Matthew 12:24: Now when the Pharisees heard it they said, “This fellow does not cast out demons except by Beelzebub, the ruler of the demons.”
The scene that generated today’s verse is a man is brought before Jesus, and the man is blind and mute due to demon possession. Jesus heals him – the blind man can now see and speak. Shouldn’t such deliverance be obviously a good thing? The Pharisees at least acknowledged the casting out of the demon from this man. However, instead of rejoicing in this poor man’s healing of demon possession, they make the accusation that it must have been done through demonic forces. Why can’t they see the obvious goodness of what Jesus has done?
Pure goodness should be easy to see, but if the eyes aren’t pure, then what they see will be influenced by the condition of one’s heart. There’s an old saying, “The eyes are the window to your soul.” Two people can observe the exact same scene, but their interpretation of the scene will likely differ due to the condition of their hearts, attitudes, and experiences. In this healing scene, there are two parties of observers. There are the Pharisees and there are the “multitudes” – people in the vicinity that witnessed Jesus healing the man. The response of the multitudes is of amazement prompting them to ask, “Could this be the Son of David?” In other words, they’re wondering if this is the Messiah – the promised One to bring deliverance to Israel. Clearly, they observed the obvious goodness of what Jesus had just done.
This contrast of viewpoints in this story is a great study in the condition of the heart. One would think the educated men of the Scriptures – the Scriptures that reveal the goodness of God (Psalm 136:1) should be the first to recognize goodness. Yet, their response to Jesus’ act of goodness is to call into question the motivation behind it. This is not the first time the Pharisees have had a problem with Jesus. Earlier in chapter 12, Jesus healed a man’s withered hand on the Sabbath, and the Pharisees chose to focus on the “unlawfulness” of healing someone on the Sabbath as opposed to rejoicing over the man’s healing. They were so upset over once again another blatant act of goodness; they started to plan how they might destroy Jesus.
How can they not see the obvious goodness of Jesus’ actions? They are jealous because He is challenging their understanding of God’s true character. They’re more focused on the rules and regulations of the Law than they are rejoicing in the presence of a good and loving God. Another popular saying is, “Some things never change.” Our hearts are no less polluted with lies fed to us by the enemy today than they were 2,000 years ago. Today, we have God’s Word promising that God is a God of hope, love, and goodness, and we have the evidence of His Son backing up these promises. We have the benefit of the entire story of Jesus’ time on earth – including the Cross-and His resurrection. Yet the opposition to the obvious goodness of Jesus is greater today than it ever has been. Why?
The last thing Satan wants us to do is to recognize the goodness of God. Romans 2:4 tells us the recognition of God’s goodness leads to repentance. What do we need to repent? Believing and acting on the lies Satan has been feeding us from the moment we are born. An important prayer for every person should be that God will cleanse our hearts and give us His eyes to see things as He sees them. God sees things through His true, good, and loving heart. By the power of His Holy Spirit, we can see the goodness of God because for those who have confessed Jesus as Lord and Savior, their souls are redeemed and washed by the purifying blood of the Lamb.
Are you seeing the goodness of God? He’s with you right now – ask Him to reveal His goodness to you. You will be amazed at what you see.