*not a word for word transcript, but the sermon manuscript*
BEHIND THE WORDS
Words are everywhere. They come out of my mouth and your mouth, bombarding ears. Scrolling through Facebook, TikTok, and other social media apps, we encounter words. Some words are good, some are bad. But we think, “They are only words.”
We have developed phrases like “Words are like bullets” and “sticks and stones may break my bones, but your words will never hurt me.” These help us remember that the things other people say about us or to us are only words. When someone begins a conversation with “Promise you won’t get mad” or “Don’t be offended”, we brace because we know what is about to come out of their mouths will indeed make us angry and be offensive.
If words do not matter, why do we have so many sayings about them? Why do we brace people before we speak? Why do we regret sentences more than silence? What if our words are not just sounds? What if they are signals?
Jesus addresses the weight of words in Matthew 12. And Jesus not only talks about the words we use, but also what is behind them.
Matthew 12:33-37 (CEB)
33 “Either consider the tree good and its fruit good, or consider the tree rotten and its fruit rotten. A tree is known by its fruit. 34 Children of snakes! How can you speak good things while you are evil? What fills the heart comes out of the mouth. 35 Good people bring out good things from their good treasure. But evil people bring out evil things from their evil treasure. 36 I tell you that people will have to answer on Judgment Day for every useless word they speak. 37 By your words you will be either judged innocent or condemned as guilty.
This is the word of God
For the people of God
Thanks be to God
Jesus is in the middle of addressing the Pharisees. He had just healed a demon-possessed man. The Pharisees accused Jesus of using evil to do this. They were mislabeling good as evil. We are studying Jesus’ teaching addressing them.
In verse 33, Jesus says, “Either consider the tree good or bad based on the fruit it produces.” He is not giving the Pharisees a lecture on gardening; Jesus is using a metaphor to teach that identity produces outcomes. “Fruit” is not referring to isolated moments in a person’s life, but a pattern. A tree that produces rotten fruit is not an occasional bad apple; it is a tree with bad roots.
Continuing, “Children of snakes! (your version may say ‘brood of vipers’) How can you speak good things while you are evil? What fills the heart comes out of the mouth.” The heart is not referring to just emotion, but the control center of a person. Jesus is telling the Pharisees that whatever the control center is overflowing with will eventually find its way out. He is saying that speech is not a random accident; it is an inevitable revealing.
Verse 35 is Jesus using an illustration to make the point of the previous verse. If the control center is viewed as where the valuables are kept, it will shape external expression. Again, Jesus is addressing the Pharisees, who just accused Jesus of using evil to help people. A heart that calls good “evil” is not doing so by accident; it is filled with evil.
Jesus ends His teaching in verses 36 and 37 with a warning. “I tell you that people will have to answer on Judgment Day for every useless word they speak. By your words you will be either judged innocent or condemned as guilty.” Words carry moral weight. He is not trying to scare the Pharisees; Jesus is telling them words matter because hearts matter. Accountability is real. Words matter so much that Jesus points out that it is not just words meant to hurt others that will be judged as evil, but the “idle” and “empty” words that are used without purpose.
What does this teach us? The goal for Jesus was not just to be mean to the Pharisees because they were being mean to Him. And this is not so you and I will quit using cuss words. His goal is not polish our behavior. Jesus is teaching that words are symptoms of the heart, not just actions of the mouth.
The Pharisees were filled with a desire to kill Jesus. They were looking for reasons. That attitude in their hearts was evidenced by their accusation that Jesus was using the power of evil to help people. They were a bad tree, and their fruit was showing up as rotten. Their heart was full of hatred, and it was overflowing from their mouth. The desire to kill Jesus was the treasure of their hearts, and it formed their speech. Rather than address the Pharisees’ words, Jesus was addressing their hearts.
It is the same for us. How many times has something left our mouth and we instantly regretted it? Or how many times have we pulled the pin on our words like they were a grenade, with the intent to cause harm, and succeeded? How many times have the pressures and stresses of everyday life impacted the tones we use? And words no longer have to be verbally spoken, we do the same things when hit post on social media or push send on n a text message. We all have used words we wish we could rewind.
Jesus is not trying to shame the Pharisees, nor is He trying to shame us now. His goal is for us to become self-aware that words matter because they are symptoms of our hearts.
The good news is that Jesus is not pointing them out and leaving us to our demise. While He is the judge of all things, He is also the Divine Physician. He diagnoses so He can heal what is broken in us. Jesus is not offering us speech management; He is offering us heart transformation. Jesus can change the source, not just treat the symptom.
When words that wound and cause destruction leave our mouths or fingertips, we have to treat them as our heart monitor. They may not be our identity, but words reveal what is broken in our control center. Invite God in there, praying along with any apologies we offer. And it is a good time to ask God to help us examine the things we are storing up. If we store up hurt, bitterness, hatred, and jealousy that will eventually reveal themselves through our words. We need to store up things like Scripture, gratitude, and compassion.
Words matter because people matter. You are not trapped by your mouth and your inability to control it. Jesus can change your heart. He cares more about healing your heart than policing the symptoms. And if controlling your reaction seems impossible for you, His grace is stronger than your reflexes.
This is not something you need to try harder at. You need to let God work deeper. He is not polishing the fruit of your behavior; He is tending your roots. When Jesus changes the heart, our words move from reactions to reflections.
Ask God one simple question: “Lord, what is behind my words?” Not so He can shame you, but so He can change you.
