ISB ~ Matthew 12 v25 - 26

Jesus uses the images of a kingdom, city, and house as cryptic allusions to the city and Temple of Jerusalem. By Jesus’ day, Jerusalem had reached a point of spiritual crisis. Long known as the Holy City, it was now the center of diabolical resistance to Jesus, with its leadership squarely opposed to the kingdom of heaven. Even the Temple was by then “forsaken and desolate” (23:38). The Pharisees’ conspiracy (12:14) thus exposes them as unwitting collaborators and representatives of Satan’s kingdom. With Jesus’ Crucifixion, the power of Satan is finally destroyed—a fact later evidenced by the plundering of his city (Jerusalem) and house (Temple) in A.D. 70 (12:29) (CCC 550). See notes onMt 23:38and 24:1-25:46.