The Treasures of the Tongue (Matthew 12:33-37)

Our last study looked at the solemn warning Jesus passed to the Jewish leaders about speaking evil concerning the work of God the Holy Spirit.  The Spirit of God was working among the people to convince them that Jesus was the Messiah, the Son of David, but the Pharisees were poisoning their minds by attributing Jesus’ miracles to the work of Satan.  They had the testimony of the Scripture, of the Messiah, and of the Spirit.  There was no further fallback testimony.  If they still refused to believe, they will have forever shut themselves out of the kingdom of God.  There is no other way.  Some people refer to this as the “unpardonable sin” or “blasphemy against the Holy Spirit.”

So our last study ended in Matthew 12: 32 but the passage continues in verses 33-37 which we will take up now.  Let’s start with the narrow focus on this specific context and then go back and see how it fits into our context today.

What is a figure of speech?  Jesus uses two of them here as analogies: 1) trees and their fruit, and 2) persons and their treasure.  There are those who attempt to make the Bible seem very complicated and hard to understand because, they say, “You can’t take it literally.” All right.  Jesus is not really concerned with orchard harvesting or treasure hunting, is He?  So, this isn’t to be taken literally, right? 

Every language uses figures of speech like this that are intended to have real meaning.  We call it idiomatic speech.  Besides the fact that English is notoriously difficult to spell, foreigners often have a very difficult time with idioms.  We might say, “The cat’s got your tongue, eh?”  But we’re not talking about cats at all!  In this example of the cat idiom we are talking about someone who is unexpectedly silent.  Or here’s another. In English, we say, “Time flies!”  But in French, they say (literally), “Time marches!”  Different idioms but the same meaning.  The passage of time seems to move swiftly and methodically.

So, what is the meaning of trees and fruit here in Matthew 12?  In Scripture, fruit often refers to ethical consequences or results—is it good or evil? —like the fruit of the Spirit. Here in our text it is used as an indicator of what is inside us—what is in our heart.  Is our heart good or evil?  It’s a Hebrew idiom of course but it’s not that difficult.  Trees bear fruit that corresponds to the kind of tree that it is.  You might have difficulty distinguishing the barren trees from one another but the fruit tells the story.  It is extremely difficult to tell what is in someone’s heart until they speak.  And if the heart is full of evil intent, that comes out eventually in the words the mouth speaks.  Some have used this passage to illustrate our deeds—whether good or evil—to decide whether we are really believers –or possibly to diagnose our spiritual maturity but that’s not really how Jesus is using it here. This discussion wasn’t intended to focus on people’s deeds.  Deeds can be faked.  The Pharisees were really into good deeds.  That’s why Jesus later called them “white-washed mausoleums full of dead men’s bones” (Matthew 23:27).  On the outside they looked good but in their hearts there was rottenness. If good deeds or good behavior were the test of true spirituality, the Pharisees had it made most of the time.  We just can’t discern people’s hearts very well by their deeds but, frequently, words can point out that something is amiss. (By the way, even if someone with an evil heart managed to fool everyone by disciplining their tongue, some day even that secret will be revealed—Vs. 36.)

And what is the meaning of the idiom concerning persons and their treasure?  Jesus uses the same idiom in Matthew 6:19-21 (Where your treasure is there will your heart be also).  Your treasure is what you consider most valuable to you.  One man’s trash is another’s treasure.  This holds true here.  Jesus calls our words the “abundance of the heart.”  Not everything in anyone’s heart is totally evil.  Even political candidates manage to say something nice about their opponent sometimes.  But if the majority of our thoughts—the thoughts we have in abundance—are evil, that’s what will spill out the easiest.

Finally, He says plainly that He is referring to people and their words in verse 37—just in case the idiom is foreign to you.

What words in this particular context is Jesus speaking of?  The blasphemy (evil speaking about God) that the Pharisees were spreading around that Jesus did His miracles by the power of Satan.

