By the Finger of God

Well, have you ever been falsely accused of doing something wrong?

! It's not a nice feeling, is it?

! How did you respond in the moment?

Did you become angry?

Did you give back some accusations of your own?

Were you worried that the accusation made against you might stick

and that others would hear it and believe it?

Well, today as we continue the story of Jesus,

we hear about a time when He was falsely accused.

And we hear how He responded to it.

We're in the Gospel of Luke, chapter 11.

Luke 11 · chapter mention

Let me just read the first couple verses.

We're starting in verse 14 to set the scene for us this morning.

Jesus was driving out a demon that was mute.

When the demon left, the man who had been mute spoke.

And the crowd was amazed.

But some of them said,

By Beelzebul, the prince of demons,

he is driving out demons.

So, Luke sets the scene for us.

Jesus was driving out this demon.

And this is not the first time we've heard about Jesus casting out a demon.

We heard about it back in Luke, chapter 9,

Luke 9 · chapter mention

when Jesus cast a demon out of a boy.

We heard about it in chapter 8,

when Jesus healed that man who had many demons.

He cast them out into the pigs.

We heard about Jesus casting out multiple demons back in chapter 4.

There was the man in the synagogue.

And then later that evening,

in Capernaum,

it says that He cast many demons out of people.

And then we've even heard about the disciples

casting out demons,

using the authority and power that Jesus gave to them.

First, the 12,

and then the 72.

But here Luke wants to tell us about yet another exorcism

done by Jesus.

And the thing that's unique about this one

is that it leads to this sort of false accusation

made against Jesus.

In many ways,

this incident,

this little chunk of the book here,

is more about the dialogue that happened

after the exorcism

than it is about the exorcism itself.

It all starts with Jesus casting

a demon out of a man who could not speak.

And the phrasing here is quite interesting.

Quite literally,

Jesus was driving out a mute demon.

And there's some discussion over that wording.

Most take that to mean

not that the demon was mute,

but that it was a demon of muteness.

That it caused this man

to be mute and unable to speak.

Think about that for a moment.

Can you imagine not being able to speak?

And it's not because your body lacks the ability to speak,

but because an evil spirit is inside you

and has control of you.

What was it like for this poor man?

Did he feel as though his mouth was taped shut

and all he could utter were sounds and noises?

Did he often try to speak

and form words,

but just no sound would come out?

Did this evil spirit torment him

or punish him whenever he tried to speak?

Maybe threw him into convulsions

so that he no longer tried.

And when did this first start happening

in this man's life?

How long has this been going on for him?

Well, these details are not included by Luke,

but it must have been awful

for him to be afflicted like this.

Luke doesn't even tell us

how Jesus drove out the demon.

Just that he was driving out the demon

and then when the demon left,

the man who had been mute spoke.

And then the response of the crowd.

They were amazed.

The man's ability to speak again,

it was clear evidence that he was now set free

from this evil spirit.

And the first response of the crowd

seems positive.

They were amazed.

But then some in the crowd challenged Jesus

and they made this accusation

that we read in verse 15.

But some of them said,

by Beelzebul,

the prince of demons,

he is driving out demons.

Others were suspicious

and doubtful.

If we just look down to the next verse,

16,

others tested him

by asking for a sign

from heaven.

And we kind of wonder here,

don't we?

Isn't healing this demon-possessed man

a sign from heaven already?

Like, what more do you need?

It's almost like they didn't even see it.

There was skepticism.

There was doubt

from some of the people.

But let's look at this accusation

that some made in verse 15.

By Beelzebul,

the prince of demons,

he is driving out demons.

The parallel passages

in Matthew and Mark

tell us

that it was the Pharisees

and the teachers of the law

who said this.

No surprise there.

This was their attempt

to explain

how Jesus was able

to get the evil spirit

out of this man.

And so we notice there

that they didn't deny

that he had got

the evil spirit out.

They didn't deny that.

That much was obvious.

But how did he do it?

They couldn't explain that.

They accused Jesus

of casting out the demon

by the power

of Beelzebul.

