Luke 11:14-23

Transcript

00:00:01:15 – 00:00:30:01
Clint Loveall
Hey, thanks for joining us. Welcome back. Sorry again about yesterday. We hope that we have made some wholesale changes. Michael has made some wholesale changes that we hope will remedy our freezing issues as of late. So we continue today with the Gospel of Luke. We’re in the 11th chapter. We move into a section that I think probably Michael, one of those sections that maybe people don’t always know what to do with.

00:00:30:01 – 00:00:52:04
Clint Loveall
There’s some language stuff in this, there’s some content stuff in this. Just this is one of those texts. I think some people love this because they get to dig deep into really strange stuff, particularly, you know, spiritual warfare kind of stuff. And other people probably just, okay, that was good. Let’s get on to the rest of the story.

00:00:52:04 – 00:01:13:16
Clint Loveall
So we’ll we’ll see what we make of it. Today we’re in verse 14. We’ll read down through verse 23. Now, Jesus was casting out a demon that was mute when the demon had gone out. The one who had been mute spoke and the crowds were amazed. But some of them said he casts out demons by believable the ruler of demons.

00:01:13:21 – 00:01:39:43
Clint Loveall
Others to test him, kept demanding a sign from heaven. But he knew what they were thinking. And he said to them, Every kingdom divided against itself becomes a desert and a house falls on the house. If Satan is also divided against himself, how will his kingdom stand for you? Say that I cast out demons by believable. Now, if I cast out demons by Beelzebub, by whom do your exorcist cast them out?

00:01:39:48 – 00:02:01:45
Clint Loveall
Therefore, they will be your judges. But if it is by the finger of God that I cast out demons when the Kingdom of God has come to you, then the Kingdom of God has come to you. When a strong man, fully armed, guards his castle, his property is safe. But when one stronger attacks him and overpowers him, he takes it away.

00:02:01:49 – 00:02:36:46
Clint Loveall
His armor, which he trusted. And he divides the plunder. Whoever is not with me is against me, and whoever does not gather with me scatters. So again, some of this is going to sound tricky. There is a really deep discussion. Some of your Bibles may instead of saying Beale’s a bull, say Beelzebub. There’s some interesting language stuff about the history of that word, whether it is translated properly.

00:02:36:48 – 00:03:24:51
Clint Loveall
Beelzebub is the most early translation lation. It’s the literal Greek. Beelzebub is a little bit later edition, borrowed from a Hebrew word in the Old Testament. By this time in narrative form, it really exists as a synonym for Satan. It has other meanings, it has other origins. But essentially the charge here against Jesus having exorcized this demon is that he’s done so by the power of evil that he himself is in league with Satan and is somehow using this as a a show or as a display, a deceit of being good himself.

00:03:24:55 – 00:03:54:21
Clint Loveall
And, you know, Michael, again, easy to read by that, but that is a significant accusation. I mean, that’s one of the most outright and maybe most offensive accusations we’ve seen. We’ve seen people upset with Jesus. We’ve seen them accuse Jesus of blasphemy. But this is literally saying he’s in league with Satan, that he and Satan are working together.

00:03:54:32 – 00:03:57:39
Clint Loveall
And I’m not sure we’ve seen something quite that direct.

00:03:57:39 – 00:04:22:50
Michael Gewecke
Yeah, and the commentators make that point. Yes. Right. They’re going to take that and then let’s take it to the next level. No, this who are making that accusation because in Luke already we’re up to Chapter 11 together at this point in the 11 chapters or ten chapters before this that we’ve been in, we have become accustomed, as in the other gospels, to the Pharisees, to the teachers of the law.

00:04:22:55 – 00:04:51:05
Michael Gewecke
They’ve been coming after Jesus, that those are the people who have brought opposition. Let’s look closely here today. Here it is, the crowds who are amazed at the end of verse 14. Look at verse 15, some of them, the crowds are making these accusations about Jesus. The the hostility being incurred here is not just limited anymore to some of the religious, you know, who’s who.

