Post by M.R. Hagerty on Aug 21, 2023 22:35:05 GMT -7
Luke 8:1-3, Matthew 12:22-30
1 Soon afterwards, He began going around from one city and village to another, proclaiming and preaching the kingdom of God. The twelve were with Him, 2 and also some women who had been healed of evil spirits and sicknesses: Mary who was called Magdalene, from whom seven demons had gone out, 3 and Joanna the wife of Chuza, Herod's steward, and Susanna, and many others who were contributing to their support out of their private means. (Luke 8:1-3)
22 Then a demon-possessed man who was blind and mute was brought to Jesus, and He healed him, so that the mute man spoke and saw. 23 All the crowds were amazed, and were saying, "This man cannot be the Son of David, can he?" 24 But when the Pharisees heard this, they said, "This man casts out demons only by Beelzebul the ruler of the demons." 25 And knowing their thoughts Jesus said to them, "Any kingdom divided against itself is laid waste; and any city or house divided against itself will not stand. 26 "If Satan casts out Satan, he is divided against himself; how then will his kingdom stand? 27 "If I by Beelzebul cast out demons, by whom do your sons cast them out? For this reason they will be your judges. 28 "But if I cast out demons by the Spirit of God, then the kingdom of God has come upon you. 29 "Or how can anyone enter the strong man's house and carry off his property, unless he first binds the strong man? And then he will plunder his house. 30 "He who is not with Me is against Me; and he who does not gather with Me scatters. (Matthew 12:22-30)
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Commentary
Luke 8:1-2
1 Soon afterwards, He began going around from one city and village to another,
From Capernaum, Jesus is now taking a tour of the adjoining towns and villages. The ancients called some of these “cities,” despite the sizes of other cities like Jerusalem, Rome or Athens; so the idea included a scope we’re not used to in modern times.
Again, the message of Jesus was the proclamation of the Kingdom of God, and we need to reiterate that its existence was not a new thing in the ears of His audience. They may have had scant understanding of it. They may not have been able to expound on it in any detail. But there was a general expectation among the majority about its eventuality. Jesus was now saying it was at hand. This drew at the very least a curiosity. The Twelve were with Him as He traveled.
2 and also some women . . . Mary who was called Magdalene, from whom seven demons had gone out,
. . Herod's steward, and Susanna, and many others who were contributing to their support out of their private means.
We see here a picture of how Jesus and the disciples made ends meet as they ministered away from their normal means of support. People recognized their itinerant mode and were quickened by God to give compassionately and in the spirit of helps.
It is not a case that Jesus would have been destitute had no one supported them. We see Him later providing tax money in the mouth of a fish. So producing the things needed was never an issue. But He chose not to employ supernatural methods and instead make opportunities for others to enter into the blessing of the work of God.
Some view this negatively – Jesus and his men were placing extra burdens on the people by occasioning sacrifice from people already in various states of need. But it is really an expression of love from God, because He is inviting them to receive blessing, not to add strain by sacrificial giving. We have every confidence that those who gave were in no wise made more destitute and would find their state improved because of their acts of charity. It is again the principle that God loves the giver and returns blessing in contrast to the pagan systems for which giving was a one-way street.
We are introduced to Mary Magdalene and some find this out of chronological sequence because they assume she is the woman caught in adultery to whom Jesus says, “Go and sin no more.” This is often the portrayal in films. But the woman is not identified in that later incident. And while she was earlier demonic, that event took place in Jerusalem, while Magdalene is here in the Galilee.
‘Magdalene’ was not her family name or cognomen. It was an epithet – something that characterized a person, like John the Baptist or the Gadarene demoniac. It may come from her association with the region of Magdala, or it may come from the Hebrew for ‘curled hair’ – an epithet for an adulterer.
We are told that the women she is with were delivered from evil spirits and Mary is notable in having seven cast out. This is mentioned as though it is a very well understood phenomena. From our perspective in modern times, it is something of the ancient past or of more recent colonial times, but never-the-less dismissed as part of a more ignorant and superstitious age. But Jesus does not attribute it to mental illness as do modern, “enlightened” people. He teaches that the devil and demon possession are very real.
Our assumption here is that these exorcisms occurred earlier when Jesus was previously in Galilee. They show their gratitude in their giving whenever He visits their area.
Another note is the person of Susanna, related to Herod’s household staff. The gospel is not specific in its appeal. It speaks to all persons regardless of stations in life. We see later the very wife of Pilate being favorably disposed toward Jesus in so much as she was personally affected about His nature in a worrisome dream.
Matthew 12:22-23
22 Then a demon-possessed man who was blind and mute was brought to Jesus, and He healed him, so that the mute man spoke and saw. 23 All the crowds were amazed, and were saying, "This man cannot be the Son of David, can he?"
We see in Jesus’ workings of miracles truly extraordinary events. He is not merely healing withered hands or making cripples walk. He was correcting conditions so beyond normal remedies to which the afflicted were resigned to their fate, as a man in prison merely awaiting his inevitable death in chains.
