Luke 11:14-28 Pick a Side
Good morning!
Turn with me in your Bibles to the Gospel of Luke chapter 11, verses 14-26, that’s on page 869 in the pew Bibles.
Today is a special day for our church family as we are having a baptism right after this sermon. In many ways baptism is a picture of exactly what this passage in Luke is really all about.
In our passage this morning Jesus is challenged by the Pharisees about who He is and where His power comes from. Their argument is untenable and inconsistent and honestly ridiculous but it gives Jesus the opportunity to challenge all who would listen to pick a side.
Let’s read our text and dive in.
14 Now he was casting out a demon that was mute. When the demon had gone out, the mute man spoke, and the people marveled. 15 But some of them said, “He casts out demons by Beelzebul, the prince of demons,” 16 while others, to test him, kept seeking from him a sign from heaven. 17 But he, knowing their thoughts, said to them, “Every kingdom divided against itself is laid waste, and a divided household falls. 18 And if Satan also is divided against himself, how will his kingdom stand? For you say that I cast out demons by Beelzebul. 19 And if I cast out demons by Beelzebul, by whom do your sons cast them out? Therefore they will be your judges. 20 But if it is by the finger of God that I cast out demons, then the kingdom of God has come upon you. 21 When a strong man, fully armed, guards his own palace, his goods are safe; 22 but when one stronger than he attacks him and overcomes him, he takes away his armor in which he trusted and divides his spoil. 23 Whoever is not with me is against me, and whoever does not gather with me scatters.
24 “When the unclean spirit has gone out of a person, it passes through waterless places seeking rest, and finding none it says, ‘I will return to my house from which I came.’ 25 And when it comes, it finds the house swept and put in order. 26 Then it goes and brings seven other spirits more evil than itself, and they enter and dwell there. And the last state of that person is worse than the first.”
27 As he said these things, a woman in the crowd raised her voice and said to him, “Blessed is the womb that bore you, and the breasts at which you nursed!” 28 But he said, “Blessed rather are those who hear the word of God and keep it!”
Let’s pray.
So here we have Jesus casting out a demon that made this poor man mute and unable to speak. There is no question that Jesus had done this miraculous thing but there were some in the crowd, that Matthew in his account identifies as the Pharisees, who accused Jesus of casting out demons by the power of Satan.
Verse 15 says, some of them said, “He casts out demons by Beelzebul, the prince of demons,” 16 while others, to test him, kept seeking from him a sign from heaven.
Beelzebul, or Beelzebub, were other names for Satan. The word means, “dung god,” or “lord of the flies.” It was a name borrowed from the false god of Ekron, Baal-zebub which you can read about in 1 Kings 1.
Now we know that the Pharisees were motivated by jealousy to try and tear down Jesus but here He had clearly cast out a demon in the presence of a crowd and they couldn’t deny that there was supernatural power at work in Him. So instead of denying that there was supernatural power at work in Him they called into question the source of that power.
But Jesus knew their thoughts…
There is tremendous power in those words. Jesus knows the thoughts and intentions of people, of you and me.
The thoughts and intentions of these Pharisees were far from pure. They were not standing up for the people in order to defend them from false teaching or demonic influence; they were standing up to Jesus to protect their own influence over the people. And they were clearly desperate.
…some of them said, “He casts out demons by Beelzebul, the prince of demons,” 16 while others, to test him, kept seeking from him a sign from heaven. 17 But he, knowing their thoughts, said to them, “Every kingdom divided against itself is laid waste, and a divided household falls. 18 And if Satan also is divided against himself, how will his kingdom stand? For you say that I cast out demons by Beelzebul.
I’m sure you’ve heard the expression that a kingdom divided against itself cannot stand. This was an expression that was not unfamiliar to them either.
It is ridiculous to assert that Satan would destroy his own work in people or cast out his own agents. This is tantamount to civil war which destroys countries or constant strife within a household that ends up in ruins.
But Jesus fires back at these Pharisees and questions them and exposes their own hypocrisy.
