He Knows
Wednesday, January 6, 2021
As we continue with more of the questions Jesus asked, let’s keep in mind that Jesus never asked a question He didn’t know the answer to. And He, being God the Son, certainly didn’t need an answer from human beings. His questions contained a lesson, or they were designed to lead us to think about crucial, eternal issues, like the value of our soul, and so on.
Question #1: “How can anyone enter a strong man’s house and take hold of his possessions unless he first ties up the strong man?” (Matt 12:29)
Matthew 12:22-29:
“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. 23 All the people were astonished and said, “Could this be the Son of David?”
24 But when the Pharisees heard this, they said, “It is only by Beelzebul, the prince of demons, that this fellow drives out demons.”
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. 26 If Satan drives out Satan, he is divided against himself. How then can his kingdom stand? 27 And if I drive out demons by Beelzebul, by whom do your people drive them out? So then, they will be your judges. 28 But if it is by the Spirit of God that I drive out demons, then the kingdom of God has come upon you.”
29 “Or again, how can anyone enter a strong man’s house and carry off his possessions unless he first ties up the strong man? Then he can plunder his house.”
Now, we see that Jesus’s question came on the heels of the Pharisees literally accusing Him of witchcraft. They claimed that He drove demons out by accessing the devil himself, Beelzebub, to do it.
Jesus’s first response is to logically tear apart their claim. How or why would Satan destroy his own kingdom? Why would Satan drive his own demons out of someone they’d been sent to possess? Ridiculous, said Jesus.
Then next, He points out that since He is driving out demons by the Spirit of God, the kingdom of God had come upon them through the very Person standing before them!
And then came the question we want to consider. This is actually a very brief parable. The strong man is the devil. His house represents the lives of those suffering under his awful power, like the people Jesus had been setting free. The One who ties up the strong man is Jesus Himself. The goods that He carries away are the souls of men redeemed by His shed blood!
The message of this parable is that there is only one person in all the universe that can set us free from Satan’s power—the anointed Messiah, Jesus Christ!
Isaiah 61:1
“The Spirit of the Lord God is upon Me, Because the Lord has anointed Me To preach good tidings to the poor; He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, To proclaim liberty to the captives …”
Notes
Question #2: “How is it that you seek praise from one another and not seek the praise that comes from God?” (John 5:44)
John 5:40-44
“But you are not willing to come to Me that you may have life.
41 “I do not receive honor from men. 42 But I know you, that you do not have the love of God in you. 43 I have come in My Father’s name, and you do not receive Me; if another comes in his own name, him you will receive. 44 How can you believe, who receive honor from one another, and do not seek the honor that comes from the only God?”
He starts out by saying that He, Jesus, was not out for the praise of men. Our Lord only sought the smile of the Father on His life. The fear of man, the Bible says, is a snare. You and I will never be able to please God if we live our lives for the praise of men.
In other words, you won’t come to Him by faith if you’re more concerned with the applause of men. Fear of man will hinder you from confessing your sins, turning to Christ, and living out a redeemed lifestyle!
So the lesson for us in this probing question from Jesus is that, in order to obtain heaven’s blessing and redemption, we must shun the fear of man and care only for the applause of heaven!
Notes
Question #3: “If even the smallest things are beyond your control, why are you anxious about the rest?” (Luke 12:26 NASB)
This question is found in Jesus’s Sermon on the Mount. He spends a good amount of time discussing the futility of worry. Four times in Matthew 6, Jesus says “Don’t worry”—about provision issues, about tomorrow, or even about the way God made you.
Now, in this particular verse I want you to notice an insight Jesus gives about worry. Worry is about wanting to be in control of things. Worry slips in when we’re afraid something is going to happen beyond our control.
He even uses an absurdity to make a point. Can you, Jesus asked, grow in height by worrying about being too short? Of course the answer is, no!
So Jesus’s question carries a message, and it’s this: Worry does not put you in control of what you can’t control in the first place! Essentially, He’s saying “Give all your concerns to God and then relax in His care!”
I have learned along the way that very, very little is in my control. I can’t control what people say or do. I can’t control the weather. I can’t control the economy. I can’t control most things. But everything is in God’s control!
“For the kingdom is the Lord’s, and He rules over the nations,” and “… and in Him all things hold together” (Ps. 22:28; Col. 1:17).