Who is Beelzebul?

Well, the short answer,

we can find it right

in the passage here,

the Pharisees identify him

as the prince

of demons.

the one who is ruler

over all of them.

And if we just glance

down the page a little bit

to verse 18,

we see that Jesus,

as he responds,

understands

that they are referring

to Satan.

In Jesus' response,

he uses the names

seemingly interchangeably.

Beelzebul is another name

for Satan.

This name is thought

to have been,

to come from the name

of an ancient Canaanite god

who was worshipped

in the land of Canaan

even before the children

of Israel came into the land.

His name is thought

to have been

Beelzebul,

possibly meaning

God of the high place.

And it seems as though

the Jews,

after coming into the land,

sort of tweaked

his name a little bit.

just the last sound

or letter of his name

to Baal Zabub.

And the meaning of that

is Lord of the Flies.

And so it's thought

that they did this

in order to sort of mock

this false Canaanite god.

But by the time

that we get to Jesus' day,

this name in the minds

of the Jews

is basically

just another name

for Satan,

the prince

of the demons.

So they make

this false accusation.

They accuse Jesus

of doing this exorcism

by the power

of the devil.

What a nasty

and wicked thing

to say.

Can you imagine this?

You just

do this.

This poor man

has been set free.

He's talking again.

You did that

by the power

of the devil.

The reason

that you're able

to get demons

to come out of people

is because you're

in cahoots

with the devil himself.

He's their master

and so

you guys have

a thing going on

so that they listen

and they come out.

We'll get to Jesus'

response in a minute

but let's just acknowledge

that there is

a kind of logic

to this accusation.

They're basically

suggesting that

the devil

and Jesus

are working together

in some sort of

elaborate deception.

The demons

are coming out

of people

who they have

long afflicted.

The Pharisees

don't deny that

but it's a trick

they say.

Satan's giving

the orders

and they're coming out

and Jesus

is part of this.

So there's a kind

of logic to it

but

even before we get

to Jesus' response

probably you're

already thinking

like how does

that work?

How would this

deception of Satan

work?

I mean

it would deceive

people into

following Jesus

and Jesus

is telling people

to turn away

from wickedness

and to

turn to the Lord.

God

so

how does that

work in Satan's

favor?

I mean

Satan wants

people to

worship him

but Jesus

has been going

around telling

people to do

the opposite

to love the

Lord their God

with all their

heart, soul,

mind and strength

and to repent

of their sins.

So there's an

obvious problem

to their suggestion

but let's hear

Jesus' response

to them now

in verse 17.

Jesus knew

their thoughts

and said to

them

any kingdom

divided against

itself

will be ruined

and a house

divided against

itself

will fall.

if Satan

is divided

against

himself

how can

his kingdom

stand?

I say this

because you

claim that I

drive out

demons

by Beelzebul.

Now if I

drive out

demons by

Beelzebul

by whom

do your

followers

drive them

out?

So then

they

will be

your judges.

We'll have

to kind of

wade through

this a bit.

There's a lot

there.

Let's start

with that

first statement

Jesus makes

in verse 17.

He says

any kingdom

divided against

itself

will fall

will be

ruined.

Sorry.

So let's

think about

this.

If the

ruler of a

kingdom

begins to

use his

power

against his

own people

then it's

not long

before that

kingdom

collapses

and then

he's no

longer the

ruler of

those people.

I mean

history has

proven this

time and

time again.

The people

of a

nation or

kingdom will

only tolerate

so much

from the

one in

charge.

So much

opposition or

cruelty from

their own

leader and

eventually things

will come to a

head and the

conflict will

break the

kingdom.

And that ruin

can happen in

different ways.

We've seen it in

all kinds of

ways.

Could be a

revolt against

the leader

and replacing

him with

another one.

It could be

part of the

kingdom breaking

away and no

we're not

going to listen

to you anymore.

We're going to

become our

own people.

The classic

example from

the Bible is

King Solomon

and his son

Rehoboam.

