Sermon: The Emptiness of Separation from Christ Matthew 12:43–50
Truth Taught- Without repentance people go from bad to worse.
Introduction
Jesus continues to teach and pass judgment on this generation. Now He adds the adjective this evil generation. He has two categories of people in mind here. He is speaking to the Pharisees who rejected Jesus because they trusted in their own righteousness and their own set of moral standards. They did not need Jesus, in fact, He was simply trouble for them. The second group was the people who liked the healings and the handouts but did not ever express an interest in Jesus other than what they could get from Him whether health or wealth.
What made them an evil generation? They were only focused on externals. The Pharisees were focused on their external self-righteousness and the people were focused on their external healing brought about by Jesus.
We must see today that both of these external things are nothing that will last, it’s the Gospel and repentance matter.
The self-righteousness of the Pharisees would, in fact, send them to hell. A moral system without true conversion is a recipe for eternal punishment.
Morality in and of itself, beloved, is a damning thing. Self-righteousness is a damning thing. You’d be better off to be immoral and face the reality of your needs so that you would come to the Savior, than to live under the illusion that because you have a moral code on the outside, all is well on the inside between you and God. That is the message of this passage.
The same could be said for those who experienced healing through Jesus’ ministry. They would be better off blind and come to repentance than to be healed and indifferent.
Our Lord wants to make sure the people know this. He wants to make sure we know this. His desire is for the people to understand something that will come to pass after He is gone. Once He leaves, without turning to Him by faith, they will go from bad to worse.
This text comes on the heals of the event where Jesus cast out the demon and the man could speak and see.
Here’s what we must see. Being healed of sickness and being freed from demons is not enough. These are just temporary miracles they don’t last for eternity. What good is it really if we are healthy in this life but die and go to hell after? Or in the case of the Pharisees, what good is a stringent moral code on the outside when you’re dead on the inside?
We might say it like this: if Jesus’ ministry is to have permanent success those whom He has preached to must come to Him by faith for salvation if not, everything will go back to the way it was and even worse. Without repentance people go from bad to worse even though they may for a time experience God’s healing.
Matthew 12:43–50 (ESV)
43 “When the unclean spirit has gone out of a person, it passes through waterless places seeking rest, but finds none. 44 Then it says, ‘I will return to my house from which I came.’ And when it comes, it finds the house empty, swept, and put in order. 45 Then it goes and brings with it seven other spirits more evil than itself, and they enter and dwell there, and the last state of that person is worse than the first. So also will it be with this evil generation.”
46 While he was still speaking to the people, behold, his mother and his brothers stood outside, asking to speak to him. 48 But he replied to the man who told him, “Who is my mother, and who are my brothers?” 49 And stretching out his hand toward his disciples, he 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. There Is No Salvation in Earthly Healing Nor Man-made Morality
43 “When the unclean spirit has gone out of a person, it passes through waterless places seeking rest, but finds none. 44 Then it says, ‘I will return to my house from which I came.’ And when it comes, it finds the house empty, swept, and put in order. 45 Then it goes and brings with it seven other spirits more evil than itself, and they enter and dwell there, and the last state of that person is worse than the first. So also will it be with this evil generation.”
Let’s take the demon-possessed man that we’ve been learning about the last few weeks. Jesus exorcised the demon from him and he could see and speak.
Matthew 12:22–23 (ESV)
22 Then a demon-oppressed man who was blind and mute was brought to him, and he healed him, so that the man spoke and saw. 23 And all the people were amazed, and said, “Can this be the Son of David?”
Let’s look together…the man could now see and speak and the people made a very good statement. However, unless the man sees his sin and repents, he’s really not much better off than he was. Unless the people move past their statement, “Can this be the Son of David?’ to repentance, they are no better off than they were. Unless the Pharisees see their sin and the futility of their man-made moral system their rules will not do one thing to make them right with God.
The same is true for us. Being a nice person will not get us to Heaven. Treating people right and being kind will not get us to Heaven. Our morality will send us to hell as quickly as a serial killer.
I’m afraid that there are people here who may think they are okay because they have some level of ethics. Nice people do NOT go to Heaven.
Jesus tells us that after the demon was removed it goes out as a wanderer through desert places. Then after some time, because the person has been swept clean by Jesus but has not repented and turned to Christ being then filled with the Holy Spirit, the demon returns and the person is possessed again not with just one demon but with many. Notice in verse 44, the demon still refers to the person as my house. Until this person is filled with the Holy Spirit he remains empty and the demon reenters and brings roommates with him. The person is worse off now than before. You see Jesus was warning the people that after He leaves, unless they repent, they will be far worse than before.
The ultimate end of it all is in verse 45, the demon goes and gets “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.” They never let Christ come in to fill the empty place. The key word, and you ought to just circle it in your Bibles at the end of verse 44, empty – empty. You just clean up, but Christ never comes in. They would not receive Christ. Theirs was a superficial, external morality, but there was no place for Christ, no room for Him.
