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In Christ, Mark
In Christ, Mark
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The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.
The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.
Then they brought Him a demon-possessed man who was blind
and mute, and Jesus healed him, so that he could both talk and see. All the
people were astonished and said, "Could this be the Son of David?"
But when the Pharisees heard this, they said, "It is only by Beelzebub, the prince of demons, that this fellow drives out demons."
Jesus knew their thoughts and said to them, "Every kingdom divided against itself will be ruined, and every city or household divided against itself will not stand. If Satan drives out Satan, he is divided against himself. How then can his kingdom stand? And if I drive out demons by Beelzebub, by whom do your people drive them out? So then, they will be your judges. But if I drive out demons by the Spirit of God, then the kingdom of God has come upon you.”
But when the Pharisees heard this, they said, "It is only by Beelzebub, the prince of demons, that this fellow drives out demons."
Jesus knew their thoughts and said to them, "Every kingdom divided against itself will be ruined, and every city or household divided against itself will not stand. If Satan drives out Satan, he is divided against himself. How then can his kingdom stand? And if I drive out demons by Beelzebub, by whom do your people drive them out? So then, they will be your judges. But if I drive out demons by the Spirit of God, then the kingdom of God has come upon you.”
Matthew 12:22-28
Then Jesus entered a house, and again a crowd gathered,
so that He and His disciples were not even able to eat. When His family heard
about this, they went to take charge of Him, for they said, “He is out of His
mind.”
And the teachers of the law who came down from Jerusalem
said, “He is possessed by Beelzebul! By the prince of demons He is driving out
demons.”
So Jesus called them over to Him and began to speak to
them in parables: “How can Satan drive out Satan? If a kingdom is divided
against itself, that kingdom cannot stand. If a house is divided against itself,
that house cannot stand. And if Satan opposes himself and is divided, he cannot
stand; his end has come. In fact, no one can enter a strong man’s house without
first tying him up. Then he can plunder the strong man’s house.”
Mark 3:20-27
Jesus was driving out a demon that was mute. When the
demon left, the man who had been mute spoke, and the crowd was amazed. But some
of them said, “By Beelzebul, the prince of demons, He is driving out demons.” Others
tested Him by asking for a sign from heaven.
Jesus knew their thoughts and said to them: “Any kingdom
divided against itself will be ruined, and a house divided against itself will
fall. If Satan is divided against himself, how can his kingdom stand? I say
this because you claim that I drive out demons by Beelzebul. Now if I drive out
demons by Beelzebul, by whom do your followers drive them out? So then, they
will be your judges. But if I drive out demons by the finger of God, then the
kingdom of God has come upon you.”
“When a strong man, fully armed, guards his own house,
his possessions are safe. But when someone stronger attacks and overpowers him,
he takes away the armor in which the man trusted and divides up his plunder.”
Luke 11:14-22
This ends this reading from God's holy word. Thanks be
to God.
We have seen in earlier devotions where the Pharisees, the Jewish religious authorities of the day, weren’t exactly pleased that Jesus had come to earth and doing the work of the Father. In fact, Jesus had gained such a following through His new teaching and miraculous healing that the Pharisees saw their grip on the people through their legalistic approach to ministry threatened. This led them to not only challenge Jesus but also plot to kill Him. Indeed, as godly as the Pharisees advertised themselves, there was little doubt that Satan was working in and through them, a clear warning to any of us that no matter how righteous we think we are. No one is immune from temptation and wickedness.
In today’s passage, we find the Pharisees continuing to seek to discredit Jesus in His ministry. Look again at Matthew’s account here:
We have seen in earlier devotions where the Pharisees, the Jewish religious authorities of the day, weren’t exactly pleased that Jesus had come to earth and doing the work of the Father. In fact, Jesus had gained such a following through His new teaching and miraculous healing that the Pharisees saw their grip on the people through their legalistic approach to ministry threatened. This led them to not only challenge Jesus but also plot to kill Him. Indeed, as godly as the Pharisees advertised themselves, there was little doubt that Satan was working in and through them, a clear warning to any of us that no matter how righteous we think we are. No one is immune from temptation and wickedness.
In today’s passage, we find the Pharisees continuing to seek to discredit Jesus in His ministry. Look again at Matthew’s account here:
Then they brought
Him a demon-possessed man who was blind and mute, and Jesus healed him, so that
he could both talk and see. All the people were astonished and said,
"Could this be the Son of David?"
But when the Pharisees heard this, they said, "It is only by Beelzebub, the prince of demons, that this fellow drives out demons."
Jesus knew their thoughts and said to them, "Every kingdom divided against itself will be ruined, and every city or household divided against itself will not stand. If Satan drives out Satan, he is divided against himself. How then can his kingdom stand? And if I drive out demons by Beelzebub, by whom do your people drive them out? So then, they will be your judges. But if I drive out demons by the Spirit of God, then the kingdom of God has come upon you.” Matthew 12:22-28
But when the Pharisees heard this, they said, "It is only by Beelzebub, the prince of demons, that this fellow drives out demons."
