Matthew 12:22 - Meaning and Application

In these verses we see Christ’s glorious victory over Satan in the gracious healing of a man who, by God’s permission, had come under the devil’s power and possession (Matthew 12:22). The man’s condition was very sad. He was possessed by a demon, and in Christ’s time cases like this were more common than usual, so Christ’s power would be shown more clearly in defeating Satan and driving him out. This also made it plain that Jesus had come to destroy the works of the devil.

This poor man was blind and unable to speak, a truly miserable state. He could not see to help himself, and he could not speak to others for help. In the same way, a soul under Satan’s power is blind to the things of God and silent at the throne of grace. It sees nothing as it should and says nothing to any good purpose. Satan blinds the eye of faith and shuts the lips of prayer.

His cure was remarkable, especially because it was so sudden. Jesus healed him. When Christ overcomes Satan and drives him out, that is the healing of the soul. Once the cause was removed, the result ended at once: the blind man saw, and the mute man spoke. Christ’s mercy stands directly against Satan’s malice. His kindness is the opposite of the devil’s harm. When Satan’s power is broken in the soul, the eyes are opened to see God’s glory, and the lips are opened to praise him.

The crowd was deeply moved by this. They were amazed. Christ had done many miracles like this before, but repeated wonders are not less amazing because they happen often. They drew a fair conclusion: “Is not this the Son of David?” That is, is this not the promised Messiah who would come from David’s family? Is this not the one who was to come?

We can take their words in two ways. It may have been a question of inquiry, as if they were asking, “Can this be the Son of David?” Yet they did not wait for an answer. Their impression was strong, but it did not last. It was a good question, but it seems they did not follow it through. Convictions like that should be brought to a clear point, and then they are more likely to reach the heart. Or it may have been an affirming question, meaning, “This is surely the Son of David.” Such miracles plainly showed that the kingdom of the Messiah was being established.

It was the common people who drew this conclusion from Christ’s miracles. Some unbelievers may say that this happened only because they were less critical than the Pharisees. But the facts were plain and needed little searching. The real reason was that they were less biased and less tied to worldly interests. The way to this great truth, that Christ is the Messiah and Savior of the world, was so plain that ordinary people could not miss it. Even “wayfaring men,” though simple, would not go astray there (Isaiah 35:8). Those who sought the truth found it. This shows God’s gracious way of working, because the things hidden from the wise and prudent are revealed to little children. The world did not know God by its own wisdom, and the wise were put to shame by what seemed foolish (1 Corinthians 1:21, 27).

Then comes the Pharisees’ blasphemous objection (Matthew 12:24). The Pharisees were men who claimed to know God’s law better than others and to be more zealous for it, yet they were Christ’s most stubborn enemies. They prized their reputation with the people, because it fed their pride, protected their influence, and filled their moneybags. When they heard the crowd ask, “Is not this the Son of David?” they were deeply angered, even more than by the miracle itself. They were jealous of Jesus because his growing favor with the people threatened their own standing. They envied him as Saul envied David because of the women’s songs about him (1 Samuel 18:7-8).

Those who tie their happiness to human praise leave themselves in constant distress whenever they hear someone else spoken well of. Christ, who did not seek honor for himself, was followed by honor. The Pharisees, who eagerly chased it, could not bear it.

They said, “This fellow does not cast out demons except by Beelzebub, the ruler of the demons, and so he is not the Son of David.” Notice how contemptuously they spoke of Christ, calling him “this fellow,” as if his precious name were not worth their lips. Their pride and scorn were plain, and so was their evil envy. The more the people honored Christ, the more determined the Pharisees became to dishonor him. It is a shame to speak with contempt about good people just because they are poor.

Their words were also blasphemous about his miracles. They could not deny the fact. It was as clear as the sun that demons were cast out by the word of Christ. They also could not deny that this was an extraordinary and supernatural work. Since they were forced to admit those points, they tried to escape the conclusion that Jesus was the Son of David by saying he cast out demons through Beelzebub. In effect, they claimed there was an agreement between Christ and the devil. They imagined the devil was not really defeated, but only stepped aside by consent. Or they acted as if Christ, by dealing with the chief demon, had authority to cast out lesser demons. Nothing could be more openly false and wicked than this. They said that the One who is Truth itself was in league with the father of lies, deceiving the world.

