What Will You Do with Jesus?

Scripture Reading

Luke 11:14–28 NKJV

And He was casting out a demon, and it was mute. So it was, when the demon had gone out, that the mute spoke; and the multitudes marveled. But some of them said, “He casts out demons by Beelzebub, the ruler of the demons.” Others, testing Him, sought from Him a sign from heaven. But He, knowing their thoughts, said to them: “Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation, and a house divided against a house falls. If Satan also is divided against himself, how will his kingdom stand? Because you say I cast out demons by Beelzebub. And if I cast out demons by Beelzebub, by whom do your sons cast them out? Therefore they will be your judges. But if I cast out demons with the finger of God, surely the kingdom of God has come upon you. When a strong man, fully armed, guards his own palace, his goods are in peace. But when a stronger than he comes upon him and overcomes him, he takes from him all his armor in which he trusted, and divides his spoils. He who is not with Me is against Me, and he who does not gather with Me scatters. “When an unclean spirit goes out of a man, he goes through dry places, seeking rest; and finding none, he says, ‘I will return to my house from which I came.’ And when he comes, he finds it swept and put in order. Then he goes and takes with him seven other spirits more wicked than himself, and they enter and dwell there; and the last state of that man is worse than the first.” And it happened, as He spoke these things, that a certain woman from the crowd raised her voice and said to Him, “Blessed is the womb that bore You, and the breasts which nursed You!” But He said, “More than that, blessed are those who hear the word of God and keep it!”

The Title for the Sermon comes from Mark 15:12, where Pilate asks that question of the crowds; however, the song of the same name asks the question posed in the situation Luke describes for us.

A miracle opens the event - Jesus casts out a demon that had deprived a poor man of the ability to speak; what would have been a remarkable event in any other age was in the age of Jesus’ earthly ministry almost routine. What was remarkable wasn’t the miracle, but people’s response. Before, Jesus would get a few people who believed him, but this time, it was different. The responses to Jesus were varied, but there was no response of faith. Indeed, the responses from some were quite hostile.

I. What They Did with Jesus

The first response was vague amazement - the crowds marvelled. That’s a neutral response which Jesus had gotten before. For example, at the healing of the paralytic who was let down by the roof, the reaction of the crowd was Luke 5:26

Luke 5:26 NKJV

And they were all amazed, and they glorified God and were filled with fear, saying, “We have seen strange things today!”

The problem with amazement is that it really doesn’t accomplish anything. People think, wow, that Jesus is really something, then just go back to their lives with no change at all. It’s not hostile, but it’s not faith either. It leaves them unresponsive to Jesus message of repentance and acceptance of him as Messiah/King.

The second response is actively hostile - they come up with an alternate explanation for what happened. He casts out demons by the prince of Demons, Beelzebub, i.e. Satan.

Now Beelzebub (or as some manuscripts put it, Beelzebul) refers to the Canaanite deity that plagued Israel for so many generations. Here the Jews correctly note that the highest Canaanite god stood for the highest demon, i.e. Satan or the Devil.

The name Beelzebul means Lord of the Temple.

However, this response is obviously prejudicial to the point it doesn’t even make sense. The only evidence that they have for Jesus’ supposed demonic powers is that he cast out a demon. You’d only come to this conclusion if you had something like “Jesus of Nazareth Derangement Syndrome.”

It’s not like this is the first hostile response that Jesus received. Back in chapter 5, when he healed the Paralytic, the religious leaders were sitting in the back criticizing Jesus. However, this time it’s not just the leaders, the hostile response comes from the crowds.

The final response is less overtly hostile, but is even worse. They ask for a sign. Now signs were the way Jesus proved he was who he claimed to be; however, he had just given them a sign. Thus, they weren’t really honestly trying to figure out if Jesus was real or not; they wanted to use this sign to get him in trouble.

II. A House Divided - The Logic of Jesus’ Power

Abraham Lincoln used this language famously in a speech on June 16th, 1858, at the Republican State Convention:

"A house divided against itself cannot stand."

I believe this government cannot endure, permanently half slave and half free.

I do not expect the Union to be dissolved -- I do not expect the house to fall -- but I do expect it will cease to be divided.

It will become all one thing or all the other.

Lincoln’s rhetoric works because it is actually a decent application of the text. Now if you’ve read much of Lincoln, you’ll know that he used Scripture more for decoration than exegesis; but in this case, he is using it accurately. Luke, of course, is not talking about Slavery; Jesus is only using the illustration of a house divided to show the crowds how ridiculous it is to claim he is casting out demons by Satan’s power. But to make this claim Jesus draws the general point that when kingdoms or houses fight, they are destroyed from within.

Lincoln was worried, not about slavery per se, but about all the riots and protests about slavery. He is making the point that this issue of slavery had reached such a fever pitch that no compromise on the issue was possible. Sadly, he was correct; just a couple of years later the Civil war broke out.

Even Lincolns friends regarded his speech as a bit radical for the times. His own law partner, William Herndon, considered Lincoln’s speech morally courageous but politically incorrect. But Lincoln stuck to his guns, and though he lost his race for the Senate that election cycle, this speech eventually propelled him to the White House at our nation’s most critical hour.

Now Lincoln often used Scripture more as decoration than as exegesis; however, in this case he is accurately applying the principle. Any group - nation, family, church, business, whatever - that is sufficiently divided will always fall. Thus, if you find yourself in conflict anywhere, don’t lose sight of the bigger picture. What good does it do to win the argument if the argument burns the house down?

