Matthew
12:24 Now when the Pharisees heard it they said, “This fellow
does not cast out demons except by Beelzebub, the ruler of the demons.” NKJV
From the very beginning of the earthly ministry of
our Lord Jesus Christ, He was confronted with the very one (the devil) He came
to destroy and wrench the title deed to the earth from. The moment our Lord
came out of the water at the Jordan River He had to go into battle against the
devil and He battled him all the way to the cross where there He crushed him
and finished the work of reconciling man back to God. The journey to the cross
was where our Lord experienced some of His most obstinate battles with the
enemy as he worked through the unregenerate and uncircumcised in heart
religious leaders of Israel the Pharisees, Sadducees, and Scribes. These
religious zealots and learned teachers of the Law of Moses had completely
miss-interpreted the words from the Prophets like Isaiah and the others as well
as what was written in the Psalms concerning the coming of the Messiah.
Instead of a suffering servant that would come to
give mercy to all who would come to Him, they were looking for a conquering
powerful King that would come and crush the Roman Empire and make Israel ruler
over the entire earth. What they did was confuse our Lord’s 2nd
coming with the 1st coming. Our Lord will come in a cloud with power
and great glory as He said in Luke 21:27, but that would only be after His
redemptive work on the cross, His death, burial, and His resurrection from the
dead. Therefore, because the religious Jews so miss-interpreted the Word of God,
the Lord Jesus Christ was to them a charlatan and not even a Prophet. Everything
that our Lord did and everywhere He went the religious leaders scrutinized His
every move by whether He kept the Sabbath Law to the letter (as if they did).
These men were hypocrites and they were confronted
by a Man that spoke not with just knowledge, but with authority and power
behind His words and He did nothing to receive praise from them, but He only
wanted to heal the broken conditions of the people He encountered. He was purely
all about giving mercy to those who sought Him and not about rituals of
religion, rules, or regulations. Though He would go to the Synagogue to teach,
He was not concerned with the condition or appearance of buildings, but rather
His concern was the condition of the hearts of men and women. Here stood before
these religious men the very God who created them who they say they worshiped
and yet their hearts were so hardened by sin that they did not discern Him by
His actions or by what the Prophets wrote of Him. He was the very One who rightly
could have wiped them all out, but instead went about doing good and healing people
everywhere.
Acts
10:36-38 The word which God sent to the children of Israel, preaching
peace through Jesus Christ --- He is Lord of all ---that word you know, which
was proclaimed throughout all Judea, and began from Galilee after the baptism
which John preached: how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit
and with power, who went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by
the devil, for God was with Him. NKJV
These cruel, jealous, and hateful men accused our
Lord of casting out demons from people by the power of satan and not by the
power of God. They did not want Him to be who He said He was and this attitude
still permeates today for men and women still holding onto their sin. The
little baby Jesus lying in a manger is acceptable to sinful humanity and even
the suffering Jesus nailed to a Roman cross can be tolerated, but the hearts of
men and women still in love with their sin will not believe in the Resurrected
Jesus that demands change and a relinquishing of sinful desires and passions. Our
Lord quickly pointed out to these people that no kingdom divided against itself
will stand. They knew that satan was not going around healing what he was
actively seeking to destroy, yet they did not want Jesus to be from God. Their
statement to our Lord was ridiculous, but it proved their harsh and bitter
hatred of Him and they resented the adoration He was receiving from the common
people who heard Him gladly. The common people despised the religious rulers
and only tolerated them to keep their access to the temple.
John
9:22 His parents said these things because they feared the Jews, for the
Jews had agreed already that if anyone confessed that He was
Christ, he would be put out of the synagogue. NKJV
The common people did not fear our Lord. Multitudes
would gather around Him constantly seeking to receive mercy from His hand to
heal and restore them from a deformed condition back to wholeness. Our Lord
showed mercy to those needing healing on the Sabbath or on any other day
because He is Lord of the Sabbath and Lord of everyday for that matter. The
miracles of healing and restoration that our Lord was so commonly about doing
could not be denied so the religious leaders instead had to attribute them to
the devil. However, the common people knew better than those hateful
accusations because many of them had been afflicted by the devil like the woman
that was bent over for 18 years as our Lord said, “So ought not this woman, being
a daughter of Abraham, whom satan has bound --- think of it --- for eighteen
years, be loosed from this bond on the Sabbath?” Others said, “These are not
the words of One who has a demon. Can a demon open the eyes of the blind?” The
common people knew that only the True and Living God (YAWAH) would be about
healing men and women afflicted by the devil. They soundly rejected the
accusations laid against our Lord by the religious rulers and continued to seek
Him out to receive mercy and healing from His hand.
“The same Jesus Who turned water into wine
can transform your home, your life, your family, and your future. He is still
in the miracle-working business, and His business is the business of
transformation.” Adrian Rogers
“We look upon the enemy of our souls as a conquered
foe, so he is, but only to God, not to us.” Oswald Chambers
“As Christ has a Gospel, satan has a gospel too; the
latter being a clever
counterfeit of the former. So closely does the gospel of satan resemble that which it
parades, multitudes of the unsaved are deceived by it.” A. W. Pink
“I do not think the devil cares how many churches
you build, if only you have lukewarm preachers and people in them.” Charles
Spurgeon
“Satan rules all men that are in his kingdom. Some
he rules through lust. Some he rules through covetousness. Some he rules
through appetite. Some he rules by their temper, but he rules them. And none
will ever seek to be delivered until they get their eyes open and see that they
have been taken captive.” D. L. Moody
If
you do not know the Lord Jesus Christ and His amazing healing power, pray this
from your heart to the Lord Jesus Christ (you speaking directly to Him), Dear
Lord Jesus, I confess to You that I am a sinner and I need Your forgiveness. I
believe You shed Your Blood and died for my sins. I believe that You rose from
the dead proving that You alone are God. I repent of my sins. I want to turn
from my sins. I ask You Dear Lord Jesus to come into my heart and take control
of my life. I want You to be my Lord, Savior, and my God. Amen...
Sincerely in Christ,
Clifford D. Tate, Sr.
Author of “Silent Assassins of the Soul - Are you
Broken by Pornography and Masturbation? You can be Restored by the Lord Jesus
Christ and brought into Deliverance, Freedom, and Victory! A Guide for Men and
Women in the Enemy’s Crosshairs” e-book available now @ Amazon Kindle, @ Apple
I Bookstore for IPod, Barnes and Noble for Nook, Reader Store for Sony Reader,
Kobo, Copia, Gardners, Baker and Taylor, and eBookPie…
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