This was the last shelter of stubborn unbelief, determined to resist even the clearest proof. There is a prince among the devils, the leader of the rebellion against God, but this prince is Beelzebub, the “god of flies” or a dung-hill god. How far fallen he is, from an angel of light to a lord of flies. Yet he is also called the prince of the devils, the chief of the whole evil host.

Christ answered this wicked charge in Matthew 12:25-30. Jesus knew their thoughts. He knows what we are thinking at any moment, and he understands our thoughts from far away. It seems the Pharisees were too ashamed to say their accusation openly, though they kept it in their minds. They could not expect to satisfy the people with it, so they held it back, perhaps hoping to silence their own conscience. Many people are kept from doing their duty by thoughts they are ashamed to admit, yet they cannot hide them from Jesus Christ.

It is also likely the Pharisees had whispered among themselves, helping one another grow harder. But Christ’s answer is said to be to their thoughts because he knew the spirit behind them. They did not speak in a moment of anger. Their words came from deep and settled hatred.

Christ’s answer to this charge is full and forceful, so every mouth may be shut by plain reason before it is shut by judgment. He gives three arguments to show how unreasonable the accusation was.

First, it would be very strange, and highly unlikely, for Satan to drive out Satan by agreement, because that would mean his own kingdom was fighting against itself. Jesus says that every kingdom divided against itself is ruined, and every family too, because division usually ends in destruction (Matthew 12:25, 26). If people quarrel and split apart, they become easy targets; if they bite and destroy one another, they will be consumed by one another (Galatians 5:15).

Jesus applies that truth directly to the case before him. If Satan casts out Satan, then the prince of demons is fighting the lesser demons, and his whole rule will quickly collapse. If Satan were in league with Christ, that would still mean his own downfall, because Christ’s preaching and miracles were openly aimed at destroying Satan’s kingdom of darkness, evil, and hatred toward God. Christ came to tear down the devil’s works and to establish a kingdom of light, holiness, and love.

So it is absurd to think Beelzebub, the ruler of demons, would support such a plan or cooperate with it. If he joined Christ, he would be helping destroy his own rule. The devil has a real kingdom, a shared interest against God and Christ, and he will do all he can to keep it standing. He will never willingly submit to Christ. Christ will destroy the devil’s kingdom, but not by secret deals with him. The victory will come by far greater means.

Second, it was not strange at all for devils to be cast out by the Spirit of God. Jesus points to the Pharisees’ own circle: how else did their children cast them out? Among the Jews there were people who sometimes drove out demons by calling on the name of the Most High God, or the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Josephus mentions some in his day who did this. We also read of Jewish exorcists (Acts 19:13), and of some who cast out demons in Christ’s name, though they did not follow him faithfully (Mark 9:38; Matthew 7:22).

The Pharisees did not condemn those people. Instead, they credited what they did to God’s Spirit and took pride in it for themselves and their nation. So their attack on Jesus came from envy and spite, not from honesty. They praised the same kind of work in people they liked, but condemned it in Christ because they hated him. Envious people do not judge by the facts, but by their feelings and prejudice.

Those men were very unfit to sit in Moses’ seat, that is, to act as teachers and judges of Israel, since they were willing to judge by faces and not by truth. Jesus says, “they shall be your judges,” because their own inconsistency will stand against them in the last day. At the final judgment, every sin and every added wrong in it will be brought to account, and even some of our right thoughts and words will testify against us if we used them unfairly or with partiality.

Jesus then says that this casting out of demons is a sure sign that the kingdom of God is drawing near. If he truly cast out demons by the Spirit of God, then the kingdom of the Messiah was already being set up among them, whether they liked it or not. Other miracles showed that Jesus was sent by God, but this one showed that he was sent to destroy the devil’s kingdom and his works. It was the fulfillment of the promise that the seed of the woman would crush the serpent’s head (Genesis 3:15).

The destruction of the devil’s power comes by the Spirit of God. The same Spirit who brings people into obedient faith overthrows the power of the evil spirit that works in the children of unbelief and disobedience. And when the devil’s rule in a soul is broken by the Spirit as Sanctifier, that is, the One who makes people holy, then the kingdom of God has truly come to that soul. That is the kingdom of grace, a sure beginning of the coming kingdom of glory.

Third, Christ’s miracles, especially his casting out of demons, matched his teaching and the whole purpose of his holy religion. They showed that he was not in league with Satan, but openly at war with him. Jesus says that no one can enter a strong man’s house and plunder his goods unless he first binds the strong man; then he can take what he wants (Matthew 12:29). The world, lying in darkness and wickedness, was under Satan’s control like a house guarded by a strong man. So is every unrenewed soul, where Satan dwells and rules.