When Rehoboam

became king

the people

asked him

for relief

from the

heavy burden

that Solomon

had put on

them.

And what did

Rehoboam say?

He publicly

threatened to

treat his own

citizens even

worse than his

father had if

they didn't do

exactly what he

told them.

Well it resulted

in the immediate

ruin of the

kingdom.

Ten tribes in

the north just

broke away from

Judah in the

south and said

we won't want

nothing to do

with you.

You guys rule

yourself.

The kingdom

was divided.

The whole thing

was ruined.

Well Jesus

then takes that

truth and he

applies it to

this accusation.

Verse 18.

If Satan is

divided against

himself how can

his kingdom

stand?

If the prince

of demons is

opposing and

driving out the

demons that he

rules over then

his kingdom will

fall.

people.

If Satan is

pushing his own

forces out of the

territory that

they've conquered

then his kingdom

is being ruined.

It's crumbling.

He's basically just

handing over his

own territory.

Or to put it

maybe in another

way if Satan's

goal is to harm

people and to

hurt them and to

control people and

to tempt people.

Well how can he

achieve that goal?

By forcing his

troops out of the

people that they

have been

afflicting.

It just doesn't

make sense.

It may even seem

like it could work

in the short term

as a sort of

deceptive tactic.

But not in the

long run.

not on this

scale.

As we just

heard.

Jesus has cast

many demons out

of people.

This isn't just a

one time thing.

Everywhere Jesus

goes he's been

driving demons out

of people.

He's been setting

people free.

Even if it was a

form of deception

Satan would be

utterly losing in

the process.

Because he's

basically just

relinquishing control

over all these

people's lives.

It would be

almost like him

just trying to

gain power and

grow stronger by

cutting off his

own arms and

legs.

It just doesn't

work.

Jesus exposes the

faultiness of their

logic.

Then Jesus goes

on in verse 19.

Now if I drive

out demons by

Beelzebul by

whom do your

followers drive

them out?

This second

answer of Jesus

isn't as easy to

understand as the

first.

Jesus starts with

this rhetorical

question.

If I drive out

demons by

Beelzebul by

whom do your

followers drive

them out?

And I'll be

honest I'm not

sure I got this

figured out myself

here.

How does this

question work?

Is it to stump

them?

What's the answer

to it?

Or is it a

statement that

Jesus is making?

I'm not really

sure.

And then we can

add on top of

that there's sort

of another

question about

who's being

referred to in

the second half

of this question.

A more literal

translation.

By whom do

your sons

drive them

out?

If I drive

out demons

by Beelzebul by

whom do your

sons drive

them out?

And so who

are the sons?

Some see this

as referring to

the followers of

the Pharisees.

And that kind

of opens up a

whole discussion

there.

Are the Pharisees

driving out

demons?

Others suggest

that your sons

actually refers to

the disciples.

The apostles.

That they are

the sons of

Israel.

They're the

young men of

Israel who

are now going

around and

casting out

demons by the

authority and

power that Jesus

has given them.

And maybe Jesus

is asking,

are you ready

to condemn

all of the

things that

they've been

doing, that

your sons have

been doing,

going out?

I say that all

that's been done

by the power

of the devil.

And then there's

even one more

statement at the

end there.

For this reason

they will be

your judges.

One thought

is that all

true exorcisms,

no matter who

does them,

can only be

successful by

the power of

God.

Because he's

the only one

strong enough

who has the

power to do

it.

And so maybe

this is something

like all who

have been casting

out demons will

stand in judgment

over you Pharisees

and teachers

of the law

because they

know it was

not by the

power of

Beelzebul that

they did it,

that it was by

the power of

God.

This part of the

conversation is

difficult to

understand and

I'm not sure I've

got it figured

out.

But then finally

in verse 20

Jesus brings out

the big statement

and this one

is very clear.

Jesus brings out

the truth that

they should be

arriving at

from his

exorcisms.

All the

exorcisms that

he's been doing

really point to

this one thing

and here it is.

