This is Spoken Gospel.

We’re dedicated to seeing
Jesus in all of scripture.

In each episode, we see what’s
happening in a Biblical text

and how it sheds light
on Jesus and his gospel.

Let’s jump in.

The Pharisees accuse Jesus of demonic activity, but
Jesus points out what’s really going on in their hearts.

Some accuse Jesus of casting out
demons with the power of demons.

But Jesus points out how ridiculous it would
be for a prince to destroy his own kingdom.

Jesus’ exorcisms are not proof of satanic
conspiracies but evidence that God’s kingdom
has arrived with Jesus and his followers.

Just like Pharaoh was disarmed by the “finger
of God” and Israel plundered the Egyptians

as they left their slavery,
so the coming of God’s

kingdom brings rescue to anyone
in slavery to demonic powers.

This type of liberation is available to
anyone who hears God’s word and keeps it.

Not everyone who heard Jesus believed him.
They wanted to see more signs
before they committed.

But Jesus does not owe them that.

Like Solomon and Jonah, neither of whom
performed miracles, his message was enough.

The people of Nineveh repented in dust
and ashes at Jonah’s eight-word sermon.

The Queen of Sheba recognized God’s
kingdom simply by hearing Solomon’s wisdom,

and neither needed
supernatural signs.

Jesus is exposing the Pharisees and
sign-seekers as worse than Nineveh.

A prophet greater than either Solomon or Jonah
had arrived, and they say he’s filled with demons.

Jesus says the crowd’s unwillingness to
repent is like having eyes that don’t see.

Healthy eyes see clearly.

People who see Jesus clearly are freed from
the powers of darkness and filled with light.

But people who refuse to repent—
who refuse to recognize Jesus—

are filled with darkness
worse than wicked Nineveh.

So, Jesus pronounces six “woes” against the religious
elite’s self-promotion and hypocritical neglect of justice.

Don’t miss the irony.

Jesus is insinuating that their pride and
violence reveal they are the ones in league
with the powers of darkness.

If they continue to blind themselves
to Jesus, they will be held accountable

for killing God’s prophets
all the way back to Abel.

It’s as if Jesus is saying that
all the unjust murders of history

will culminate in the death
of God’s final prophet, Jesus.

Before Jesus engages demons or Pharisees,
he teaches his disciples how to pray.

The prayer he teaches is simple.

Ask and it will be given.

There are no complicated
words or rituals.

It’s as simple as a child asking
his father for a snack.

God, like a good father, promises to feed
us with exactly what we need—
the Holy Spirit.

This might not always be what we
ask for, but it’s exactly what we need.

It’s exactly what the demonized man needed—
a Spirit of freedom to liberate him from slavery.

It’s exactly what the sign-seekers needed—
an illuminating Spirit to open their blind eyes.

It’s exactly what the Pharisees needed—a
holy Spirit to change their murderous hearts.

The gift of the Holy Spirit is the perfect
answer to the prayer Jesus teaches his disciples

to ask, “God’s kingdom come
and God’s will be done.”

May the Holy Spirit open your eyes to see
God as a good Father who answers our prayers.

And may you see Jesus as the one who brings the
kingdom of God through the power of the Holy Spirit.