10] "For he (Jesus) had healed many, so that those with diseases were pushing forward to touch him. [11] Whenever the impure spirits saw him, they fell down before him and cried out, “You are the Son of God.” [12] But he gave them strict orders not to tell others about him.
[23] So Jesus called them over to him and began to speak to them in parables: “How can Satan drive out Satan? [24] If a kingdom is divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand. [25] If a house is divided against itself, that house cannot stand. [26] And if Satan opposes himself and is divided, he cannot stand; his end has come. [27] In fact, no one can enter a strong man's house without first tying him up. Then he can plunder the strong man's house. [28] Truly I tell you, people can be forgiven all their sins and every slander they utter, [29] but whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit will never be forgiven; they are guilty of an eternal sin.”
[30] He said this because they were saying, “He has an impure spirit.”
As I was reading through these verses, I was struck once again by the absurdness of people saying Jesus was casting out demons because he had a bigger demon. Yet, one can understand their thinking, for they had never seen anyone operating with the authority Jesus demonstrated, so they thought Jesus was just using a higher powered demon to gain success. This tells me that it had been so long since they had seen God work that they basically forgot what God was capable of doing.
Jesus makes their statement personal against the Holy Spirit. This is because Jesus was doing all the miracles, signs and wonders through the power of the Holy Spirit, not through His own Divine nature, which He had volunteered to set aside when He became man (Phil 2: 5-11). Jesus let them know that this was not acceptable, speaking poorly of the Holy Spirit. This also shows the utter jealousy that the Pharisees felt toward Jesus, for they had none of the authority nor power, and so they bad-mouthed Jesus who did, through the power of the Holy Spirit.
These last verses are also a good reminder that Jesus, also was only doing these things through the power of the Holy Spirit. If it was just him (Jesus) doing the miracles through his own power, I think Jesus wouldn't have been so upset, for He was clearly used to being misunderstood. However when they attacked Him and said the source of His power was an impure spirit, they were speaking directly against the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit was His constant companion, and the one who worked through Him. Jesus is indicating that is indeed the case, by defending the Holy Spirit's work - He was pointing to the true source of His power.
So this morning, I am encouraged for this same Holy Spirit has been given to us, to dwell with us, to empower our lives. I am also encouraged to be very careful how I think about people operating through the power of the Holy Spirit, and those who are more questionable. I must be very slow to identify another source besides the Holy Spirit, just because I haven't seen a particular manifestation before. Holy Spirit I invite You to work through my life, and ask that You guide me, direct me, lead me through the times I am unsure.
Amen!
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