#91 Lu. 11:14-23 THE POWER BY WHICH JESUS CAST OUT DEMONS

Introduction:

    In our text today Jesus cast the demon out of a man.  The
Pharisees said that He cast the demon out by the power of
Beelzebub.  Jesus said He cast the demon out by the finger of God.

I.  The demon cast out

    V. 14, "And he was casting out a devil, and it was dumb..."
The King James translators translate the Greek word "diamonion" as
"devil."  They do this consistently throughout the New Testament.
However, language scholars tell us that the word should properly
be translated "demon." The Greek word, "diabolos" is properly
translated "Devil" and refers to Satan.  The word, "diamonion" or
"demon" refers to the spirits which serve under Satan and are
loyal to him.
    Luke said that on the occasion involved in this text Jesus
cast a demon out of a man.  Luke tells us also that this demon had
caused the man to be dumb.  That is, the demon caused the man to
be unable to speak.  Matthew tells us that the demon not only
caused the man to be unable to speak, but he also caused the man
to be blind.  It is important for us to understand that this man's
inability to speak and to see were not caused by any natural
sickness nor physical impairment, but they were caused entirely by
the demon spirit which indwelt him.
    There is a tendency among some people today to ridicule the
idea of such afflictions being caused by members of the spirit
world.  In fact, these people ridicule the very idea of the
existence of demons.  But let me say to you that to deny the
existence of demons is but a step away from denying the existence
of Satan himself.  To deny the existence of demons is to deny the
teachings of Jesus and the teachings of the Bible.  If you believe
the Bible then you are going to have to believe in the existence
of demon spirits.  You may not understand about demons, but you at
least need to believe in their existence because the Bible teaches
that they are real.  They are very real.  They are fallen angels
who joined Satan in his rebellion against God and they are very
real today.

II.  The amazement of the people

    The man in our text was both unable to see and unable to speak
because the demon spirit which had come to indwell him had caused
these afflictions. (V. 14), "...And it came to pass, when the
devil was gone out, the dumb spake; and the people wondered."
When Jesus cast the demon out of the man then the cause of his
affliction was gone and Luke says that he could speak.  The man
who had been dumb was now able to speak.  Matthew, who mentions
both his dumbness and his blindness, says that he was able to both
see and to speak.
    Luke also tells us that the people wondered.  That is, they
were amazed.  They stood in wonder at the great power of the Lord
to command the demon spirit and cause the demon to immediately
obey.  Such power was astounding to them.
    Matthew tells us that they began to say among themselves, "Is
this not the son of David?"  That is, is this not the promised
Messiah?  Is this not the promised Christ, the promised Redeemer,
who would be born among the descendants of David?  They stood in
wonder at the great power of Jesus.  The great masses of people
were beginning to wonder if He was not the very Christ.  This was
the attitude of people in general.  This was the attitude of the
masses of people toward Jesus.

III.  Opposition from the Pharisees

    Yet not everybody felt this way about Jesus.  Not everybody
was favorably impressed by the miracle that He had performed.
There were some who were died in the wool critics.  They could not
deny that He had done a mighty miracle, but they sought to find a
way to explain away the miracle so that the masses of people would
change their thinking toward Jesus and stand in opposition to Him.

