False Accusations and Unity

Scott Stewart

The Gospel of Matthew • Sermon • Submitted 3 years ago

Matthew 12:22–30

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Christ is falsely accused and responds with a reminder of the necessity of unity.

Notes

Transcript

Introduction

Have you ever been accused of something outrageous and false? Something that seemed so right in the mind of the accuser, yet so disconnected from reality?

Jesus knows this feeling well. All across the world, countless people are making false claims about Him. Whether it’s questioning His existence, or attributing His works of grace as unreal, or (even worse) as the works of the devil, whatever it is, He knows the pains of false accusations.

Today, we are going to see Christ respond to a false accusation. He’s going to break the accusation down as the foolishness that it is, proving the corrupt and sinful hearts of His accusers. We are going to spend some time looking at the miniature parables that Jesus uses as His defense, but my intent is to draw us back to the victorious nature of Jesus’ works amidst opposition.

What we need is to look at the person of Christ today. Rather, what I need is to look at Jesus in our text and in reality today, and so my aim is that we might all do that together.

Let’s read:

Matthew 12:22–30 ESV

22 Then a demon-oppressed man who was blind and mute was brought to him, and he healed him, so that the man spoke and saw. 23 And all the people were amazed, and said, “Can this be the Son of David?” 24 But when the Pharisees heard it, they said, “It is only by Beelzebul, the prince of demons, that this man casts out demons.” 25 Knowing their thoughts, he said to them, “Every kingdom divided against itself is laid waste, and no city or house divided against itself will stand. 26 And if Satan casts out Satan, he is divided against himself. How then will his kingdom stand? 27 And if I cast out demons by Beelzebul, by whom do your sons cast them out? Therefore they will be your judges. 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.

I. The Situation

Verses 22 and 23 contain the situation that boiled over in this case. There were two things that happened: (1) Jesus healed a demonized man who could neither see nor speak, and (2) The crowds were in awe of Him, asking “Can this be the Son of David?”

These two situations boiled over into jealousy and rage from the Pharisees. So when the Pharisees hear that Jesus is being called “The Son of David,” they bring about this indictment: “It is only by Beelzebul, the prince of demons, that this man casts out demons.”

Essentially, what the Pharisees are saying of Jesus is that He is casting out demons by a lesser demon. “Beelzebub” is essentially a transliteration of the Philistine “god” “Baal-zebub” of Ekron. You can find mention of this name is 2 Kings 1:2, where a wicked Israelite king sends messengers to reach out to this false god instead of reaching out to God, the true God.

So, what’s happening with the Pharisees here is since they can’t deny His miraculous works, they know He’s not a fake but that He’s actually doing this incredible healings, they say that it’s through a false god that He’s been given these powers.

It’s not unusual for Satan to pretend to be benevolent. This world is filled with the lies and deception of Satan’s partial-promises being fulfilled and leaving people empty and injured. As Paul tells us in 2 Corinthians 11:14, Satan “disguises himself as an angel of light.” It is just a disguise, because Satan is an accuser and has been from the beginning. All he can do is deceive people.

So, that’s what the Pharisees are charging Jesus with. They can’t deny the miracle, so they say that it’s from a dastardly and deceptive source. Ironically, they are the ones standing in the tradition of Satan, accusing God of not being benevolent and kind, full of charity and compassion.

It’s also worth noting that they have said this of Jesus at least once before. In Matthew 9:32-34, Jesus heals two mute men who were also demonized and the Pharisees say in v. 34: “He cats out demons by the prince of demons.”

Christ was slow to rebuke the Pharisees here, and He labored with them compassionately. Sometimes it’s best to let false accusations stew within people, not calling them out initially but let those who are Satanic accusers of God’s people show that they are in the wrong before confronting them.

God’s people show themselves as gracious and compassionate, and worldly people show themselves to be selfish and divisive.

II. Jesus’ Response

In v. 25 we have Jesus “knowing their thoughts.” Commit this to memory that Jesus knows all our thoughts. The ones we have which are sinful, which we conflate to sound righteous. He knows our hearts and motives at all times, and here He knew exactly the sort of divisive and hateful hearts of the Pharisees. He provides 3 parables to refute their indictment.

Parable 1: Division in Kingdoms

The first parable Jesus gives this: “Every kingdom divided against itself is laid waste, and no city or house divided against itself will stand” (v. 25).

In our modern day, the most successful “kingdoms” would be big businesses like Google or Apple. Their unified front is sincerely admirable. They demand loyalty from their employees and do not tolerate division.

There is a famous story of when Steve Jobs was still alive and president of Apple. He gets in the elevator with another man who instantly recognizes him. Jobs turns to the man and asks him, point blank: “What’s the mission and vision of Apple?”

At the time, the tagline for Apple was: “Think Different.” But, under pressure the man wasn’t able to respond and just kind of mumbled off some of his favorite products. Jobs overrode the elevator, escorted the man down to the first level, and informed him that he was now fired.

While this is certainly not a Christian example of loyalty (more like worldly, ruthless loyalty), it demonstrates the sort of unity necessary for a kingdom to conquer as well as Apple has. “Crush the competition” is not a terminology given to war, yet it’s precisely the sort of actions taken in war; whether business warfare or tactical warfare.

So Jesus uses this parable to describe the ridiculous nature of the Pharisees’ charge against Him. “And if Satan casts out Satan, he is divided against himself. How then will his kingdom stand? (v. 26).

Many a family and church knows this statement to be true. When division causes hostility between a husband and wife, how great is the pain on both spouses and their children?

When divisive individuals come and seek to do harm on the people of Christ, when they strike with the strong hand of accusations and selfishness, how great is the pain on the body of Christ?

