Careless Words and the Like

Scripture passage that caught my attention today: Matthew 12:36 I tell you, on the day of judgment you will have to give an account for every careless word you utter; 37 for by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned.”

Observation: these chapters in Matthew are full of verses that, at first glance, offer very little hope. The judgment, taken at face value, is excruciating. But is there more to the story?

Application: According to a personality indicator (Myers-Briggs) that is used in many professional circles, I am an extrovert. One characteristic of extroverts is that we have a tendency to think aloud. What that means is that sometimes what we say aloud is a thought in process rather than a thought that has been processed. It can drive other people crazy. Sometimes it drives us crazy. “Careless” words, at times, abound.

So as you can imagine, when Jesus says that “by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned,” well, that doesn’t exactly come across to people like me as comforting!

There are a number of other discomforting expressions in these chapters as well:

Jesus says, “no one knows the Father except the Son and anyone to whom the Son chooses to reveal him.” Does that mean that some people are just out of luck?

He also says, “The reason I speak to them in parables is that ‘seeing they do not perceive, and hearing they do not listen, nor do they understand.’” Isn’t the whole idea to help people understand?

And the there’s this: “Whoever speaks a word against the Son of Man will be forgiven, but whoever speaks against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven, either in this age or in the age to come.” There’s a lot of finality in that passage…and it isn’t pretty. And these are but a few of the disconcerting passages in this section.

What is one to make of all of this…especially in light of the fact that Jesus also quotes the Old Testament in saying, “I desire mercy and not sacrifice.”?

There’s a part of me that wonders if Jesus was an extrovert! So much of what Matthew quotes Jesus as saying in these chapters seems particularly harsh. Is that how he meant it?

Maybe…especially in context. According to Matthew, one of the reasons that Jesus came to earth was to fulfill the law (cf. 5:17). In other words, Jesus came to accomplish what humanity was never able to accomplish on its own. Many of these passages make our own limitations abundantly clear. And so we have the classic law/gospel paradigm in full view. The law convicts, the gospel frees. The law keeps us humble, the gospel keeps us hopeful.

Interestingly, now that I think about it, even the verse that caught my attention today contains both the law and gospel; we will be condemned by our words but also justified by them. Extroverts just give God a few more words to work with!

Prayer: Lord, in light of our many words, let us hold steadfast to your word made flesh in Jesus. Amen.

(Readings today included: Matthew 11-13)