Mk. 3:19b And they entered into a house.
Mk. 3:20 And the multitude came together, so that they could not so much as eat bread.
Mt. 12:22 Then one was brought in to Him who was demon possessed, blind and mute; and He healed him, so that the blind and mute man both saw and spoke.
Mk. 3:21 But when his own people heard about this, they went out to lay hold of Him, for they said, “He is out of His mind.”
Mt. 12:23 And all the multitudes were amazed and said, “Could this be the Son of David?”
The people of the land (Am haEretz) began asking themselves and the scribes and Pharisees, “Is this not the Son of David?” “Is this not the Messiah?” All their lives they had been taught that only Messiah could perform certain miracles, and now, Yeshua had performed not one, but two of these miracles. Yeshua never came right out and openly claimed to be Messiah. He didn’t have to. He used the teachings of the Rabbis and the Word of God to make His case. Actions, not words, validated His claim and the common people knew who He was.
Mt. 12:24 But when the Pharisees heard it they said, “This man does not cast out demons except by Beelzebub, the ruler of demons.”
Mk. 3:22 And the scribes who came down from Jerusalem said, “He is Beelzebub,” and, “By the ruler of demons He casts out demons.”
Yeshua healed this man of his blindness, and also his dumbness, or the inability to speak. He did this by casting out the demon which dwelt inside the man. There are two very important events in this segment that we need to look at. The first is the casting out of the demon. This was not all that unusual in the Jewish world of that day. There was a lot of demon activity going on. Even the Pharisees and scribes had the power to cast out demons. What made this the second Messianic Miracle was the type of demon. There was a Pharisaic formula or ritual for casting out demons that required three stages. First, the Jewish exorcist had to establish communication with the demon. Second, the exorcist had to find out what the demon’s name was. Third, using his name, the exorcist cast the demon out. This formula can be seen in Mark 5:1-16 and Luke 8:26-34, which we will discuss later.
Source: Mark 5:1-16; Luke 8:26-34
Knowing the Pharisaic methodology, it seems clear that this was a type of demon the Rabbis were powerless against. It was the type that caused a person to become dumb or mute. Demons spoke using that person’s vocal cords. If the person was unable to speak, there was no way to establish communication with the demon or to discover its name. Therefore, the Rabbis were unable to cast out this type of demon. But, the Rabbis taught that when Messiah came, He would be able to cast out this type of demon by the power of God. That is why this is called a Messianic Miracle, a miracle that only Messiah could perform.
Mk. 3:23 So He called them to Him and said to them in parables, “How can Satan cast out Satan?”
Mt. 12:25a But Jesus knew their thoughts, and said to them, “Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation.”
Mk. 3:24 “If a kingdom is divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand.”
After this second Messianic Miracle, Yeshua is now being taken seriously by the Sanhedrin. This segment actually covers seven days. It takes time for the word of the miracle to get back to the Sanhedrin in Jerusalem, and then more time for the scribes to come back to Him. What is the reason? It is now the beginning of the second stage of His investigation — the Stage of Interrogation. You will notice that up to this point, the scribes and the Pharisees that followed Him said nothing. They only pondered things in their minds. Now, the Stage of Interrogation has begun with its questions and accusations.
This last miracle has now posed a problem for the religious leaders. They were faced with two options: accept Yeshua as Messiah and yield their positions and authority to Him, or reject Him. To do this though, they would have to publicly explain how He was capable of performing these miracles that they had taught the people that only Messiah could perform. Unfortunately, for reasons they could only understand, they chose to reject Him. Let me emphasize something here again. There had already been many who claimed falsely in this era of great Messianic Expectation to be Messiah. This two-stage investigation procedure of the Sanhedrin was a very legitimate and necessary one and Yeshua welcomed it. It was badly needed for this time. That is why Yeshua never made any vocal claims of Messiahship, because there had been a lot of men doing that. He validated His claims by strict actions according to the Word of God. If He was ever able to get the leaders of Israel to proclaim Him as Messiah, it had to be proven to them by this investigation. Unfortunately, they did totally reject Him, and this is one of the possible explanations behind John 1:11, “He came unto His own, but His own did not receive Him.” It is not that the common people of Israel did not accept Him as Messiah, but that the leadership would not. It is the leadership that speaks for the people. It is because of misinterpretations of this verse by our church leaders down through the centuries that we have been taught that the Jews rejected Yeshua. That is simply not true.
