Bible Study series: Matthew 12:22-30. He bound or tied up Satan. Now we followers of Jesus can walk in victory, in his name.
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In this post, links are provided for further study.
Let’s begin.
Scripture: Matthew 12:23-30
22 Then at that time a demonized blind and mute man was brought to him, and he healed him, so that the mute man spoke and saw. 23 All the crowds were amazed and were saying, “Is this man, perhaps, the son of David?” 24 But the Pharisees, when they heard, said, “This man does not expel demons except by Beelzebub, the ruler of demons!” 25 But knowing their thoughts, he said to them, “Every kingdom divided against itself is laid waste, and every town or household divided against itself shall not stand. 26 And so if Satan is expelling Satan, he has become divided against himself. How then shall his kingdom stand? 27 But if I expel demons by Beelzebub, by whom do your followers expel them? For this reason, they themselves shall be your judges. 28 But if by the Spirit of God I expel demons, then the kingdom of God has come upon you.
29 Or how can anyone enter a strong man’s house and plunder his property, unless he first ties up the strong man? Then he shall plunder his house. 30 Anyone who is not with me is against me, and anyone who does not gather with me scatters.” (Matt. 12:23-30)
Comments:
Don’t be afraid to stand toe to toe with deceived people who are falsely accusing you in public. Don’t slink away. See v. 24 for more discussion.
22:
“demonized”: the one verb is translated simply. There are two main ways in the Greek NT to express demonic attacks to varying degrees, from full possession to just attacks: “have a demon” and “demonized.” The latter term is used often in Matthew: 4:24; 8:16, 28, 35; 9:32; 12:22; 15:22, but only once in Luke (8:36), and Mark four times (1:32; 5:15, 16, 18). John uses the term once (10:21). In Luke 8:26-39, Luke uses both “have a demon” and “demonized,” so he sees the terms synonymously. “Demonized” comes from the verb daimonizomai (pronounced dy-mo-nee-zo-my), which just adds the suffix –iz to the noun daimōn (pronounced dy-moan). It is a very convenient quality about Greek (English has this ability too: modern to modernize). Just add this suffix to a noun, and it turns into a verb. So it looks like “have a demon” and “be demonized” are synonyms. The context determines how severe the possession was.
“healed”: see v. 15 for more details.
23:
Once again, the crowds marvel or are amazed at the miracles Jesus did for the benefit of humanity. They are just now beginning to wake up. Could this man, perhaps, be the son of David? (Thanks to Grammarian Olmstead for his insights on this translation. Excellent.) But the Pharisees were victims of irony (see v. 19 for more information about that word).
“Son of David” was a popular Messianic title; it reflects the future age when the eyes of the blind would be opened and the ears of the deaf would be unstopped and the lame would leap like a deer (Is. 35:5:5-6). Jesus was ushering it in right now, in part. Later in his ministry he will correct the popular view and say that if the Messiah really was David’s son, then why does David call him Lord (Matt. 22:41-46)?
3. Titles of Jesus: The Son of David and the Messiah
5 The Kingdom of God: Already Here, But Not Yet Fully
24:
“Pharisees”: see v. 2 for more information about them.
Don’t slink away from a public conflict. First-century Israel was an honor-and-shame society. Verbal and active confrontations happened often. See vv. 6-8 for more comments.
“expel”: it literally means to “throw out.” It is the same verb throughout this pericope (pronounced peh-RIH-coh-pea) or section. Be sure to use your authority in Christ to throw out a demon from a person where the evil spirit does not belong.
See my post deliverance:
Bible Basics about Deliverance
The false accusation reflects the meanness of soul, a shriveled mind. “Let me think about it! How could a man who was obviously not from God expel demons? I got it! By the ruler or prince of demons!” Wrong. And Jesus is about to show, by intelligent reasoning, why they are wrong.
“ruler of demons”: these are the words of his critics, so are the words reliable? Is Satan really the ruler of demons? Yes. He heads up the demonic kingdom that is invisible to our eyes, but which manifests itself in cases like the mute man.
“Beelzebub”: This is another name for Satan (v. 18). It probably comes from the Canaanite deity Baal-Zebub (2 Kings 1:2, 3, 6, 16), or it may refer to the dwelling of Baal, the Hebrew word zebul, meaning “residence” or “palace.” So it means “lord of the high abode” or “prince Baal.” Matt. 9:34 calls him prince or ruler of demons. Jesus called him the prince of this world (John 14:30). Paul calls him the god of this word or age (2 Cor. 4:4).
