Luke 11:14-23

Luke 11:14-23

And He was casting out demons, and he was mute.  And it became – after the demon went out – that the mute man spoke.  And the crowd marveled.  And some out of them said, “He casts out demons in Beelzebub, the prince of demons.”  Others, tempting Him, were seeking a sign out of heaven from Him.  And having known their thoughts, He said to them, “Every kingdom divided upon itself is made desolate; and a house divided upon itself falls.  And if Satan was also being divided upon himself, how will his kingdom be established?  You all say that I cast out demons in Beelzebub.  But if I cast out demons in Beelzebub, in whom do your sons cast them out?  Therefore, these will be your judges.  But since I cast out demons in God’s finger, then the kingdom of God comes upon you all.  Whenever a strong man, having been furnished with arms, should keep watch over his own palace, his possessions are in peace.  But after another strong man comes, he should conquer him. He takes his full armor, upon which he trusted, and distributes his spoils.  The one who is not with me is against me.  And the one who is not gathered with me scatters.

Thoughts for Today

First Thought:

This passage begins with another display of God’s power.  A man, who is unable to speak, suddenly finds himself able to speak.  This wasn’t a natural birth defect; this was a supernatural condition.  A man had a spiritual condition in which his body was prohibited from functioning normally.  Jesus walks in, sets the spiritual condition straight, and casts out the demon.  The man can speak again.  The crowd is amazed.

How does this passage portray the power of God?  Have you ever seen the power of God on display in an amazing way?

Second Thought:

Before we get to the argument over Beelzebub, let’s look at why this argument happens in the first place.  People were tempting Jesus because they wanted to see a sign out of heaven.  I can’t help but stop and pause here.  What did they just see?  How often have they seen people who inexplicably cannot speak suddenly be able to speak?  If that isn’t a sign out of heaven, I am not sure what is!  This really speaks to human nature.  We are seldom satisfied.  We want to see the spectacle.  We want to see more.  The sad part is that their lack of satisfaction actually leads to an argument between them and Jesus.  They are pushed away from God because of their inability to be satisfied.

When have you wanted to see more of God’s power than you’ve already seen?  When are you most satisfied with God’s role in your life?

Third Thought:

Finally, Jesus teaches us that a house divided cannot stand.  We know this to be true.  We have a saying that is very similar to this: united we stand, divided we fall.  This is what Jesus is saying.  Why would Satan sacrifice ground that he had gained so that someone else could gain power?  It truly doesn’t make sense.  Satan would not be interested in freeing a man over whom he had worked to gain control?

Why do you think people accused Jesus off doing what He did through Satan’s power?  What is truly behind this accusation?

Passage for Tomorrow: Luke 11:24-26