Matthew 12:25

25 Knowing their thoughts He said to them, "Every kingdom in which civil war has raged suffers desolation; and every city or house in which there is internal strife will be brought low.

Matthew 12:25 Meaning and Commentary

Matthew 12:25

And Jesus knew their thoughts
He not only heard their blasphemous words, but was privy to their secret thoughts; he knew their vile malicious intentions and designs, with what view they expressed themselves in this manner, on purpose to reproach him, and set the people against him, contrary to the inward light of their minds, and dictates of their consciences; who must, and did know the contrary of what they said: and regarding the inward frame of their minds, as well as their words, and which is a proof of his omniscience, and so of his deity, and consequently of his Messiahship,

said unto them
the following parables, as Mark calls them, ( Mark 3:23 ) or proverbial expressions:

every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation;
a government, in which there is a disagreement between the chiefs of it, and the body of the people, or where one part is opposed to the other, or in which a civil and intestine war is begun and prosecuted, cannot continue in any comfortable situation, and flourishing state, but must come to nothing: this is a maxim that has been so often fatally verified, that no one will doubt the truth of it; and the same holds true of lesser communities, of cities, and families:

and every city, or house, divided against itself, shall not stand.
If citizens fall out with their magistrates, or one with another, and turn out, and disfranchise each other; and if the heads of families, and the respective branches thereof, quarrel with, and divide from one another, a dissolution of the whole must ensue; and the same may be said of the kingdom and government of Satan. These, it is very likely, were common sayings among the Jews, and they might be very easily understood by them; and are very appropriately produced by Christ to illustrate the present case, and confute the vile and blasphemous suggestions of the Pharisees: a proverbial expression, much like to these, is to be read in the writings of the Jews, (brxyl wpwo tqwlxm wb vyv tyb lk) , "every house, in which there is a division, at the end shall come to desolation" ^F21.

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FOOTNOTES:

F21 Derech Eretz, c. 5.

Matthew 12:25 In-Context

23 And the crowds of people were all filled with amazement and said, "Can this be the Son of David?"

24 The Pharisees heard it and said, "This man only expels demons by the power of Baal-zebul, the Prince of demons."

25 Knowing their thoughts He said to them, "Every kingdom in which civil war has raged suffers desolation; and every city or house in which there is internal strife will be brought low.

26 And if Satan is expelling Satan, he has begun to make war on himself: how therefore shall his kingdom last?

27 And if it is by Baal-zebul's power that I expel the demons, by whose power do your disciples expel them? They therefore shall be your judges.