See my posts about Satan in the area of systematic theology:
Bible Basics about Satan and Demons and Victory Over Them
And these posts for practical ministry:
Bible Basics about Deliverance
Magic, Witchcraft, Sorcery, and Fortunetelling
25:
Jesus could read their thoughts or motives and perceive what they were seeking: a contest of honor and shame.
First, he speaks of a general principle. A kingdom divided against itself cannot stand. Nor can a household divided against itself stand. Self-division is destructive, while unity and a common purpose is constructive.
26:
Rome was powerful and feared no army, but they did fear civil war. Then devastation would reign.
Now Jesus applies the general principle. If Satan expels Satan, then his kingdom would be divided against himself and itself. That’s too dysfunctional and self-destructive even for Satan. Even he himself can figure that out. But not Jesus’ critics, for they were too obtuse to make such calculations about the authority and purpose of Jesus. Once again, they had shriveled and even evil minds.
We learn from this passage that Satan has a kingdom that corresponds to countless numbers of worldly kingdoms run by humans (v. 17). So there are three kingdoms (1) God’s, (2) Satan’s, (3) and humanity’s (many of them are kingdoms; others Republics). God wants to guide—as distinct from theocratically ruling over—the third kingdoms towards righteousness and justice and light, so he gave them moral law, which is figured out by reason and conscience. The best path for worldly kingdoms is for reason and conscience to then implement moral law by legislation, so they will have no more injustice, like slavery or joblessness, because the economy booms with liberty and life. The problem is that Satan wants to rule over the third kingdoms and absolutely control them. He does this by blinding leaders with all sorts of human vices, like greed and oppression and extermination. Any society that practices extermination is on the side of Satan. Any nation that practices slavery—or used to practice slavery—was listening to Satan within that singular policy (but not entirely wrongheaded about other issues, like liberty and freedom of the press and freedom of religion and so on). However, the third, human-ruled kingdoms have enough evil people in them that Satan does not need to work very hard to implement his evil oppression. All he has to do is nudge people.
The best news is that eventually, when God sees that the time is right, he will send his Son a second time, and he will sweep aside all worldly kingdoms and set up his lasting kingdom. But right now, we his followers have to fight for truth and righteousness and most of all for the salvation of people’s souls and hearts.
27:
If he, hypothetically, were to expel demons by Beelzebub, then by whom do the critics’ followers (literally “sons”) expel them? The honest answer is that the followers of the critics do not expel them by Beelzebub; therefore, Jesus does not expel them by Beelzebub, either. The critics’ followers will be the judges of his critics.
“Exorcisms in the first century was a thriving business, both in pagan and Jewish societies. Those performing it would employ complex incantations (which they said came from Solomon), magical charms, and even visual effects … so Jesus is saying that their practices would be endangered as well. There is an implicit contrast between Jesus (‘I’) and the ‘sons’ of the Pharisees, for Jesus needed only an authoritative word. Jesus’ deeds are superior to theirs, as seen in 9:33 when the crowd said, ‘Nothing like this has ever been seen in Israel.’ If Jesus’ superior power comes from Satan, how much more their inferior authority” (Osborne, comment on 12:27). But Jesus’s unprecedented authority came from God.
28:
However, if Jesus expels demons by the Spirit of God, then the kingdom of God has come upon them. So one must have the fulness of the Spirit to watch the finger of God expel demons.
Here are some of my posts on a more formal doctrine of the Spirit (systematic theology):
The Spirit’s Deity and Divine Attributes
The Spirit in the Life of Christ
The Spirit in the Church and Believers
The word “come” speaks of immediacy or imminence. The kingdom has arrived with the advent of the son of David (Olmstead, p. 290). But the kingdom of God has not come in its full manifestation and power, which will shatter the entire earth (so to speak), at his Second Coming.
“Although many Pharisees apparently rejected miracles as proof of truth …, Jesus summons them to consider an alternative explanation for his miracles, namely, that the promised time of the Spirit and the kingdom have come on the scene. Indeed the Greek construction here might be bettered rendered, ‘since I drive out demons by the Spirit, the kingdom has come on the scene’” (Keener, p. 364).
