28 “But if it is by the Spirit of God that I cast out demons, then the kingdom of God has come upon you. 29 Or how can someone enter a strong man’s house and plunder his goods, unless he first binds the strong man? Then indeed he may plunder his house. 30 Whoever is not with me is against me, and whoever does not gather with me scatters.” (Matthew 12:28–30 (ESV)
Jesus provided a three-fold response to the Pharisees accusation that He cast out demons by the power of Satan (Matt. 12:22-24). To begin with, Jesus reasoned to them that if He did cast out demons by Satan’s power, that would in effect be a self-defeating exercise (Matt. 12:25-26). The Devil would be destroying his own kingdom. Secondly, Jesus said that if that indeed was the case, then the same accusation could be leveled against the Pharisees’ fellow Jewish exorcists.
Thirdly, Jesus stated that the only way His exorcisms made any sense were that they were done by the Spirit of God. Since this was so, the kingdom of God was appearing to the Jewish religious leaders. The Pharisees should have known better than to attribute Jesus’ power to Satan rather than God. However, so great was their hatred of Jesus that all they could think of was how to destroy Him (Matt. 12:14). Their true allegiance was conspicuous (Matt. 7:15-19).
“Jesus’ amazing power over demons was due to the power of the Holy Spirit working through him (cf. 3:16). The kingdom of God is inaugurated, though not completely realized, in the ministry of Jesus. “Kingdom of God” occurs only five times in Matthew, compared to 32 occurrences of “kingdom of heaven,” which occurs in none of the other Gospel accounts. Jesus is not only the messianic Son of David (12:23) but the King who exercises God’s own kingdom power against Satan and his agents and overcomes the kingdom of Satan through his much greater power (see Isa. 59:17; Eph. 6:10–20; Rev. 19:11–21),” explains one biblical commentator.
Jesus illustrated His miraculous ministry by the concept of overcoming a strong man. He said, “Or how can someone enter a strong man’s house and plunder his goods, unless he first binds the strong man? Then indeed he may plunder his house.”
Jesus was able to exorcize demons because He had bound Satan. He was able to bind Satan because He was/is more powerful than this fallen angel.
“Beginning with Jesus’ victory over Satan during the temptation in the wilderness (4:1–11), Jesus demonstrated that Satan was powerless to prevent him from proclaiming the good news of the kingdom and demonstrating the reality of its presence through his work and his words. Satan’s house represents the sinful world over which, until the coming of Christ, he had such power. Jesus has come to plunder his house and rescue people for the kingdom of God (see Col. 1:13),” states the ESV Study Bible.
Finally, Jesus stated that those who were not for Him were against Him. Jesus does not accept a neutral opinion about Him. He is either LORD or He is not. There is no middle or neutral ground regarding the exclusivity of Jesus Christ’s personhood and work.
Have a blessed day in the Lord.
Soli deo Gloria!
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