This topic on Christ reproves the pharisee is a great lesson on criticism. Pharisees were the most bitter critics of the Lord Jesus during His earthly ministry. This was because His teachings and healings exposed the hypocrisy and shallowness of their professed deeper religion. Wherever He ministered, they were always at hand to find fault, criticize and plan His hurt.
“But I say unto you, That every idle word that men shall speak, they shall give account thereof in the day of judgment” (Matthew 12:36).
Christ and The Pharisees: Christ Reproves The Pharisee
The story of the Pharisees is an example of how a good purpose can become disappointing without God’s Counsel. They came into existence during the exploits of the Maccabeans in the inter-testament period. It was in an attempt to separate themselves from the corrupting influence of the Grecian culture to keep the laws of God.
As a result, they were called “separatists” (or Pharisees) by those who mocked them. Their error was in limiting their separation and religion to outward forms and the letter of the law only. They lacked inward godliness and became conceited as they blindly adhered to their own interpretations of the law.
They also placed their own traditions on an equal status with God’s law. But Jesus taught that true religion begins with a change of heart and consists of worshipping God in the spirit and truth rather than mere legalistic obedience to the law.
In our text today, Jesus healed a blind and dumb demoniac, and all the people were amazed. “But when the Pharisees heard it, they said,
This fellow doth not cast out devils, but by Beelzebub, the prince of devils” (Matthew 12:24). The Pharisees accused Jesus of being in league with Satan, and they attributed the work of the Holy Spirit to a demon. They had said so before, and repeating it proved that they were deliberate in their accusation (see Matthew 9:34).
They deliberately refused to respond to the grace of God even when they saw positive evidence of the Spirit’s power. In fact, they hindered others who were contemplating whether Jesus was Christ from believing.
Jesus, knowing their thoughts pointed out the absurdity of their claim in two ways. First: Satan is not divided against himself, and as such, Satan cannot wage war against his own kingdom as He, the Son of man did. Secondly, there were Jewish exorcists who were Pharisees.
Since they also claimed that they cast out demons, they should also be accused of being in league with devils. With these, Jesus debunked their malicious attack and emphatically declared that He did cast out devils by the Spirit of God, as evidence of the manifestation of God’s kingdom.
Here He was referring to the power of God’s kingdom in defeating the power of Satan’s kingdom in order to release the helpless victims. Jesus is stronger than Satan, and he came to bind him. Through His death and resurrection, Jesus “spoiled principalities and powers. He made a shew of them, openly, triumphing over them in it” (Colossians 2:15).
The Lord further showed the Pharisees how impossible it is for men to be neutral in the spiritual conflict between God’s kingdom and Satan’s illegitimate kingdom. Every man is either for or against.
Anyone who does not fight against Satan and his representatives, as Christ does, is already pitched against God’s kingdom. Those who feel that a hard stance against sin and other branches of Satan’s work is not necessary are against Christ.
It does not matter if such advocates of compromise are leaders of assemblies or men of renown in any congregation. By refusing to acknowledge and stand with Christ in resisting Satan, the Pharisees sided with Satan.
Blasphemy Against The Holy Spirit
By deliberately attributing the work of the Holy Spirit to Satan, the Pharisees trod on dangerous ground. It is the Holy Spirit that brings conviction and conversion. He is the Agent of the new birth (John 3:6- 8). To blaspheme or speak maliciously against Him is to close the door of repentance and forgiveness against oneself.
If a sinner or backslider deliberately rejects or opposes the convicting voice of the Holy Spirit, He can be grieved (Ephesians 4:30), and His promptings quenched (Acts 7:51; 1 Thessalonians 5:19).
This condition, if allowed to persist may lead to the hardening of the heart to such an extent that it becomes impossible to find the path to repentance and faith. This is the sin that cannot be pardoned and the reason why it cannot be pardoned.
“For if we sin wilfully after that, we have received the knowledge of the truth, there remaineth no more sacrifice for sins, But a certain fearful looking for of judgment and fiery indignation which shall devour the adversaries.
He that despised Moses’ law died without mercy under two or three witnesses: of how much sorer punishment suppose ye, shall he be thought worthy, who hath trodden under foot the Son of God, and hath counted the blood of the covenant wherewith he was sanctified, an unholy thing, and hath done despite unto the Spirit of grace?” (Hebrews 10:26-29).
Bad Use Of The Tongue
Jesus also reproved the Pharisees for the bad use of their tongue. It should be observed that “with the heart, man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth, confession is made unto salvation” (Romans 10:10), Similarly, the heart and mouth are involved in committing the unpardonable sin.
The heart is first hardened against God but the mouth pours out the abundance of the heart. If a man gets to hell, it will not be without the fault of his tongue.
“Either make the tree good and his fruit good; or else make the tree corrupt and his fruit corrupt; for the tree is known by his fruit. O generation of vipers, how can ye, being evil, speak good things? for out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh” (Matthew 12:33,34).
