Jesus shows the falsity of the charge that He cast out demons by demonic power by saying that would mean a kingdom divided against itself, which would mean Satan's kingdom could not stand.
Jesus responds to their criticisms by saying He is the sign itself. Look at who He is and work out who He is. His exorcisms prove He is who He says He is - the Son of Man, come from God!
The sign of Jonah was that he was 3 days & 3 nights in the belly of a big fish (cf Matt 12:40) - in the same way, Jesus would be in the grave. The generation to whom Jesus preached will stand at the judgment without excuse, because He was before them and they still rejected Him. Ultimately, our standing at the judgment is all about what we have done with Jesus.
11:37-44 The faults of the Pharisees:
They are bothered about the outside, but not the inside - appearances, but not the substance.
They are concerned with outward appearances of generosity, but neglect justice and the love of God, which are not quite as obviously apparent.
They love the most important seats in places where they will be noticed.
They are unaware of those around them.
11:45-52 Jesus levels 3 charges against the lawyers:
They load people down with burdens they can hardly carry and don't bother to help them at all.
They build tombs for the prophets, despite the fact it was their forefathers who killed them.
They take away the key to knowledge.
The experts in the law are piling on spiritual burdens to people without helping them in any way. They don't have respect for the prophets whom God has sent. They also have not entered into Jesus' way and also hinder others from doing the same.
BC? Do I hinder others whilst appearing outwardly 'expert'?
All of us may be guilty of these, but particularly those of us in leadership or supposedly expert. We need to regularly look at ourselves in light of Jesus' teaching, listen to what He says to us and repent from it.
Those who know Jesus are secure in Him. He knows us, loves us, cares for us, and will acknowledge us before the angels of God. He is with us and working with us and for us.
So, in response, we should not be fearful or afraid of those who can only kill the body and nothing more. Rather, we should be fearful of the One who can kill the body and then 'has power to throw us into hell'.
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