When
an unclean spirit has gone out of a man, he passes through waterless places, seeking rest, and doesn’t find it. Then he says, ‘I will return into my house from which I came out,’ and when he has come back, he finds it empty, swept, and put in order. Then he goes, and takes with himself seven other spirits more evil than he is, and they enter in and dwell there. The last state of that man becomes worse than the first. Even so will it be also to this evil generation.”
Matthew 12:43-45
Matthew 12 [39.] But he answered them, “An evil and adulterous generation seeks after a sign, but no sign will be given it but the sign of Jonah the prophet. For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the whale, so will the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth. The men of Nineveh will stand up in the judgment with this generation, and will condemn it, for they repented at the preaching of Jonah; and behold, someone greater than Jonah is here. The queen of the south will rise up in the judgment with this generation, and will condemn it, for she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon; and behold, someone greater than Solomon is here.
Matthew 12 [43.] When an unclean spirit has gone out of a man, he passes through waterless places, seeking rest, and doesn’t find it. Then he says, ‘I will return into my house from which I came out,’ and when he has come back, he finds it empty, swept, and put in order. Then he goes, and takes with himself seven other spirits more evil than he is, and they enter in and dwell there. The last state of that man becomes worse than the first. Even so will it be also to this evil generation.”
Matthew 12 [46.] While he was yet speaking to the multitudes, behold, his mother and his brothers stood outside, seeking to speak to him. One said to him, “Behold, your mother and your brothers stand outside, seeking to speak to you.”
Meaning:
The scribes and Pharisees had asked Jesus for a sign, and he had told them that the only sign given to this generation would be the sign of Jonah. The people of Nineveh and the queen of the south would condemn them, because someone greater than Jonah and Solomon was present (Matthew 12:38-42). Jesus now finishes his reply with a sobering story about an unclean spirit. It warns of the danger of a life, or a nation, that is cleaned up but left empty.
- “When an unclean spirit has gone out of a man”
Jesus had just been casting out demons, and his opponents had accused him of doing it by Beelzebul (Matthew 12:24). He now speaks of what happens after a spirit leaves. Waterless places, deserts and ruins, were thought of as the haunts of evil spirits. The spirit wanders there “seeking rest, and doesn’t find it.” Evil has no true rest of its own.
- “He finds it empty, swept, and put in order”
The spirit returns to its old “house”. Everything looks better: swept, clean and tidy. But the house is empty. No one has moved in to take the place of the old occupant. Removing evil is not enough. If the heart is not filled with God, it remains open to even greater evil. This is why Paul urges believers to “be filled with the Spirit” (Ephesians 5:18).
- “Seven other spirits more evil than he is”
Seven is a number of fullness in Scripture. The man ends up completely in the grip of evil. “The last state of that man becomes worse than the first.” Peter uses the same words about people who knew the way of Christ and turned back: “they are again entangled in it and overcome, the last state has become worse for them than the first” (2 Peter 2:20). Luke records this teaching as well (Luke 11:24-26).
- “Even so will it be also to this evil generation”
The story is mainly about Israel in Jesus’ day. Through John the Baptist many had been stirred to repentance and reform: “Repent, for the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand!” (Matthew 3:2). Religious life was outwardly clean and orderly. Yet the nation as a whole was refusing the very one who had come to fill the house, the Messiah himself. A swept house without Jesus would end in a worse state than before. Within a generation Jerusalem would reject him, and its temple would be destroyed.
The Significance of Matthew 12:43-45
- Reformation is not enough
Giving up bad habits or tidying up our outward life is good, but it cannot save us. The heart must be filled with Christ, or it remains exposed. Jesus does not only drive out evil; he comes to dwell in us.
- The danger of turning back
Those who have tasted God’s goodness and then turn away put themselves in great danger. Jesus calls us to go on with him, not to stop halfway.
- Fill the empty space
Spiritual life grows by filling our lives with what is good: prayer, God’s word, worship, love and the fellowship of believers.
Cross-References:
Luke 11:26: "Then he goes, and takes seven other spirits more evil than himself, and they enter in and dwell there. The last state of that man becomes worse than the first." Luke’s account of the same teaching.
2 Peter 2:20: "they are again entangled in it and overcome, the last state has become worse for them than the first." The danger of turning back.
Ephesians 5:18: "but be filled with the Spirit," The remedy for an empty house.
Conclusion: Jesus described an unclean spirit that left a man, found no rest, and returned to find its house empty, swept and put in order. It brought seven worse spirits, and the man’s last state was worse than the first. So it would be with that evil generation. Cleaning up outward life is not enough; the heart must be filled with God, or it is open to greater evil.
PIB Scriptures are derived from the World English Bible