Gospel Light Society Podcasts

Theology of Paul, Part 6 (The Study of God Episode #67) by Daniel Whyte III

TEXT: Matthew 12:22-37

First, Jesus shows the absurdity of the Pharisees accusations. Matthew 12:24-28 says, “But when the Pharisees heard it, they said, This fellow doth not cast out devils, but by Beelzebub the prince of the devils. And Jesus knew their thoughts, and said unto them, Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation; and every city or house divided against itself shall not stand: And if Satan cast out Satan, he is divided against himself; how shall then his kingdom stand? And if I by Beelzebub cast out devils, by whom do your children cast them out? therefore they shall be your judges. But if I cast out devils by the Spirit of God, then the kingdom of God is come unto you.” Jesus showed the absurdity of the Pharisees accusations in two ways. The first way was by questioning how Satan could cast out himself. The devil is evil, but he is not so stupid as to actively work against his own goals. The Pharisee's argument made no sense and Jesus quickly exposed how illogical it was. Ray Fowler said, “Basically, if Jesus is casting out demons by the power of Satan, then Satan is fighting against himself. But that doesn’t make any sense. It’s like a group of soldiers firing on each other instead of on the enemy. Or let’s say you are in the Super Bowl. You are running for the winning touchdown, you’ve got a clear field ahead of you, when suddenly your own teammates chase you down and tackle you. Or how about a band of bank robbers entering a bank, and the chief bad guy robs his partners instead of the teller? Well, none of that makes any sense. And that’s what Jesus is telling the Pharisees here. He is telling them, “What you are saying doesn’t make sense. How can Satan drive out Satan? A team has to work together. If Satan drives out Satan, he is divided against himself. How then can his kingdom stand?” Jesus then shows the absurdity of the Pharisees argument in a second way by exposing their hypocrisy. Matthew 12:27 says, “And if I by Beelzebub cast out devils, by whom do your children cast them out? therefore they shall be your judges.” The phrase "your children" does not mean the Pharisee's literal children, but rather their disciples. There were apparently other Jewish religious exorcists who also had the power from God to cast out demons. So in accusing Jesus they were also accusing themselves of being in league with Satan. And Jesus held up the actions of their own people to judge them. There are only two supernatural powers in the world: that of God and that of devil. In proving that He was not of the devil, Jesus proved that He was of God. And if He is of God, then we must now decide whether we will take heed to the words of God and Jesus, or whether we will reject them for the devil.

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