URC Daily Devotion 7 January 2026

 
We return to where we left off in Matthew’s Gospel before Christmas.
 
St Matthew 12: 22 – 37
 
Then they brought him a demon-possessed man who was blind and mute, and Jesus healed him, so that he could both talk and see. All the people were astonished and said, “Could this be the Son of David?” But when the Pharisees heard this, they said, “It is only by Beelzebul, the prince of demons, that this fellow drives out demons.” Jesus knew their thoughts and said to them, “Every kingdom divided against itself will be ruined, and every city or household divided against itself will not stand.  If Satan drives out Satan, he is divided against himself. How then can his kingdom stand?  And if I drive out demons by Beelzebul, by whom do your people drive them out? So then, they will be your judges.  But if it is by the Spirit of God that I drive out demons, then the kingdom of God has come upon you. “Or again, how can anyone enter a strong man’s house and carry off his possessions unless he first ties up the strong man? Then he can plunder his house. “Whoever is not with me is against me, and whoever does not gather with me scatters. And so I tell you, every kind of sin and slander can be forgiven, but blasphemy against the Spirit will not be forgiven. Anyone who speaks a word against the Son of Man will be forgiven, but anyone who speaks against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven, either in this age or in the age to come. “Make a tree good and its fruit will be good, or make a tree bad and its fruit will be bad, for a tree is recognized by its fruit. You brood of vipers, how can you who are evil say anything good? For the mouth speaks what the heart is full of. A good man brings good things out of the good stored up in him, and an evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in him. But I tell you that everyone will have to give account on the day of judgment for every empty word they have spoken. For by your words you will be acquitted, and by your words you will be condemned.”
 
Reflection
 
During moments of sensory overload, an autistic person may self-regulate by closing their eyes, rocking (or stimming), or withdrawing.  They may not be able to say why or even speak. Helping reduce the sensory overload (decreasing noise or visual stimuli) or even just quietly being near can be a way to help.  Each autistic person is different and has different strategies.

Autistic people are not demon-possessed.  However, they are sometimes mislabelled as “trouble-makers,” “benefit scroungers,” and “problems” to be “fixed.”  They can find themselves excluded from education, work, and community.  Because of the labelling and exclusion, I see similarities with the man in today’s reading.
 
By his actions, Jesus says “welcome.”  He comes and sits alongside the person until they are able to look up and communicate again.  Throughout this gospel, Jesus demonstrates the overflowing welcome of God.
 
This group of Pharisees assumes Jesus must be working with demonic forces, as he has been including some folks labelled as “excluded.”  Jesus corrects them.  To assume Jesus is working with demonic forces is mislabelling the work of the Holy Spirit and her inclusion of folks into God’s kin-dom community.  This mislabelling shuts people off from God’s method to include people.  Is this the unforgivable sin?
 
Tom Wright likens the “unforgivable sin” to a bottle of poisoned water.  You are thirsty, and yet you put poison in the last available bottle of water.  Your actions render the last of the water undrinkable.  There is no hope for you or anyone else now.
 
Jesus, the living water, came to offer forgiveness and new life.  Yet these Pharisees declare his water undrinkable by saying he is working with Beelzebul.  As long as they continue this way, they are committing the unforgivable sin, as they have poisoned the source of forgiveness for others and for themselves.
 
Labels and exclusion are destructive.  The Holy Spirit’s work in Jesus’ ministry isn’t about masking disabilities.  Jesus comes alongside people, and the Holy Spirit welcomes those labelled “excluded.”
 
Prayer
 
Welcoming God,
help us to see the labels we apply to people, 
including ourselves.  
Help us to come alongside the excluded 
and welcome each other 
into what You are doing among us.
Amen