Key Thought

"Oh no! Not this judgement stuff again." Yep! To a culture which wants no consequences, only blessings, this is a hard concept. But when we look at all the horrible things that occur in our world, all the horribly guilty who go free, then we know there has to be a settling time -- Jesus calls this "judgement" time and Matthew most clearly emphasizes this. What is shocking here is Jesus' clear and adamant declaration about careless words, especially words against him and the work of the Holy Spirit through him. Jesus' work is not to be trivialized. He does make strong claims for his identity, and those both ancient and modern who denigrate or belittle him must hear his call to take seriously what they say about him, because at judgement, they will certainly be scrutinized. I don't know about you, but that does not frighten or threaten me, since I joyfully proclaim that Jesus Christ my Savior, God's Son, is Lord!

Today's Prayer

Today's Verses in Context

Jesus knew what the Pharisees were doing. So Jesus left that place. Many people followed Jesus, and he healed all the sick people. But Jesus warned the people not to tell other people who he was. Jesus did these things to make happen what Isaiah the prophet said. Isaiah said, "Here is my servant; I (God) have chosen him. I love him, and I am pleased with him; I will put my Spirit on him, and he will judge the nations fairly. He will not argue or shout; People will not hear his voice in the streets. He will not break the reed that is already bent; He will not stop the light that has almost stopped burning. He will continue until he makes fair judgment win the victory. All people will hope in him." Then some people brought a man to Jesus. This man was blind and could not talk, because he had a demon inside him. Jesus healed the man, and the man could talk and see. All the people were amazed. The people said, "Maybe this man (Jesus) is the Son of David {that God promised to send to us}!" The Pharisees heard the people saying this. The Pharisees said, "This man uses the power of Beelzebul (the devil) to force demons out of people. Beelzebul is the ruler of demons." Jesus knew the things that the Pharisees were thinking. So Jesus said to them, "Every kingdom that is fighting against itself will be destroyed. And every city that is divided cannot continue. And every family that is divided cannot succeed. So if Satan (the devil) forces out his own demons, then Satan is divided. And his kingdom will not be able to continue. You say that I use the power of Beelzebul to force out demons. If that is true, then what power do your people use when they force out demons? So your own people will prove that you are wrong. But I use the power of God's Spirit to force out demons. This shows that the kingdom of God has come to you. "If a person wants to enter a strong man's house and steal his things, first the person must tie the strong man. Then the person can steal the things fromthe strong man's house. "If a person is not with me, then he is against me. The person that does not work with me is working against me. So I tell you, people can be forgiven of every sin they do. And people can be forgiven for every bad thing they say. But if a person speaks against (refuses to accept) the Holy Spirit, then that person will not be forgiven. Any person that says things against the Son of Man can be forgiven. But any person that says things against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven. That person will not be forgiven now or in the future. "If you want good fruit, you must make the tree good. If your tree is not good then it will have bad fruit. A tree is known by the kind of fruit it makes. You snakes! You are evil people! How can you say anything good? The mouth speaks the things that are in the heart. A good person has good things saved in his heart. And so he speaks the good things that come from his heart. But an evil person has evil saved in his heart. So he speaks the evil things that come from his heart. And I tell you that people will have to explain about every careless thing they have said. This will happen on the day of judgment. The words you have said will be used to judge you. Some of your words will make you right, but some of your words will make you guilty."

— Matthew 12:15-37 (ERV)

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