Jesus knew their thoughts and said to them, "Every kingdom divided against itself will be ruined, and every city or household divided against itself will not stand. If Satan drives out Satan, he is divided against himself. How then can his kingdom stand? And if I drive out demons by Beelzebub, by whom do your people drive them out? So then, they will be your judges. But if I drive out demons by the Spirit of God, then the kingdom of God has come upon you.” Matthew 12:22-28
The scriptures tell us a “demon-possessed man who was
blind and mute” was brought to Jesus who “healed him” in such a way where the
man could “both talk and see”. And as we have seen happen at almost every point
where Jesus performed a miracle, “all the people were astonished” and amazed, so
much so that they asked among themselves:
“Could this be the
Son of David?"
They had certainly witnessed the renewing power of Jesus and
professed Him as being the Messiah, the anointed One sent from heaven to earth
to reign over mankind in honor.
On the other hand, the Pharisees saw things much differently.
On the other hand, the Pharisees saw things much differently.
For instead of relating Jesus with David, instead they
chose to connect Him to “Beelzebub, the prince of demons”. They asserted that
the power that Jesus used to drive out demons came from the very prince of the
demons himself, something Jesus addressed, defending Himself with these words:
"Every kingdom divided against itself will be ruined, and every city or household divided against itself will not stand. If Satan drives out Satan, he is divided against himself. How then can his kingdom stand? And if I drive out demons by Beelzebub, by whom do your people drive them out? So then, they will be your judges. But if I drive out demons by the Spirit of God, then the kingdom of God has come upon you.”
Here, Jesus was reminding the people (the Pharisees included) that no realm had ever survived being "divided against itself”. This was true before Jesus came, it was true while He lived and walked the earth, and it has remained true since His resurrection and ascension, whether applied to earthly kingdoms or spiritual ones. In the end translation, the entire purpose of good was to overcome evil and so it would make little sense for anything good to destroy something else good. In fact, anyone saying they are destroying good because they are good is simply putting on a ruse because only something or someone evil seeks to destroy what is good.
So given this, who was Jesus, an instrument of God or Beelzebub?
Well, since evil would never try to drive out evil that ruled out any connection Jesus might have to the prince of demons. Indeed, the Messiah was connected to God, His Father, for He could have not received holy, healing power from any other source. And since He was in fact driving out demons “by the Spirit of God”, then indeed, “the kingdom of God had come upon the people of Israel”.
And that kingdom has never departed even to this day.
"Every kingdom divided against itself will be ruined, and every city or household divided against itself will not stand. If Satan drives out Satan, he is divided against himself. How then can his kingdom stand? And if I drive out demons by Beelzebub, by whom do your people drive them out? So then, they will be your judges. But if I drive out demons by the Spirit of God, then the kingdom of God has come upon you.”
Here, Jesus was reminding the people (the Pharisees included) that no realm had ever survived being "divided against itself”. This was true before Jesus came, it was true while He lived and walked the earth, and it has remained true since His resurrection and ascension, whether applied to earthly kingdoms or spiritual ones. In the end translation, the entire purpose of good was to overcome evil and so it would make little sense for anything good to destroy something else good. In fact, anyone saying they are destroying good because they are good is simply putting on a ruse because only something or someone evil seeks to destroy what is good.
So given this, who was Jesus, an instrument of God or Beelzebub?
Well, since evil would never try to drive out evil that ruled out any connection Jesus might have to the prince of demons. Indeed, the Messiah was connected to God, His Father, for He could have not received holy, healing power from any other source. And since He was in fact driving out demons “by the Spirit of God”, then indeed, “the kingdom of God had come upon the people of Israel”.
And that kingdom has never departed even to this day.
Can I get a hallelujah?
Friends, in the midst of those who would want to discredit Jesus today, we need to ever proclaim that He is alive and present, ready to root out and rid evil in and around us as readily as He did back in the days of our scripture. No demons stand a chance against Him for indeed, the kingdom of God is definitely upon us and thanks be to God for that.
Amen.
In Christ,
Mark
PS: Please share this with anyone you feel might be blessed by it.
Send any prayer requests to OurChristianWalk@aol.com
Friends, in the midst of those who would want to discredit Jesus today, we need to ever proclaim that He is alive and present, ready to root out and rid evil in and around us as readily as He did back in the days of our scripture. No demons stand a chance against Him for indeed, the kingdom of God is definitely upon us and thanks be to God for that.
Amen.
In Christ,
Mark
PS: Please share this with anyone you feel might be blessed by it.
Send any prayer requests to OurChristianWalk@aol.com
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