Jesus heals a demon oppressed man and the crowds respond with speculation while the Pharisees respond with accusation. The crowd likely speculates because Jesus doesn’t meet their presuppositions. After all of His strong words and mighty miracles they still ask, “Can this be the Son of David?” What did they expect? Who was the Son of David to be?
The Son of David would be God’s Messiah, that is, His Anointed One. Now all the sons of David who served as kings were anointed, but the Messiah (Hebrew), that is, the Christ (Greek), would be the Lord’s Anointed. They were all only shadows, He is the substance. So they are looking for a greater David, someone to free them from political oppression and bring national prosperity. They say they are looking for the Son of David, but they are really looking for another Saul, a king after their own hearts, not God’s. Don’t miss how Jesus in answering the Pharisees’ accusation answers the crowd’s speculation as well.
Jesus says that if He drives out demons by the Spirit of God, and He is arguing that He does, then they must realize that the kingdom of God has come upon them. Jesus is God’s conquering King, and He is advancing, He is binding the strong man and plundering his house. He defeats our greatest foe. When Jesus says He does this “by the Spirit of God” He is saying He is the Lord’s Anointed; that is why the kingdom has come, it is here because the King is here.
Where does Christ achieve decisive victory? At the cross Satan is cast down (John 12:27-34). How does the kingdom advance today? In the preaching of the cross Satan’s kingdom is plundered as blind eyes see, dead hearts beat, and captives are released. The preaching of the cross is not only the power of God unto salvation, it is also the conquest of Satan’s kingdom.
No Other Boast 