24But when the Pharisees heard this, they said, "It is only by Beelzebub, the prince of demons, that this fellow drives out demons."
25Jesus knew their thoughts and said to them, "Every kingdom divided against itself will be ruined, and every city or household divided against itself will not stand. 26If Satan drives out Satan, he is divided against himself. How then can his kingdom stand? 27And if I drive out demons by Beelzebub, by whom do your people drive them out? So then, they will be your judges. 28But if I drive out demons by the Spirit of God, then the kingdom of God has come
upon you.
29"Or again, how can anyone enter a strong man's house and carry off his possessions unless he first ties up the strong man? Then he can rob his house.
30"He who is not with me is against me, and he who does not gather with me scatters. 31And
so I tell you, every sin and blasphemy will be forgiven men, but the blasphemy against the Spirit will not be forgiven. 32Anyone 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.
33"Make a tree good and its fruit will be good, or make a tree bad and its fruit will be bad, for a tree is recognized by its fruit. 34You brood of vipers, how can you who are evil say anything good? For out of the overflow of the heart the mouth speaks. 35The good man brings good things out of the good stored up in him, and the evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in him. 36But I tell you that men will have to give account on the day of judgment for every careless word they have spoken. 37For by your words you will be acquitted, and by your words you will be condemned."
Jesus is accused of healing the demon-possessed in the name of Beelzebub, a demon -- Jesus explains patiently with examples why it doesn't make sense. the Pharisees are green with envy about how popular Jesus has become and make accusations that are not logical. envy can be so powerful -- it can make us blind to the truth
verse 30 says to me that there is no middle ground or neutral position when it comes to Christ -- if we are not with Him, we are against Him!!!
"...out of the overflow of the heart the mouth speaks." and "by your words you will be acquitted, and by your words you will be condemned." what we say or do (the fruits) are important to Him... guess that's why Jesus repeats (back in ch. 6) these lessons of the good tree vs. good fruits
dear, sisters... let's be on alert today for what comes out of our mouths... may we choose to Bless God with our words and actions
3 comments:
Thank you, Helen JPSN, for your insight!
As I thought upon what you wrote, I realized our words do hold power. They have the power to encourage or decimate someone's spirit. They can love and hurt others as well. They teach or lead others astray. They reveal the message and contents in my hearts and minds. We must be careful with what we say and the words we choose to speak with.
I agree with you, wholeheartedly, when you said that we must guard our hearts but also our words as well.
we are all of us good at covering up what is really in our hearts, but Jesus states that our words will inevitably betray what we really are inside. "out of the OVERFLOW of the heart the mouth speaks". if we have wondered at the state of our hearts, we need only examine the kinds of things we talk about. try as we might our words will eventually "spill over" and betray our true selves.
"I tell you that men will have to give account on the day of judgment for every careless word they have spoken". what a sobering verse! it's one of those passages that we would do well to read every day.
but this same passage also offers us great encouragement. we were once the possessions in the "strong man's house", the strong man being satan (v 29). he had us bound in our sin and we belonged to him.
but Jesus was more powerful than satan. "He entered the strong man's house, tied up the strong man (satan) and carried off his possessions (us)".
we can praise God that One more powerful than satan came and took pity on us who were bound in satan's house as his wretched possessions. we need never fear satan again, however much of a "strong man" he is, for Jesus tied him up and we belong to Jesus forever and forever.
Thank you for your words!We should always be aware of what we say.
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