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"When an unclean spirit goes out of a man, he goes through dry places, seeking rest, and finds none. Then 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. Then 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."
While He was still talking to the multitudes, behold, His mother and brothers stood outside, seeking to speak with Him. Then one said to Him "Look, Your mother and Your brothers are standing outside, seeking to speak with You." But He answered and said to the one who told Him, "Who is My mother and who are My brothers?" And He stretched out His hand toward His disciples and said, "Here are My mother and My brothers! For whoever does the will of My Father in heaven is My brother and sister and mother."
- Matthew 12:43-50
In yesterday's reading, Jesus continued His reply the Pharisees after they claimed His signs and healings were the result of demonic activity. He said, "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. Brood of vipers! How can you, being evil, speak good things? For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks. A 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. But I say to you that for every idle word men may speak, they will give account of it in the day of judgment. For by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned." Then some of the scribes and Pharisees answered, saying, "Teacher, we want to see a sign from You." But 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. For 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. The 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. The 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."
"When an unclean spirit goes out of a man, he goes through dry places, seeking rest, and finds none. Then 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. Then 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." My study bible tells us that when the Israelites were delivered out of Egypt, they didn't repent of their impure ways, and an unclean spirit took up residence in their hearts (see Deuteronomy 31:20; Psalm 106:34-39). Thus, it teaches, we guard our hearts. Unless there is a full repentance and the Holy Spirit dwells in a person, an expelled demon will return with others and reoccupy its abode. What it seems that Jesus is teaching us, especially as continuation of yesterday's reading, is that without repentance and a real "guarding of the heart" -- a deliberate practice of self-awareness -- we're on a trajectory. We don't stay neutral and in one place. We're either going in one direction or another, and therefore what remains in deliberate error or sin becomes worse. It's an argument about consciousness. Jesus will teach a similar principle when He tells the Pharisees (in 23:15), "Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you travel land and sea to win one proselyte, and when he is won, you make him twice as much a son of hell as yourselves." Seven is frequently used as a number symbolic of completeness. What Jesus is discussing here is a pattern and growth of personal corruption.
While He was still talking to the multitudes, behold, His mother and brothers stood outside, seeking to speak with Him. Then one said to Him "Look, Your mother and Your brothers are standing outside, seeking to speak with You." But He answered and said to the one who told Him, "Who is My mother and who are My brothers?" And He stretched out His hand toward His disciples and said, "Here are My mother and My brothers! For whoever does the will of My Father in heaven is My brother and sister and mother." Christ's family, says my study bible, haven't yet understood His identity and His mission. He points to a spiritual family based on obedience to the will of My Father. In this we're reminded of the prayer He's given us in the Sermon on the Mount, in which we pray to God the Father, "Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven." Jesus' brothers are extended family; "brothers" is still a common way to refer to cousins or stepbrothers in the Middle East.
Importantly, in today's reading, Jesus claims kinship with "whoever does the will of My Father in heaven." It's an important principle. Here Jesus specifically applies it to members of His own family, but we can see the point in the continuation of His teachings and rebuke to the Pharisees in the past two readings. He has warned them that they will be judged by foreigners, the non-Jews who heard God's word and obeyed or cherished what they were given although not prepared by the whole spiritual history of Israel, the people of God. He mentioned those at Nineveh who repented at Jonah's preaching, and the queen of the South who came to hear the wisdom God gave to Solomon. He's challenging the ways in which we see kinship and blood relationship and community, and telling us about community based on something other than flesh and blood. Those who stray far from God stray outside of that kinship and family. He's looking for disciples, those who will 'work the work of faith.' A sincere prayer that "Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven" is the prayer of one in this family, in His family. Jesus underscores the importance of our understanding of this point when He preaches about the unclean spirit that brings seven more with it back to the same place; even though it is in order, it's not really enough. Repentance asks for a kind of commitment, a particular direction of service to something, an active faith so that we go in another direction. It seems that our failure to understand repentance and commitment, how faith works, is a failure to understand a part of our nature as human beings. We're always serving something, whether we realize it or not. We're made for worship, and we can turn anything into an idol. The real nature of our minds and hearts requires consciousness, self-awareness, deliberate choice. Neither Jesus nor God the Father acts to coerce without our internal assent, and this practice of "guarding the heart" is part of that assent, that desire to accept God's love. This is active faith. It's not just about following certain rules; each is made to manifest and grow in the love of God and image of God in the depth of faith. Every saint is a unique and full personality. As Jesus has taught, "Wisdom is justified by her children." But we remember His words from yesterday's reading, as He gives us the 'flipside': "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." And today, His warning is more dire: without this work at making the tree and its fruit good, it may be on the way to being seven times worse. Our choice here is what is essential, and in teaching about who are His brother and sister and mother, He gives us the crucial choice.
