S163P9 – The mind of Christ: a sensible kingdom
Mt. 12:22-27
Then one was brought to Him who was demon-possessed, blind and mute; and He healed him, so that the blind and mute man both spoke and saw. And all the multitudes were amazed and said, “Could this be the Son of David?” Now when the Pharisees heard it they said, “This fellow does not cast out demons except by Beelzebub, the ruler of the demons.” But Jesus knew their thoughts, and said to them: “Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation, and every city or house divided against itself will not stand. If Satan casts out Satan, he is divided against himself. How then will his kingdom stand? And if I cast out demons by Beelzebub, by whom do your sons cast them out? Therefore they shall be your judges.”
There are many times Jesus spoke in cryptic parables. We can read of other times He explained something of the Spirit to someone in a way which did not seem necessarily straightforward. He answered some people’s questions with statements that only cause us to ask more questions. Yet, despite all this, Jesus spoke many times of things which are merely common sense. The true wisdom He shared, and which has been recorded for us, is not necessarily always so profound. There is sensible teaching that should make us wonder how God’s ways can be so simple and understandable. The lesson Jesus taught here is one of those sensible lessons.
Anyone who has engaged in warfare can tell you that a divided enemy is a defeated enemy. No soldier goes out there alone, and every strategy has multiple components and actors to it. Not only that, but no one who wants to win a war will start to fight against his own troops. When you see soldier A firing shots at soldier B, you can rest assured that they are not from the same army. When Jesus made this statement about the divided kingdom falling, I think He was partly asking these people whether they realized how senseless their perspective was. Of course He was not the ruler of those demons as He was the one who fought against them and cast them out.
This passage surely speaks of unity among Christ’s followers, and we understand that the members of the kingdom must be united in Spirit and in purpose. However, I think this passage is one of those which also teaches a more basic lesson. If we just look at things sensibly, God’s ways will make sense. The enemy’s tactics, his illusions and his counterfeits, his smoke and mirrors, this all should appear senseless to us if we think as Jesus thought. It should be obvious that these things do not come from our kingdom because nothing from this kingdom can work against our good. Father, give us the spiritual sensibility that sees wickedness for what it is and understands why your way just makes sense.