Notice Jesus, in verse 34, calls the ones who said His works were empowered by Satan a brood of vipers--offspring of poisonous snakes.  When God created the world, Moses says that the Spirit of God brooded over the watery world that God was making good.  In response, God’s adversary, Satan—the serpent, was also there brooding in the garden trying to gain followers—people who attempt to be like God by disobeying God!  People who doubt and disobey God’s word.  These are Satan the serpent’s brood.

So these are unbelieving people who are preventing others from coming to the truth who are actually doing what psychologists call “projecting!”  The Pharisees are the ones led by Satan – not Jesus!  So in a narrow sense, we see that this passage is condemning those who lead others astray by false accusations regarding God and His Word.  What happens to them?

There is a day of judgment in which their works are judged at the great white throne judgment (Rev. 20), where those whose names are not found in the book of life are thrown into the lake of fire.  In our passage, I believe Jesus is primarily speaking of those who are in danger of resisting the Spirit of God and causing others to do the same by their words.  They are unbelievers who by their words are intent on preventing others from believing.  I think any false teacher would fall into this category.  By false teacher, I mean someone who is teaching in such a way that people are prevented from trusting in Jesus.  The fact that all Bible teachers are not necessarily 100% in agreement means that some of them are wrong about things but that isn’t necessarily causing people to turn away from Jesus!

Now let’s broaden our application by noticing that Jesus says “every idle (or careless) word” will have to be accounted for.  Not just words that are intended to prevent others from believing.  What about people who are believers who have not tamed their tongue for instance?  Is Jesus threatening them with hell?

James deals with this in chapter 3 of his letter where he is pointedly talking to Christians who still struggle with this issue.  He calls them brothers but excoriates them for the fires of hell that their tongues were spewing forth.  He says, it ought not to be that both blessing and cursing should come from the same mouth.  Yes, even Christians struggle with control of the tongue!  For those who resist God and His Word, we are not surprised.  But James tells us we ought to be shocked by this hypocrisy in believers.  Now if our tongues spill out what is in the heart, then perhaps this is a heart issue.  Our inner lives need to be transformed every bit as much—perhaps even more than our outer lives.

We also know that Peter certainly struggled with this issue.  While Jesus was getting whipped, Peter was outside cursing. 

Now in our context in Matthew, the fruit of the tongue that brought up the subject, was specifically a heart issue of unbelief.  I don’t think Peter was an unbeliever.  He had already acknowledged that Jesus was the Christ and Jesus attributed that to the work of the Spirit in Him.  I think Peter was motivated by fear (and perhaps frustration).  Does that ever figure into my verbal responses out in the world?  It can. 

We are talking about the kind of people God wants to populate the kingdom of heaven with.  Okay, so what if you’re a follower of Christ but this is an area that you struggle with?  Jesus’ words here infer that we need a life transformation.

So what is this “day of judgment” for believers?  What about Peter for instance?  Will he have to stand condemned before a holy God because he cursed while Jesus was being condemned?  Paul says, “There is therefore no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus” (Rom. 8:1).   So, there are consequences but for believers no condemnation.  Peter is not going to hell or purgatory.  Why?  Because Jesus paid for his sins and your sins and my sins and Peter had put his trust in Jesus Christ (and we, too).  So what are the consequences for believers?

Besides the fact that the world will condemn us as a hypocrite, that we will suffer for our lack of judgment sometimes (as the book of Proverbs points out)—besides all that—in 1 Cor. 3 we see that even though we stand uncondemned and forgiven, we will still have our deeds done in this life tested by fire.  If they pass the test, they will remain.  If not, they will be consumed and we will suffer loss of rewards.  Of course who wants to drag reminders of past failure into a perfect world?

So the words we say have a spiritual consequence as well as a physical consequence.  We all must ask, “How will my words affect the hearer?”  Very convicting to all of us.  Will it draw people to the Lord or cause them to resist Him?

© 2018 Eric Thimell