Source: John 1:11
MT. 12:25b “And every city or house divided against itself will not stand.”
Mk. 3:25 “And if a house is divided against itself, that house cannot stand.”
Mt. 12:26 “And if Satan casts out Satan, he is divided against himself. How then will his kingdom stand?”
Mk. 3:26 “And if Satan has risen up against himself, and is divided, he cannot stand, but has an end.”
Yeshua responds to this by saying it could not be true. If He was demon possessed, but still casting out demons, that would mean a division in Satan’s kingdom. In other words, why should Satan hurt himself?
Mt. 12:27 “And if I cast out demons by Beelzebub, by whom do your sons cast them out? Therefore they will be your judges?”
Early records tell us that it was not uncommon for the general miracles such as healing of blindness, deafness, the lame, the dumb, and even casting out of demons to occur. Even Yeshua makes reference to this when He addresses the Pharisees by saying, “If I by Beelzebub cast out demons, by whom do your sons cast them out?” The “sons” of the Rabbis was another name for their disciples. Sometimes we Christians don’t want to accept these things, but when they come straight from the mouth of the Lord, its kind of hard to deny them. This kind of activity was quite common in that day. Yeshua was asking them a very pertinent question:”If your disciples, the young ones that you are training, are doing the same thing that I am, who is behind their actions? If being demon possessed gives Me this power, then you and your disciples are also demon possessed.”
Mt. 12:28 “But if I cast out demons by the Spirit of God, surely the kingdom of God has come upon you.”
The Rabbis had taught all along that the reason the Messiah could do these certain miracles was by the power of the Spirit of God that He possessed. When Messiah came, He would institute the Kingdom of God here on earth. Yeshua is challenging them to admit that He used the Spirit of God to cast out this dumb demon, just as they had been teaching for years. But, if they did, they would also have to admit that He was the Messiah. Instead of doing that, they would rather blaspheme God.
The Rabbis had taught all along that the reason the Messiah could do these certain miracles was by the power of the Spirit of God that He possessed. When Messiah came, He would institute the Kingdom of God here on earth. Yeshua is challenging them to admit that He used the Spirit of God to cast out this dumb demon, just as they had been teaching for years. But, if they did, they would also have to admit that He was the Messiah. Instead of doing that, they would rather blaspheme God.
Mt. 12:29 “Or else how can one enter a strong man’s house and plunder his goods, unless he first binds the strong man? And then he will plunder his house.”
Mk. 3:27 “No one can enter a strong man’s house and plunder his goods, unless he first binds the strong man, and then he will plunder his house.”
The strong man here represents Satan. The one entering his house to plunder it is the Messiah. Yeshua binds him by casting out his demons, demonstrating His power over Satan and his followers. Messiah has come to plunder his house. Hallelujah!
Here is where Yeshua “draws the line in the sand.” There can be no compromise, no gray areas. You are either with Yeshua or you are against Him. It is either Christ or anti-Christ. There is no in between.
Mt.12:31a “Therefore I say to you, every sin and blasphemy will be forgiven men,”
Mk. 3:28 “Assuredly, I say to you, all sins will be forgiven the sons of men, and whatever blasphemies they may utter.”
Mt. 12:31b “But blasphemy against the Spirit will not be forgiven men.
Mk. 3:29 “But he who blasphemes against the Holy Spirit never has forgiveness, but is subject to eternal condemnation.”
Blasphemy is the evil or profane speaking of God. According to the “Jewish Encyclopedia,” the essence of the crime consists in the impious purpose in using the words, and does not necessarily include the performance of any desecrating act. The Jewish Law is based on the case of the blasphemer, one of the mixed multitude that went out of Egypt with the children of Israel (Lev. 24:10-23). He blasphemed the name of the Lord and cursed; was sentenced to be taken without the camp; and it was decreed that all who heard him should lay their hands upon his head, and that all the congregation should stone him.
