NEW TESTAMENT CONTEXTUAL COMMENTARY

by Dr. Robert R. Seyda

GOSPEL OF MATTHEW

CHAPTER TWELVE

Part III (Con’t)

Verse 26: So if Satan forces out his own demons, then he is fighting against himself, so how can his kingdom ever survive?

The venerable Augustine of Hippo preached a sermon on this and stated: “So let the Pharisees choose what they want. If Satan could not cast out Satan, they could find nothing to say against the Lord. But if Satan can cast out Satan, let them look out for themselves all the more and let them abandon his kingdom because it cannot stand divided against itself.”¹ In other words, if they insist on the idea that Satan is foolish enough to go around casting out his own demons, then they should quickly exit his kingdom because it’s about to fall. They did not know that it would not be long before this same Jesus would raise His hands in victory over Satan.

The same message applies to those today who have rejected the opportunity to become part of the kingdom of God, because they enjoy serving the devil. Satan’s kingdom will soon be destroyed, never to rise again, because: “The devil, who deceived them, was thrown into the lake of burning sulfur, where the beast and the false prophet had been thrown. They will be tormented day and night for ever and ever…Then death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. The lake of fire is the second death. Anyone whose name was not found written in the book of life was thrown into the lake of fire.”²

And Early Church preacher Chrysostom offered this in one of his sermons: “Notice, Jesus did not say ‘demons,’ implying that there was a great deal of harmony in them toward each other. Rather, He said hierarchically, ‘If Satan casts out Satan, he is then divided against himself.’ But if he is divided, he is becoming weaker and being ruined. And if he is ruined, how can he cast out another? Do you see how great is the joke of the accusation, how great the folly, the inconsistency? It is not plausible that one would be said to stand by that which was likely to cause one to fall.”³

So Jesus uses this statement for His listeners to concentrate on the obvious factors of what happens when people who supposedly are part of a unified body begin to disagree with one another and fight against each other. Chrysostom points out: “Wars abroad are not as ruinous as civil wars at home. As with civil wars, so wars happen inside the body. In all things it is the same, but in this case Jesus takes his illustration from the public sphere, for what is more powerful on earth than a kingdom? Nothing. But nevertheless it perishes if divided against itself. And what would you say of a city, similarly, if it were to break down by its own weight? What great blame would fall on those who carry the burden of its affairs! And what of a family? Whether it is a small matter or a great one, it perishes when it revolts against itself. Furthermore, if I am possessed by a demon and through it cast out demons, there is dissent and strife between demons, and they rise up against one another. And if they rise up against one another, their strength is destroyed.”⁴ In this way, Jesus was pointing out the ridiculousness of accusing the devil of using Him to cast out one of his own demons.

Verse 27: You say that I use the power of Satan to force out demons. If that is true, then what power do your people use when they force out demons? You see! Your own people prove that you are wrong.

Now Jesus turns the table on His critics. Some scholars see a resemblance between the comparison of how He cast out demons and how some of the Jews were doing it, with the contest between Moses and Aaron and the magicians of Egypt.⁵ As such, their reasoning went against their own writings. We read in one of their texts where it tells how one demon named Ornias, saw the prince of demons and questioned him: “Who are you? The demon replied: ‘I am Beelzebub, the prince of the demons. And all the chief demons have their seats close to me. And it is I who make manifest the appearance of each demon.’” Then the writer of this vision says: “And he promised to bring all the unclean spirits to me in bonds. And I again glorified the God of heaven and earth, as I do always give thanks to Him.”⁶ Although this spurious work ascribed to King Solomon has no date, it contains traditional content that is extremely ancient in Jewish folklore.

So what are they going to do? If they believe that Jesus was exorcising demons by the power of Satan and they were unwilling to accept His claim as having such power from His heavenly Father, then they should look at their own exorcisms in the same light. In other words, they too were using the devil’s power to cast out demons. In the same vein, no doubt all those listening to Jesus had heard the story of a demon, named “ben Temalion,” being cast out of the Emperor’s daughter in Rome by a Rabbi.⁷ So how would they feel if that was attributed to the power of Beelzebub? Would that not contradict their charges against Jesus?