00:04:51:18 – 00:05:25:24
Michael Gewecke
This is now actually being reflected amongst the people around Jesus. The the nitty gritty kind of common folks of Israel are now beginning to have some of those early signs of dissension, which unto itself, Clint is a Luke in way of helping to inform us, the reader, that things are ratcheting up again, that the temperature is increasing, and that’s the only more accentuate by your point here that we are having the accusation made that Jesus is doing this not just by some random power, but by the power of the enemy himself.

00:05:25:37 – 00:05:47:27
Michael Gewecke
So it’s the people who are raising the concern that is important. The concern that they’re raising is important. And this is just making it very, very clear to us, the reader, that the stakes are high in what you choose as it relates to Jesus. The the question on the table is not who do you like? More or less?

00:05:47:27 – 00:06:06:23
Michael Gewecke
The question is who stands on the right side of the kingdom? Who’s who is standing for God and who is standing for the enemy? And this story is going to push us into that uncomfortable position to see, first of all, how Jesus is going to respond to it. And then following that, it’s going to force the question, how do we respond to it?

00:06:06:36 – 00:06:34:54
Clint Loveall
There’s a really subtle thing that happens here as well in verse 16. So this accusation has been made. He casts out demons by believable. That literally means Lord of the Flies. But at this point, again, Satan, that’s the reference. And then verse 16 said, Others to test him kept demanding a sign from heaven. And this is significant. You know, these are just the things that commentators help us, scholars help us.

00:06:34:58 – 00:07:02:10
Clint Loveall
The word test here is only used one other time in Luke, and we’ve already seen it. It’s when Satan tested Jesus. So here we have an accusation that Jesus is working with Satan whilst simultaneously getting a challenge to Jesus to prove himself, which was the same test in the same word that was already seen when Satan was trying to sidetrack Jesus.

00:07:02:15 – 00:07:25:21
Clint Loveall
So to accusations or at least two different veins here of challenge for Jesus. In response to the charge of working with Satan, he offers three responses. The first is that a kingdom divided can’t stand. In other words, if I’m working with Satan, why am I working against Satan? Why would I be doing exorcisms? That’s not how it works.

00:07:25:35 – 00:07:54:16
Clint Loveall
Secondly, he points out that the Jewish people also have exorcists. So if exorcism is done by the power of Satan, isn’t that what they’re also doing? And then finally, what if what I’m doing is of God, Why aren’t you paying attention? And so kind of a threefold response here. And then then we get this illustration at the end, when a strong man is fully armed guards, the property is safe, but when a stronger one comes, he takes from him.

00:07:54:21 – 00:08:17:40
Clint Loveall
This, I think, is kind of an interesting little detour. Michael. This is almost goes to Jesus kind of preaching a little bit. If you ask people who the strong and stronger man is, they probably may not have thought about it, or maybe they would have to take some guesses, but essentially what Jesus is saying is Satan is the strong man.

00:08:17:45 – 00:08:45:07
Clint Loveall
He has house, he has armor, he has a kingdom, and Jesus is the one who is stronger and has come to plunder him. Jesus has come to to clean house, literally taking that which belonged and plundering the kingdom of Satan. And I think that’s in some ways that is because of some of the weirdness of this passage or the weirdness in this passage.

00:08:45:19 – 00:08:55:00
Clint Loveall
Maybe that part gets missed. But I also I kind of think from a narrative or devotional reading that’s maybe the most interesting part of the text.

00:08:55:04 – 00:09:18:56
Michael Gewecke
I think that it’s worth pausing here and looking at a text like this from the meta perspective. For those of you who join us regularly for the studies, you know that there’s a kind of pacing to the scriptures, there’s a kind of way of interweaving stories so that we can see movement in the story of Jesus. But if you’re joining this study, maybe you searched for this story and this was of particular interest to you.

00:09:19:01 – 00:10:03:48
Michael Gewecke
This is, I think, a caution that we don’t look at texts like this to explain themselves to us, because if you do if you make this story a kind of, you know, most important touchpoint for Jesus’s teaching, you’re going to think that Jesus, his entire life is lived from the perspective of who strong in overtaking others. Who has the most power when you know that in Luke itself, just in the first couple chapters we had Jesus teaching about how the weakest are blessed, how those who are broken are blessed, those who are struggling are blessed in this whole litany of those who are the lost least and left out.

