Matthew 12:8
"For the Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath.”
The religious leaders, because of their sin, have been blinded to the true significance of Jesus. They were spreading rumors and misinformation, trying to make the case that Jesus was working his magic in league with the devils. But these accusations are just the result of God hardening the hearts of the unbelievers towards Jesus and his teachings. God hid the divine revelation from them because they put their trust in the wisdom of the world, and they are engaged in false teaching about the law of God.
Imagine what that was like. Here you've got Jesus speaking and teaching amazing truths, indisputably speaking those truths with authority. And he's healing the sick and mending all sorts of wounds and afflictions. And then over here, you've got the Pharisees and doctors of the law calling him a Devil worshipper. Imagine how the average person on the street must have felt. It must have been very confusing.
Here you've got these "righteous" men who claim to have the authority to speak for God in the affairs of man. And then you've got Jesus interpreting the law in a new and authoritative way and backing it up with supernatural power over nature and human blights. And so, the Pharisees challenged Jesus for working miracles and feeding people on the Sabbath day.
And Jesus replied:
Matthew 12:11-12
He said to them, “If any of you has a sheep and it falls into a pit on the Sabbath, will you not take hold of it and lift it out? How much more valuable is a person than a sheep! Therefore, it is lawful to do good on the Sabbath.”
I mean, it instantly makes good sense. Obviously, the Pharisees and the doctors-of-law have been misinterpreting the law for a long time now. They've been putting provisions and regulations in place that inappropriately enhanced the law in ways God never intended.
This seems familiar to me. It's what we see happening today in our American government agencies. The unelected bureaucrats in Washington D.C. are constantly pushing in controls and influence over the constitution and the affairs of the people, which are intended to enhance the bureaucratic structures and solidify their positions and authority. They do this incrementally over many years until it reaches a point where they're too big to fail. At that point the people really have no choice or power to change their fates. They are enslaved by that bureaucratic system. The only thing that can overcome this problem is a revolutionary change.
Regarding spirituality, Jesus is that revolutionary change. As the Pharisees are seething in their hatred for him, he stops his explanations about the law for a moment and then he turns to the man with the shriveled hand, and he heals him right before their eyes.
Imagine seeing that firsthand. WOW!
You'd no doubt be filled with amazement and great joy because obviously the Messiah had come!
But...
Matthew 12:14
"But the Pharisees went out and plotted how they might kill Jesus."
How does that make you feel? Sound familiar today?
Reading that verse angers me. I want to run up and snatch those doctors of the law by their lofty robes and drag them back throwing them at Jesus' feet. I want them to explain how these wonderful things we've seen are the works of the devil. Explain it to me! Or shut the hell up!
That's how I would handle things. And that's why I'm not the Lord of the Sabbath.
Jesus responds...
Matthew 12:15-16
"Aware of this, Jesus withdrew from that place. A large crowd followed him, and he healed all who were ill. He warned them not to tell others about him."
A little later on Jesus heals a demon possessed man. The man was both deaf and mute, and somehow the prevailing attitude in that day was this affliction had spiritual roots. Now we don't know that they just attributed demonic origins to this affliction in and of itself. Maybe there's more to the story. Maybe he had a history in the occult. We don't know, but we do know that Jesus cast out the demons and the man could hear and speak for himself.
The people were astonished and the Pharisees said Jesus accomplished this with the help from the Prince of demons, Beelzebul.
Now one thing we need to know, Jesus isn't the only one healing the afflicted people. In fact, one of the jobs of the Pharisees and doctors-of-the-law was to perform healing services and exorcisms. We don't have a biblical record of their success rate, but they did assume the authority and ability to do these things. And so, Jesus challenges them, saying "if I drive out demons by Beelzebul, by whom do your people drive them out?"
Jesus was meek and mild for a time; he'd retreat from most of the debates and controversial topics rather than stir up too much trouble. But something changed when they started saying he was working with the aid of Satan. He'd had enough of the accusations and lies. And he declared the hard truth for those Pharisees and anyone else who continued in these blasphemies against the works of the Holy Spirit.
Matthew 12:30-32
“Whoever is not with me is against me, and whoever does not gather with me scatters. And so I tell you, every kind of sin and slander can be forgiven, but blasphemy against the Spirit will not be forgiven. Anyone who speaks a word against the Son of Man will be forgiven, but anyone who speaks against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven, either in this age or in the age to come."
Did you catch that last part?
"either in this age or in the age to come."
That's us in there. We are the "age to come".
This is a new law being laid down. Probably not really new, since one could look back at every instance of God's wrath throughout the ages and likely see a correlation between the wrath of God and the sins of the people against God's Spirit. In fact if I were trying to develop a comprehensive list of "sins against the Holy Spirit", I'd start by rereading all the prophets of the Old Testament.
Jesus calls these blasphemous sins against the Holy Spirit unforgivable. And as for the perpetrators, he blasts them with great indignation, and again lays down the law of God.
Matthew 12:34-37
"You brood of vipers, how can you who are evil say anything good? For the mouth speaks what the heart is full of. A good man brings good things out of the good stored up in him, and an evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in him. But I tell you that everyone will have to give account on the day of judgment for every empty word they have spoken. For by your words you will be acquitted, and by your words you will be condemned.”
There it is. That's the law. From out of your heart, through your mouth, comes either goodness or evil. Either way, both are judged by God. One brings the reward of eternal life in paradise, the other eternal life separated from God. Speak evil about the works of The Holy Spirit and you've set your course forever. You've condemned yourself. You've bore false witness against God himself, and God hates a liar. Lying to or about the Holy Spirit is certain death, Ananias could testify to that reality.
Proverbs 12:22
"Lying lips are an abomination to the Lord."
Idolatry, sorcery and witchcraft are all lies, it suggests that a false belief is true, it attempts to replace God's Spirit with a graven image or the worship of created things.
Philosophy and Ideology are lies when they are sought out as a means for replacing the right interpretation of God's word by the inspiration of The Holy Spirit.
Worldly wisdom and human intellect are a lie, when the weakness that God has employed in the hearts and minds of faithful servants in order to spread his gospel by the power of the Holy Spirit is rejected by the church that instead puts all interpretive authority in the hands of bureaucrats and politicians who are cloaked as shepherds.
If your religion is your god, if you've put your faith in your earthly wisdom, if you're willing to deny the Holy Spirit because your identity doesn't align with His teachings, heaven isn't for you. It's a done deal. Move on. Bye bye.
Revelation 21:27
"Nothing unclean will ever enter it, nor anyone who does what is detestable or false, but only those written in the Lamb’s book of life."
Amen and amen.