Righteous Division: Understanding Jesus's Response to Disrespect

Introduction: A Personal Moment of Truth

I want to take you back to a time when you were in an argument with somebody—maybe very recently. Someone said something so disrespectful that it brought you completely out of character. Perhaps they attacked you personally, used a racial slur, or crossed a line you didn't think they would cross. You'd been holding your peace, trying to let the Lord fight your battle, but in that moment you thought, "No, I need to address this right now."

Imagine being God. You watched from heaven for 42 generations as humanity grew. Then you came down, embodied a body just like theirs, walked around the earth eating and fellowshipping with people. Emmanuel—God with us. And then they disrespected you to your face, within striking distance. Today we're going to look at how Jesus handled that kind of serious disrespect.

The Healing: A Clear Miracle

We're covering Matthew 12:22-32. Let's start with verse 22:

Then a demon-possessed man who was blind and mute was brought to him, and he healed him so that the man spoke and saw.

A man who was blind and mute and demon-oppressed—and Jesus healed him. Now he speaks and he sees. Hallelujah.

I need to address something real quick. In modern-day America, sometimes we don't believe that physical maladies can be demonic. Sometimes it's just a demon. We jump on Google, look at WebMD, YouTube the symptoms. We try vitamins and minerals—and listen, I'm with it. Take your vitamins. Go to counseling. Get a doctor's opinion. But if it does not budge after a balanced approach, you need to know that as a believer, you can reach back and say, in the power of Jesus, "No."

Some things are a demon. When I say that, people fall into different camps. Some of you already knew this—we preach the gospel here. Some of you are new in the faith and thinking, "I've only been saved three weeks; I'm not trying to cast out demons yet." And some of you are too intellectual to believe demons exist in 2024.

Here's what I'll tell you: The most famous person in all of history, written about in the most printed and bestselling book of all time—the Bible—Jesus—told you there were demons. If you discredit that account, you can't believe anything in any book ever written. Get your degrees, your masters, your PhDs. You don't have enough knowledge to trump the word of God.

Christ said, "I saw Satan fall like lightning." Let me build your theology so you know that Christ is above the evil one, and the Holy Spirit is above the evil one. So you're not out there by yourself, ignorant of your spiritual weapons and ignorant of his devices.

Look at Luke 10:17-19. Jesus sent out 72 disciples—not just the 12—two by two. They returned with joy:

Lord, even the demons are subject to us in your name.

Jesus said to them:

I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven. Behold, I have given you authority to tread on serpents and scorpions and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing shall hurt you. Nevertheless, do not rejoice in this, that the spirits are subject to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven.

The People's Response: Hope

Verse 23:

All the people were amazed and said, "Can this be the Son of David?"

Son of David is more than genealogy. Yes, Jesus comes from David's line, but it's a messianic title. The Jewish people knew the Torah, the prophets. They knew that one had been prophesied to come and deliver them. When they saw this miracle, they asked, "Could this be him? Could this be the Messiah?"

In Revelation 22:16, Jesus says:

I am the root and offspring of David.

He is both the Creator of David and the descendant of David. Only the Son of God could make that happen.

It's important to us as believers that when miraculous things happen in our lives, we point to the miracle worker. I want to tell you something: don't just sit through sermons like they're just sermons. It's literally the Spirit of God moving. The power of God is present.

I've long dealt with procrastination since my youth—since fifth grade. When Pastor Phil preached last week about stretching out his hand to the withered hand, I applied that to my life. And there was a break in procrastination this week. We really want to raise you as disciples, not just Christian people who get hyped for the music and fall asleep during the sermon. The power of God is present in both.

The Pharisees' Response: Accusation

Verse 24:

But when the Pharisees heard it, they said, "It is only by Beelzebul, the prince of demons, that this man casts out demons."

Disrespectful people. How did we get here? You just saw that man. You saw him being blind and mute. You saw him seeing and speaking. You heard the people point to the Messiah. And now you're going to say one of the most disrespectful things in all of Scripture?

They didn't just say it didn't happen. They said, "He's not the Messiah. He actually cast out that demon by the power of Satan himself." Not just a regular demon—the prince of demons.

If there's one time I'm calling down fire and brimstone, this makes the list. "I came out here to save you. And you're going to tell me I'm in partnership with Satan himself? You're trying to divert the will of the people. You got that stronghold of power in your religious position."