That said, we must not lose sight of what Jesus was doing by this general observation. What is “Satan’s Kingdom? The Devil is the Prince of the Power of the Air; all the Gentile nations of the World are his domain. They have been his domain since he conquered Adam in the Garden; they will remain so until Jesus comes again.

It was clear then, that Satan’s Kingdom had not in fact fallen. That’d be great if it did, but Jesus just cast out a demon. Clearly Satan is still in control. And I don’t think you have to look very far to see that Satan is still alive and well on Planet Earth. I wish it had fallen, but it hasn’t.

Thus, Jesus can’t be working for the Devil. It just doesn’t even make sense.

Second piece of logic - By whom do “your sons” cast them out. That is Jewish Exorcists would have all kinds of spells and incantations, trying to find the right technique to expel the demon. That’s what he means by the “sons” he speak of. It doesn’t really matter for Jesus’ purposes if they really could cast out demons or not. His point is not that the exorcists work and should be respected. His point actually works even better if they don’t work. Luke later tells us about the seven sons of Sceva, some exorcists who tried to use Jesus’ name as a magic charm and found it backfired about as much as it is possible to do. So he doesn’t actually like exorcists. But if most people don’t jump to the conclusion that these rather shady people were working for the Devil, why do they jump to that conclusion with Jesus. Thus the comparison shows how crazy their criticism was.

Third piece of logic - the Strong Man. Obviously when a strong, well-armed man guards his stuff, then his stuff is safe; unless the robber brings even more firepower. But demons are stronger than any mortal. This is exactly the opposite logic of the exorcist. Jesus is making the claim that to cast out demons, you don’t need the right technique; you have to be stronger than the demon. But no mere human could possibly be stronger than a demon. The only one stronger has to be God himself, or those he has appointed. Jesus did commission his disciples to cast out demons too. We just learned a few verses earlier that the 70 had power over demons. But the point that Jesus is trying to make is that the only plausible explanation for his victory over the demon is that he is from God. Since God must have given him this power, you’d better listen to his message. And once you do listen to that message, you’ll find that he is not just God’s messenger; he is the Son of God; God incarnate.

Thus Jesus makes the point that “If I cast out demons by the finger of God, surely the Kingdom of God has come upon you.” Now Jesus was not at that time exercising political authority of any kind. In fact, he once rejected the offer to become their king. What he means isn’t that the Kingdom had already started, but that the King was Here, and offering it to them. He is saying, “if I do this by God’s Hand, then I must be the King. So the Kingdom is as close to you as you’ll ever get - the King is standing right in front of you.

III. Warnings and a Blessing

Jesus has two warnings for those who reject him, and one blessing.

The first warning is that neutrality is impossible. at first Luke 9:50

Luke 9:50 NKJV

But Jesus said to him, “Do not forbid him, for he who is not against us is on our side.”

seems to say the reverse; but if you look at both closely, they say the same thing. Jesus says that the one who does not act against us is for us; but the one who does not accept Jesus rejects him. Both make the point that you cannot be neutral about Jesus; either you are actively and consciously for or against him; or else you are passively and unconsciously against him.

The second warning is a illustration from demon possession. Jesus general point is that when a demon leaves, he “goes through dry places,” since demons don’t need to eat, that means he gets bored, so he returns to the “fun” of messing up this poor dude. However, he also remembers that he was driven out last time, so this time he gets “backup,” so he takes seven other demons who are even more powerful, so that they will not be forced to leave this man alone.

But this is true because the man might have turned over a new leaf, but he hasn’t really replaced what opened him up for demon possession with anything else. Thus, when the demons return, though the guy has got his life in order, they have free reign to mess it up again.

When the Lord changes a man, and he believes, then God comes and dwells there. Thus, if there was demon possession, and the man turns to God instead, the demons won’t find a “empty house” but rather someone much, much stronger is now in residence - God is there. Thus, if the man believes and trusts the Lord, this “last state” of the man cannot happen.

But the principle that applies to an extreme case of an individual “cleaning up” also applies elsewhere.

“Put off/Put on” is an important principle of developing godly habits. If you get rid of habits that do not please the Lord, but don’t replace them with anything, you’ll succeed for a while, but eventually the vacuum will get filled with something. And each time you relapse, it will get harder to reverse it.

What is true for an individual is also true of a nation. Jesus point is that just as it happens to an individual, when a nation briefly experiences a superficial revival, if there is no continuing real faith, then that nation is doomed. Israel experienced God’s power in the person of Jesus, but wasn’t really embracing the true repentance he was calling for; that means that once he left, the forces of darkness would dominate again, and they would end up much worse than if Jesus hadn’t taught them at all.

Thus, it’s a warning. When God works on your life and convicts you of sin, then don’t just get rid of the bad stuff; replace it with things that the Lord would have you do.

The final line is a blessing. A woman - probably a heckler - cried out from the crowd that “the one who bore you is blessed.” Jesus doesn’t deny it. The Greek word translated “more than that” is rather obscure, but one of it’s meaning has to be the right one - that is, Jesus is saying that while she is correct, there’s a far more relevant blessing for her and everyone else - the blessing attached to obeying the Word of God.

Mary was of course blessed - it was what the Angel Gabriel told her, after all. But her own blessing of motherhood, though greater than any other mother ever, paled in comparison with the blessing of faith. Mary, of course, believed as well, so she too got the blessing of “hearing the Word of God and doing it.” Of the two blessings, the most important one is the blessing of faith.