Immerse: Messiah - Flipbook - Page 345
12:30-47
M atthe w
333
“Anyone who isn’t with me opposes me, and anyone who isn’t working
with me is actually working against me.
“So I tell you, every sin and blasphemy can be forgiven—except blasphemy against the Holy Spirit, which will never be forgiven. Anyone who
speaks against the Son of Man can be forgiven, but anyone who speaks
against the Holy Spirit will never be forgiven, either in this world or in the
world to come.
“A tree is identified by its fruit. If a tree is good, its fruit will be good.
If a tree is bad, its fruit will be bad. You brood of snakes! How could evil
men like you speak what is good and right? For whatever is in your heart
determines what you say. A good person produces good things from the
treasury of a good heart, and an evil person produces evil things from the
treasury of an evil heart. And I tell you this, you must give an account on
judgment day for every idle word you speak. The words you say will either
acquit you or condemn you.”
One day some teachers of religious law and Pharisees came to Jesus and
said, “Teacher, we want you to show us a miraculous sign to prove your
authority.”
But Jesus replied, “Only an evil, adulterous generation would demand
a miraculous sign; but the only sign I will give them is the sign of the
prophet Jonah. For as Jonah was in the belly of the great fish for three days
and three nights, so will the Son of Man be in the heart of the earth for
three days and three nights.
“The people of Nineveh will stand up against this generation on judgment day and condemn it, for they repented of their sins at the preaching
of Jonah. Now someone greater than Jonah is here—but you refuse to
repent. The queen of Sheba will also stand up against this generation on
judgment day and condemn it, for she came from a distant land to hear the
wisdom of Solomon. Now someone greater than Solomon is here—but
you refuse to listen.
“When an evil spirit leaves a person, it goes into the desert, seeking rest
but finding none. Then it says, ‘I will return to the person I came from.’ So
it returns and finds its former home empty, swept, and in order. Then the
spirit finds seven other spirits more evil than itself, and they all enter the
person and live there. And so that person is worse off than before. That
will be the experience of this evil generation.”
As Jesus was speaking to the crowd, his mother and brothers stood outside, asking to speak to him. Someone told Jesus, “Your mother and your
brothers are standing outside, and they want to speak to you.”