I'm glad Jesus is merciful, because he didn't even have to talk to them. Look at how Jesus handles them with such poise, intellect, and royalty.

Jesus's Response: Logical Argument

Verse 25:

Knowing their thoughts, he said to them, "Every kingdom divided against itself is laid waste, and no city or house divided against itself will stand."

Knowing their thoughts. Jesus opens with a very general statement about kingdoms. Kingdom, city, house. Kingdom, city, house. This is truth about how communities work.

Let me jump to the kingdom of God. In James 3:16-17:

For where jealousy and selfish ambition exist, there is disorder, unrest, rebellion, and every evil thing and morally degrading practice. But the wisdom from above is first pure, then peace-loving, courteous, considerate, gentle, and reasonable, and willing to listen, full of compassion and good fruits.

No one who cares about the kingdom of God should keep jealousy, envy, and rebellion hidden in their heart. If we want to steward this revival that we're dealing with, we can't think the external is our greatest enemy. When we're dealing with each other in squads, don't hide envy, backbiting, and gossip.

We jump on fornication and homosexuality, but we just coddle envy. Envy tears down kingdoms. The word says the increase of his government will never end. You'll never kill the kingdom of God, but you can damage somebody in the process.

If you're dealing with envy in your heart and you know it's not right, pray. Scripture talks about us purifying ourselves. When you find something in your heart, pray: "God, help me get this out of my heart. I know this can't stand here. Help me to be holy in this area by the power of the Holy Spirit you've already planted inside me."

The Direct Confrontation

Verses 26-27:

If Satan casts out Satan, he is divided against himself. How then will his kingdom stand? And if I cast out demons by Beelzebul, by whom do your sons cast them out? Therefore, they will be your judges.

Jesus is addressing them directly. "You're talking crazy. What spirit are you operating in?"

Verse 28:

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

That's what you're afraid of. You're going to lose your power. You're going to lose your prestige. You're going to lose your hold on the people when you should be worshiping me. You're trying to divert the glory back to yourself and keep people in bondage. That's the spirit of religion.

Verse 29:

How can someone enter a strong man's house and plunder his goods unless he first binds the strong man? Then indeed he may plunder his house.

What he's saying is: "If I don't have power over Satan and I'm working in conjunction with him, how can I set that man free?" When the Israelites came out of Egypt, they plundered Egypt and brought out the gold. In this case, the gold is the freedom of the man. Jesus is interested in the freedom of man.

That's why it's so big that we don't wallow in sin. Yeah, you fail. Get up. Jesus loves you even before you do it.

The Battle Against Sin and Lies

One of the things Pastor Ryan preached on Christmas: his father said, "Just because you feel it don't mean you got to do it." Just because you feel the desire so strong doesn't mean you have to do it. That's where the enemy is tricking a lot of you.

One of the fruits of the Spirit is self-control. When you walk with God and the Spirit of God lives in you, if a temptation hits you as soon as you step in the parking lot coming out of worship, you have more power to say no. But about Tuesday at 10 p.m., your last worship session was Sunday morning. God's power did not dilute itself. God's will for your life didn't take a backseat. You looked in the mirror, walked away, and forgot who you were.

I've been there. I've had temptation grab me at 11 o'clock at night. No, you're not jumping in the car. No, you're not going there. You better learn how to talk to yourself too: "No, I'm not. I got to answer that text. No, I don't. What will they think? What does Jesus think?"

Once you fall, you've got to dig yourself all the way back up. Then you come to church on Sunday morning thinking, "I'm cool with being holy, but I don't feel holy." That's the same lie they experienced in the garden. They went and hid themselves from the very Creator who made them—with leaves. Check how dysfunctional that is. Adam is out here naming animals, and he's worried about leaves.

Surely he doesn't want to meet with me anymore. That's a lie. Surely he doesn't want to commune with me anymore. That's a lie. Surely he didn't create me to worship him. That's a lie. And we bathe ourselves in the lies of the enemy.

Jesus didn't step through 42 generations, live 33 years, deal with mess like this—nobody likes a downgrade. If I take you from a three-bedroom to a two-bedroom, you're like, "I feel cramped." Imagine downgrading from heaven to earth. Not a quick visit—we're talking Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday, over and over, dealing with mess like this.

