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Matthew 12:33-50 (ESV)

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. ³⁴Brood of vipers! How can you, being evil, speak good things? For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks. ³⁵A good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth good things, and an evil man out of the evil treasure brings forth evil things. ³⁶But I say to you that for every idle word men may speak, they will give account of it in the day of judgment. ³⁷For by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned.”
³⁸Then some of the scribes and Pharisees answered, saying, “Teacher, we want to see a sign from You.”³⁹But He answered and said to them, “An evil and adulterous generation seeks after a sign, and no sign will be given to it except the sign of the prophet Jonah. ⁴⁰For 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. ⁴¹The men of Nineveh will rise up in the judgment with this generation and condemn it, because they repented at the preaching of Jonah; and indeed a greater than Jonah is here. ⁴²The queen of the South will rise up in the judgment with this generation and condemn it, for she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon; and indeed a greater than Solomon is here.
⁴³“When an unclean spirit goes out of a man, he goes through dry places, seeking rest, and finds none. ⁴⁴Then he says, ‘I will return to my house from which I came.’ And when he comes, he finds it empty, swept, and put in order. ⁴⁵Then he goes and takes with him seven other spirits more wicked than himself, and they enter and dwell there; and the last state of that man is worse than the first. So shall it also be with this wicked generation.”
⁴⁶While He was still talking to the multitudes, behold, His mother and brothers stood outside, seeking to speak with Him. ⁴⁷Then one said to Him, “Look, Your mother and Your brothers are standing outside, seeking to speak with You.”⁴⁸But He answered and said to the one who told Him, “Who is My mother and who are My brothers?” ⁴⁹And He stretched out His hand toward His disciples and said, “Here are My mother and My brothers! ⁵⁰For whoever does the will of My Father in heaven is My brother and sister and mother.”

I. CARELESS WORDS REVEAL THE TRUTH (33-37)
A. Reckless words revealed rotten hearts set against God.
B. Words can tear down, build up, and reveal true feelings.

II. NO SIGN GOOD ENOUGH (38-42)
A. Pharisees want to see a miracle so big they cannot deny it. Jesus will rise from the dead soon and they will deny it, too.
B. Jesus compares the hard-hearted resistance of the Pharisees of Him to the humble repentance of Nineveh at the preaching of Jonah.
C. Jesus compares the dumbness of the Pharisees in not seeing Him as Messiah to the discernment of Queen of Sheba with Solomon.

III. MORAL REFORM NOT GOOD ENOUGH (43-45)
A. Jesus uses the exorcism as an illustration of how the answer was not more rules to follow so they could clean up their lives.
B. The Pharisees did not need to clean up. They needed new hearts and to fill their emptiness with the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
C. We need more than to empty our life of sin. We need Jesus to come and fill our lives with His presence, replacing the presence of sin.

IV. THE OFFER OF ADOPTION (46-50)
A. In the Gospel, submission to Jesus is thicker than blood.
B. Our struggle to embrace one another as family demonstrates we spiritualize the adoption of Jesus and do not apply it literally.
C. By embracing one another as literal family, our joy in the Gospel will grow along with unity and our love for one another.

APPLICATION
1. Impact the way your kids see the church as family by loving your fellow brothers and sisters in Christ like your family.
2. Examine your life to see if there is a natural overflow of the good fruit of the Holy Spirit in your life.
3. Confess that moral rehabilitation is not the answer and ask Jesus for a new heart and a new family.