Matthew 12:18–50

^18*“Here is my servant, whom I have chosen,

the one I love, and with whom I am pleased.

I will send my Spirit upon him,

and he will announce my judgement to the nations.

¹⁹He will not argue or shout,

or make loud speeches in the streets.

²⁰He will not break off a bent reed,

or put out a flickering lamp.

He will persist until he causes justice to triumph,

^21*and in him all peoples will put their hope.”

Jesus and Beelzebul

²²Then some people brought to Jesus a man who was blind and could not talk because he had a demon. Jesus healed the man, so that he was able to talk and see. ²³The crowds were all amazed at what Jesus had done. “Could he be the Son of David?” they asked.

^24*When the Pharisees heard this, they replied, “He drives out demons only because their ruler Beelzebul gives him power to do so.”

²⁵Jesus knew what they were thinking, so he said to them, “Any country that divides itself into groups which fight each other will not last very long. And any town or family that divides itself into groups which fight each other will fall apart. ²⁶So if one group is fighting another in Satan’s kingdom, this means that it is already divided into groups and will soon fall apart! ²⁷You say that I drive out demons because Beelzebul gives me the power to do so. Well, then, who gives your followers the power to drive them out? What your own followers do proves that you are wrong! ²⁸No, it is not Beelzebul, but God’s Spirit, who gives me the power to drive out demons, which proves that the Kingdom of God has already come upon you.

²⁹“No one can break into a strong man’s house and take away his belongings unless he first ties up the strong man; then he can plunder his house.

^30*“Anyone who is not for me is really against me; anyone who does not help me gather is really scattering. ³¹And so I tell you that people can be forgiven any sin and any evil thing they say;^k but whoever says evil things against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven. ^32*Anyone who says something against the Son of Man can be forgiven; but whoever says something against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven—now or ever.

A Tree and Its Fruit

^33*“To have good fruit you must have a healthy tree; if you have a poor tree, you will have bad fruit. A tree is known by the kind of fruit it bears. ^34*You snakes—how can you say good things when you are evil? For the mouth speaks what the heart is full of. ³⁵A good person brings good things out of a treasure of good things; a bad person brings bad things out of a treasure of bad things.

³⁶“You can be sure that on Judgement Day everyone will have to give account of every useless word he has ever spoken. ³⁷Your words will be used to judge you—to declare you either innocent or guilty.”

The Demand for a Miracle

^38*Then some teachers of the Law and some Pharisees spoke up. “Teacher,” they said, “we want to see you perform a miracle.”

^39*“How evil and godless are the people of this day!” Jesus exclaimed. “You ask me for a miracle? No! The only miracle you will be given is the miracle of the prophet Jonah. ^40*In the same way that Jonah spent three days and nights in the big fish, so will the Son of Man spend three days and nights in the depths of the earth. ^41*On Judgement Day the people of Nineveh will stand up and accuse you, because they turned from their sins when they heard Jonah preach; and I tell you that there is something here greater than Jonah! ^42*On Judgement Day the Queen of Sheba will stand up and accuse you, because she travelled all the way from her country to listen to King Solomon’s wise teaching; and I assure you that there is something here greater than Solomon!

The Return of the Evil Spirit

⁴³“When an evil spirit goes out of a person, it travels over dry country looking for a place to rest. If it can’t find one, ⁴⁴it says to itself, ‘I will go back to my house.’ So it goes back and finds the house empty, clean, and all tidy. ⁴⁵Then it goes out and brings along seven other spirits even worse than itself, and they come and live there. So when it is all over, that person is in a worse state than he was at the beginning. This is what will happen to the evil people of this day.”

Jesus’ Mother and Brothers

⁴⁶Jesus was still talking to the people when his mother and brothers arrived. They stood outside, asking to speak with him. ⁴⁷So one of the people there said to him, “Look, your mother and brothers are standing outside, and they want to speak with you.”^l

⁴⁸Jesus answered, “Who is my mother? Who are my brothers?” ⁴⁹Then he pointed to his disciples and said, “Look! Here are my mother and my brothers! ⁵⁰Whoever does what my Father in heaven wants him to do is my brother, my sister, and my mother.”