He says,

but if I drive

out demons by

the finger of

God, then the

kingdom of God

has come upon

you.

I love those

words.

If I drive out

demons by the

finger of God,

then the

kingdom of God

has come upon

you.

first Jesus

tells us how

he does it.

He says he

does it by the

finger of God.

That's a big

statement and

it's a figure of

speech.

It basically

means by the

power of God.

In other words,

this is God's

doing.

This is something

that his hand

has accomplished.

The choice of

finger as

opposed to

hand may

even be

intentional by

Jesus to

suggest that

only a very

small amount

of God's

power is

needed to

do this.

So Jesus

just makes it

really plain,

really clear.

I drive out

these demons

not by the

power of

Satan,

but by the

power of

God.

The demons

cower,

they tremble,

they comply

when I tell

them to get

out because

when I speak

to them,

the very

power of

God is at

work compelling

them to

obey.

It's not

Satan making

war against

his own

troops or

doing some

sort of

elaborate

deception.

That would

be foolish.

That would

be illogical.

But Satan's

kingdom is

being ruined.

It is

falling.

But it's

not from

the inside.

It's from

the outside.

His troops

are being

pushed out

of their

territory by

a greater

power.

By the

only one

who has

a greater

power than

he does,

and that's

God himself.

Think about

this.

That Jesus

is driving

out demons,

fallen angels,

at all,

is evidence

that God's

power is

in Jesus

and with

Jesus.

And the

conclusion that

we should

come to,

the truth of

the matter

that Jesus

is saying

we should

get from

this,

is that

God's

kingdom

has come.

His

kingdom

is upon

you.

It's right

now breaking

into the

world like

we've never

seen before.

it's the

beginning of

the end

for Satan

and his

kingdom.

At this

point,

Jesus gives

us a little

illustration

in the next

two verses,

21 and

22.

He says,

when a

strong man

fully armed

guards his

own house,

his possessions

are safe,

but when

someone stronger

attacks,

and overpowers

him,

he takes

away the

armor in

which the

man trusted

and divides

up his

plunder.

Now

illustrations are

there to

sort of shed

light,

they're there

to make

things clear,

to reinforce

the truth,

to give an

example of

the truth.

But in

this case,

Jesus'

illustration

probably

makes a

little more

impact on

his original

audience than

it does on

us.

I was

thinking about

this.

Thanks be

to God

that armed

robbery is

not all that

common in

our community.

We do have

break-ins

sometimes,

but armed

and violent

robbery where

someone breaks

into a home

and attacks

the man of

the house

and steals

all their

family stuff,

that doesn't

happen maybe

as often as

it did in

Jesus'

day and in

that place.

Back in

those times

and in

that place,

for many,

your home

and your

possessions

were only

as secure

as the

strongest man

in your

house was

strong.

If someone

wanted to

plunder your

home successfully,

they just had

to be stronger

than the man

of the house.

now,

we have to

remember,

this is an

illustration.

Of course,

Jesus isn't

giving us

pointers here

on how to

be successful

in armed

robbery.

This is an

illustration.

It has to

do with how

Jesus is able

to drive out

demons.

The demons

are strong.

They are

powerful.

And they

have taken

up residence

in people.

And once

they have

the control

that they

desire of

a person,

they are

not just

going to

let go.

The only

way to do

anything in

that house

is if

someone

stronger,

more powerful

comes along

and overpowers

that spirit

and subdues

it.

And that's

why Jesus

is able to

cast out

demons.

This is his

answer.

Because he

does it by

the power

of the one

who is

stronger

than them

and than

their prince.

And so

as Jesus

just said,

the exorcisms,

they're evidence

that a more

powerful kingdom

has come.

Think of the

ancient history

of our world.

A lot of it

in the

broadest

strokes is

just one

kingdom

rising to

power,

conquering

lands,

taking

territory,

only to

fall to

another

kingdom

that comes

after and

rises up,

conquers them

and takes

their land

and their

territory.

Well, why is

it like that?

Well, the

second kingdom

that comes

up in its

place

becomes more

powerful

than the

first.

first.

