Wednesday of Pentecost 19

October 14, 2009

Jesus willingly gave His divine help to those who needed it by performing healing or driving out demons but He refused those who came to Him wanting a demonstration of His power. That's how today's reading starts, with Jesus saying no to the scribes who wanted to see a sign from Jesus (Matthew 12:38-39). He does not leave them without an indication of who He is however. He does say "no sign will be given...except the sign of Jonah. 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." Jonah was swallowed up and three days later vomitted upon the beach at Nineveh. Jesus would soon be laid to rest in a grave and three days later He would emerge alive once more.

What Jesus says after this interchange is interesting. "When the unclean spirit has gone out of a person, it passes through waterless places seeking rest, but finds none. 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. 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 it will be with this evil generation" (Matthew 12:43-45). Jesus applies this teaching to the generation of people with whom He has been dealing. In other words, many of them are rejecting Jesus and His Gospel message of salvation by grace through faith in Him. So when He has finished His work and the devil has been defeated but not yet thrown into the lake of fire and Jesus ascends back to the right hand of God, Satan is going to get busy doing his wicked best to undo all that Jesus has done. Can there be any doubt about the wicked things that we see happening in the world all around us? Do we not live in this time when things are worse than they have ever been and are only getting progressively worse as time goes by?

In the final section of today's reading a man tells Jesus that His mother and brothers have come to talk to Jesus but He replies, "Who is my mother, and who are my brothers?" Then He Himself gives the answer, "Whoever does the will of My Father in heaven is My brother and sister and mother" (Matthew 12:50). At this point Jesus is on His way to the cross. The plan is in motion. He will suffer and die and be raised on the third day to reconcile all people to the Father by His blood. This act creates a new holy people for God and creates a new family for the believer.