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Matthew 12

Matthew 12

In Matthew Chapter 10 we read that Jesus came to bring the sword, not peace!  Against what?  Evil, sin and the messed up thinking that has permeated man as a result.  

Jesus was turning the world on its head.  He was preaching a Gospel which ran contrary to the strict rules the religious leaders had been practicing and teaching for years.  They were nearly perfect at it, and felt good about that!  You can imagine their frustration when Jesus comes on the scene and starts preaching what seems to be something contrary.  

(1) Religion is man reaching up to God. Christianity is God reaching down to man.
(2) Religion is all about works and trying to earn favor with God. Christianity is all about grace and what Jesus did for each of us on the cross.

They’d become really good at the works part, but their hearts were off.  They start looking for ways to catch Him and even begin plotting to kill Him.  With every new accusation, Jesus puts them in their place.  

“You brood of vipers, how can you who are evil say anything good? For the mouth speaks what the heart is full of.”
‭‭Matthew‬ ‭12‬:‭34‬

He continues to remind them and us, He wants our heart - and for our sake, it’s important He has it.  The spiritual battle we are in becomes more apparent in this chapter.  It’s important for us to realize we are in a battle.  It’s a battle that requires the Holy Spirit be in us if we are to have any strength for the battle - we are powerless on our own.  Once we’ve received Jesus gift on the cross, and the Indwelling Holy Spirit (Titus 3:5) - we need to pick up our weapon.   If we are going to choose to fight this battle we need The Sword!  The Word of God is our Sword and our only offensive battle weapon!  Ephesians 6:10-18

Dig in!