    These men who were so bitterly opposed to Jesus were
Pharisees.  Matthew so identifies them as such.  Back at Jerusalem
there had already been a meeting of a large group of these men and
they had already decided that Jesus must be put to death.  They
were not at all pleased to see the public opinion almost
unanimously in favor of proclaiming Jesus to be the promised
Christ.  They felt compelled to go before the public and try to
contradict the idea that Jesus just might be the Christ.
    Since they could not deny the reality of the miracle that
Jesus had performed, they sought to convince the people that Jesus
had not wrought this miracle by the power of God but rather by the
power of Satan.  V. 15, "But some of them said, He casteth out
devils through Beelzebub the chief of the devils."  They said that
Jesus had performed this miracle and all other such miracles by
the power of Beelzebub.  Beelzebub was the name of the Philistine
god of filth and blow-flies.  The Israelite people used the name
to refer, not to the god of the Philistines, but to Satan, who is
a god of spiritual and moral filth and ungodliness.  Satan is the
god of all manner of immoral and indecent corruption and filth.
In our text the Pharisees refer to him as the prince or ruler of
the demon spirit world.  That is an accurate description of him.
    The accusation which the Pharisees made against Jesus was that
He cast out demons by the power of Beelzebub, the prince of
demons.  They said that God had not given Jesus the power to
perform such miracles, but that Beelzebub, the prince of the evil
Satanic spirit world had given Him this power.
    This was a very damaging accusation.  They offered no proof
whatsoever that what they said was true.  They simply said that it
was so and they expected the people to believe it just because
they said so.  What they said, of course was a lie.  But if the
people should believe their lie, it would mean that the masses of
people, like the Pharisees, would be swayed to reject Jesus as the
Christ.  The masses of people were on the very verge of believing
that Jesus is the Christ, but this viscous lie could change their
whole attitude so that they would reject Jesus and be against Him.
    Some among the Pharisees tempted the Lord by demanding a sign
from heaven.  V. 16, "And others, tempting him, sought of him a
sign from heaven."  He had already shown them all the sign they
should need by the performance of the miracle.  He had cast out a
demon spirit.  He had caused the dumb to speak and the blind to
see and these were miracles which the Old Testament prophets had
said the Christ would perform.  This very miracle that Jesus had
just performed, if they had believed the Old Testament prophets,
would have identified Him to them as the Christ.  But no!  That
was not enough for them.  Now they wanted Him to show them a sign
in the heaven---that is, in the sky.  Perhaps they wanted the sun
to stand still as it had done in the days of Joshua.  Perhaps they
wanted Him to suddenly shut out the light of the sun for an hour
or so as in an eclipse.  Perhaps they wanted Him to point to some
spot in the sky and say, "Watch this star appear when I count to
three."  Then He would count to three and cause a star to
miraculously appear.  Perhaps they then wanted Him to say, "Now
watch it disappear" and it would disappear.  I really do not know
that they wanted.  What I do know is that they rejected the sign
that the Old Testament prophets said that they were to watch for
and they wanted one to their own liking.

