In Matthew 12, Jesus performed two miracles. He healed a man with a deformed, shriveled hand, restoring it to normal. Then he met with a man who was possessed by a demon and couldn't speak or see. Jesus drove the demon away and the man's senses returned.
He did it on a Sabbath day when it was unlawful for Jews to work. The Pharisees had been following Jesus around and looking for ways to incriminate him. They antagonized him by challenging him to perform supernatural acts of mercy on a holy day, in order to break the Law of Moses.
When Jesus drove the demon from the possessed man, the Pharisees accused him of being an agent of Satan himself.
But when the Pharisees heard this, they said, "It is only by Beelzebul, the prince of demons, that this
fellow drives out demons."
Jesus knew their thoughts and said to them, "Every kingdom divided against itself will be ruined, and
and every city or household divided against itself will not stand. If Satan drives out Satan, he is divided
against himself. How then can his kingdom stand? And if I drive out demons by Beelzebul, by whom do
your people drive them out? So then, they will be your judges. But if it is by the Spirit of God that I
drive out demons, then the kingdom of God has come upon you."
Matthew 12:24-28 (NIV)
This is one of my favorite stories in the Gospels. I love the logic Jesus uses to disarm the accusations.
"If Satan is the prince of demons, and I'm driving demons away, Satan's kingdom is divided. We're working against each other. There's no way we would succeed unless we were together."
Here's where I happened to lock in -- Every kingdom divided against itself will be ruined. That's some scary stuff, yo. It's true in a spiritual, marital, and family context, for sure. But does it hold some personal truth as well?
As Christians, we're tempted to practice a sort of division within ourselves around election time. So many of us are all over The Tweeter* posting about Jesus' love and forgiveness, but using the same social media to lash out at political candidates in arrogance and pride, and feeling justified in doing so.
In light of God's mercy, we should be driven to love people, friends and enemies alike, with a fierce determination, and without condescension. The only one deserving of condescension is God himself. Political objection is a great thing and I do believe it should be freely exercised, but it should be done in a mature way, and always rooted in love.
It reminds me of David's respect for King Saul. When Saul turned his back on God and began ruling unjustly, the prophet Samuel came and anointed young David the new king -- while Saul was still ruling. If there was ever a guy who had the right to be arrogant, we could totally forgive David. He knew it was only a matter of time before Saul was out, and he would be ruling the nation of Israel.
But David never lost his respect for Saul. He served his king with reverence. When Saul started losing his marbles, David worked as a musician in the king's presence, helping to ease Saul's stress, and standing beside the throne he knew would someday be his own.
He did it on a Sabbath day when it was unlawful for Jews to work. The Pharisees had been following Jesus around and looking for ways to incriminate him. They antagonized him by challenging him to perform supernatural acts of mercy on a holy day, in order to break the Law of Moses.
When Jesus drove the demon from the possessed man, the Pharisees accused him of being an agent of Satan himself.
But when the Pharisees heard this, they said, "It is only by Beelzebul, the prince of demons, that this
fellow drives out demons."
Jesus knew their thoughts and said to them, "Every kingdom divided against itself will be ruined, and
and every city or household divided against itself will not stand. If Satan drives out Satan, he is divided
against himself. How then can his kingdom stand? And if I drive out demons by Beelzebul, by whom do
your people drive them out? So then, they will be your judges. But if it is by the Spirit of God that I
drive out demons, then the kingdom of God has come upon you."
Matthew 12:24-28 (NIV)
This is one of my favorite stories in the Gospels. I love the logic Jesus uses to disarm the accusations.
"If Satan is the prince of demons, and I'm driving demons away, Satan's kingdom is divided. We're working against each other. There's no way we would succeed unless we were together."
Here's where I happened to lock in -- Every kingdom divided against itself will be ruined. That's some scary stuff, yo. It's true in a spiritual, marital, and family context, for sure. But does it hold some personal truth as well?
As Christians, we're tempted to practice a sort of division within ourselves around election time. So many of us are all over The Tweeter* posting about Jesus' love and forgiveness, but using the same social media to lash out at political candidates in arrogance and pride, and feeling justified in doing so.
In light of God's mercy, we should be driven to love people, friends and enemies alike, with a fierce determination, and without condescension. The only one deserving of condescension is God himself. Political objection is a great thing and I do believe it should be freely exercised, but it should be done in a mature way, and always rooted in love.
It reminds me of David's respect for King Saul. When Saul turned his back on God and began ruling unjustly, the prophet Samuel came and anointed young David the new king -- while Saul was still ruling. If there was ever a guy who had the right to be arrogant, we could totally forgive David. He knew it was only a matter of time before Saul was out, and he would be ruling the nation of Israel.
But David never lost his respect for Saul. He served his king with reverence. When Saul started losing his marbles, David worked as a musician in the king's presence, helping to ease Saul's stress, and standing beside the throne he knew would someday be his own.
No matter who we voted for, we should be challenged by Jesus' message and David's story. Let's treat the president with reverence and guard ourselves against pride. Every kingdom divided against itself will be ruined, and I believe that holds true for our hearts as well.
Time to get another cup of coffee and take Rexy for a walk.
~ Patrick
* My wife actually called it "The Tweeter" once. It made us sound like a 60-year-old couple, which was really exciting because I can't wait for us to be a 60-year-old couple.
