25 – 29. NLT

            Jesus is saying that it makes no sense for the devil to attack himself. He is also letting the Pharisees know that is first whipping Satan’s butt and then driving out his minions.

         He follows this by driving His point home about His God-given mandate:

“Anyone who isn’t with me opposes me, and anyone who isn’t working with me is actually working against me.

“So I tell you, every sin and blasphemy can be forgiven – except blasphemy against the Holy Spirit, which will never be forgiven. Anyone who speaks against the Son of Man can be forgiven, but anyone who speaks against the Holy Spirit will never be forgiven, either in this world or in the world to come.” Mt. 12:30 – 32. NLT (see also Mk. 3:29)

         This is commonly referred to as the ‘unpardonable sin.’ Jesus is saying that you can be forgiven all sins, even those involving talking trash about Him, except one. To be able to understand what the ‘one’ is, I must briefly introduce the Holy Spirit, because at this juncture in time, Christ has not talked about the Holy Spirit, except to Nicodemus – with regards to baptism.

            Approximately two years from this moment, Jesus would tell the apostles these things:

“…the Helper (Comforter, Advocate, Intercessor – Counselor, Strengthener, Standby), the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name [in My place, to represent Me and act on My behalf], He will teach you all things. And He will help you remember everything that I have told you.” Jn. 14:26 AMP

“…I will send you the Advocate – the Spirit of truth. He will come to you from the Father and will testify all about me.” Jn. 15:26 NLT

            The primary purpose of the presence of the Holy Spirit is to bring revelation to the Gospel and to further illuminate the nature of Christ and His deity.

            ‘Blaspheme’ comes from the Greek blasphemo, which means ‘to speak evil, defame, or speak irreverently.’ To blaspheme the Holy Spirit, one would have to deny its very purpose, which is to glorify the Father through the Son, and to herald the truth of Jesus Christ.

            Thus, to deny the Holy Spirit is to deny Christ and His salvation. Of course, you would have to do so continually and unrepentantly. Then forgiveness is forfeit. If you did repent before you died, even this would be pardoned.

…if we  deliberately continue sinning after we have received knowledge of the truth, there is no longer any sacrifice that will cover these sins. There is only the terrible expectation of God’s judgment and the raging fire that will consume his enemies. Heb. 10:26, 27. NLT

         Jesus is through messing around with these Pharisees. He now upbraids then for trying to lead God’s children astray:

“You brood of snakes! How could evil men like you speak what is good and right? For whatever is in your heart determines what you say. A good person produces good things from the treasury of a good heart, and an evil person produces evil things from the treasury of an evil heart.” Mt. 12:34, 35. NLT

“I tell you that on the day of judgment people will have to account for every careless word they speak. For by your words you will be acquitted, and by your words you will be condemned.” Mt. 12:36, 37. CSB

            So, let us strive to safeguard our speech:

Set a guard, O LORD over my mouth; keep watch over the door of my lips [to keep me from speaking thoughtlessly]. Ps. 141:3 AMP

            The Pharisees strike back, demanding a miracle to prove that He is the Messiah, (how many do they need?). Jesus refuses to perform like a trained animal. He rebukes them again:

“Only and evil, adulterous generation would demand a miraculous sign; but the only sign I will give them is the sign of the prophet Jonah. For as Jonah was in the belly of the great fish for three days and three nights, so will the Son of Man be in the heart of the earth for three days and three nights.” Mt. 12:39, 40. NLT

            Jesus is referring to His impending death and resurrection, but it goes over their heads. Note too that He is also legitimizing the Old Testament account of Jonah.

            Yet He knows that even His resurrection will not be a sign that convinces the Pharisees of His Lordship. So, He likens their corrupt spirits to demon possession:

“When an evil spirit leaves a person, it goes into the desert, seeking rest but finding none. Then it says, ‘I will return to the person I came from.’ So it returns and finds its former home empty, swept, and in order. Then the spirit finds even seven other spirits more evil than itself, and they all enter the person and live there. And so that person is worse off than before. That will be the experience of this evil generation.” Mt. 12:43 – 45. NLT

            The ‘home’ that He is referring to, is the soul of the rebellious, one that has been swept clean of the gospel and of any knowledge of Jesus Christ. In this state, the unbeliever carries his own hell with him.

            Well, let’s conclude on a higher note. At the end of His encounter with the Pharisees, someone comes and tells Him that His mother and brothers are nearby, and would like to speak with Him.

            Jesus never lets a teaching moment pass by. He answers for the whole crowd to hear – defining who belongs to the family of God:

“For whoever does the will of My Father who is in heaven [by believing in Me, and following Me] is My brother and sister and mother.” Mt. 12:50 AMP

Amen.

Next time we’ll breakdown some parables for deep teaching, and be witness to further miracles…

Goodnight and God bless.