Thursday, June 25, 2015

New Testament- Lesson 91

Matthew Chapter 12 - Part 4

Deliverance for a demon possessed man, false accusations and Jesus' teachings on spiritual warfare-Read (Matthew 12:22-29)(Mark 3:23-27)(Luke 11:17-22)

A blind and mute demon possessed man was brought to Jesus who healed the man so that he both saw and spoke and the crowds were amazed and asked, "Could this be the Son of David?" (They knew the Messiah was to come from the lineage of David) (Legally [Through Joseph] and physically [through Mary], Jesus was of the lineage of David). When the Pharisees heard it, they were jealous and said, "This fellow casts out demons by Beelzebub, the ruler of the demons."

But Jesus, knowing their thoughts, said to them: "Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation, and a house divided against a house falls. If Satan also is divided against himself, how will his kingdom stand? because you say I cast out demons by Beelzebub. And if I cast out demons by Beelzebub, by whom do your sons cast them out? Therefore they will be your judges. But if I cast out demons with the finger of God, surely the kingdom of God has come upon you.

Jesus plainly told them that they were the ones who used satanic power and not him; his power over demons came from Almighty God. (Finger of God was an expression used by the magicians of Egypt to describe the plague of lice brought upon the Egyptians by God (Moses and Aaron) which they failed to reproduce by their magic and here Jesus uses the same term.)

Jesus expains the working of Satan's kingdom here saying that he couldn't be using satanic power to drive out one of satan's evil ones (as he did in the case of the blind and mute man), because then satan's kingdom wouldn't stand. Satan's kingdom could stand only if there is unity between it's members.

Finally, Jesus asserted that unless one is more powerful than the enemy, one cannot gain victory over him. "When a strong man, fully armed, guards his own palace, his goods are in peace. But when a stronger than he comes upon him and overcomes him, he takes from him all his armor in which he trusted, and divides his spoils." - The demon which had taken possession of the man, making him blind and mute was driven out by a power greater than it, which was in Jesus.

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