Christ’s gospel was meant to plunder the devil’s house. It was meant to turn people from darkness to light, from sin to holiness, from this world to a better one, and from the power of Satan to God (Acts 26:18). In other words, it was meant to change who owns the soul. And Christ began doing this when he cast out unclean spirits by his word. He bound the strong man first, and then he took from him what he pleased.

Christ’s teaching helps us understand his miracles. When he showed how easily and completely he could cast the devil out of people’s bodies, he gave believers reason to hope for more. Whatever power Satan may seize and use in human hearts, Christ can break it by his grace. He will defeat him, because it is clear that he can bind him. When nations turn from idols to serve the living God, and when some of the worst sinners are made holy and are counted right with God, Christ is stripping the devil’s house of its goods. He will keep doing that more and more.

This holy war, which Christ carried on strongly against the devil and his kingdom, does not allow neutrality (Matthew 12:30). “He who is not with me is against me.” In small disagreements among Christ’s disciples, we should lower the stakes and seek peace, treating those who are not against us as being with us (Luke 9:50). But in the great conflict between Christ and the devil, there is no room for compromise. Anyone who is not fully for Christ is counted as against him. If a person is cold toward Christ’s cause, that person is treated as an enemy. When the issue is God against Baal, there can be no hesitating between two opinions (1 Kings 18:21). There is no middle ground between Christ and Belial, that is, between Christ and evil. Christ’s kingdom is forever opposed to the devil’s kingdom, and it will also forever triumph over it. So in this matter there is no standing apart with Gilead beyond the Jordan, or Asher on the seashore (Judges 4:16, 17). We must be fully, faithfully, and firmly on Christ’s side. That is the right side, and in the end it will be the winning side. See also (Exodus 32:26).

The next line says the same thing: “He that does not gather with me scatters.” Christ came into the world to gather people to himself, to gather in his harvest, and to gather those the Father had given him (John 11:52; Ephesians 1:10). He also expects those who are with him to gather with him. That means they should not only come to him themselves, but also do all they can, where they are, to bring others to him and strengthen his cause. Those who will not appear and work as helpers of Christ’s kingdom will be treated as people who hinder it. If we do not gather with Christ, we scatter. It is not enough to avoid doing harm, we must also do good. In this way, the gap between Christ and Satan is shown clearly, so no one can believe the Pharisees’ whisper that there was any agreement between them.

Christ then speaks to the people about sins of the tongue. “Therefore I say to you,” he says. He seems to turn from the Pharisees to the crowd, from debating to teaching, and from the Pharisees’ sin he warns the people about three kinds of sins of speech. The bad example of others should warn us.

Blasphemous words against the Holy Spirit are the worst kind of tongue-sin, and they are the only unpardonable sin (Matthew 12:31, 32). Here Christ gives a gracious promise that all sin can be forgiven on gospel terms. This is a comforting truth. No matter how great a sin is, it will not keep a person from being accepted by God, if that person truly repents and believes the gospel. “All kinds of sin and blasphemy will be forgiven people.” Even if sin is as red as scarlet and crimson (Isaiah 1:18), even if it is very serious, made worse by its circumstances, and repeated many times, even if it reaches up to heaven, there is still mercy with the Lord, and that mercy reaches higher than the heavens. Mercy can even cover blasphemy, since that sin strikes directly at God’s name and honor. Paul received mercy, even though he had been a blasphemer (1 Timothy 1:13). We can rightly say, “Who is a God like you, pardoning iniquity?” (Micah 7:18). Even words spoken against the Son of Man will be forgiven, as happened with those who insulted him at his death, many of whom later repented and found mercy. In this, Christ set an example for all people, to be ready to forgive words spoken against them. “I was like a deaf man, and heard not.” Notice that sins are said to be forgiven to people, not to devils. This shows God’s love for the human race above the fallen angels, since all sin is pardonable for people.

