God did not leave us without any evidence that Jesus is indeed the Son of God.
• The Gospels are full of recordings of His miraculous deeds and amazing claims.
• In the face of evidence, man can still reject Him.
We’ve seen that on numerous occasions in the Scriptures
• People has seen the miraculous, yet they have chosen not to believe
• Not because they are unable to (for a lack of evidence) but rather because they are NOT WILLING to
• Too much is at stake sometimes, if you choose to believe
• For the Pharisees and scribes – if they were persuaded, they would have to change their beliefs, their traditions, and their way of life.
Do we not sometimes feel that way? We know what is right, yet find it difficult to act on it?
We have such a case this morning. The evidence before them demands a response.
The teachers of the law made three errors - they
(1) Chose to stick with their self-centred agenda, blinded to that which is obvious;
(2) Chose to remain uncommitted, preferring to sit on the fence and take a middle ground; and
(3) Chose to believe more in the power of the devil, rather than the power of God
1. BE AWARE OF WHAT GOD IS DOING
– Don’t be blinded by our own, tiny-winy, small agenda in life
After seeing a miracle – a good one at that, the conclusion they had was this:
• Jesus was a possessed man - possessed by Beelzebub.
The context is clearer in Luke 11:14-15
14 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. 15 But some of them said, "By Beelzebub, the prince of demons, he is driving out demons."
Matthew reveals more - Matt 12:22-24
22 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. 23 All the people were astonished and said, "Could this be the Son of David?" 24 But when the Pharisees heard this, they said, "It is only by Beelzebub, the prince of demons that this fellow drives out demons."
We are not told much about this poor man.
• None of the writers tells us his name, where he came from, or how long he has been tormented. All we know is that this man was demon-possessed and that this demon caused the man to be unable to speak and unable to see, in Matthew’s account.
• Jesus healed this man and he was able to speak and see immediately.
This miraculous cure was met with varied responses. The crowd was amazed (Luke); they were astonished (Matt), and began to wonder who this Jesus was.
The religious leaders had a different reaction.
3:22 tells us the teachers of the law "came down from Jerusalem..."
• They were probably sent by the Sanhedrin council – to trail Him and find fault with Him.
• They could not deny that an incredible miracle had happened - a miracle that required explanation and interpretation.
• Since they could not deny the power that Jesus possessed - the man had indeed been delivered - they had to question the source of His power.
They levelled two accusations at Jesus.
First - they say that He is “possessed by Beelzebub”
• the identity of Beelzebub is found in OT (2 Kings 1:2) the name meant ’Lord of Flies’ or ’Lord of Filth’ and was a name later given to the prince of demons, Satan.
• Jesus uses the name Satan directly in response.
Kent Hughes says, “It is a fitting name for Satan, but a monstrous slander when used for Christ.... It was a calculated blasphemy of immense perversity.”
Second accusation - they take that reasoning one step further
• Not only is He possessed, He is empowered by Satan - "By the prince of demons He is driving out demons." (v.12) He does things by the power of Satan.
• By saying this they were ascribing the gracious works of God to Satan.
• Jesus called this blasphemy against the Holy Spirit - "But whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit will never be forgiven; he is guilty of an eternal sin." (v.29).
In the light of the context, this refers to an attitude - not some deeds or words –
• But an attitude of defiant hostility towards God
• It is the stubborn unbelief, despite the evidence God has provided
• This disbelief puts us, naturally, outside God’s forgiveness – because His plan was to provide forgiveness of sin through faith in Jesus Christ
They were blinded to what was rather obvious. Their accusations were lame and absurd.
• This is what happens when man is bent on their own agenda.
• To find fault with Jesus was their goal. No compromise.
• They were so bent on evil, that they cannot see the good; too blinded to see the light.
o Have we been so caught up about our own agenda – our own goals, desires, wishes, plans…and become blinded to His ways, His will, His desire for us today?
o Are we seeing what He is doing today? Are we hearing what He is saying today?
o Are there times when God has given us some obvious signs or words, but we’ve been too busy with our own plan to see or hear them?
2. TAKE A STAND FOR JESUS
- Don’t sit on the fence – there is no middle ground.
Jesus tore down their charges, first by telling them their accusation is illogical.
• "How can Satan drive out Satan?" (v.23)
• Jesus words revealed their folly.
o It’s like saying, “Who will willingly and knowingly shots himself in the foot?”
o It’s like a general who send his soldiers to the front lines of battlefield with orders to shoot their own comrades.
It is absurd to say this. What would he have gained by such a move?