IV.  The rebuttal by Jesus

    This lie of the Pharisees that Jesus had cast out demons by
the power of Beelzebub was a lie which, in fact, the great
majority of the Israelite people would in due time come to accept,
but Jesus could not leave this matter without at least giving the
people a chance to hear the truth and believe the truth.  So Jesus
immediately presented good solid evidence that the Pharisees were
wrong and that He, indeed, worked miracles by the power of God.
He spoke to the Pharisees, but His chief concern was to present
this evidence so that the masses of people could hear it and could
have an opportunity to see the real truth of the matter.
    V. 17-18, "But he, knowing their thoughts, said unto them,
Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation; and
a house divided against a house falleth.  If Satan also be divided
against himself, how shall his kingdom stand?  because ye say that
I cast out devils through Beelzebub."  If Satan had given Jesus
power to work against demons then this would mean that Satan is
working against his own kingdom.  It would mean that his kingdom
is divided rather than united.  It would mean that his kingdom
could not stand.  It should have been evident to all that Satan
had not divided his kingdom because his kingdom was still thriving
in the world.  All present knew that this is so.  If Satan's
kingdom were divided it would have already fallen.  But it had not
fallen and thus was not divided.  Satan had not given power to
Jesus to cast out demons.
    In verse 19 Jesus presented another argument to help convince
the people that the Pharisees spoke a lie and that He did not cast
out demons by the power of Beelzebub or Satan.  He spoke again to
the Pharisees.  V. 19, "And if I by Beelzebub cast out devils, by
whom do your sons cast them out? therefore shall they be your
judges."  Let me put it into my own words.  Jesus told those
Pharisees that their own sons could bear testimony that one does
not cast out a demon by the power of Satan.  The Pharisees
themselves had taught their sons to call upon the power of God to
cast out demons.  They apparently never had the same kind of
instant miraculous results that Jesus had, but they were able to
call upon the power of God and apparently they did eventually see
some real results of their prayers.  Those sons of the Pharisees
would have to take a stand in opposition to their fathers and
this, would divide their kingdom and eventually their own kingdom
would fall.  But right now those sons of the Pharisees could
testify that you cannot use the power of Satan to cast out demons.
    In verse 20 Jesus sets forth in no uncertain terms the power
that He used in casting out demon spirits.  V. 20, "But if I with
the finger of God cast out devils, no doubt the kingdom of God is
come upon you." Luke has Jesus saying that He cast out demons with
the finger of God.  Matthew has Him saying that He cast out demons
by the Spirit of God.  There is no contradiction in these two
statements.  The only difference is that Luke records it in a
figurative expression---the finger of God.  Matthew records it in
a literal way---the Spirit of God.  There is no difference of
meaning in the two.
    In verses 21 and 22 Jesus sets forth still another evidence
that He does not cast out demons by the power of Satan.  V. 21,
"When a strong man armed keepeth his palace, his goods are in
peace."  The strong man here represents Satan.  Satan is indeed
strong.  He is stronger than any of us.  He is stronger than any
mere human being.  If a strong man keeps or guards his place, then
all of his substance is safe and secure.
    That is, all of his substance is safe and secure unless----
unless someone stronger than he comes against him.  V. 22, "But
when a stronger than he shall come upon him, and overcome him, he
taketh from him all his armour wherein he trusted, and divideth
his spoils."  When a strong man guards his palace all of his
substance is safe and secure unless---unless a stronger man come
against him and overcomes him.  In that case the stronger man
takes from him the things in which he trusted and is able to take
from him any of his substance.  The strong man in this
illustration represents Satan and the stronger man represents
Jesus, Himself, the Christ.  What Jesus is saying in essence is
this.  "I would have to be stronger than Satan in order to take
Satan's demon spirits and do with them what I want to do.  By
casting the demon spirit out of that man I have given you evidence
that I am stronger than the demon and I have given you the
evidence that I am stronger than Satan who rules over the demon.
I have spoiled Satan's goods so to speak.  I have shown that I
have the superior power.  I have done this by the power of God.  I
have done this by the finger of God.  The finger of God is more
powerful that all the forces of Satan combined.  I have cast the
demon out of the man by the Holy Spirit of God.

V.  The choice which the people faced

    Now let me go back to verse 20 and pick up a thought which I
skipped over when I talked about that verse.  Jesus said that if
He did this miracle by the finger of God then this meant that the
kingdom of God was upon them.  This means then that the promised
Messiah-King has come on the scene.  He was not yet crowned as
King, but the King--the promised King, the promised Messiah King--
is already on the scene.  It would, in effect, mean that Jesus is
the King.  The man who casts out demon spirits by the finger of
God is the promised King.
    The men, women, boys and girls who make up the masses of
people in Israel had to make up their minds whether they will
believe the lying Pharisees or whether they believe the Mighty
King who works miracles by the mighty finger of God. He has proven
by the evidence that He has presented to them that the Pharisees
are lying and that He is telling them the truth.  The people will
have to make up their minds one way or the other.  They cannot
straddle the fence.  They cannot remain neutral.  They must decide
for the Pharisees or they must decide for Jesus.
    Listen to the warning that He issues to them in verse 23.
V. 23, "He that is not with me is against me: and he that
gathereth not with me scattereth."

Conclusion:

    The people of our day face the same kind of decision.  The
gospel of Jesus Christ is preached from the very word of God.  The
people must decide whether they will believe the Devil's lies or
whether they will believe the word of God.  They are going to have
to make up their minds whether they choose to spend eternity with
the Devil in the fires of hell or whether they choose to spend
eternity with God in glory.
    If you have never trusted Jesus Christ as your Savior then
this is a choice that you are going to have to make.  You do not
have to make it because I say so.  You have to make it because God
places this choice before you.  The vast majority of the
Israelites involved in our text made the wrong choice and are
already in the fires of hell.  Thank God, there were some who
chose to place their faith in Jesus Christ.  I am looking forward
to seeing them in heaven some day.  I would like to see you in
heaven also.  I beg of you to make the right choice and to make it
today.