<p>12:43<em> When the unclean spirit has gone out of a person, it passes through waterless places seeking rest, but finds none-&nbsp; </em>The ministry of the Lord Jesus was a follow up to that of John the Baptist, and that theme is never far from us in Matthew's Gospel. The unclean spirit was cast out of Israel due to their surface level response to John's preaching- this was the sweeping of the house. But it returned and that generation became more evil than before. This lays the basis for the parable of the sower, which was told the same day (13:1)- the seed initially experienced some growth, but then the 'evil one', the Jewish system, stunted that growth.</p>
<p>Demons supposedly didn&rsquo;t like water (as in Mt. 8:28-34). Again we find the Lord using the language of the day without correcting it. The reference is also to the Jews going into the wilderness to hear John&rsquo;s preaching.</p>
<p>The Lord has just given an invitation to come to&nbsp;<em>Him</em>&nbsp;and find &quot;rest&quot; (Mt. 11:28 s.w.). Hebrews may allude here when suggesting that Moses and Joshua could not give Israel &quot;rest&quot;, only Messiah could (Heb. 4:8-10). John's work gave Israel a desire for this &quot;rest&quot; and pointed them to Jesus as the One who could give it- but they were refusing to take it. And so the (parabolic) unclean spirit was returning to the house of Israel and would make them worse than before.</p>