In rebuking evil speaking, Jesus revealed that the source of the evil is the unregenerate, unsanctified heart. The evidence of a transformed heart is a renewed tongue. Here Jesus compares the heart to a “tree” and the words of the mouth to “fruits”.
Those who continue with a depraved heart and speak evil with their mouth will eventually end up in condemnation on the day of judgment.
Everyone will give an account of every careless, abusive, belittling, and lying word they spoke. All slander, foolish talking, and jesting will be recalled and brought to justice. We should be careful how we use our tongue because “death and life are in the power of the tongue and they that love it shall eat the fruit thereof (Proverbs 18:21).
Backsliding And Unbelief Reproved
The Pharisees continued in their hardness of heart by asking for further signs from Jesus. Already He had done more than twenty-five recorded miracles, but they did not believe in Him. In fact, they attributed the sign He had just done to Satan.
Therefore their request for “a sign was wrongly motivated. Jesus rebuked them and referred them to the sign of ‘the prophet Jonah.
“For as Jonas was three days and three nights in the whale’s belly, so shall the Son of man be three days and three nights in the heart of the Jaearth” (Matthew 12:40).
The purpose of signs and wonders is to make men believe the truth. Signs are physical manifestations addressed to the senses in order to strengthen an otherwise weak faith. The men like Nathaniel and Thomas, who wanted something tangible as evidence of the truth they had just heard, were drawn into and strengthened in the kingdom.
But for those who reject and deliberately sin against the truth, they need no signs to strengthen their unbelief. For such people, God sends no signs except by referring them to the “law and the prophets”. This is why in replying to the rich man’s request, Father Abraham should send Lazarus to warn his five brothers lest they get into hell. He said:
“If they hear not Moses and the prophets neither will they be persuaded, though one rose from the dead” (Luke 16:31). No wonder then that Christ referred the Pharisees to the prophet Jonah. If they would not hear or believe what the prophets wrote about Christ, nor obey the kingdom principles which they heard from Christ, there was no need for further signs.
Jesus used two Old Testament incidents to reprove the unbelief and impenitence of the Pharisees. When Jonah preached to the men of Nineveh, they believed in God and repented. Also, when the queen of Sheba heard of the fame of Solomon, she traveled a long way to hear the wisdom of Solomon.
The men of Nineveh believed Jonah’s message without seeing any sign. The queen of Sheba did not believe the reports she heard, but when she saw the evidence of Solomon’s wisdom, she believed (1 Kings 10:6,7).
But the Pharisees had the privilege of being exposed to the ministry of Christ, who was greater than both Jonah and Solomon. Yet they neither believed nor repented even after seeing all the miracles He did.
Therefore, these Gentile pagans will stand to condemn the self-righteous, unbelieving Pharisees at the judgment. This indictment should jolt into repentance many who have been exposed to sound Christian truths but who still live in sin and unbelief.
Otherwise, many of the neighborhood harlots, gamblers, robbers, and idol worshippers who genuinely repent because of the impact of a single evangelistic effort will stand to condemn such hypocrites at the judgment. Finally, Jesus likened backslidden Israel to a demon-possessed man.
The evil spirit went out but came back again with seven other evil spirits more wicked than himself. The later state of the man is worse than the first:
We cannot but also observe here the danger of being reformed without being regenerated. Equally dangerous is to allow the heart to be unoccupied by the Holy Spirit after conversion or deliverance from demonic possession.
The demons always look for ways of re-entering their former victims with determination to fortify themselves and prevent a future re-ejection. Therefore those who are saved and delivered from Satan’s kingdom should immediately allow God’s word and God’s Spirit to fill their hearts.
Conclusion
In this lesson, we see the Lord’s reproof for all Pharisees of all ages. There are six major things He reproves them for, and they all form a link in the steps that lead to perdition:
Evil speaking, which reveals an unregenerate heart, and reformation without regeneration.
This is evidenced in a formalistic religion or an attempt to remain neutral in religion. Three, unbelief and sign-seeking, Four, hardness of heart even after being reproved. Five, impenitence. Six, blasphemy. The final outcome is inevitable destruction.
FAQs
1. Why Were The Pharisees So Bitter Against Jesus?
The Pharisees were bitter against Jesus because they saw Him as a threat to their religious authority and beliefs. They opposed His teachings and perceived Him as a challenge to the traditional Jewish religious order.
2. How Did Jesus Refute The Accusation That He Cast Out Demons By Beelzebub?
Jesus refuted the accusation that He cast out demons by Beelzebub by explaining that it would be counterproductive for Satan to cast out his own demons, as it would lead to division within Satan’s kingdom. He argued that casting out demons was a sign of the arrival of the Kingdom of God.
3. What Is The Remedy For The Bad Use Of The Tongue?
The remedy for the bad use of the tongue is to exercise self-control and speak with kindness, truth, and love. This involves being mindful of our words, refraining from gossip and slander, and using our speech to build up and encourage others rather than tear them down.
