No Neutral Positions

Luke 11:14-28

¹⁴Now he was casting out a demon that was mute. When the demon had gone out, the mute man spoke, and the people marveled. ¹⁵But some of them said, “He casts out demons by Beelzebul, the prince of demons,” ¹⁶while others, to test him, kept seeking from him a sign from heaven. ¹⁷But he, knowing their thoughts, said to them, “Every kingdom divided against itself is laid waste, and a divided household falls. ¹⁸And if Satan also is divided against himself, how will his kingdom stand? For you say that I cast out demons by Beelzebul. ¹⁹And if I cast out demons by Beelzebul, by whom do your sons cast them out? Therefore they will be your judges. ²⁰But if it is by the finger of God that I cast out demons, then the kingdom of God has come upon you. ²¹When a strong man, fully armed, guards his own palace, his goods are safe; ²²but when one stronger than he attacks him and overcomes him, he takes away his armor in which he trusted and divides his spoil. ²³Whoever is not with me is against me, and whoever does not gather with me scatters. ²⁴When 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.’ ²⁵And when it comes, it finds the house swept and put in order. ²⁶Then 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.” ²⁷As 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!”

I continually stand amazed at the ability of people to always choose the negative opinion of something or someone. What is that about? When something miraculous happens, why would we jump to the conclusion that this event must be precipitated by evil? Jesus faces this exact attitude while performing His miracles and bringing people out of desperate lives into His light. Seeing someone freed of a demon should have brought about a response of praise and adoration. Instead it brings suspicion and charges of evil origins.

In the face of these erroneous charges, Jesus takes the chance to teach the people something about Himself and His Kingdom. First of all, note is made about the fact that “He, knowing their thoughts”. That always blows me away. I can’t even imagine knowing the thoughts of all the people around me. I wouldn’t even want to experience that power. But Jesus knows what’s going on in the hearts of the crowd and addresses those exact ideas with His discourse.

Βεελζεβούλ—To attribute Jesus’ power to Beelzebul is to blaspheme Jesus and the Holy Spirit, with whom he was anointed in baptism and by whose power he works his miracles. Jews would hear the suggestion as accusing Jesus of apostasy in the strongest possible terms. This is the only occurrence of Beelzebul in Luke, and as 11:18 indicates, the name designates Satan. The name means “prince Baal.” It reflects an ancient Canaanite epithet, found in the fourteenth-century b.c. Ugaritic texts, for Baal, the male fertility god worshiped by the nations God drove out before Israel: Baal is called zbl b‘l ’arts, “prince, lord of earth.” At various times in Israel’s history many apostatized and worshiped Baal. Since Baal was often represented as a bull, the gold bulls erected in Bethel and Dan likely were associated with Baal (1 Ki 12:28–30), and the false worship of them was the major sin that split the faith of the Northern Kingdom from that of the Southern Kingdom (2 Ki 10:28–29). Therefore, Baal helped rend Israel as a “kingdom divided up against itself,” and both kingdoms eventually were desolated because of their apostasy. In intertestamental literature, both Beelzebul and Belial are names for the devil.

Just, A. A., Jr. (1997). Luke 9:51–24:53 (p. 473). St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House.

Cf. I. H. Marshall, The Gospel of Luke, 473; J. Fitzmyer, Luke X–XXIV, 920–21.

Having dealt with the whole idea that His power came not from God but from the devil, Jesus addresses the fact that once the demons are gone, something (Someone) else must take up residence or evil will return with a vengeance.

In the final section of Jesus’ extended response to the accusation that he casts out demons through Beelzebul, Jesus implies that when Satan is cast out, the void must be filled with the Messiah, the stronger one, or else Satan will return with even more force and vehemence. The human soul is pictured as a house that needs an occupant—and if it is left empty, an undesirable tenant will take up residence. This picture supports Augustine’s view that all people have a God-shaped void within that only God can fill satisfactorily. Attempts to leave it vacant or to fill it with something else will fail, and in fact the person will be worse off in the end.

Just, A. A., Jr. (1997). Luke 9:51–24:53 (p. 479). St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House.

Also of interest in this passage is Jesus’ reference to “the finger of God”. With this reference, His Jewish listeners would have made a connection to the story of the Exodus and the giving of the 10 Commandments, both instances of the power of God’s finger being espoused. Again, concrete proof that He comes from God, not Satan.

Exodus 8:19

Then the magicians said to Pharaoh, “This is the finger of God.” But Pharaoh’s heart was hardened, and he would not listen to them, as the Lord had said.

Deuteronomy 9:10

And the Lord gave me the two tablets of stone written with the finger of God, and on them were all the words that the Lord had spoken with you on the mountain out of the midst of the fire on the day of the assembly.

Jesus does refer to Satan as the “strong one” (verse 21). He doesn’t deny Satan’s power to harm those who are not in Jesus’ care (by their own choice). But Jesus refers to Himself as “the stronger one” (verse 22). There is only one clear victor here and that is the Lord Jesus. Ultimately, in this story, Jesus is forcing His hearers to take a stand. There can be no neutral position when it comes to Jesus Christ. Either you believe what He says or you reject Him outright. Ambivalence is not an option. Just as that was true for the people who witnessed the release of this man from the demon, so we too are challenged to declare our faith in the Lord Jesus or to reject His claims. To reject puts us in the path of the evil one and to accept His divine forgiveness leaves us safely in His arms – forever.