There is, however, one exception, blasphemy against the Holy Spirit, and this is declared to be the only sin that cannot be forgiven. Notice first what this sin is: speaking against the Holy Spirit. We can see how serious tongue-sins are, since this one is the only sin that cannot be pardoned. Yet Jesus knew their thoughts (Matthew 12:25). This does not mean every word spoken against the Holy Spirit’s person or being, or against some of his private workings, or even the sinner’s inward resisting of his work in the heart. If it meant that, who could be saved? In law, an act of pardon is always understood in the most favorable way, because its purpose is grace and mercy. So any exceptions in it should not be stretched beyond what is necessary. The gospel is an act of pardon. No one is named as excepted, and no group is excepted by description, except those who blaspheme the Holy Spirit. So that exception must be taken in the narrowest sense. All proud sinners are already cut off by the terms of pardon itself, which are faith and repentance. So this exception must not be widened. This blasphemy is excluded, not because God’s mercy is lacking or Christ’s merit is too small, but because it leaves the sinner fixed in unbelief and unwillingness to repent. We have good reason to think that no one is guilty of this sin who believes that Christ is the Son of God and sincerely wants to share in his mercy and merit. Those who fear they have committed it are giving a sign that they have not.

The learned Dr. Whitby rightly notes that Christ is not speaking here about what will happen later (Mark 3:28; Luke 12:10), “Whoever blasphemes.” As for those who blasphemed Christ while he was on earth, calling him a drunkard, a deceiver, a blasphemer, and the like, they had some excuse because his outward appearance was lowly and the nation was prejudiced against him. The proof of his divine mission was not fully complete until after his ascension. So, if they repented, they would be pardoned. It is hoped that many of them were convinced by the pouring out of the Spirit, as many were who had once betrayed and murdered him. But if, after the Holy Spirit was given in his inward gifts of revelation, such as speaking in tongues and the other gifts distributed among the apostles, people still blasphemed the Spirit as an evil spirit, then there would be no hope that they would ever be brought to believe in Christ. For first, those gifts of the Holy Spirit in the apostles were the last proof God planned to use to confirm the gospel, and they were kept back until other means had already been used.

Second, this was the strongest proof, and it was more likely to convince people than the miracles themselves. Third, anyone who blasphemes this work of the Spirit cannot possibly be brought to believe in Christ. If people say, as the Pharisees did, that these miracles are really a deal with Satan, what could ever convince them?

This is such a strong shelter for unbelief that a person can never be forced out of it. That is why it is unpardonable, because repentance is hidden from the sinner’s eyes. The sentence passed on it is this: it will not be forgiven, neither in this age nor in the age to come. Just as under the Jewish church there was no sacrifice for a person who sinned deliberately, so under the gospel, which Scripture often calls the age to come, there is no pardon for those who trample on the blood of the covenant and insult the Spirit of grace. There is no cure for a sin that strikes directly at the remedy. Our old law had a rule for this, no sanctuary for sacrilege.

Or, it will not be forgiven either now, in the sinner’s own conscience, or later, in the great day when forgiveness is publicly announced. Or, this sin exposes a person both to punishment in this life and to punishment forever, both to present wrath and to the wrath to come.

2. Christ also speaks here about other wicked words, the fruit of sin ruling in the heart and breaking out in speech (Matthew 12:33-35). In Matthew 12:25 it was said that Jesus knew their thoughts, and here he speaks with those thoughts in view. He shows that it is no surprise they spoke so badly when their hearts were full of hatred and malice, though they often tried to hide it by pretending to be righteous people. Our Lord points to the roots and heals them. Let the heart be made holy, and the words will show it.

The heart is the root, and speech is the fruit (Matthew 12:33). If the nature of the tree is good, it will produce good fruit. Where grace, meaning God’s ruling help in the heart, is present, the speech will be the language of God’s people. On the other hand, whatever sinful desire rules in the heart will come out. Just as diseased lungs make bad breath, so people’s speech shows what kind of spirit they have and what kind of people they belong to. Make the tree good, and the fruit will be good. Get pure hearts, and then you will have pure lips and pure lives. If the tree stays the same, the fruit will stay the same no matter where it is planted or how it is watered. A crab apple tree may be grafted and made good, but if the tree itself remains corrupt, the fruit will still be corrupt. Unless the heart is changed, the life will never be fully changed.

These Pharisees were careful not to speak openly what they thought evil about Jesus Christ. But Christ shows how foolish it was for them to try to hide that bitterness inside them, when they never tried to kill it. It matters more to be truly good than to look good on the outside.