He didn't step through all that, go through the garden sweating drops of blood, the whipping post, die for you, and sit at the right hand of the Father just so you could sin and he'd change his mind about you. I'm giving you something to combat the lies of the enemy, your flesh, and yourself in the heat of the battle between holiness and sin.

As humans, some of you aren't going to feel like you can walk with the Lord until you get some consistent wins and build up your confidence. That's not how God thinks. That's how you think. You think, "Until I put the blunt down, until I quit abusing alcohol, until I quit fornicating, then I'll feel like I can do this thing." Two more nights, three more nights, you fall. But he loves you anyway. Yes, that feels good. But Scripture says:

At his right hand are pleasures forevermore.

And you can get married and have sex within marriage. He's not even asking you to give that up permanently. He's saying, "Use it in my context." He's the author of sex. He created you and the mechanism by which we even populate. He just says, 'Enjoy yourself in the proper context.'

Delay is not denial. This is how you arm yourself to walk holy and seek the things the Lord has for you.

No Neutral Ground

Verse 30:

Whoever is not with me is against me, and whoever does not gather with me scatters.

There ain't no fence. Can I talk to those who want to admit they're a quiet Christian? You want to serve the Lord, but you don't really want to ruffle any feathers. Some of you are posting 25 times a day about Jesus, and some are not denying but just not openly confessing. Listen: there is no neutral position in the spirit. Christ kicked over the fence here. There ain't no fence.

I prayed about this and will use a recent example. There was an older preacher—probably his heyday was in the '80s and '90s—and he got sick for a time. Right in the middle of his ministry, he was deceived by the enemy and started preaching what they called the "Gospel of Inclusion."

He was essentially saying you don't have to apply your faith to the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus. Ultimately, all men will be saved. He said, "I don't believe in hell anymore." Unfortunately, he passed away while dealing with a terrible sickness.

I want to approach this with grace. I kept hearing big-name preachers say we need to show this person honor for what they did in the ministry—the things they did before they made that turn. But I wasn't hearing anybody come out and call him a heretic. And I was grieved about that.

Why would you give him more honor than Jesus? Much like the Pharisees, when you let bad doctrine reign, there will ultimately be people who, because of their position of authority, will follow them to the very hell that he said he didn't even believe in anymore. If you don't gather with me, you scatter.

Maybe you do honor him for the things he did, but for the love of the people in the body of Christ that you shepherd, you have to call out bad doctrine for what it is and correct it. There's no neutral position. As an unbeliever, you are an object of the wrath of God. We need the salvation of Jesus desperately by placing our faith in him.

The Unforgivable Sin

Verses 31-32:

Therefore, I tell you, every sin and blasphemy will be forgiven people, but the blasphemy against the Spirit will not be forgiven. And whoever speaks a word against the Son of Man will be forgiven. But whoever speaks against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven either in this age or in the age to come.

This is a heavy passage. Many have called this the "unpardonable sin." Let me look at Mark 3:28-30 to give us context:

Verily I say unto you, all sins shall be forgiven unto the sons of men, and blasphemies wherewithsoever they shall blaspheme. But he that shall blaspheme against the Holy Ghost hath never forgiveness, but is in danger of eternal damnation. Because they said, "He hath an unclean spirit."

Here's the key: They actually saw Jesus with their own eyes. They saw this man was blind and mute. They saw him deliver the demon, and they saw the man see and speak. And then they said he had a demon and that Satan was how he did his miracles.

We've concluded that because in this particular context they saw Jesus with their own eyes and attributed his work to Satan when it was clearly the Holy Spirit, we relegate that to just those people who were around when Jesus walked the earth.

If you have a nagging fear—you read this and you're up at 1 a.m. thinking, "Am I saved?"—no. That's not for you. Some things in the Bible are descriptive, and some things are prescriptive. You should absolutely have respect and regard for the Holy Spirit. But when we present the gospel, we don't have to say, "Do you remember what you said about the Holy Spirit in 1987? If you did, the gospel's not for you."

Jesus died for all sins. Blasphemy will be forgiven for the believer in modern day. He was addressing religious leaders who knew better. Jesus gave us the power over the enemy. Jesus says there's no fence—you're either with him or against him. You either gather with him as we're endeavoring to do, or you scatter.

Conclusion: The Power and Purpose of the Gospel

Jesus came to plunder hell and set the captives free. That includes me and you. Because we've been washed clean, the Holy Spirit can come by faith in Jesus Christ, live on the inside of us, and empower us to walk as believers.