19 And if I cast out demons by Beelzebul, by whom do your sons cast them out? Therefore they will be your judges. 20 But if it is by the finger of God that I cast out demons, then the kingdom of God has come upon you.
If demons can be cast out by the power of other demons, why aren’t you questioning your own followers for doing the same thing? Why is it ok for them but not for me to cast out demons by the power of God? You can see that this man has been set free from the demon, why can’t you admit that it was by the power of God that this man was set free?
The problem was that the Pharisees had chosen a side and it was not the side of Jesus.
It would be impossible for them to recognize that it was by the Spirit of God that Jesus was casting out demons because that would mean they would have to admit that the kingdom of God had come to them and that Jesus really was Messiah.
Their little kingdom of religious influence and power was crumbling and they were desperately trying to hold it together.
Jesus goes on to give a great picture of exactly what was going on in the spiritual realm through His ministry and even in that very moment.
21 When a strong man, fully armed, guards his own palace, his goods are safe; 22 but when one stronger than he attacks him and overcomes him, he takes away his armor in which he trusted and divides his spoil.
The strong man in this picture is clearly Satan, fully armed with all his devices, guarding his palace, the goods of which are the hearts and minds of his captives.
But when One stronger than he, that’s Jesus, attacks him and overcomes him he takes away his armor in which he trusted and divides his spoil.
Satan is a defeated foe. But that doesn’t mean that he’s gone, not yet. We talked about his final destination last week from Revelation 20, the lake of fire, but he isn’t in there yet.
Don’t be misled, we are at war, but we are not at war with people.
The kingdom of God is at war with the kingdom of Satan, but those who reject Christ are not Satan’s soldiers, they are Satan’s captives just like the poor man possessed by the demon that made him mute.
But Jesus makes it very clear that there is no neutral ground. 23 Whoever is not with me is against me, and whoever does not gather with me scatters.
Jesus is declaring that He is for the kingdom of God and there is only His way into it. There is no other way to gain entrance to God’s kingdom, not the religion of the Pharisees, not being a good person, not doing good works, not practicing some other religion thinking that they are all the same and all lead to God, they don’t.
Jesus refers back to the man who was now free from the demon in verse 24.
24 “When the unclean spirit has gone out of a person, it passes through waterless places seeking rest, and finding none it says, ‘I will return to my house from which I came.’ 25 And when it comes, it finds the house swept and put in order. 26 Then it goes and brings seven other spirits more evil than itself, and they enter and dwell there. And the last state of that person is worse than the first.”
The man who had been exorcised of the demon now had a choice to make. The demon had gone but not for long. If this man did not trust in Jesus so that he might be filled with the Holy Spirit, that demon would come back with his friends to find his old house all cleaned up and ready for him and that poor guy would be worse off than he was before.
He couldn’t just say, “Thanks Jesus!” and walk away, to choose neutrality is to chose the enemy because there is no neutral ground.
I’m sure I’m not alone in knowing people that have received wakeup call after wakeup call from the Lord and they might praise Him for helping them but still do not put their trust in Jesus. It’s heartbreaking.
The people there that day had to make a choice, the man cleansed of the evil spirit had to make a choice, they had to make up their minds. “What do we do with Jesus?”
There is no neutral ground. There is no neutral ground. There is dead and there is alive, that’s it.
Dead because of sin or alive because of faith in Jesus, those are the only two options.
Ephesians 2 says, …you were dead in the trespasses and sins 2 in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience— 3 among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind. 4 But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, 5 even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved—
These folks that are getting in the water today have made their choice and are being baptized to publically declare that they trust in Jesus to save them from their sin, that they have accepted the truth that Jesus died in their place on the cross, that they have turned from their sin and have committed to follow Jesus according to His Word.
If you still haven’t made that choice you can right now.
27 As he said these things, a woman in the crowd raised her voice and said to him, “Blessed is the womb that bore you, and the breasts at which you nursed!” 28 But he said, “Blessed rather are those who hear the word of God and keep it!”
Amen.
