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"Either make the tree good, and its fruit good; or make the tree bad, and its fruit bad; for the tree is known by its fruit" (Matt 12). What kind of "trees" were Jesus' opponents, good or bad? Consider their fruit. Consider the abundance of their hearts out of which their mouths speak. Is it good or bad?
In the synagogue on the Sabbath when Jesus healed the man with the withered hand, and His opponents asked Him, "'Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath?' so that they might accuse him", were their motives good or bad?
Consider the fruit. Though not a one of them, if he had a sheep and it fell into a pit on the Sabbath, would hesitate for a moment to pull it out, yet they were unwilling--the whole lot of them--to lift a finger to help a fellow Jew, a disabled one at that, though he was worth many sheep, and though his disabilities should have stirred them to compassion, especially on the Sabbath, since he was a hurting sheep of the flock of Israel, and they were supposed to be his shepherds.
Jesus' opponents showed their true colors--how rotten they were and ripe for destruction--over-ripe. Whereas Jesus healed the man, showing Himself to be Israel's true Shepherd, "the Pharisees went out and took counsel against [Jesus], how to destroy him"--and that, on the Sabbath!
And when Jesus healed the demon-possessed blind-mute, so that he could both see and speak, obviously by casting out the demon who blinded him and bound his tongue, thus removing the blinders and freeing his tongue, and all the people wondered out loud, "Can this be the Son of David?", the long-promised, long-awaited Messiah, and the Pharisees, when they heard it, said, "it is only by Beelzebub, the prince of demons, that this man casts out demons", what kind of fruit were they bearing? Out of what kind of overflow from their hearts did their mouths speak, good or bad?
Conversely, who is it that binds Beelzebub, the prince of demons, and his demons, so that they're no longer capable of binding and blinding now penitent and believing sinners? Who is it who frees formerly blind and mute sinners by forgiving them and giving them the repentant faith to seize forgiveness, life and salvation, that is, to see and believe and confess their faith, but the stronger One, Jesus!
Even though He furnished the Sign for this evil and adulterous generation of sign-seekers, this new and greater Jonah, Jesus, by suffering Himself to be swallowed whole by that great fish, Death; even though He made Death spit Him back up, He and all the little fish in His school with Him, little fish like you and me, by rising from the dead and Himself swallowing up Death forever; even though He furnishes everyone ample proof that He is the true Fisher of men; Jesus' opponents do not believe in Him.
Hence, they do not accept Him, but in fact reject Him, free to swim in the great big pond of this fallen world, albeit, a stagnant and polluted one, unaided and alone. But not for long, not for long. They're the small fry whom the big fish, Death, swallows up forever.
Not so you and me. No indeed! To the contrary, we're the small fish whom Jesus makes Death cough up along with Him. His hook baited with the Gospel, He catches us, hook, line and sinker, and reels us in and adds us to His stringer, held over for heaven, that mighty ocean of God's endless love, where we'll swim free with Him forever. Amen.
- Pastor Erickson