We can’t begin to imagine what life would be like being blind and unable to speak. For those who were mute, they could use their hands to gesture and convey needs and words to others. But sight would be indispensable. You had to see to control and validate your gestures. You had to see to evaluate the effectiveness or lack thereof in others.
So to be also blind would be a physical indictment of unimaginable despair and frustration, total dependence on others, and constant disappointment in misunderstandings because one could not communicate.
The bitterness in this, knowing that all those around you had their faculties in tact while you were being denied them, could easily shake a fist toward heaven. You may not be a tool of any use to the devil, but keeping you in your hatred of God and compensating by various demonic pleasures ensured that you would be one more soul the Almighty would not get.
But the devil overlooked the Jesus factor. Into this scene steps Jesus to upset all the devil’s plans. All three conditions were remedied in a single moment. He was freed from the demons that plagued him and both his sight and voice were now available for Godly purposes. His life of service to Satan was now a season past. A new life was now opened before Him, one he had never been able to know before.
The wording of the witnesses to this event is noteworthy. They do not say, “This man is the Son of David.” – the positive form. Instead, they are voicing the negative form - “This man cannot be the Son of David, can he?” - which first actually poses the doubts and skepticism circulating around.
This is simply a form that affirms the positive but does so from an assumption in the negative. It’s like saying, “Darth Vader can’t be Luke’s father, can he?” It’s an acknowledgment that he is, but from incredulity.
Jesus later helps people with this decision point by saying, “though you do not believe Me, believe the works, so that you may know and understand that the Father is in Me, and I in the Father." (John 10:38)
Matthew 12:24-25
24 But when the Pharisees heard this, they said, "This man casts out demons only by Beelzebul the ruler of the demons."
The local Pharisees are now stuck. They cannot deny miracles are being performed. They cannot deny these are marks of Messiah’s coming. They cannot deny relatively ignorant people are connecting the dots. But they are loath to authenticate any of this because it will mean the disenfranchisement of their whole system, agreement with John’s cutting indictments against them, and that Jesus’ doctrine is in fact right. There is only one avenue of escape: attribute these things to the only other power that works supernaturally – the devil.
Beelzebul is alternatively named Beelzebub in some translations. It is a window into the very real appreciation that ancients had for demonic forces, in having incidents of the past where the names of demons actually became known and that there was a hierarchy.
We must be cautious in assuming that the Bible is itself stating a direct fact that such a demon with this name exists. This is always presented as the beliefs of the people being quoted. But we can draw the probability of its reality from the lack of correction from Jesus – He engages them about Beelzebul as though the name is real. We also have considerable confidence from circumstantial facts - that demons speak through their hosts, and that the name could have reasonably become known that way.
25 And knowing their thoughts Jesus said to them, "Any kingdom divided against itself is laid waste . . “
Jesus doesn’t here deny the existence of Beelzebul or that the demon would be an alternate explanation of supernatural events. He simply asks them to look at the logic attending these events, which ought to inform them which is right. If Satan is the author of the power they see, and he is the one who created the circumstances needing the application of that power, Satan would be working against himself.
Where there is division in a kingdom, a conquerer has an advantage for laying it waste. Division means the undermining of its purposes, and here Satan casting out himself is contradictory. It is like a person building a house part of the day and tearing it down for the remainder. The utter silliness of this proposition in the ears of the people and the Pharisees themselves exposes them as simply reaching. It posits them as actually working against the will of God, whom they claim to be serving. The embarrassment of being exposed as self-serving is now rampant, and yet there follows another instance that furthers their hatred.
Matthew 12:29-30
29 "Or how can anyone enter the strong man's house and carry off his property, unless he first binds the strong man? And then he will plunder his house.
Jesus extends this with another analogy. It is needful to nail down the necessity that Satan had to bind himself in the explanation of the Pharisees by pointing out that you can’t enter to plunder a man’s goods if you have nothing in your plans that involves immobilizing him first. Since Satan would not do this, the only explanation left is that it is of God.
30 "He who is not with Me is against Me; and he who does not gather with Me scatters.
This is the principle piece of logic that is inescapable about Jesus in all ages. We can develop clever explanations and coping strategies that make this all merely a philosophy up for consideration - great words from a great teacher. Apply them or not as you see fit.
But Jesus gives no such option. He forces a decision by proclaiming that indolence or postponement after specific knowledge is a decision, not a postponement. One cannot deceive themselves by being neutral, therefore safe by not overtly rejecting. Those who will claim they never cognitively rejected Christ will be told that they did so by not accepting Him. To postpone acceptance is rejection, and the horror of this is that there will be no clever arguments entertained. This will be the fact of the matter.
This seems harsh, but this is not philosophy where issues are merely academic. Life is precarious, always on the verge of being cut short by calamity. One’s eternal destiny is but a fatal accident away. No matter what our rationalizations, all men face a day in Court to account for their lives. That will become the sudden reality, no matter what a person may choose to believe or ignore. It can be remedied to the good by engaging Christ for who He is and how He affects that date in Court.