These demons find the person empty. They can be moral but their morality does not fill their empty soul. Only the Holy Spirit indwelling a person will keep demons out. We should notice when Jesus uses, in verse 45 the phrase dwell there, it means a permanent dwelling.
This generation faced a very dark future. The Ninevites repented, the Queen of the South repented but this generation would not. They are left empty and ready for more hardship and trials once Jesus leaves.
Many have asked the question can a Christian be demon possessed?
“The Biblical doctrines of regeneration and the permanent indwelling of the believer by the Holy Spirit make demon-possession of a believer utterly impossible. We are not asking if a professing Christian can be demon-possessed, but if a [truly] regenerate person can be possessed. The answer to this question is firmly in the negative. A true Christian is ‘born again;’ he is a ‘new creation’ in Christ. He is part of the body of Christ and sealed by the Holy Spirit unto the day of redemption. He is permanently indwelt by the Holy Spirit. He is the temple of the Holy Spirit, and the evil principalities and powers cannot separate him from the love of God in Christ. The One in the Christian is greater than the one in the world. The Holy Spirit and an evil spirit cannot be joint occupants of the same heart. Believers are ‘in Christ’ and Christ is ‘in’ them. It is altogether impossible for those who are ‘Christ’s’ to be Satan’s. ‘We are the Lord’s’, and we can belong to none other. (cf. Jn 3:5, 2 Cor. 5:17, Eph. 1:23, Eph 4:30, Rom. 8:9, 1 Cor. 6:19, Rom. 8:38-39, 1 Jn. 4:4, 2 Cor. 6:15-16, Eph. 3:17, Col 1.27, 1 Cor. 3:23).
2. There Is No Salvation In Earthly Relationships
46 While he was still speaking to the people, behold, his mother and his brothers stood outside, asking to speak to him. 48 But he replied to the man who told him, “Who is my mother, and who are my brothers?” 49 And stretching out his hand toward his disciples, he 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.”
In the midst of Jesus’ teaching, he gets word that His mother and His brothers were on the outskirts of the crowd wanting a word with Him. Of course, His brothers would be Joseph and Mary’s sons after Jesus was born.
The Bible is clear that at this point Jesus’ family did not understand who He was and what His ministry consisted of. It wouldn’t be until after the resurrection that They would understand and believe.
John 7:3–6 (ESV)
3 So his brothers said to him, “Leave here and go to Judea, that your disciples also may see the works you are doing. 4 For no one works in secret if he seeks to be known openly. If you do these things, show yourself to the world.” 5 For not even his brothers believed in him. 6 Jesus said to them, “My time has not yet come, but your time is always here.
On another occasion they tried to seize Him because they thought He had gone off the deep end.
Mark 3:20–21 (ESV)
20 Then he went home, and the crowd gathered again, so that they could not even eat. 21 And when his family heard it, they went out to seize him, for they were saying, “He is out of his mind.”
Now, here is probably another time when they were afraid for Jesus. They wanted, no doubt, to protect Him.
Because they were His earthly family, they thought that they had priority over Him. Now Jesus loved them but He loved His Father and was driven to carry out His Father’s will.
They thought they could interrupt Him while He was teaching. They sent in a messenger to tell Jesus His family wanted to speak to Him.
Jesus took the opportunity to explain that earthly ties are not nearly as important as spiritual and eternal ties.
Must Jesus forsake His ministry and teaching to meet with His earthly family? Must He forsake the service of His heavenly Father in order that He may please His earthly family?
49 And stretching out his hand toward his disciples, he 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.”
Jesus’ real family is His family that will last for all eternity. It’s not in any way limited to His earthly family at all. In fact, He says, whoever.
Jesus explains that there is no salvation in earthly relationships. Only in a relationship with the Father is one counted as Jesus’ family.
When He speaks of doing the will of His Father, He is not teaching a works salvation but points to a relationship which produces good works. Only heavenly relationships last for eternity.
Yet Jesus uses this opportunity to show what it truly means to be those who love Him, that is, to truly be His family. Those who would have the closest relationship with Him are those who obey the will of the Father. They are His “brother and sister and mother” (vv. 48–50). Our Lord is not disparaging His physical kin, nor is He saying we can make ourselves a part of His family by obeying God. Rather, He says that true love for Him is something more than blood ties and is always evident in a life of discipleship. Keeping His commandments does not earn us a place at His table. Nevertheless, we will keep His commandments if we love Him (John 14:15).
*Resources Used:
Matthew by D A Carson in the Expositor’s Bible Commentary
A Theology of Matthew by Charles Quarles
A Gospel of Matthew by France
Matthew by Craig Bloomberg
Matthew by Doriani
Matthew by Charles Price
Matthew by Leon Morris
Blue Letter Bible