00:10:03:48 – 00:10:31:13
Michael Gewecke
And so a section like this is a fascinating inclusion in the themes and story that we’ve seen already. And I think what is really, really interesting is to see how Jesus does go toe to toe and make an argument. Lots of times in the Scripture, Jesus doesn’t argue actual points in relationship. He simply gives a parable or he simply invites another question at the person who asks it.

00:10:31:13 – 00:10:51:01
Michael Gewecke
But here he does, as you laid out. So clearly he gets three responses and ultimately he says, I’m here to take from the evil one, the very one that you’re accusing me of being in league with. I’m here to take from him what is not his to have and then to distribute or to give that back to the people of Israel.

00:10:51:01 – 00:11:12:52
Michael Gewecke
And then the question is, so are you with me or are you not? And that, I think, is the pressing, very poignant question of this text, which is relevant. The rest of this may be difficult. You’re right, Clint. In a Bible study context, we’re going to struggle to tease out, you know, what do we do with Beelzebub in our in our present life or in our day to day walk of faith?

00:11:12:52 – 00:11:31:26
Michael Gewecke
But by here, Jesus is making it clear it is the kingdom of God that he represents, or it’s another kingdom. And we can relate to that in a meaningful way. What are the choices that we make that put us in the line of Jesus? And what choices do we make today that do not? And that is the invitation into a text like this.

00:11:31:26 – 00:11:50:11
Clint Loveall
And I want to speak to something you said, Michael, but before we get there, I just want to point out not to overdo this last bit here, but the one who is stronger, again, if we cast Jesus in that role and Satan or be visible in this other role, what does he do? He tax him. He takes away his armor.

00:11:50:20 – 00:12:27:52
Clint Loveall
He he just he strips him. He it. This is not some kind of cosmic battle to see who wins. Jesus wins and he divides his plunder, takes away the armor in which he trusted and divides his plunder. So Jesus here is making noble bones about the outcome of this struggle. So then it becomes a question of essentially which of these which of these options is one going to follow?

00:12:27:57 – 00:12:56:06
Clint Loveall
Are you going to persist in the idea that Jesus is something else, or are you going to persist? Are you going to embrace the idea that Jesus is doing the work of God? Whoever is not with me is against me? And to your point, Michael, about needing to put Scripture in conversation with other Scripture, if we turn back just a page or so, the 50th verse of Chapter nine, here’s what we read.

00:12:56:11 – 00:13:24:25
Clint Loveall
But Jesus said, Do not stop him. Whoever is not against you is for you. So we have Jesus saying two things that are very close to opposites. Whoever is not against you is for you. Whoever is not with you is against you. And we have to here work through things like context to take either of those and think that is the entire summary.

00:13:24:30 – 00:13:51:22
Clint Loveall
We instead have to think, Well, this is Jesus talking about something else. This isn’t talking about working through evangelism. This isn’t talking about the sending of disciples. This is a fundamental question about reality. And does one see in Jesus God doing God’s work, or this one seeing Jesus something else? And if they see anything else, they’ve missed it.

00:13:51:27 – 00:14:10:28
Clint Loveall
They have it wrong and they don’t understand the truth. So I just I think that’s a helpful word, Michael, that we should never be content to simply live in one portion of Scripture. We should always put that in conversation with everything else we can find in it.

00:14:10:33 – 00:14:44:06
Michael Gewecke
Well, and let’s not miss the kind of foundation of what’s being argued here that Jesus is being accused of doing what everyone would think is a good thing by the way, casting out demons. No one is on the pro side of demons in this conversation. The accusation is that Jesus is doing that by the power of Satan himself, that Jesus stands on the side of the wrong kingdom doing this work, advancing that kingdom through His own kind of power, through his own kind of display.