The Oral Law (M:Sanhedrin 7:5) says, “The blasphemer is not guilty until he pronounces the “name” (YHVH, the Ineffable Name) expressly.” Jesus was accused of blasphemy on several different occasions: the unpardonable sin (Mt. 12:31, 32; Mk. 3:28, 29; Lk. 12:10); forgiving the paralytic (Mt. 9:3; Mk. 2:7; Lk, 5:21); at His trial (Mk. 14:64); at His teaching on the good shepherd (Jn. 10:33, 36); and He mentioned blasphemies in what defiles a man (Mt. 15:19). In none of these was the name of God mentioned. In only one of them did the people talk about stoning Him, as required by the Mosaic Law. Evidently none of His accusers were too confident of backing up their charges against the Lord. Blasphemy against God was a capital offense that had to be tried before the Sanhedrin. Under normal circumstances, Yeshua would have been guilty of blaspheming or profaning God by claiming to be God, except that He was telling the truth. That is what made the difference between this and the other Messianic Miracles that He performed and that none of the other Rabbis could. The four Messianic Miracles revealed the Spirit of God within Him that no other man could claim. He was and is God Incarnate.
Sources: Lev. 24:10-23; M:Sanhedrin 7:5; Mt. 9:3; 12:31, 32; 15:19; Mk. 3:28, 29; 2:7; 14:64; Lk. 12:10; 5:21; Jn. 10:33, 36
12:32 “Anyone who speaks a word against the Son of Man, it will be forgiven him; but who ever speaks against the Holy Spirit, it will not be forgiven him, either in this age or the age to come.”
Yeshua has a second response to His rejection and this was a condemnation in the strongest terms against “this generation.” This “evil generation” was guilty of the unpardonable sin, blasphemy against the Holy Spirit. They accused the Ruach haKodesh which empowered the Messiah of being from Satan. This was a “national curse” for the entire nation of Israel. It would fall upon every person of that generation (the generation that physically saw the Messiah in person). The unpardonable sin was not an individual personal sin.
The judgment and condemnation of that generation on the nation as a whole came about forty years later in 70 C.E. with the destruction of Jerusalem and the Temple. This was a direct result of the nation as a whole rejecting the Messiahship of Yeshua. It must be stressed that this was not an individual sin because individuals of that day could and did escape the judgment. Nor is it a sin that someone could commit today. The Bible is perfectly clear that the only sin a person can commit and not receive forgiveness for is the one that a person does not seek forgiveness for. To believe otherwise is to say that Yeshua’s sacrifice on the cross was not a complete sacrifice; that it did not provide atonement for all sins. There are sins that His shed blood did not cover. That is simply not true. Any sin today will be forgiven if a person truly repents before God through faith.
Not only did the committing of the unpardonable sin by “that generation” bring judgment that was fulfilled in 70 C.E., but it had another very important implication to it. The offer of the Messianic Kingdom to the nation of Israel was then rescinded (Mt. 23:39). It would then be offered to the Gentiles.
Mk. 3:30 Because they said, “He has an unclean spirit.”
Mt. 12:33 “Either make the tree good and its fruit good, or else make the tree bad and its fruit bad; for a tree is known by its fruit.”
Mt. 12:34 “Brood of vipers! How can you, being evil, speak good things? For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks.”
Mt. 12:35 “A good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth good things, and an evil out of his treasure brings forth evil things.”
Mt. 12:36 “But I say to you that every idle word men speak, they will give account of it in the day of judgment.”
A verse in the Mishnah gives a particularly truthful description of the resurrection and the judgment: “Rabbi Eleazor of Capernaum said, ‘they who are born are to die. They who die are to live again. Those who live again are to be judged that they fully know that He is God, the Former, the Creator who understands and judges. The Witness and the Accuser, who is ready to judge. That is He, that with Him there is no iniquity, nor forgetfulness, nor acceptance of persons and no taking of bribes. For everything is His and know that everything shall be according to the account rendered. Let not they evil genius persuade thee that the grave will serve thee as a place of refuge. Without they consent thou was formed and without thy consent thou livest and without thy consent thou must die and without thy consent thou shall come to judgment to render an account before the King of Kings, the Holy One, blessed be He.’” It is all in God’s hands..
Source: M:Avoth 4:22
Mt. 12:37 “For by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned.”
Eccl. 5:13 says, “Glory and dishonor come from speaking and a man’s tongue is his own downfall.” The leadership of Israel had just very vividly demonstrated this saying.
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