And I

think that's

kind of what

Jesus is

saying here.

The kingdom

of Satan

is crumbling.

The demons

are being

driven out

because a

more powerful

kingdom has

come.

The kingdom

of God

is here.

the

next thing

Jesus says

in verse

23

seems to

stand alone

and seems

unrelated

to this

whole

discussion.

He says,

whoever is

not with

me is

against

me

and whoever

does not

gather with

me

scatters.

This might

feel a little

out of place

like what's

the relationship

to what

we've been

hearing.

Well, if we

look over to

Matthew's

account, which

we won't do

this morning,

Jesus has

more to say

that's related

to this

statement in

verse 23,

but it's

almost like

we're just

getting the

abbreviated

version from

Luke.

He didn't

want to

leave this

one statement

out that

Jesus made.

Whoever is

not with

me is

against me

and whoever

does not

gather with

me scatters.

there's a

sort of

black and

whiteness to

this whole

thing.

Jesus is

the Messiah.

He is the

Son of God.

He is on

the side of

God.

He is the

very King

of the

Kingdom of

God.

And it's

like he's

saying, when

it comes

right down

to it,

there is

no middle

ground.

There is

no neutral.

You are

either with

Jesus as a

believer in

him,

as a

follower of

his,

or you're

against

him.

There's no

neutral.

Jesus just

kind of draws

a line in

the sand.

You're either

with me or

you're against

me.

You either

gather with

me or you

scatter away

from me.

There's no

in between.

And so

we're kind

of brought

to this

question.

Whose

side are

you on?

Finally,

in this

section,

we hear

from Jesus

about the

strange and

unfamiliar

tendencies of

evil spirits.

Verses 24

to 26.

He says,

when an

impure spirit

comes out

of a person,

it goes

through arid

places,

seeking rest,

and does not

find it.

Then,

it says,

I will

return to

the house

I left.

When it

arrives,

it finds

the house

swept clean

and put

in order.

Then,

it goes

and takes

seven other

spirits more

wicked than

itself,

and they

go in

and live

there,

and the

final condition

of that

person is

worse than

the first.

Well,

there's a lot

in this

explanation that

is very

strange and

unfamiliar to

us.

I imagine

that all

who heard

it that

day had

the same

reaction that

we may be

having right

now.

Like,

Jesus has

some,

he has

this knowledge

of the

tendencies of

evil spirits.

He has

this knowledge

of their

motivations,

how they

think,

how they

scheme,

how they

plan.

He seems

to know

things about

demon possession

that we

just have

no experience

with.

We've got

no idea

about it.

And I

think that

these words

of Jesus

should really

humble us.

They should

help us

realize that

there's a lot

going on in

the spiritual

realm that

just we have

no idea

about.

And we

have to be

careful here,

I think,

because there's

not enough

here to boldly

and confidently

declare,

ah,

yes,

now I

understand

all that's

going on

in the

spiritual

realm,

all that's

going on

with demons

and how

they operate.

Jesus is

just giving

us like a

little sample,

a little

glimmer of

what he

knows about

them.

According to

Jesus,

evil spirits

seem to be

restless if

they're not

in a person.

and why

is that?

Well,

we don't

know.

We heard

earlier about

how the

many evil

spirits called

legion in

the man from

the Gerasenes

begged Jesus

to send them

into the

pigs.

It's like

they didn't

want to

just go

out of

the man

and fly

around.

Why not?

They'd

rather be

in the

pigs.

it seems

from what

Jesus says

here that

they are

without

rest when

they don't

have a

home,

a person

or a

creature to

inhabit.

And why

isn't an

impure spirit

able to

find rest

after coming

out of a

person?

Why is it

that it

goes back

to that

person that

it had

possessed

before?

Is it

more difficult

for an

evil spirit

to get

into a

person or

gain control

over a

person than

we might

think?

You know,

this bit of

Jesus'

teaching raises

all kinds of

questions about

demons,

spirits,

possession.

