A conversation with Jesus and religious but hypocritical leaders...

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The last half of Matthew 12 is a confrontation Jesus had with two groups of Pharisees.  Pharisees were the religious leaders of the day. 

In Matthew 23 Jesus calls the Pharisees hypocrites. 

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• In Matthew 12:22-23 Jesus healed a demon possessed man so that he could speak and see.
• In Matthew 12:24 the Pharisees accused Jesus of getting his power from Satan, the prince of demons.
• In Matthew 12:25 we read, “Jesus knew their thoughts…”
• Jesus tells these leaders that He has authority over the devil.

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 “For who is powerful enough to enter the house of a strong man like Satan and plunder his goods? 

Only someone even stronger—someone who could tie him up and then plunder his house.”

 

​Matthew 12:29

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Scripture tells us that one reason Jesus came to earth was to destroy the works of the devil.  In Matthew 12:29 he is telling the religious, but not believing men, that He, Jesus, is powerful enough to plunder and tie up Satan. 

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Jesus calls these religious but hypocritical leaders evil

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In Matthew 12:38 we read that some teachers of religious law and Pharisees came to speak with Jesus.  They wanted to see a performance of his powers for the wrong motives.

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In verse 39 Jesus, knowing their thoughts, tells them that only an evil, adulterous generation would demand such a thing. 

Evil, because they had no intention of believing in Him and their adultery could have been spiritual or physical.  Spiritual adultery is worshiping anything more than Jesus.

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Jesus tells these leaders what unclean spirits will do to the evil

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The verses in Matthew 12:43-45 are quite interesting.   Jesus was not politically correct.  Look closely as Jesus calls these leaders evil.  Next, he gives a graphic description of what demons do to the evil.​

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• An unclean spirit can leave a person.
• An unclean spirit goes places.
• An unclean spirit can seek rest and find none.
• An unclean spirit can speak, reason, and make decisions.
• An unclean spirit can return and find its former person it lived in.
• An unclean spirit can find more spirits, spirits more evil than him.
• All of the demons can enter and live in the person.
• The person will be worse off than before because many unclean spirits are living in him.

And then Jesus tells the religious that this will be the experience of this evil generation.  And guess what— most of these leaders turn a deaf ear toward Jesus’ words and reject him as their Lord and Savior. This is not Jesus’ choice, it is theirs.

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Here we see Jesus warning the religious of what is going to happen if they don’t repent and turn to him as Lord and Savior.  Jesus loved these people.  You can read in Matthew 23:37 Jesus says, “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem,… HOW OFTEN I HAVE WANTED TO GATHER YOUR CHILDREN TOGETHER AS A HEN PROTECTS HER CHICKS BENEATH HER WINGS, BUT YOU WOULDN’T LET ME.”

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Scary stuff isn’t it?  It is for me.  My heart aches for those who refuse to believe in Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior.

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We will be protected from the devil because of our relationship with Jesus

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Throughout the gospels we see that Jesus cleansed many people of demons. We are only protected from the devil when Jesus Christ is our Lord and Savior.   By the power of the blood of Jesus and by the power of the name of Jesus Christ, the enemy has no power over us.  Once and for all cleansed, the demons can’t come back.

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As a side note, as believers in Jesus Christ, the devil cannot enter and live in us, but he is allowed to torment, tempt, and accuse.  Our life on earth is a battle against evil rulers and authorities of the unseen world, against mighty powers in this dark world, and against evil spirits in the heavenly places. ​

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"With God’s armor we can resist the enemy in the time of evil."  ​

Ephesians 6:12-13