"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." (v.24-26)
If Satan’s goal is to destroy, can he be doing this work of healing? No, of course not.
• If the miracle was not performed by the power of darkness, then it must have its source in the power of God.
• If Jesus wasn’t of Satan, then only one alternative remained: He must be of God!
Logic would demand that the religious leaders acknowledge Jesus as God or that His power was from God. Yet in the face of all the evidence they refused.
By talking about the kingdom, and the house, Jesus has just thrown out a challenge
• There are two kingdoms here – the kingdom run by Satan, and mine
• Satan will not drive out his own, in his own kingdom – but I will.
• I belong to another kingdom and I’m here to drive out Satan
In this story there are 2 spiritual forces at work in the world and we must choose between them. Paul says in Eph 6:12, “we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places.”
The people have to make a choice – to put your trust in Jesus, or remain as they are.
The crowds who followed Jesus were, for the most part, fence sitters.
• Depending on circumstances and their conveniences, they would run to Jesus for healings at most times, and praise Him (Palm Sunday when He enters Jerusalem),
• but will also stand by the religious leaders at other times (like crying out to crucify Jesus).
Jesus, however, puts His hands on that fence and gives it a long, hard shaking.
There is no sitting on the fence today. There is no safe middle ground.
• Truth by nature is exclusive.
• If Jesus is Lord, then no one else and nothing else can be lord in your life.
• Paul says in 1 Cor 6:19 "...You are not your own; you were bought at a price."
The question we need to ask today: Who runs your life today? Jesus - not you; not this world.
Man love to stand on a non-committal, neutral ground - neither this nor that.
• But the Lord did not leave us with a middle ground where we can stand.
• Honour God today with your life and live for Him.
• Only two sides - God’s side and Satan’s side, there is no other side.
• When you say, "I am neutral" - you are in fact standing against Him. We are either for Him or against Him.
Dr John R. Hamby, a pastor said: "Standing still is not possible, for standing still is doing nothing for God. Standing still, attempting to be neutral, is actually working for evil by allowing evil to continue and to grow without opposition."
People take the middle ground and say - Jesus was a good man, good teacher, or good prophet… but those were not the options given to us.
C.S. Lewis said it well, “I’m trying to prevent anyone from saying the really silly thing that people often say about Him (Jesus); ‘I’m ready to accept Jesus as a great moral teacher, but I don’t accept His claim to be God.’ That’s the one thing we mustn’t say. A man who was merely a man and said the sort of things that Jesus said wouldn’t be a great moral teacher. He’d either be a lunatic - on the level of with the man who says he’s a poached egg - or else he’d be the Devil of Hell. You must make your choice. Either this man was, and is, the Son of God: or else a madman or something worse. You can shut Him up for being a fool, you can spit at Him and kill Him as a demon; or you can fall at his feet and call Him Lord and God. But don’t let us come with any patronizing nonsense about Him being a great human teacher. He hasn’t left that open to us. He didn’t intend to!”
Are you a fence sitter? Have you make a stand for Jesus?
Will people see that you’re a follower of Jesus? Or do you blend well with the rest.
3. BELIEVE IN THE AWESOME POWER OF JESUS
- Don’t be crippled by fears – there is no other power comparable
Jesus went on to say in Mark 3:27 "In fact, no one can enter a strong man’s house and carry off his possessions unless he first ties up the strong man. Then he can rob his house."
• A thief cannot plunder another man’s house unless he is stronger than the man he is robbing.
• To tie up the ’strong man’ you must be stronger than him.
• Satan is the strong man who has been tormenting this man - unable to see, unable to speak.
• Only the One who is stronger than he can enter into his realm and bind him. This Jesus did.
It was a forceful attack on the lordship of Satan. Jesus infiltrated his territory.
• The One stronger than Satan has come to restrain his activity and to release those in bondage.
• This is done by the power of the Holy Spirit - and if you say it is of the devil, you’re blaspheming, Jesus said.
Jesus came to this world, to plunder Satan’s kingdom and populate heaven.
• He is the stronger One. In fact, He is the only strong One - strong enough to overpower the "strong man" of this world.
• Only Jesus can save you today.
Do you believe this today?
• He is not only in control of this world - He is in control of YOUR world! Believe that.
• It may not seem so sometimes, especially when we’re facing random troubles.
• But He is there, and nothing can happen to you apart from His will. Trust Him.
You tap onto this power when you PRAY.
You are weak because you did not pray. When you pray, God can tie up the “strong man”.
Do you believe this? If you do, you’ll pray. If you don’t, you’d probably not.
PRAY AND BELIEVE.
