January 12, 2000
FAMILY BIBLE SERIES:
Words or actions--where
does the power lie?
___Matthew 12:22-45
___By Stacy Conner
___First Baptist Church, Muleshoe
___My holiday reading this year was Bob Woodward's book, "Shadow: Five Presidents and the Legacy of Watergate." Woodward's work traced the history of presidential controversies from Gerald Ford to Bill Clinton. Almost without fail the controversies were driven by words. Here was one fateful example. Early in the Clinton administration, Bernard Nussbaum, the president's legal counsel, encouraged complete frankness about Whitewater. To stop the controversy, Nussbaum advised Bill and Hillary Clinton tovoluntarily turn over every record and within a month testify before Congress. Openness and honesty would quiet the press and settle the Congress. That advice was ignored, and an independent prosecutor was named. A few honest words could have changed the course of history.
___We treat words with a trite, casual flippancy. We utter them off the top of our heads, and for some reason we act surprised when they create sudden and incredible tension. The power of words is terribly misunderstood. Words reveal the nature of our soul, the intentions of our heart.
___Matthew's 12th chapter chronicles a discussion by Jesus concerning the power of words. Drawing upon an analogy from nature, Jesus notes that trees are judged by the fruit they produce. Trees produce either good fruit or bad. And they are known or judged by that fruit.
___The fallacy of human thought is that we can speak without consequence. In reality, the words from our mouths reveal the condition of our hearts. "The good man brings good things out of the good stored up in him, and the evil man brings evil out of the evil stored up in him" (12:35).
___Jesus takes his theme of verbal consistency one step further by stating every person will be justified or condemned based upon the words coming from his or her mouth. People who treat words as casually as our culture does find Jesus' declaration a bit strong. "We all say things we do not mean." "People say things in the heat of the moment they would not normally say." Jesus' statement is just a bit too strong.
___Or is it? In the context of Jesus' statement, the question of a verbal profession of faith is important. Jesus' enemies accuse him of casting out demons by the power of Satan. The fact the enemies of Jesus would make such a bitter statement reveals the nature of their hearts (12:22-32). The story that immediately follows Jesus' declaration concerning words reveals the stubbornness of men. People are demanding a sign, but the condition of their hearts is so doubtful they would not recognize the reality of God in their presence (12:38-42).
___In light of the accusations and admissions offered in the context, Jesus' declaration of justification and condemnation based upon words does not seem as radical. Faith is not to be taken lightly. It is not a private matter that can be hidden or sheltered from people who do not have a need to know. Instead, a personal faith is to be professed publicly with our mouths.
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