The Divided Cannot Stand

 DEVOTION

THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO MATTHEW

THE DIVIDED CANNOT STAND

Matt 12:24-28

24 But when the Pharisees heard this, they said, "It is only by Beelzebub, 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 Beelzebub, by whom do your people drive them out? So then, they will be your judges. 28 But if I drive out demons by the Spirit of God, then the kingdom of God has come upon you.

NIV

Jesus knew their thoughts. It is interesting that Matthew recorded this, as he was inspired by the Spirit, but also because he was an eyewitness to all that Jesus said and did. Surely Jesus shared with Matthew and his other disciples, the twelve, that he knew the thoughts of the Pharisees. We wonder if that unnerved the apostles a bit, understanding that if Jesus knew the thoughts of the Pharisees, then he must be able to know their thoughts as well. It would be right to think that Jesus has not changed, as God never changes, and as God knows the very number of hairs on our head, that Jesus would know our thoughts. What is hidden from our Lord? He knows our heart, which in essence is our thoughts. Of course, we should consider this accusation of the Pharisees regarding Jesus casting out demons by the power of Satan. We know that is not true and Jesus made that point about a house divided cannot stand. Rather than spend too much time being a commentary on His words, we should consider how it might be possible for us to be part of a divided house, that is within our hearts. We have pondered on having a divided heart before, but this bears more contemplation. We must admit that our daily lives can be in a constant state of divided attention. We have our work that we must pay close attention to for we are to work as onto the Lord, giving all we have for the benefit of our employer. Our attention is drawn to other directions such as paying bills, taking care of the daily, weekly, or monthly maintenance of our possessions. We have family commitments we need to tend to and on the list goes, including our recreational activities. Our minds can be clouded with all sorts of responsibilities, even including those at church. That problem could exist, if we are not careful and mindful of the fact that Jesus knows our thoughts, or tests our heart, that our mind or heart could get divided between self and Jesus. That is we could get so involved with our self-centered thoughts, that we do not include Jesus in all our life or daily choices. If this happens, this could lead to being a divided house, and that can only lead to not being able to stand our ground against the schemes of the devil. We know that we are one with Christ, He in us, and we in Him and thus our every thought, our every daily life is centered in Jesus. Of course, we still must do many things in life, living as it were in this world, but our thoughts must always include Jesus. We did not even touch on the division within the body of Christ, that is a given for we are so messed up from denominationalism, that is no way the church could stand, and yet it continues to hold on, but that is all due to Christ, for He declared that He would build His church and the gates of hell will not prevail against it. So let us remember to keep our thoughts on Jesus.