It seems crazy to us, but when the Pharisees witnessed Jesus’ obviously divine power, a power that He used time and time again to bless and heal the poor and sick, they somehow came to the conclusion that He did all these things because He was wicked. In fact, verse 24 says that just because Jesus didn’t agree with all the details of their own interpretation of the Law of Moses, the Pharisees had convinced themselves that He was using the power of Satan to cast out Satan’s demons.

Now, what kind of sense did that make? After all, if Jesus’ power had in fact come from Satan, He certainly wouldn’t have used it to attack Satan’s allies. As He explains in verse 25, no kingdom can possibly survive that sort of infighting, as we increasingly polarized Americans are coming to realize only too clearly.

No, as Jesus reminds us in verse 29, even common criminals know that the only way to rob a strong man’s house is to tie him up first to keep him from stopping you. Every soldier knows that the only way for an army to win a war is to join together and fight against the enemy, not one another. So, it should have been obvious to those Pharisees that when Jesus was casting out demons, He was lining up on God’s side, not standing with Satan. So, why couldn’t they see that?

Because, just like the man from whom Jesus removed the demon in verse 22, they were blind: blind to the love and the truth of God. In fact, their vision of Jesus was so distorted that they could look at the power of the Holy Spirit in Him and see only Satan. And Jesus explains that those who see the holy as demonic, those who attribute the work of the Holy Spirit to Satan will not be forgiven. It therefore seems that there is a certain level of spiritual blindness that cannot be healed. It seems that someone can reject the truth of Christ and the power of the Holy Spirit so firmly that repentance is no longer an option. We may not understand exactly where the spiritual point of no return lies, but such a fearful prospect is nothing to dismiss easily or take lightly.

And Jesus makes it clear that there is no middle ground in the spiritual war that rages all around us. For Jesus explains that if we are not gathering people into His Kingdom, we are actually scattering them away from Him into the arms of Satan. We are either healthy trees bearing good fruit for the Lord or we are dying trees bearing diseased fruit for Satan, regardless of what our intentions may be or what excuses we may try to make.

So today, whose side are we really on? And can the people who are watching and listening to us tell where our true loyalties lie?

Matthew 12:22-37 (NASB)

22 Then there was brought to Him a demon-possessed man who was blind and dumb, and He healed him, so that the dumb man spoke and saw.
23 And all the multitudes were amazed, and began to say, “This man cannot be the Son of David, can he?”
24 But when the Pharisees heard it, they said, “This man casts out demons only by Beelzebul the ruler of the demons.”
25 And knowing their thoughts He said to them, “Any kingdom divided against itself is laid waste; and any city or house divided against itself shall not stand.
26 “And if Satan casts out Satan, he is divided against himself; how then shall his kingdom stand?
27 “And if I by Beelzebul cast out demons, by whom do your sons cast them out? Consequently they shall 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.
31 “Therefore I say to you, any sin and blasphemy shall be forgiven men, but blasphemy against the Spirit shall not be forgiven.
32 “And whoever shall speak a word against the Son of Man, it shall be forgiven him; but whoever shall speak against the Holy Spirit, it shall not be forgiven him, either in this age, or in the age to come.
33 “Either make the tree good, and its fruit good; or make the tree bad, and its fruit bad; for the tree is known by its fruit.
34 “You brood of vipers, how can you, being evil, speak what is good? For the mouth speaks out of that which fills the heart.
35 “The good man out of his good treasure brings forth what is good; and the evil man out of his evil treasure brings forth what is evil.
36 “And I say to you, that every careless word that men shall speak, they shall render account for it in the day of judgment.
37 “For by your words you shall be justified, and by your words you shall be condemned.”