Jesus throughout His earthly ministry came under great scrutiny by religious officials and others because of His teachings. He is often accused by religious leaders of breaking many of the laws of God,
- Mark 2:18 Jesus is questioned why His disciples do not fast in the same manner as the disciples of John the Baptist.
- Matthew 12:2, Jesus and His disciples are accused by the Pharisees of working on the Sabbath because they are moving through a wheat field.
- Mark 2:5-12, Jesus is accused of blaspheming the name of God because He claims to be God.
In chapter 12 of the Book of Matthew the religious leaders are at it again. In verse 22 Jesus heals a demon possessed man. While the people recognize Jesus for who He is and call Him, “the Son of David.” the religious leaders of course take a different angle. When the religious leaders see what's going on they do what they always do, try to put a negative spin on Jesus' ministry by uttering absurd word's like, “Surely this man uses the power of Beelzebub to cast demons out of people.”
Jesus hearing their words kind of snickers then makes the now familiar statement, "Every kingdom that is fighting against itself will be destroyed. And every city that is divided cannot continue. And every family that is divided cannot succeed. So if Satan (the devil) forces out his own demons, then Satan is divided.”
The rest of the passage deals with Jesus response to the Pharisee's ridiculous charges. In the end Jesus uses an illustrations to show the Pharisees only a unified kingdom can stand and bear fruit.
In the same way only a unified body of believers can truly bear fruit. Sadly in a lot of churches, unity under self is more prevalent, then unity under Jesus. Cliques form, groups become divided along their monetary boundaries, people leave because they do not agree with a certain dot or dash of doctrine or because a favorite organist or pastor leaves. It should not be so, the church is the body of Jesus to minister to the world, “and every family (church) which is divided cannot succeed.”
Here is to a year of forgetting about the differences which drive the church (the body of Christ) apart and instead concentrating on the life to which every Christian is called to, bringing to God the Father through a life of ministering to others.
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