Friday, February 20- Matthew 12:22-29

22Then they brought him a demon-possessed man who was blind and mute, and Jesus healed him, so that he could both talk and see.
-Guess some how they knew that this man was possessed by a demon. His disabilities included blindness and muteness. I wonder what actions this man did in order to be characterized as demon possessed as apposed to just blind and mute.

23All the people were astonished and said, "Could this be the Son of David?"
-The people were amazed at the healing as they should be.
-The conclusion they thought was that he might be the messiah.

24But when the Pharisees heard this, they said, "It is only by Beelzebub, the prince of demons, that this fellow drives out demons."
-Pharisees were obviously threatened by this. Probably because in their eyes it was blasphemous. They came to a different conclusion that it must be by the devil that he has his power, not God.

25Jesus 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.
-Jesus' logic makes sense. Why would you undermine your own kingdom if? This wasn't an isolated case, but over and over he healed and cast out demons.

26If Satan drives out Satan, he is divided against himself. How then can his kingdom stand?
-I suppose this logic works the other way as well. If a christian is doing bad works that won't work so well either.

27And if I drive out demons by Beelzebub, by whom do your people drive them out? So then, they will be your judges.
-Very in your face statement. How do you judge by whom driving out demons happens?

28But if I drive out demons by the Spirit of God, then the kingdom of God has come upon you.
-They must recognize the truth behind the power that these demons are being cast out.

29"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 rob his house.

-We must recognize the work of God as we see it. It's good to be skeptical and test the prophets, but we should properly recognize who is doing what when all the facts are laid out.
-As much as satan can't be divided, we can't divide the heavenly kingdom either. We need to fight to stay faithful.