“kingdom”: As noted in other verses that mention the kingdom in this commentary, the kingdom is God’s power, authority, rule, reign and sovereignty. He exerts all those things over all the universe but more specifically over the lives of people. It is his invisible realm, and throughout the Gospels Jesus is explaining and demonstrating what it looks like before their very eyes and ears. It is gradually being manifested from the realm of faith to the visible realm, but it is not political in the human sense. It is a secret kingdom because it does not enter humanity with trumpets blaring and full power and glory. This grand display will happen when Jesus comes back. In his first coming, it woos people to surrender to it. We can enter God’s kingdom by being born again (John 3:3, 5), by repenting (Matt. 4:17; Mark 1:5), by having the faith of children (Matt. 18:4; Mark 10:14-15), by being transferred from the kingdom of darkness into the kingdom of the Son whom God loves (Col. 1:13), and by seeing their own poverty and need for the kingdom (Matt. 5:3; Luke 6:20; Jas. 2:5). The kingdom has already come in part at his First Coming, but not yet with full manifestation and glory and power until his Second Coming.
5 The Kingdom of God: Already Here, But Not Yet Fully
Bible Basics about the Kingdom of God
Questions and Answers about Kingdom of God
Basic Definition of Kingdom of God
1 Introducing the Kingdom of God (begin a ten-part series)
29:
The strong man is Satan, and the stronger man is Jesus (the stronger man is implied; cf. Luke 11:22). Jesus invades the domain of Satan and overpowers and conquers him. Now what does the conquering Lord do? He plunders or robs and distributes his plunder or spoils of war. What are Satan’s spoils? One commentator says things like salvation and the Holy Spirit, but this is impossible, since they are not Satan’s possessions. So what is the plunder? You and me. He rescues us and takes us out of Satan’s domains. Now Jesus distributes us where he wills in the new kingdom of God. Yes, Satan is strong, so never underestimate his power and authority to make people’s lives miserable. However, never underestimate Jesus’s victory over him now and ultimately over his entire house or kingdom. Demon expulsion is the key sign in Jesus’s ministry that Satan was losing his grip and power. Jesus’s kingdom is forcefully advancing (11:12).
21 On that day the Lord will punish
the host of heaven, in heaven,
and the kings of the earth, on the earth.
22 They will be gathered together
as prisoners in a pit;
they will be shut up in a prison,
and after many days they will be punished. (Is. 24:21-22, ESV)
“That day” typically refers to the wrap-up of the entire age, the final day. The host of heaven may refer to elemental principles that have a life of their own, in a spiritual sense—evil invisible beings.
Can plunder be taken from warriors,
or captives be rescued from the fierce?
25 But this is what the Lord says:
“Yes, captives will be taken from warriors,
and plunder retrieved from the fierce;
I will contend with those who contend with you,
and your children I will save. (Is. 49:24-25, NIV)
The NT clarifies them as satanic (Eph. 6:12).
12 For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places. (Eph. 6:12, ESV)
Right now, before the last day, we have victory over them because of Christ’s work on the cross:
13 And you, who were dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made alive together with him, having forgiven us all our trespasses, 14 by canceling the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands. This he set aside, nailing it to the cross. 15 He disarmed the rulers and authorities and put them to open shame, by triumphing over them in him. (Col. 2:13-15, ESV)
Verse 15 is the important one for us here. On the cross, he disarmed the invisible rulers and authorities. We now have victory over the strong man, by Jesus’s death, and in his name.
“In establishing the first stage of his kingdom Jesus had already defeated the devil and had delegated his authority over evil spirits to those who were truly his followers, those submitted to his reign (Mt 10:8). The final ‘binding’ of Satan in early Jewish and Christian eschatology awaits the devil’s future defeat (cf. 13:30; Rev. 20:2 … ), perhaps suggesting that his binding before the end of the age may have caught him by surprise (cf. 8:29)” (Keener, p. 365).
30:
Now is the time for choosing. If you don’t follow him right now, you won’t do it later. If you are not with him, you oppose him. It’s cut and dry, right now. And if you don’t gather with him right now, you will scatter and run away. And in your life now, when you don’t have a personal and deep and submitted relationship with him, then you will run away from him when times get tough.
GrowApp for Matt. 12:22-30
1. Have you ever been badly misunderstood? How did you handle it? Or have you ever badly misunderstood someone else? How did you make things right?
2. How did you gather with Jesus after you had scattered? What is your story?
RELATED
9. Authoritative Testimony in Matthew’s Gospel
1. Church Fathers and Matthew’s Gospel
2. Archaeology and the Synoptic Gospels
14. Similarities among John’s Gospel and the Synoptic Gospels
1. The Historical Reliability of the Gospels: Introduction to Series
SOURCES
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