The Reality of Demon Possession , Why Deliverance is Possible, and the Logic of the Christian Faith! - Matthew 12:22-28

Jesus and Beelzebul

Jesus not only healed people of sickness and disease, but also of demon possession. We might call this a spiritual illness. The people in the story, having seen Jesus heal all the others they had brought to him, had just enough faith to bring to him the demon possessed man.  This shows us that demon possession is real and not just something that Hollywood has made up with movies like the "Exorcist".  

22 Then they brought him a demon-possessed man who was blind and mute, and Jesus healed him, so that he could both talk and see. 

Verse 22 is almost matter of fact.  They brought to him a demon possessed man, who as a result of the possession could not talk or see.  Note demons have power to affect us physically.  

"Many, no doubt, supposed these defects to be merely natural: but the Spirit of God saw otherwise, and gives the true account, both of the disorder and the cure. How many other disorders, seemingly natural, may even now be owing to the same cause." (Benson)

And Jesus healed him instantly so that the natural faculties which were lost were immediately restored.

23 All the people were astonished and said, “Could this be the Son of David?”

"Son of David" is a specific reference to the Messiah. It relates to the Davidic Covenant, which promised there would never fail to be a king on the throne of Israel from the line of David.  

This comes directly from Isaiah 35:5.

"And when he comes, he will open the eyes of the blind and unplug the ears of the deaf." (NLT)

24 But when the Pharisees heard this, they said, “It is only by Beelzebul, the prince of demons, that this fellow drives out demons.”

Due to the obvious manifestion of God's power through Jesus, the Pharisees needed to try and discount and disprove the miracle he had done right away.  Notice as well, they don't even see the connection to the prophecy from Isaiah.  If they were so well versed in the Old Testament it is hard to imagine why they would be so blind to the fulfillment of this prophecy and many others to follow in the upcoming days.  

In addtion, their argument was really weak and circular in nature.  In trying to explain the miracle, they admit it really happened. 

"Jesus logically observed that it makes no sense for Satan to cast out Satan. The Pharisees needed to explain how Satan benefited by the work Jesus had just done." (Guzik)

25 Jesus knew their thoughts and said to them, “Every kingdom divided against itself will be ruined, and every city or household divided against itself will not stand. 

Jesus' discernment from the Holy Spirit showed that he knew their thoughts and why their commentary was fallacious. 

26 If Satan drives out Satan, he is divided against himself. How then can his kingdom stand? 

Again, their argument is really convoluted.  Guzik and Poole say, 

"Jesus logically observed that it makes no sense for Satan to cast out Satan. The Pharisees needed to explain how Satan benefited by the work Jesus had just done." (Guizk)

“One devil may yield and give place to another, to gain a greater advantage for the whole society, but one never quarrelleth with another.” (Poole)

27 And if I drive out demons by Beelzebul, by whom do your people drive them out? So then, they will be your judges.

Jesus again exposes how illogical they are in their thinking.  It reminds us that you can't thwart God's purposes, or God's logic.  Being the Son of God, Jesus' intellect and reasoning powers were far superior to the Pharisees attempt to discredit the divine intervention they had just witnessed.  

The evil one is always trying to use lies to minimize or discredit when God's kingdom comes on earth as it is in heaven.  Paul says it like this in 2 Corinthians 10:5, 

"We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ."

"Jesus asked a question based on their (wrong) premise that He operated by Satan’s power. If that were true, then how did their own Jewish exorcists cast them out?" Guzik

 28 But if it is by the Spirit of God that I drive out demons, then the kingdom of God has come upon you.

This was the only logical conclusion to what just happened.  Since they had acknowledged the demon possession had occured, there were only a couple of options they could put forth.  Jesus proves it could only have happeneed through the Spirit of God who lives in Him.  And if this has happened, then God's kingdom has visited earth through him.  

This fulfilled what John the Baptist said when he first saw Jesus, "Repent the kingdom of God has drawn near." 

The Christian faith is logical.  

It is logical that God created the world.  How else can you or would you want to explain it? Every other explanation is far inferior and also meaningles  

It is logical that if God created the world, He created us.  

It is logical if He created humankind, he would want to create them in a way that reflected who He was and someone with whom He could share His Creation with.  

It is logical that He should give them free will so they would not be robots and that they might choose not to acknowledge Him or deny.  Forced love is not love at all.

It is logical that if man came to deny or disobey him, he would need to reconcile this broken relationship    

It is logical that because of God's great love for  His Created ones, He would do everything possible to reconcile this broken relationship while still maintaining His just character.  If God were not just He could not be God. 

It is logical that the only way he could do this was by visiting the earth himself and dying on a cross so that debt of sin could be paid for by the one who was sinless.  If Jesus were sinful and not sinless, he could have to pay for his own sin.

It is logical that only God in the person of Jesus could be sinless. If he were only a man he would be sinful

It is logical that though the Son of God died as a human being, because the Spirit of God lived in him that he could and would be raised from the dead.

It is logical that the only explanation of the empty tomb is the literal, physical resurrection of Jesus Chirst.  All other theories are illogical, especially the argument of the transformation of the disciples and their willingness to die for their eyewitness accounts of the resurrection. 

It is logical because our Creator's great love for all the world that we today would also come to faith in Jesus through the faithful witness of all the saints throughout the ages.  

It is logical that when we die, like Jesus because the Spirit of God lives in us we will live for ever in heaven!

Though we walk by faith, what we believe in as Christians makes sense.  It is plausible.  When you truly look at other religions, their truth claims always break down and don't make sense if you really analyze them.  God wants us to come to us by faith because faith is relational.  God wants us to trust us in Him and His Son, just like any earthly parent would want their son or daughter to trust in them.  

Like the religious leaders in Jesus' day, people will try to discredit God's kingdom coming here on earth as it is in heaven through the Church today. When God's kingdom comes on earth as it is in heaven, the only way to truly explain it is the Spirit of God dwelling and working in and through us.  In this way God continues his penultimate purpose to reveal Himself through our Savior Jesus to the whole world!

Finally, it is logical that when God's plan is fulfilled He would return to earth in Great and Promised Glory!  This is most certainly true!