30 Whoever is not with me is against me, and whoever does not gather with me scatters. 31 Therefore I tell you, every sin and blasphemy will be forgiven people, but the blasphemy against the Spirit will not be forgiven. 32 And whoever speaks a word against the Son of Man will be forgiven, but whoever speaks against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven, either in this age or in the age to come.
33 “Either make the tree good and its fruit good, or make the tree bad and its fruit bad, for the tree is known by its fruit. 34 You brood of vipers! How can you speak good, when you are evil? For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks. 35 The good person out of his good treasure brings forth good, and the evil person out of his evil treasure brings forth evil. 36 I tell you, on the day of judgment people will give account for every careless word they speak, 37 for by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned.”
38 Then some of the scribes and Pharisees answered him, saying, “Teacher, we wish to see a sign from you.” 39 But he answered them, “An evil and adulterous generation seeks for a sign, but no sign will be given to it except the sign of the prophet Jonah. 40 For just 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. 41 The men of Nineveh will rise up at the judgment with this generation and condemn it, for they repented at the preaching of Jonah, and behold, something greater than Jonah is here. 42 The queen of the South will rise up at the judgment with this generation and condemn it, for she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon, and behold, something greater than Solomon is here.
(ESV)
STOP! Think a little 🤔 What is God saying to you?
- What is the writer saying?
- How do I apply this to my life?
When it comes to Jesus, there can be no religious tolerance. You cannot sit on the fence and you don’t get to choose your own way to God.
The Pharisees had accused Jesus of performing his miracles in the power of Satan. Jesus is clear, if you are not with Him, you are against Him. If you are not gathering people to Him, you are scattering people from Him. Jesus had just shown that He was working for God. Because the Pharisees were against Him, they were the ones working for Satan. The Pharisees had committed a sin so heinous that it was unforgivable. They had attributed the work of the Holy Spirit through Jesus to be the work of Satan, thus blaspheming the Holy Spirit. This was a sin specific to that time in history, the time when Jesus walked among the Jews. It is not a sin we need to be worried about committing today. The Bible is clear, “everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved” (Acts 2:21) and “if we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (1 John 1:9).
What comes out of your mouth reveals the truth of your heart. Just as a bad tree cannot produce good fruit, neither can a good tree produce bad fruit. It is by the fruit that we know whether a tree is good or bad. The same is true about our speech. When we fill up our hearts with rubbish, our mouths spout profanity. when we fill up our hearts with God’s truth, then our words are sweet and good. Your words will be used on the day of judgement. Whether you are justified or condemned will be based on whether you believe in Christ or not (John 3:18; Rom 3:28). But when your words have shown continual unbelief, then those words will vindicate God’s decision to punish you. For believers, our words will also reveal how much our heart has been inclined toward God and be a basis on which we are rewarded. If your words are a barometer of your spiritual condition, what do they reveal about the state of your heart?
The Pharisees and scribes ask for a sign. Jesus has already performed many miracles including many that the Old Testament said would accompany the Messiah. The Pharisees were not convinced so they are asking for a sign more miraculous than what they’d already seen (the blind seeing, the deaf hearing, the lame walking, and even the dead raised). Jesus condemned that generation as wicked and adulterous because of their continued request for a greater sign in the face of overwhelming evidence. Jesus promised them no more signs except the sign of Jonah. Jesus was predicting that, like Jonah spent three days in the belly of the whale, He would be buried for three days and then rise again. If that sign wouldn’t convince them, nothing would. Today we see people behave the same way. They continually ask for unreasonable proof before believing in Jesus. For those willing to look, the evidence is there.