The heart is the fountain, and words are the streams flowing from it (Matthew 12:34). “Out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks,” just as streams overflow from a spring. A wicked heart produces wickedness, as a fountain pours out water (Jeremiah 6:7). A troubled fountain and a corrupt spring, like Solomon described (Proverbs 25:26), must send out muddy and unpleasant water. Evil words are the natural outcome of an evil heart. Only the salt of grace, placed in the spring, can heal the waters, sweeten the speech, and clean up harmful conversation.

This was their problem. They were evil. How could they, being evil, speak good things? They were a generation of vipers, a snake-like people. John the Baptist had called them that before (Matthew 3:7), and they were still the same. Can an Ethiopian change his skin? The crowd may have thought of the Pharisees as a holy group, but Christ calls them a generation of vipers, the serpent’s offspring, full of hostility toward Christ and his gospel. What else could be expected from a generation of vipers but poison and harm? Can a viper be anything other than venomous?

Bad things may be expected from bad people. As the old saying goes, wickedness comes from the wicked (1 Samuel 24:13). The vile person will speak vile things (Isaiah 32:6). People who are evil have neither the skill nor the will to speak what is good in the right way. Christ wants his disciples to know what kind of people they will live among, so they will know what to expect. They are like Ezekiel among scorpions (Ezekiel 2:6), and they should not be surprised if they are stung and bitten.

The heart is also the storehouse, and words are the things taken out of that storehouse (Matthew 12:35). From this, a person’s character can be seen and judged. A good man is marked by a good treasure in his heart, and from that he brings out good things whenever there is need. Graces, comfort, experience, good knowledge, good affections, and good resolves are a good treasure in the heart. So is God’s word hidden there, God’s law written there, and divine truth living and ruling within. These are valuable and fitting treasures, kept safe and private, like the stored goods of a wise householder, yet ready to be used at the right time. A good man, so supplied, will bring forth good things, as Joseph did from his storehouses, speaking and acting for God’s glory and for the good of others. See Proverbs 10:11, Proverbs 10:13, Proverbs 10:14, Proverbs 10:20, Proverbs 10:21, Proverbs 10:31, Proverbs 10:32.

Some people make a show of doing good, but have no real treasure inside. Soon they will fail. Others claim to have a good treasure in their hearts, but give no proof of it. They say they have good hearts, whatever their words and actions may be. But faith without works is dead. Some have wisdom and knowledge in them, but they do not share it. They have a talent, but do not use it. A mature Christian reflects God’s image in this, that he both is good and does good.

It is also the mark of an evil man that he has an evil treasure in his heart, and from it he brings forth evil things. Sinful desires and corrupt feelings living and ruling in the heart are an evil treasure, and from that treasure the sinner brings out bad words and actions, to God’s dishonor and to the harm of others. See Genesis 6:5, Genesis 6:12; Matthew 15:18-20; James 1:15. Treasures of wickedness (Proverbs 10:2) will become treasures of wrath.

3. Christ then speaks about idle words, and shows how much evil there is in them (Matthew 12:36, Matthew 12:37). There is much more evil in the wicked words the Pharisees spoke. We should think often about the day of judgment, so it can hold our tongues in check. And let us consider,

The judgment on sins of speech will be very exact on that day. People will give an account for every careless word they speak. This shows that God notices every word we say, even words we do not notice ourselves. See Psalm 139:4. Nothing in our speech escapes him, even if we spoke it without much thought or intention.

It also shows that empty, useless, and careless talk displeases God. Such speech does not help anyone, and it does not build others up. It comes from a shallow and restless heart. This is the same kind of sin as foolish talk and crude joking that Scripture forbids (Ephesians 5:4). It is the kind of sin that often fills many words, but does no good (Job 15:3).

We must soon give account for these careless words. They will stand as evidence against us and show whether we have been unprofitable servants, people who failed to use the gift of speech well. God has trusted us with reason and language, and we are meant to use them for good. If we do not repent of careless speech, and if Christ’s blood does not cover our account, we are lost.

The judgment on that account will be severe. By your words you will be justified, that is, shown to be right, or condemned, that is, shown to be guilty (Matthew 12:37). This is a common principle in human judgment, and here Jesus applies it to God’s judgment. The usual pattern of our speech, whether it is full of grace or not, will give evidence for us or against us at the final judgment.

Those who seemed religious but did not control their tongues will then be exposed as having deceived themselves with empty religion (James 1:26). Some think Christ was referring to Eliphaz, who said, “Your own mouth condemns you, not I” (Job 15:6). More likely, he was referring to Solomon, who said, “Death and life are in the power of the tongue” (Proverbs 18:21).