Another episode came up later in Ephesus when the Seven sons of Sceva tried to give the apostle Paul some competition.⁸ One early Church Father had to contend with this as well in his day. He relates how he was not shaken in his faith by those counterfeits which the devil is said to have performed among the Greeks; just as some were wrought by the Magi in Egypt, and others by the false prophets in Elijah’s days.⁹ Jesus wanted to leave no doubt where His power and authority came from, so He informs His distractors of the following:

Verses 28-29: I use the power of God’s Spirit to force out demons, and this shows that God’s kingdom has come to you. Think about this, whoever wants to enter a strong man’s house and steal his things must first tie him up. Then they can steal the things from his house.

This is not a parable our Lord is using, it is common logic. I’m glad that instead of Matthew saying that Jesus heard what they were saying, he pointed out that Jesus knew what they were thinking. That is something we must always keep in mind when we talk to God. The Psalmist confessed to this truth: “LORD, you know what I want to say, even before the words leave my mouth.”¹⁰ God told the prophet Jeremiah, “Nothing can hide its deceit as well as the human mind. It can be a chronic problem, and no one really understands it. But I am the LORD, and I can look into a person’s heart. I can search a person’s mind and respond to what is really on their minds.”¹¹

In His brilliance, our Lord touches on the very thing the Pharisees and other religious leaders were trying to do. They wanted to cause a division in the kingdom Jesus came to establish, as well as to get His disciples fighting among themselves. He applies it to their ironic statement that evil powers were being evicted by an evil power, and asks if their efforts at exorcism was also done by using Satan’s power. And then the Master lands another knockout blow. Since He was doing all these miracles by the power of God’s Holy Spirit, then whatever power He was driving out must be weaker than the power He was using.

As a matter of fact, one of the earliest scholars and Christian theologians named Origen, who was born and spent the first half of his career in Alexandria, Egypt, wrote a work to a 2^nd century Greek philosopher and staunch opponent of Christianity, named Celsus, about the Jewish exorcisms of demons: “It is certain, however, that the Jews trace their genealogy back to the three fathers, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. And the names of these individuals possess such efficacy, when united with the name of God, that not only do those belonging to the nation employ in their prayers to God, and in the exorcising of demons, the words, “God of Abraham, and God of Isaac, and God of Jacob.”¹² Also, “Moreover, the phrases, ‘the God of Israel,’ and ‘the God of the Hebrews,’ and ‘the God who drowned in the Red Sea the king of Egypt and the Egyptians,’ are formulas frequently employed against demons and certain wicked powers.”¹³

So what Jesus said about the Jews casting out demons is proven to still be practiced by the 3^rd Century AD when Origen wrote this rebuke. It was so hard for these Jewish intellectuals to accept the changes that Jesus taught were needed in order to conform to God’s new covenant of grace that would rule in His kingdom. Jesus was on course to change their formula for water baptism, exorcising demons, healing the sick, and preaching righteousness and salvation. It was hard for them to accept. But I’m sure our Lord’s closing remarks were really hard for them to digest. He made it clear that either they were with Him or they were against Him. And since He was sent by God, then this was equal to being against God as well.

Verse 30: Whoever is not with me is against me. And anyone who does not work with me is working against me.

This was the same challenge Joshua gave the people of Israel, “Today you must decide who you will serve. Will you serve the gods that your ancestors worshiped when they lived on the other side of the Euphrates River? Or will you serve the gods of the Amorites who lived in this land? You must choose for yourselves. But as for me and my family, we will serve the LORD.”¹⁴ Then the Master launches into a sermon on the danger of speaking against God’s Spirit and what it would cost them if they did not change.