00:14:44:20 – 00:15:08:22
Michael Gewecke
And clearly, if that’s the point being made here, then what’s fascinating is that you’ve got to think in that first century context, you have the people of Israel who largely feel powerless at the hands of Rome. You have these people who have been conquered, who are taxed, who are reminded year in and year out that they are not the ones who are in charge of their own fate.

00:15:08:27 – 00:15:34:26
Michael Gewecke
And so here they have someone in their presence with agency true spiritual power. We’ve seen this already in Luke, a teacher who teaches with power, who demonstrates with power. This is an amazing thing. And the question is, what do you see in that power? Is it insidious or is it good news? Is it a work of the devil or is it gospel of God’s work in the world?

00:15:34:26 – 00:15:57:57
Michael Gewecke
This is the display of the two kingdoms when they’re brought next to each other. And I think what’s fascinating is the choice being put to the people that day is to look into the eyes of Jesus and to see him for what he is and when they are engaging in that conflict. We shouldn’t be surprised when people in our own day struggle to make out Jesus for who he is.

00:15:57:57 – 00:16:25:13
Michael Gewecke
Also, the reality is that many people look to followers of Jesus and see duplicity. They see advancement for advancement. They see the things that the crowd Yeah, in some way we can appreciate accusing Jesus of remains, accusations of people seeking to follow Jesus. And this is a it’s a prescient kind of question. It’s a it’s a scale that we hold ourselves to when wondering, you know, what does it mean to be followers of Jesus?

00:16:25:13 – 00:16:54:56
Michael Gewecke
Who was Jesus? What kingdom did he stand for? And and where are we in our own discipleship? Are we in Jesus’s kingdom or are we in some way possibly, you know, ourselves participating in not Christ like King? I think it’s what is key to this text is not the thing we gravitate towards. That is, hey, let’s talk about spiritual warfare and Jesus is strength, but instead it’s what is the choice of discipleship and who is the one who calls us to that choice?

00:16:55:01 – 00:17:01:52
Michael Gewecke
And that is, unfortunately, I think, no smaller of a question. That remains a challenging question to this day.

00:17:01:57 – 00:17:30:47
Clint Loveall
Yeah, one unfortunate footnote and it will surprise nobody that knows it will not surprise anybody who knows some church history. We’ve not always been trustworthy with this last verse here. Sometimes the church has used whoever is not with me is against me as a license to attack those who don’t agree with us as a as a signal of animosity toward nonbelievers and I would say just a couple of things about that.

00:17:30:52 – 00:18:01:32
Clint Loveall
A, these are Jesus words. And when Jesus says words, we have to be very careful in thinking we can somehow then apply them to ourselves. We know from much of the scripture we are called out. We are called to be loving, we are called to be neighbor. We are This is Jesus response, both personally and theologically, to being accused of working for the Prince of Evil.

00:18:01:37 – 00:18:30:30
Clint Loveall
And Jesus says, No, if you don’t believe that I’m doing God’s work, you are against me. Literally, you are against me. And so I would just make those two points. A We have to be very cautious with words like this because we don’t get to just simply substitute ourselves for Jesus in saying them. And second, we know from the rest of Scripture we are not called to be against everybody who is against Jesus.

00:18:30:30 – 00:18:55:17
Clint Loveall
We are called to love them. We are called to pray for them. We’re called the blessed for them, bless them or try called to try to bring them into the community of truth in such a way that they too can join the voices who proclaim that Jesus is the work and doing the work of God. And so just I don’t know that that’s a danger for a lot of people.

00:18:55:17 – 00:19:00:42
Clint Loveall
But there have been times the churches misused this verse and we should not.

00:19:00:46 – 00:19:19:40
Michael Gewecke
I it’s a great summary and I don’t want to risk modeling it. So I think that’s a good place to leave it. I certainly hope you’ve been encouraged, challenged. Maybe we see this text in a new way and we would love to have you continue along with us so that you could discover the context of this moving story as we continue along in the Book of Luke.

00:19:19:40 – 00:19:22:33
Michael Gewecke
But thanks for being with us today. Look forward to seeing you tomorrow.

00:19:22:39 – 00:19:23:22
Clint Loveall
Thanks, everybody.