The prophet Isaiah begins his ministry during a time of prosperity under King Uzziah's long reign, but after Uzziah's death, Judah faces increasing moral and spiritual corruption despite outward religious observance. God has already delivered a scathing indictment against His people in the opening verses of the book, comparing them to rebellious children who have forsaken Him and become more senseless than oxen. Though they continue offering sacrifices and observing festivals, their hands are full of blood and their worship has become meaningless because they oppress the fatherless and widows while pursuing injustice. The Lord has declared He will no longer accept their religious ceremonies and calls them to repent, wash themselves, and seek justice. Isaiah is addressing the inhabitants of Jerusalem and Judah.
[21] How the faithful city has become a harlot!
It was full of justice;
Righteousness lodged in it,
But now murderers.
[22] Your silver has become dross,
Your wine mixed with water.
[23] Your princes are rebellious,
And companions of thieves;
Everyone loves bribes,
And follows after rewards.
They do not defend the fatherless,
Nor does the cause of the widow come before them.
[24] Therefore the Lord says,
The Lord of hosts, the Mighty One of Israel,
“Ah, I will rid Myself of My adversaries,
And take vengeance on My enemies.
[25] I will turn My hand against you,
And thoroughly purge away your dross,
And take away all your alloy.
[26] I will restore your judges as at the first,
And your counselors as at the beginning.
Afterward you shall be called the city of righteousness, the faithful city.”
[27] Zion shall be redeemed with justice,
And her penitents with righteousness.
[28] The destruction of transgressors and of sinners shall be together,
And those who forsake the Lord shall be consumed.
[29] For they shall be ashamed of the terebinth trees
Which you have desired;
And you shall be embarrassed because of the gardens
Which you have chosen.
[30] For you shall be as a terebinth whose leaf fades,
And as a garden that has no water.
[31] The strong shall be as tinder,
And the work of it as a spark;
Both will burn together,
And no one shall quench them.
Paul has been describing the internal struggle of someone under the law who desires to do good but finds themselves repeatedly doing evil instead. He explained how sin, using the law as an opportunity, produces covetousness and death in a person, making them a prisoner to sin's power despite their mind delighting in God's law. This led to his anguished cry about being a wretched man trapped in a body of death. Having established this conflict between the flesh and the spirit under law, Paul now transitions to explain the solution and freedom found through Jesus Christ, contrasting life in the flesh with life in the Spirit.
[25] I thank God—through Jesus Christ our Lord!
So then, with the mind I myself serve the law of God, but with the flesh the law of sin.
[1] There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit. [2] For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made me free from the law of sin and death. [3] For what the law could not do in that it was weak through the flesh, God did by sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, on account of sin: He condemned sin in the flesh, [4] that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit. [5] For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit, the things of the Spirit. [6] For to be carnally minded is death, but to be spiritually minded is life and peace. [7] Because the carnal mind is enmity against God; for it is not subject to the law of God, nor indeed can be. [8] So then, those who are in the flesh cannot please God.
[9] But you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you. Now if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he is not His. [10] And if Christ is in you, the body is dead because of sin, but the Spirit is life because of righteousness. [11] But if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you.
The religious leaders have been increasingly hostile toward Jesus throughout His Galilean ministry. They recently accused Him of casting out demons by the power of Beelzebul, the prince of demons, after He healed a demon-possessed man who was blind and mute. Jesus responded by explaining that a kingdom divided against itself cannot stand and warned them about blaspheming the Holy Spirit. He then declared that people would be justified or condemned by their words, calling the Pharisees a brood of vipers and stating that their evil hearts produce evil words. The scribes and Pharisees are now confronting Jesus directly.
[38] Then some of the scribes and Pharisees answered, saying, “Teacher, we want to see a sign from You.”
[39] But He answered and said to them, “An evil and adulterous generation seeks after a sign, and no sign will be given to it except the sign of the prophet Jonah. [40] For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the great fish, so will the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth. [41] The men of Nineveh will rise up in the judgment with this generation and condemn it, because they repented at the preaching of Jonah; and indeed a greater than Jonah is here. [42] The queen of the South will rise up in the judgment with this generation and condemn it, for she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon; and indeed a greater than Solomon is here.
[43] “When an unclean spirit goes out of a man, he goes through dry places, seeking rest, and finds none. [44] Then he says, ‘I will return to my house from which I came.’ And when he comes, he finds it empty, swept, and put in order. [45] Then he goes and takes with him seven other spirits more wicked than himself, and they enter and dwell there; and the last state of that man is worse than the first. So shall it also be with this wicked generation.”