And again,

I think we

need to be

careful here

that we

don't take

this glimmer

and assume

that we have

the full

light.

These words

should humble

us before

Jesus,

the one who

does have

the full

light and

knowledge of

all that's

going on

in the

spiritual

realm.

Here I

think is a

little more

evidence that

Jesus is

greater than

the demons.

He understands

how they

operate,

what their

tendencies are,

what their

motivations are,

how they

think.

One thing

that's certain

from this,

I think,

Jesus is not

saying that

all people

that he

has liberated

from demonic

possession are

likely to

become

possessed

again.

Maybe that's

how it has

been up

until now

before Jesus

came,

where they

would sort

of return

to the

place where

they had

been.

But now

that the

one who

is stronger

is here,

the one who

casts out by

the power

of God,

those who

are set

free,

don't need

to fear

the evil

spirits

returning.

As we

keep

flipping

forward in

the story,

we discover

that the

gift of

God,

the gift

of Jesus

is his

own spirit

to live

in us.

And to

put it in

Jesus'

terms,

if the

strongest

one there

is,

is in

the house,

then everything

in the house

is secure.

Because there

is no

greater power

than God's.

The devil

and his

demons

cannot

overpower

him.

And so

that's

encouragement,

that if we

have God's

spirit living

in us,

we don't

need to

fear

what the

devil

or the

demons

may do

to us,

that they

might

overpower

us.

They

can't.

Well,

let's bring

this to a

close.

How will

we respond

to all

this?

put

yourself

in the

crowd

that day.

Where do

you see

yourself?

Do you

relate to

the Pharisees

and feel

inside

yourself

this

inexplicable

desire

to oppose

Jesus

and cast

doubt on

him?

And if

so,

why?

Where does

that come

from?

or do

you relate

more to

the others

who are

skeptical?

Yeah,

another

casting out

of a

demon,

but let's

see something

real.

There's

got to be

more than

this.

Are you

still asking

for yet

another

sign?

Or

do you

believe that

Jesus really

did drive

out demons

by the

finger of

God?

Do you

believe that

the kingdom

of God

has come?

And

finally,

I just

want to

leave us

with this

question.

Whose

side are

you on?

Jesus

himself said

you are

either with

him or

against

him.

There are

only two

kingdoms.

What

choice have

you made?

you made

the decision

to cross

that line

in the

sand to

be on

Jesus'

side and

put your

trust in

him and

follow him?

Or in

your heart

are you

still standing

opposed and

against him?

Jesus wants

us to know

that there is

no neutral.

There's no

other option.

it is

black and

white.

There are

only two

kingdoms.

The kingdom

of this

world,

which is

ruled by

the devil,

and the

kingdom of

God.

And if we

listen to the

rest of what

Jesus says,

it's just a

matter of time

before the

kingdom of

God comes

and puts

an end to

the kingdom

of this

world,

the kingdom

of Satan

as we know

it.

have you

made the

decision to

cross that

line in

the sand?

Whose side

are you on?

Maybe you

haven't done

that, but

you're wondering,

how do I

do that?

What's

involved?

I just want

to encourage

you, if

that's something

you're wondering

and you think,

yeah, I want

to make that

decision, but

I don't know

how to do

it, come

and talk to

me after the

service or to

anyone here who

you know has

that faith.

come talk to

us after the

service and

we'd be happy

to sit with

you and

pray with

you and

talk to

you about

that.

This is the

biggest and

most important

decision in

life.

Jesus said,

whoever is not

with me is

against me.

Whose side

are you on?

Let's pray.

Father in

heaven, please

stir our

hearts to a

response.

Don't let

us come away

from what we

heard in your

word today and

just forget it.

Change us

because of it.

Give us

urgency in our

relationships with

people that we

would be

beneficial to

them, that we

would make the

most of the

opportunities we

have to not

only to love

them but to

speak of you,

to put this

question before

them.

And that's

hard, Lord,

but we ask

that you would

give us courage

and boldness.

May we not be

ashamed of you

or your words.

we ask for this

in your name.

Amen.