The healing of a demonized man brought two radically different responses. One came from the crowd, another from the religious authorities.
Then they brought to him a demon-possessed man who was blind and mute, and he cured him, so that the one who had been mute could speak and see.
All the crowds were amazed and were saying, “Can this be the Son of David?” (Matthew 12.22-23).
The amazed crowd of ordinary people wondered if Jesus was the long-awaited Messiah.
The term “Son of David” is found in Ezekiel 34. That passage contains a long description of shepherds who have been feeding themselves rather than caring for the flock. God promises that He will send a shepherd who will serve God’s beloved humans.
I will set up over them one shepherd, my servant David, and he shall feed them; he shall feed them and be their shepherd (Ezekiel 34.23).
The religious authorities of Jesus’ day resemble the shepherds who were feeding themselves in Ezekiel’s passage. They can’t rejoice in what Jesus has done, nor can they deny the miracles they are seeing.
They have to find some sort of explanation for what is taking place in plain sight.
But when the Pharisees heard it, they said, “It is only by Beelzebul, the ruler of the demons, that this man casts out the demons” (Matthew 12.24).
The minds of the Pharisees are so prejudiced against Jesus that they’re unable to see what is before their eyes. Therefore, they say his powerful deeds of exorcism and healing are nothing but acts of magic, and they attribute those to demonic powers.
Jesus’ Response
Jesus had three things to say in response to the thoughts of the religious leaders.
His first was a simple statement of logic.
He knew what they were thinking and said to them, “Every kingdom divided against itself is laid waste, and no city or house divided against itself will stand.
“If Satan casts out Satan, he is divided against himself; how, then, will his kingdom stand?” (Matthew 12.25-26).
Jesus states what should have been clear to the Pharisees. It is impossible for Satan to oppose his own work by supplying the power to cast out demons.
If Satan were to oppose his own kingdom, then his kingdom would not remain.
You may remember from the history books that Abraham Lincoln used this reasoning concerning the Civil War. He stated that if our nation fought against itself, we would not remain.
That’s good advice for American leaders today.
(2) The religious authorities were forced to admit that their own exorcists were empowered by God and not by the evil one. The only explanation for Jesus’s activity was that the same power was in effect with him too.
“If I cast out demons by Beelzebul, by whom do your own exorcists cast them out? Therefore they will be your judges”
“But if it is by the Spirit of God that I cast out demons, then the kingdom of God has come upon you” (Matthew 12.27-28).
To condemn Jesus was to condemn their own exorcists. Thus, not only were the Pharisees wrong in the assessment of the power by which Jesus exorcised demons, but their accusations placed them in opposition to the work of God.
Jesus began His ministry by proclaiming that the Kingdom of God had arrived on earth (Matthew 4.17). Now He says the Kingdom of God has come upon you and shows it not merely with words but by deeds.
(3) The coming of the Kingdom of God to the ministry of Jesus entails a fundamental defeat for Satan and his demons.
“Or how can one enter a strong man’s house and plunder his property without first tying up the strong man? Then indeed the house can be plundered” (Matthew 12.29).
Praise God that Jesus is stronger than the strong one and can raid his kingdom at will and deliver those who are oppressed in a variety of ways.
It’s worth noting John’s conclusion about the work of Jesus.
Everyone who commits sin is of the devil, for the devil has been sinning from the beginning. The Son of God was revealed for this purpose: to destroy the works of the devil (1 John 3.8).
Jewish Exorcists
What about the Jewish exorcists who seem to participate in the same work as Jesus and advance the kingdom of God, but they don’t accept Jesus or his message?
This is what Jesus has to say about them.
“Whoever is not with me is against me, and whoever does not gather with me scatters” (Matthew 12.30).
This is a great reminder that we can’t be neutral about Jesus. We’re either for Him or we’re against Him.
YouTube Discussion
Rudy Ross and I discussed this passage on YouTube today. It is on the Bob Spradling channel.
Real Voices 