The necessity of a positive attitude toward truth; the unpardonable sin. The condition of the Jewish leaders. Justification incomplete without sanctification.
Matthew 12:43 “When an unclean spirit goes out of a man, he goes through dry places, seeking rest, and finds none.
Matthew 12:44 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.
Matthew 12:45 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.”
This parable of Jesus is a continuation of His discussion of the unpardonable sin. Let’s read it:
Matthew 12:31 “Therefore I say to you, every sin and blasphemy will be forgiven men, but the blasphemy against the Spirit will not be forgiven men.
Matthew 12:32 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.
A Tree Is Known by Its Fruit
Matthew 12:33 “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.
Matthew 12:34 Brood of vipers! How can you, being evil, speak good things? For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks.
Matthew 12:35 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.
Matthew 12:36 But I say to you that for every idle word men may speak, they will give account of it in the day of judgment.
Matthew 12:37 For by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned.”
Christ had been interrupted (see vs. 38–42) in His line of thought by this demand for a sign, and He now resumes where He left off, after having replied to that demand.
Let’s read it before going to the parable of the seven evil spirits:
The Sign of Jonah
Matthew 12:38 Then some of the scribes and Pharisees answered, saying, “Teacher, we want to see a sign from You.”
Matthew 12:39 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.
Matthew 12:40 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.
Matthew 12:41 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.
Matthew 12:42 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.
The counsel given in verses 43–45 on the parable of the seven evil spirits is particularly applicable to those who have listened to the gospel message gladly, but have not yielded to the Holy Spirit.
It is not God that blinds the eyes of men or hardens their hearts. He sends them light to correct their errors, and to lead them in safe paths. It is by the rejection of this light that the eyes are blinded and the heart hardened.
Often the process is gradual, and almost imperceptible. Light comes to the soul through God’s word, through His servants, or by the direct agency of His Spirit; but when one ray of light is disregarded, there is a partial benumbing of the spiritual perceptions, and the second revealing of light is less clearly discerned.
So the darkness increases, until it is night in the soul. Thus it had been with these Jewish leaders. They were convinced that a divine power attended Christ, but in order to resist the truth, they attributed the work of the Holy Spirit to Satan. In doing this they deliberately chose deception; they yielded themselves to Satan, and henceforth they were controlled by his power. (DA 323).
Closely connected with Christ’s warning in regard to the sin against the Holy Spirit is a warning against idle and evil words. The words are an indication of that which is in the heart. “Out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks.”
But the words are more than an indication of character; they have power to react on the character. Men are influenced by their own words. Often under a momentary impulse, prompted by Satan, they give utterance to jealousy or evil surmising, expressing that which they do not really believe; but the expression reacts on the thoughts.
They are deceived by their words, and come to believe that true which was spoken at Satan’s instigation. Having once expressed an opinion or decision, they are often too proud to retract it, and try to prove themselves in the right, until they come to believe that they are.
It is dangerous to utter a word of doubt, dangerous to question and criticize divine light. The habit of careless and irreverent criticism reacts upon the character, in fostering irreverence and unbelief. Many a man indulging this habit has gone on unconscious of danger, until he was ready to criticize and reject the work of the Holy Spirit.
Jesus said,
Matthew 12:36 But I say to you that for every idle word men may speak, they will give account of it in the day of judgment.
Matthew 12:37 For by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned
These had not yet committed the unpardonable sin, and Jesus warns them not to.
In the case of disease a relapse often results in a condition far more serious than that occasioned by the original illness. Physical strength, already greatly diminished, is often powerless before the renewed onslaught of disease.
A relapse is often due to the patient’s failure to realize his physical weakness, and to a fatal sense of over-confidence in himself. When recuperating from the sickness of sin we should trust wholly in the merits and power of Christ.
Matthew 12:43 “When an unclean spirit goes out of a man, he goes through dry places, seeking rest, and finds none.
Dry places. Desert regions, where the spirit would find no human beings—no “house” (v. 44)—and would, accordingly, be restless because it was homeless.
Matthew 12:44 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.
The “unclean spirit” implies that his absence was only temporary. Christ is probably thinking of the man out of whom He had cast a demon but a short time previously.
Matthew 12:22 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.
The man was very likely in the audience, and this may have been intended as a warning to him in particular as well as to the audience in general.
Certainly it was a warning to the Pharisees (see vs. 31–37).
Matthew 12:44 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.
The condition of the “house,” or person, restored to the state existing before the demon originally took up residence there. The Christian religion does not consist primarily in refraining from evil, but rather in applying the mind and the life intelligently and diligently to that which is good.
Christianity is not a negative religion consisting of various prohibitions, but a positive, constructive force for good. It is not enough that demons, whether literal or figurative, be cast out of the heart and mind.
The Spirit of God must come into the life and be placed in control of the thought and conduct. It is not enough to hate the evil; we must ardently love and cherish that which is good (see Amos 5:15; 2 Thess. 2:10; see on Matt. 6:24).
The hapless person represented by the “house” failed to take a positive stand for God. His intentions were good. He did not anticipate the return of the evil spirit, and therefore failed to yield the “house” to Christ’s control.
Submission to Christ might prevent him from using the “house” as he chose, and he therefore decided, for the time being at least, to live his life as he wanted to. Had he surrendered to Christ, a new power would have been in control. (see Rom. 6:16), and the unclean spirit could never have gained an entrance.
Our only safety is in wholehearted surrender to Christ, in order that He may enter in and live out His perfect life within us (Gal. 2:20; Rev. 3:20). This parable is a solemn warning against mere negative improvement; it is not enough to shun the evil, we must actively “seek those things which are above” (Col. 3:1, 2).
Matthew 12:45 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.”
Seven, the symbolic number designating completeness, indicates complete demon possession. There are none so hardened as those who have slighted the invitation of mercy, and done despite to the Spirit of grace. The most common manifestation of the sin against the Holy Spirit is in persistently slighting Heaven’s invitation to repent. Every step in the rejection of Christ is a step toward the rejection of salvation, and toward the sin against the Holy Spirit.
Too often those who have been healed of the disease of sin suffer a relapse, as it were, and thereby become weaker spiritually than they were at first. Not realizing how careful they must be to avoid temptation and to surround themselves with influences for good, they expose themselves unnecessarily to the allurements of the world—often with fatal results (see DA 256).
Thus it was with Saul, who, though at one time under the power and influence of the Holy Spirit (see 1 Sam. 10:9–13), did not submit himself fully and completely to God, and as a result was exposed to the control of an evil spirit (see 1 Sam. 16:14; 18:10; 19:9) that finally drove him to suicide.
Thus it was also with Judas, who at first was susceptible to the softening influence of Christ, but who did not submit his life exclusively to that influence (DA 294, 717). See on Matt. 13:7.
This wicked generation. See v. 39; see on chs. 11:16; 23:36. The leaders of Israel were in the process of rejecting the light that had come to them.
The same evil spirit that tempted Christ in the wilderness, and that possessed the maniac of Capernaum, controlled the unbelieving Jews. But with them he assumed an air of piety, seeking to deceive them as to their motives in rejecting the Saviour. Their condition was more hopeless than that of the demoniac, for they felt no need of Christ and were therefore held fast under the power of Satan.