Early church theologian Chromatius gives us his interpretation of what Jesus is saying here. He writes: “By this Jesus meant that His work is one thing and the devil’s work another. For the devil is the enemy of human well-being. It is proper for the devil to scatter by destruction and for Christ to gather to salvation. Hence it is clear that one who is against the Lord cannot be with the Lord. Therefore, although the Lord seems to be repudiating those Pharisees who, unwilling to gather with Christ, have remained the Lord’s enemies and adversaries, He also speaks of all heretics and schismatics. Drawing impious conclusions against the church or the Lord by way of unorthodox teachings or schismatic beliefs, they aim to tear asunder and ravage the incorrupt body of the church and the unity of peace and faith. They are oblivious to Solomon’s words: ‘He who splits a log is endangered by it.”¹⁵”¹⁶

It is quite obvious that many will equate Chromatius’ use of the term “church” to mean the Roman Catholic church. However, this was early in the church history and for him there was only one church, even though it had archdiocese in both the east and the west. So it would be inappropriate to take his words as relevant to the whole body of Christ, no matter what branch of the Early Church.

Verse 31: So I tell you, people can be forgiven for every sinful thing they do and for every bad thing they say against God. But anyone who curses the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven.

This is one of the toughest sayings of Jesus to explain, even though it seems simple on the surface. The astute British theologian John Gill gives his interpretation:

By this is meant: not every ignorant denial of, and opposition to His deity and personality; nor all resistance of Him in the external ministry of the word; nor every sin that is knowingly and willfully committed; but it is a despiteful usage of the Spirit of grace, and opposing, contradicting, and denying the operations wrought, or doctrines revealed by Him, against a man’s own light and conscience, out of willful and obstinate malice, on purpose to lessen the glory of God, and gratify his own lusts: such was the sin of the Scribes and Pharisees; who, though they knew the miracles of Christ were wrought by the Spirit of God, yet maliciously and obstinately imputed them to the devil, with a view to obscure the glory of Christ, and indulge their own wicked passions and resentments against Him; which sin was unpardonable at that present time, as well as under that dispensation then to come, when the Spirit of God was poured down in a more plenteous manner.¹⁷

Any step in grasping the meaning of Jesus’ words is to begin with the word, “blaspheme.” This is a transliteration from the Greek “blasphēmia” which means: “to slander, detract, speech injurious to another’s good name; impious and reproachful speech injurious to divine majesty.” Jesus uses this word later in Matthew.¹⁸ But since Jesus was speaking Aramaic, we need to look at the Hebrew word for additional understanding. We find it used in Isaiah, and the Hebrew word is “gadaph,” which means: “to revile (use abusive language against) men and God.”¹⁹

We also find it first used in the Torah: “But an individual who does something wrong intentionally, whether a citizen or a foreigner, is blaspheming Adonai. That person will be cut off from his people.”²⁰ Then Isaiah’s prophecy against Sennacherib the king of Assyria employs this word again: “Whom have you blasphemed and reviled? Against whom made loud your voice, and haughtily raised your eyes? Against the Holy One of Israel!”²¹ And the final usage of the word reads thus: “Therefore, human being, speak to the house of Isra’el; tell them that Adonai Elohim says, ‘Moreover, your ancestors blasphemed me by breaking faith with me in still another way.”²²

From these examples we can see that blasphemy involves speaking against God in such a way that it separates God and the speaker to the point of irreconcilability. In summary, there were two ways to blaspheme: 1) willfully continuing to deny the Gospel when the Holy Spirit has made clear to you that it is true, or 2) attributing the works of the Holy Spirit to the Adversary (Satan); in the present context.²³ Seeing that the Holy Spirit is the only agent authorized by God to go out and get those souls whom He chooses, and bring them to Christ for redemption and salvation, once a person rejects and reviles the Holy Spirit there is no other way to reach God in order to receive forgiveness. It’s like someone drowning who continues to push away the life-vest thrown to them.

The problem with the priests, scribes, Pharisees, Sadducees and others is that they were stuck in the mud of man’s interpretation of what God said in His Word. Since they couldn’t speak directly to God, they took the words of those who said they could. So when God Himself came to them in the form of His Son, instead of rejoicing that now they could speak with God directly, they chose to stick with man’s words. The same case exists today. There are many who say they are followers of Christ, yet they do not speak to Him directly. They go through others. And when confronted with God’s Word to the contrary, they chose the words of men instead. This is serious, especially when you take the words of Jesus Himself who said: “If you are not for me, you are against me.”