Matthew 12:23-32 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 Beelzebul, 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 Beelzebul, by whom do your people drive them out? So then, they will be your judges. But if it is by the Spirit of God that I drive out demons, then the kingdom of God has come upon you. Or again, how can anyone enter a strong man’s house and carry off his possessions unless he first ties up the strong man? Then he can plunder his house. Whoever is not with me is against me, and whoever does not gather with me scatters. And so I tell you, every kind of sin and slander can be forgiven, but blasphemy against the Spirit will not be forgiven. Anyone who speaks a word against the Son of Man will be forgiven, but anyone who speaks against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven, either in this age or in the age to come.”
In the above scriptures, Jesus focuses on the danger of speaking against God’s power of deliverance: the Holy Spirit. In this scene, we see Jesus healing a man who is bound by an evil spirit. He is unable to speak or hear. In reality, lacking speech and hearing isolated him from many of the activities of the world. He could not relate well with his community or even with his family. His behavior and antics were probably strange to the normal person, even making them somewhat fearful of him. Jesus does not speak about his condition or his actions; He just heals him outright. 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. Jesus knew this man’s situation was caused by a demon, a severe and isolating infirmity. However, Jesus was not merely addressing this man’s condition of bondage by casting out this demon. He knew that all of Israel to some degree was experiencing the influence of this deaf and blind spirit. He knew the only power that could deliver people was the power of God: the Holy Spirit. Because of this reality, we later see Jesus talking about blaspheming the Holy Spirit. Blasphemy of the Holy Spirit is unforgivable because the Holy Spirit is the power that will set men free from the bondage of the devil. Jesus himself possessed this power. THE SPIRIT OF THE LORD IS ON ME, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to set the oppressed free, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor. (Luke 4:18-19) Jesus understood the crowd before him had all been affected by the spirit of the evil one. Even though they had ears, they could not hear well the voice of their Father, the Creator. The devil’s corrupted nature had infiltrated the souls of men, keeping them from knowing God. Sadly, rather than imaging the God of creation, people were manifesting darkness in their lives. By not honoring the Creator, people groveled in the dust of the flesh, pursuing what they thought would satisfy their human desires, fixing not on God’s divine nature, but on their own nature of self-interest. Furthermore, just as they did not think it worthwhile to retain the knowledge of God, so God gave them over to a depraved mind, so that they do what ought not to be done. They have become filled with every kind of wickedness, evil, greed and depravity. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit and malice. They are gossips, slanderers, God-haters, insolent, arrogant and boastful; they invent ways of doing evil; they disobey their parents; they have no understanding, no fidelity, no love, no mercy. (Romans 1:28-31) Of course this condition of sin has caused alienation between God and man. Because the Pharisees’ lives were so distant from God, they claimed that Jesus’ power had to originate with the devil. Jesus disputes this claim as nonsensical. If Satan drives out Satan, he is divided against himself. How then can his kingdom stand? How can Jesus be in cahoots with the devil if He is attacking the devil’s domain! And if it were true that He was the devil’s instrument by casting out demons, then what about the exorcising of demons by the Pharisees. Are they also using the devil’s power to cast out demons? Of course, the Pharisees could never agree with the idea of them being cohorts of the devil, so Jesus blows their reasoning of him being a partner with Beelzebub out of the water, for if He were a partner of the evil one, so were they.
Jesus in this healing of the demon-possessed man is pointing out that there is a fecklessness in the power of the religious order of that day. This mute and blind man was taken to Jesus not to the Pharisees. The Pharisees’ exorcising was probably ineffective. People could see through the activities and teaching of Jesus that He had divine power, power even over demons. Jesus knew the Pharisees’ thoughts of envy and hatred toward him, so He demonstrates his powerful kingdom by healing this man. Demonstrating how powerful his kingdom is compared with their kingdom, He places his power juxtaposed to theirs. In his kingdom there is deliverance; in their kingdom there is a form of Godliness, but no power. The Pharisees functioned as those Paul described to Timothy: they had a form of godliness, but denied its power. (See 2Timothy 3:5) Jesus tells the Pharisees, if it is by the Spirit of God that I drive out demons, then the kingdom of God has come upon you. He is saying, if I am doing these things that have never been done from the beginning of time, then a new kingdom has come to you. For you know, if I were doing this in the weakness of a fleshly man, this man before you would still be bound by the spirit of Satan. For the fleshly man is too weak to overcome the power of the spirit world. I am telling you, I have released the hold of the demon on this man’s life! He is able to live his life free from bondage because I have tied up the demon and cast him out of this man. I ask you, how can anyone enter a strong man’s house and carry off his possessions unless he first ties up the strong man? I have done this today. If you are not with this work of goodness, then you are against me and the new kingdom I have established. Jesus lets them know that they cannot be neutral on this deed of goodness. If they are not with him, they are against him. If they do not gather with him in promoting the deeds of God, then they have sided with the devil’s work of evil. They are spreading disinformation, hurting the people they should be serving. Jesus says, Whoever is not with me is against me, and whoever does not gather with me scatters.
Jesus has the same message today: Anyone who is not with me and the Spirit of God in me is on the wrong side of the fight between the evil one and a righteous God. If we side with the devil by not working with Jesus, if we are idle, just watching, we have actually taken sides with Satan. Jesus came to give freedom to people who are caught in the devil’s snare. If we are on God’s side, we will work with Jesus, do his will. A kingdom cannot stand unless all are working towards one goal. The Spirit of God is one with the Godhead, the active force against evil, against the bondage within men. Therefore, if you are actively discrediting this powerful force of God that is delivering men from bondage, you will not be forgiven, for you have sided with the wrong side: the devil and his cohorts. I tell you, every kind of sin and slander can be forgiven, but blasphemy against the Spirit will not be forgiven. We can speak against the Son of Man, claiming anything we want against him, but we cannot debunk the power of God through the Holy Spirit that is resident IN CHRIST. Without the work of the Holy Spirit, mankind will never be delivered from his state of sin. The Spirit alone releases man from his finiteness, his captivity to death. To speak against this power that sustains all life, especially the life to come, is an offense that shall never be forgiven in this world and in the world to come. For the Spirit of God provides eternal life for ALL who believe in the works of God through Jesus Christ the Lord. As Paul wrote, And if the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies because of his Spirit who lives in you. (Romans 8:11) Breakfast friends, we are not those who reject God and his work in us. We are those who trust in Jesus’ work on the cross, those He has made alive. We do not crucify Jesus again by putting him out of our lives. We serve him the best we can, so we have confidence that we are not blaspheming the work of the Spirit inside of us. We hold true to that resident power that God has put within us. As the writer of Hebrews assures those who might be anxious about their salvation, their place in God. Even though we speak like this, dear friends, we are convinced of better things in your case—the things that have to do with salvation. God is not unjust; he will not forget your work and the love you have shown him as you have helped his people and continue to help them. (Hebrews 6:9-10) Even though we might be anxious about how in our ignorance we treated the Holy Spirit in the past, we know by our lives that He is the resident power in us to eternal life. Christ’s life displayed in our lives is the assurance that we are new creatures, bought by the blood of Jesus Christ. Never lose the understanding that the power of God is resident in you. You have been forgiven! You now have eyes to see, ears to hear, and lips to proclaim the Good News, for the Spirit is alive in you.
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