A Brood of Vipers?

“You brood of vipers, how can you who are evil say anything good?”
Matthew 12:34 (NIV)

So much to unpack around this question. First, in case you didn’t know vipers are snakes. Venomous snakes. Snakes generally speaking on solitary creatures, that said newly hatched baby snakes are sometimes called a brood. Second, in Jewish symbolism, vipers/snakes are symbolic of Satan. So, basically, Jesus was calling the group of men he was addressing a bunch of baby snakes or more accurately – children of Satan.

Okay, but who was Jesus talking to and why this very significant insult? Good question. This question comes in the middle of a discussion of kingdoms divided against themselves and a discussion about good fruit versus bad fruit.

Here’s the Reader’s Digest version. A demon possessed man is brought to Jesus – Jesus chases the demon out and the man is healed. The ordinary people who witnessed this praise God and wonder if Jesus is the Messiah. The Pharisees in the group are not happy. They are thinking, oh that wasn’t God’s work, this guy Jesus drove that demon out by the power of the devil. Jesus knows their thoughts and responds by saying that any kingdom divided against itself will fall. In other words, Satan can’t cast out his own minions without endangering his own kingdom. Jesus gives some more descriptions about what that looks like and mentions blaspheming the Holy Spirit and then turns the discussion to fruit trees. That’s where our question of the week comes in.

Jesus’ frustration with the religious leaders result in this insult and the question about does any good come out of their mouths? Jesus continues with good trees bear good fruit and bad trees bear bad fruit. Explaining that when it comes to people good things come from good hearts and evil things come from evil hearts.

So what does it mean for us? We need to remember that our hearts are meant to be filled with the good promises of God. We need to remember that we are called to unity – not division, to love, compassion, wisdom, mercy and grace. These are the kind of things that build up instead of tearing down.

Let me know your thoughts. Know someone who might be encouraged by this – please share. I will be praying for you. Until next week – cultivate a Kingdom heart as you follow Jesus.