THE opposition of the Pharisees continues, and in the verses we are considering now and on to verse 45 we learn of the eternally lost condition of the Pharisees. This should be a salutatory warning to all.

Jesus has a demon-possessed man brought to him. The manifestation of this demon possession was that the man was blind and mute. Demon possession was common in the time of Jesus, and this was to be expected as Satan fought back to hold on to his kingdom which Christ came to destroy. Jesus heals this man. He casts out the devils. The man has his sight and speech restored. He is delivered from the demons which dwelt in him. This amazing power and authority made people who saw it astonished, and begin to think the truth about Jesus – that he was the Messiah, descended from David. This infuriated the Pharisees. They saw their power, influence and authority threatened. So they sought to discredit this act of Jesus with all its implications. To do this they attributed the power of Jesus to his being in league with the devil and doing Satan's work. It is amazing the lengths some will go to bolster up their unbelief and hate of Jesus.

There are several things we can learn from this bit of history. The first is the reality of Satan as the prince of devils with myriads of lesser devils doing his work. We do not see devil possession much today, at least in the UK, as it was present in the time of Jesus, but the fact of this devil possession is ample proof of the existence of the Satan. Jesus never disputes the reality of Satan and his kingdom in all this dialog. Jesus accepts that Satan exists and is ruler in a kingdom, and has power over his subjects. We have a statement of this truth found in the Bible in that Satan is said to be the god of this world, and that the world lies under his dominion. It is the folly of our present times that the existence of the devil and his authority in the world is denied or ignored, and so there is no explanation for all the evil deeds that are happening all the time around the world. The Bible tells us that we are all born in Satan's kingdom by natural birth and that we can only be saved and delivered from it by Christ. So when we become Christians by faith in Christ, this experience is described in the Bible as being translated from the kingdom of the world into the kingdom of Christ. This is salvation.

Jesus demonstrates his mission in coming into the world by his healing of this demon possessed man. He came to save people from the power of the devil. Jesus tells the Pharisees this truth in verse 28 where he says, “But if I drive out demons by the Spirit of God, then the kingdom of God has come upon you.”

Jesus opens the kingdom of heaven to all believers. Both Jesus and John the Baptist preached repentance, because the kingdom of God was near. The kingdom of God is near all of us since Jesus came, and this is what infuriates the devil, because all who will repent and believe in Jesus are delivered from Satan and brought into to the kingdom of heaven by new birth of their soul and spirit.

We have demonstration, in this healing of the demon-possessed man of the complete power of Jesus over Satan. The devils could not resist Jesus but had to obey him. Let us take comfort from this which assures that Jesus is the complete Saviour from the devil and all his works for all who trust in him. The fact that Jesus knew what the Pharisees were thinking also reveals his power as the divine Son of God, only begotten of the Father.

Jesus points out the absurdity and inconsistency of the Pharisees. It is absurd to suggest Satan would cast out demons, for he would be destroying his own work and bringing down his kingdom thereby. The Pharisees were inconsistent because they accepted that those who claimed to be successful exorcists in their followers were not doing Satan's work. If the Pharisees charge against Jesus was correct then it was a charge which held good for their exorcists. If their exorcists were not in league with the devil, how could Jesus be. The Pharisees were judged by their own followers.