“Every kingdom divided against itself is laid waste,” says Jesus. His kingdom is not divided as the Pharisees are saying it is. He is not getting power by a foreign deity, but by the power of His Father, Yahweh, the true and only God.

Parable 2

The second parable is is regarding who the Jewish exorcists are casting out demons.

Apparently there were some itinerant exorcists in Judaism at this time. Now, it would appear that the works of Satan were much more prevalent at this time, or at least they were prevalent enough for people to make a business out of it and have enough success that they were recognized.

However, after the coming of Christ it would appear that these other exorcists began to struggle in their work. If we were to open to Acts 19:13, we’d read of some Jewish exorcists who tried to confront a demon in the name of “Jesus whom Paul proclaims.”

It doesn’t work out well for them.

But during Jesus’ time in ministry, there were others who were casting out demons, though not with the same level of success. So, considering His success rate is 100%, Jesus raises the question: “And if I cast out demons by Beelzebul, by whom do your sons cast them out?” (v. 27).

In effect, Jesus is saying: “You say that I am getting power from foreign deities, not the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob… So how about your sons who are also casting out demons?” Jesus is not endorsing the work of these other exorcists, but He’s using them as an example to prove that something and someone greater than those other men has come.

He says it in v. 28: “But if it is by the Spirit of God that I cast out demons, then the kingdom of God has come upon you.”

Notice how Jesus has compared a kingdom divided with a kingdom united by saying this. The Kingdom of God is not divided, it is completely unified. Held together by the eternal unity of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. God is the perfect ruler in Trinity of His kingdom, and if it’s by the Spirit that these demons are leaving, then it is sure that the kingdom has come.

When God acts, He acts in perfect unity with Himself. We should well-expect that any deceptive act aimed at division is an act of Satan. To cause disunity between God and His people has been the role of Satan since the Garden of Eden.

But if God’s kingdom is going to be visible, then God’s people must be united with Him and each other in perfect unity.

If it’s by God’s Spirit that we are going to accomplish God’s work of bringing the Good News to a lost world, then we ought to anticipate both Satanic hostility and Godly victory. The Pharisees were playing the role of Satanic hostility here, saying that the works of God were really the works of Satan.

That’s the sort of confusion that sinful, Satan-inspired division causes. Blasphemous, hateful, selfish mirages, distorting truth with reality just enough to twist the hearts of hurting sinners.

But Jesus does not stand for it. If His kingdom is present, then His people gather around to worship and adore Him amidst any level of persecution. Do not let Satanic division cause us to lose focus of our goal to see God’s work of the gospel take root here, friends.

Parable 3

Our final parable is of the binding of the strong man. There are two ways that a person can interpret this verse. Jesus is ambiguous on who the “strong man” in this verse is.

Some interpret the binding of the “strong man” as Jesus binding Satan. It’s true that Satan has held a grip on this world since the Fall. In fact, if we were to look at the pages of the Bible, we might even say that Satan has held a strong grip since about the second page, but truly this is a bad interpretation of the facts.

What Satan has more accomplished since the Fall is an attempt to bind God, to try and deceive the pinnacle of God’s creation (mankind) and frustrate God’s works of preserving and redeeming His people since the beginning. But, God wins every time He intends to secure a victory.

That’s what’s evident in this passage, in the healing of the demonized man in v. 22, in the healings of each and every victim of this fallen world throughout all of Jesus’ ministry. God… will.... win. He has shown His ability to win despite the “odds” over and over again. But Satan, in his wickedness, attempts to bind God over and over again.

Satan is the one who comes and seemingly plunders God’s household again and again. Churches fall due to Satanic divisiveness, families break due to Satanic sinfulness. And this image is representative of not Satan’s victory in plunder, but in His failed attempts to thwart God’s good, redemptive plan.

The Pharisees are attempting to bind their “opponent,” Jesus, by saying that He is not working under God’s authority, but under a demonic authority. They are trying to plunder the household of God, ruining all that He’s worked for, with their jealous and false accusations.

That is how Satan works against the kingdom of God. And there are many who have attempted to bind up God’s servants to stop God’s plans. Do not be one who seeks to plunder the household of God like the Pharisees, to bind up servants of God’s kingdom from doing gospel-work.

Conclusion

The final verse of our focus today is one that’s been attributed to countless kingdoms. Whether the church, the business world, or wartime, many have misappropriated this statement: “Whoever is not with me is against me, and whoever does not gather with me scatters.”

The exclusivity and focus of this verse is on Christ, not worldly matters. What set off the Pharisees was the question raised: “Can this be the Son of David?” Jesus is that promised Son of David, the conquering king who redeems the world. The One who removes the false accusations of Satan, whose very name means “Accuser,” and the effect of sin in this world.

Yes, Jesus is that Promised salvation! Be with Him on His side, do not be against Him, and gather with Him. Do not be the one who makes false accusations against His work!

Look at the situation at the beginning. There was a man, blind and unable to see the glory of God. Mute and unable to speak any praise to God. Christ opened the man’s eyes and loosened his tongue. Showing His character of compassion and kindness, the redeeming Savior of the world giving a glimpse of what’s to come in His kingdom.

But Satan, seeing an opportunity employs his servants, the Pharisees, to attack Christ and try and steal glory. But Christ will not share His glory with another, proving that this wonderful act of redemption on this man was worth suffering these accusations.

So, are you blind to God’s glory? Are you unable to sing His praise? Then be brought to Him like the man at the beginning.

Are you like the Pharisees? Filled with more accusations against God’s servants than knowledge of your own sin and need of repentance? Then repent. Work with Christ instead of against Christ. Do not cause division in this church or any other, but repent and go to Christ to feel your sense of conviction. If you are trying to plunder the house, make God’s work fail, or ascribing to Satan the power of God, then repent.

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