And the scribes who came down from Jerusalem were saying, “He is possessed by Beelzebul,” and “by the prince of demons he casts out the demons.” 23 And he called them to him and said to them in parables, “How can Satan cast out Satan? 24 If a kingdom is divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand. 25 And if a house is divided against itself, that house will not be able to stand. 26 And if Satan has risen up against himself and is divided, he cannot stand, but is coming to an end. 27 But no one can enter a strong man’s house and plunder his goods, unless he first binds the strong man. Then indeed he may plunder his house.
28 “Truly, I say to you, all sins will be forgiven the children of man, and whatever blasphemies they utter, 29 but whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit never has forgiveness, but is guilty of an eternal sin”— 30 for they were saying, “He has an unclean spirit.”
A better question for today is, how can Jesus cast out Jesus? A church divide against God will not stand. The Church is created and sustained by God through His Word (and the proper use of the sacraments). Many people claim to be Church but do not use his word nor confess him. The Devil has easily dressed up like Church and lead many people astray.
Jesus does not dress up like the devil. Jesus is not the leader of the Demons, but he is Lord of All. Jesus commands demons because the Buck stops with Jesus. He comes to bind this caretaker of the people, or strong man. He comes to bind the demons and judge them. Likewise, he comes to judge evil.
Satan would naturally accuse the righteous one of being Satan, in order to divert attention from himself and his lies. But the Truth shines the light over all of Satans Lies. Once the trong man is bound, Jesus can claim you for is very own. Jesus comes to rescue people from the lies. He comes to deliver slaves from their master, aka Satan.
This is the work of proclaiming Christ: you proclaim sin and death and Satan for what they are. You proclaim Christ for what He is, the Savior of he World. It is only by the power of the Holy Spirit any of us come to faith. It is the Holy Spirit who speaks God's Word through our sanctified lips.
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