Our Lord now turned from a defense of himself and uttered a most solemn warning. He declared that there was no neutral ground, that whosoever was not with him was against him. The good works that he had done by the Spirit of God his enemies had attributed to the evil one and he said, "Every sin and blasphemy shall be forgiven unto men; but the blasphemy against the Spirit shall not be forgiven. And whosoever shall speak a word against the Son of man, it shall be forgiven him; but whosoever shall speak against the Holy Spirit, it shall not be forgiven him, neither in this world, nor in the world which is to come." The Jews had often spoken against him, but now they were attributing his miracles of good to an evil spirit, and, by so doing, were deliberately cutting themselves off from all possibility of receiving the truth. The real cause of their unbelief was the enmity in their own hearts. They were the offspring of vipers, and could not speak good things nor recognize the good tree by seeing the good fruit. They were opposed to Christ because they were in league with the evil one, and under his dominion. The kingdom of God had come unto them, but they were hostile to it, and, persisting in their hostility, excluded the Spirit of God, who alone was able to make the tree good; they could therefore have no forgiveness either in this world or in the world which is to come. At this point our Lord introduced a parable saying, "The unclean spirit, when he is gone out of the man, passeth through waterless places, seeking rest; and finding none, he saith, I will turn back to my house whence I came out. And when he is come, he findeth it swept and garnished. Then goeth he and taketh to him seven other spirits more evil than himself; and they enter in and dwell there; and the last state of that man becometh worse than the first.” This parable could be applied to the nation or to the individual. Great joys and great sorrows sweep and garnish the soul, but the result will be a worse man if the soul is not so filled with gratitude to God and good purposes as to exclude evil. Great opportunities make men better or worse, and great opportunities unimproved leave the souls of men swept and garnished, that they may become the abode of either good or evil. The kingdom of God had come near to these Jews, but their high privileges might only work their deeper ruin. An individual or a nation overwhelmed by calamities may either draw nearer to God or rebel against him. The house is swept by calamities, but it may be made worse. An individual or a nation may be overwhelmed with blessings and opportunities; the house may be swept in this way, but the result may be great gratitude Godward and noble purposes manward, or it may be great pride Godward and great selfishness manward. Any one familiar with the history of the Jewish people could see the national application of this parable, and any one who has ordinary intelligence can see how it will apply to his own heart. By joys and sorrows our souls are swept and garnished, but they will not be kept empty; if the Spirit of God and of good does not take possession, evil spirits will come. The discourse was interrupted at this point by a woman exclaiming in a loud voice, "Blessed is the womb that bare thee, and the breasts which thou didst suck." Christ's words had touched her own heart and so stirred her own soul that she could not refrain from proclaiming what she so deeply felt. Our Lord replied, "Yea rather, blessed are they that hear the word of God, and do it." This woman's praise was better than the criticisms of scribes and Pharisees, but it was sentimental and ephemeral rather than spiritual. The scribes and Pharisees seemed to be awed by our Lord's solemn warning, and they asked him for a sign. What they sought or expected as a sign they probably did not know. Jesus had wrought great miracles that should have convinced them that he had come from God, but they had attributed his power to Beelzebub, and they could do the same again if he should grant their request and show them other signs. He did not grant their request, but, addressing them as an evil and adulterous generation seeking after a sign, he said, no sign should be given but the sign of Jonah the prophet, and added, "As Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the whale, so shall the Son of man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth." In using these words he clothed with profound meaning a very remarkable, but seemingly unimportant incident in Old Testament history. At the same time he predicted the crowning miracle of Christianity, his own death and his resurrection on the third day. The scribes and Pharisees had asked for a sign, and he declared that in the fullness of time this great sign should be given. All other signs were but a preparation for this one. The great purpose of the incarnation, the climax of Christ's work was the laying down of his life that he might take it again. This sign was for all generations and would beget in the hearts of all true disciples a living hope. After this subtle allusion to his own death and resurrection, an illusion that could only be fully understood in the light of future events, Jesus said that the Queen of the south, who came to hear the wisdom of Solomon, and the men of Nineveh, who repented at the preaching of Jonah, would condemn those who refused to believe a greater than either Jonah or Solomon. There is no good reason for regarding the words, recorded Luke 11:33-36, as belonging to another time and spoken in a different connection. The fact that Jesus said something very like this in his sermon on the mount is no good reason for an inference that he did not close this discourse with these words. He was speaking especially to those who professed to have light, to those who professed to have clear vision, and he exhorted them to see to it that the light in them be not darkness, that their eyes should be single. As God's favored people they had the oracles of God, the light of revelation, and they should be lights in the world, but if their eyes were not single, the light in them would be darkness, and instead of letting the true light shine, they would obscure and conceal it. 1 XLVIII BREAKFAST IN A PHARISEE'S HOUSE, OTHER INCIDENTS AND DISCOURSES Luke 11:42. "Woe unto you, Pharisees!" Luke 12: 1. "Beware ye of the leaven of the Pharisees which is hypocrisy." (Luke 11:37; 13:17.) I' T is not possible to determine with any great degree of certainty either the precise time or the exact ge ographical location of the incidents recorded Luke 11:37-13:17. We have assumed that Jesus completed his Galilean ministry before going up to Jerusalem to attend the feast of tabernacles, and that he went from the feast of tabernacles to Perea teaching and healing by the way. It seems most probable, therefore, that the events described Luke 11:37-13: 17, occurred about the time Jesus started to Jerusalem to attend the feast of dedication in December, or as he journeyed toward Jerusalem. If this assumption as to time be correct the geographical location might be either Perea, the borders of Galilee and Samaria, or the outlying districts of Judea. Uncertainty as to time and place may aid rather than hinder our efforts to understand or interpret the mind of Christ as it is revealed in these incidents. This uncertainty may also aid us in learning the lessons that these incidents are adapted to teach. In this discourse Jesus says things that he said at other times and in |