Myth of Neutrality Luke 11:14-26

Myth of Neutrality

I’m going to be honest with you all.

This morning’s sermon is going to make some of you uncomfortable.

This will be uncomfortable on two fronts.

The first is that we are going to talk about the spiritual realm.

Specifically about demons.

And the second, is b/c Jesus confronts us with the reality that as Christians we cannot be neutral.

I want you to know that it is okay to be uncomfortable.

Being uncomfortable causes us to make a choice.

We either choose to stay where we are or we choose to move.

Being uncomfortable can either cause us to pursue growth or shrink back in complacency.

I’ve said this before, comfort and complacency is an enemy of the church.

So This morning I hope that we all become a little uncomfortable this morning.

I pray that the Lord uses this text to challenge us to grow into a deeper and more meaningful relationship with him.

Let’s pray, then read God’s Word.

Luke 11:14–26 CSB

14 Now he was driving out a demon that was mute. When the demon came out, the man who had been mute spoke, and the crowds were amazed. 15 But some of them said, “He drives out demons by Beelzebul, the ruler of the demons.” 16 And others, as a test, were demanding of him a sign from heaven. 17 Knowing their thoughts, he told them, “Every kingdom divided against itself is headed for destruction, and a house divided against itself falls. 18 If Satan also is divided against himself, how will his kingdom stand? For you say I drive out demons by Beelzebul. 19 And if I drive out demons by Beelzebul, by whom do your sons drive them out? For this reason they will be your judges. 20 If I drive out demons by the finger of God, then the kingdom of God has come upon you. 21 When a strong man, fully armed, guards his estate, his possessions are secure. 22 But when one stronger than he attacks and overpowers him, he takes from him all his weapons he trusted in, and divides up his plunder. 23 Anyone who is not with me is against me, and anyone who does not gather with me scatters. 24 “When an unclean spirit comes out of a person, it roams through waterless places looking for rest, and not finding rest, it then says, ‘I’ll go back to my house that I came from.’ 25 Returning, it finds the house swept and put in order. 26 Then it goes and brings seven other spirits more evil than itself, and they enter and settle down there. As a result, that person’s last condition is worse than the first.”

Jesus is out doing ministry.

He comes across a man who is demon possessed.

The way they know this is that the man can’t speak.

He is mute.

Jesus drives the demon out. And immediately the man can speak again.

But before we get there, It’s important that we lay some ground work for what we are going to observe both from the crowd and from Jesus.

We have to understand that this world doesn’t solely consist of what we can see, hear, smell, touch, or taste.

The world is so much more than that.

This is where we can get uncomfortable.

Especially in the place and culture that we live in, we want rational explanations for everything in the world.

We want things to make sense to our own finite minds.

The Spiritual Realm is real.

Angels and Demons exist.

I know that many of you are saying, “Yeah, we know this”

But do you actually believe it?

Do you actually believe that there is more to this world than what meets the eye.

B/c to have a Biblical worldview, we must believe that the spiritual realm exists and that it is a battle ground.

You cannot believe what the Scriptures teach and think that the physical is all that there is.

You cannot believe in the Ministry of Jesus and simultaneously believe that demons aren’t real.

Jesus went around healing and setting free people from the control of Demons.

Several weeks ago we watched as Jesus overcame 1000s of demons from one man.

A few weeks ago, we saw Jesus save a boy that was having fits and seizures b/c of demonic possession.

As followers of Jesus, we have to know and actually believe that this stuff is real.

Now, I want us to be careful.

Not every disease.

Not every ailment.

Not every diagnosis of depression is demonic activity.

We also live in a world that has been corrupted by sin and the effects are far reaching.

Yet we can not ignore the reality that we are living in a world that doesn’t just have physical enemies, but we have spiritual enemies as well.

You cannot believe the word’s of Scripture and the Ministry of Jesus while also disbelieving in the reality of the supernatural.

Seeing and understanding the cosmic scope of creation helps us to truly understand the reality of the what God has revealed to us through his Son and through his Word.

So don’t dismiss these stories as simply ancient myths, these events actually happened.

And they still happen today.

These attacks may not happen in the same way or by the same mode as they did in history but they are happening, nonetheless.

Now that I’ve laid a cursory explanation of the supernatural, let’s continue looking at the Scripture.

This is one of the shortest miracle accounts in Luke’s gospel.

Luke 11:14 CSB

14 Now he was driving out a demon that was mute. When the demon came out, the man who had been mute spoke, and the crowds were amazed.

Remember that Luke’s gospel is front heavy with miracles, while the back half of the gospel is teaching heavy.

So Luke includes this miracle for the teaching that is attached to it.

The setting, time, and nature of the miracle is tied to the person and work of Jesus, but also the teaching of Jesus.

We can’t forget that the miracles of Jesus serve the message of Jesus.

So in this passage we are going to see Jesus tell us about himself.

As a guy who talks a lot, I think about the position this man was in being unable to talk.

He can never fully express himself.

He can’t worship God with his mouth.

He can’t say pray out loud.

He’s virtually a prisoner inside his own body.

His voice was robbed from him by this demon.

This is what the evil one wants to do.

He wants to disable and break off communication.

He wants us to feel isolated.

Now, if you are a contrarian, you may be asking yourself, didn’t God take away someone’s ability to talk earlier in Luke’s Gospel?

And I would say, yes, God took away Zechariah’s ability to speak in chapter 1.

However, there is a distinct difference between what’s happening here and what happened there.

God took away Zechariah’s ability to talk for a specific time and for a specific purpose.

The purpose was to compound the beauty of the announcement of the arrival of John the Baptist.

However, this demon only took away the ability to speak to cause chaos and to sow destruction.

The Lord brought restoration and Glory while the demon brought destruction and pain.

Jesus’ actions stir up a response by those there.

There were some who were amazed by the miracle.

They knew this man. They knew that he couldn’t talk.

And now here he is speaking.

But then there were those who weren’t impressed with Jesus.

Those who weren’t impressed with Jesus responded in two ways.

The first way was to say that Jesus’ power came from the devil himself.

The second group wanted more miracles to verify who Jesus was.

I want us to note that there was not one group who witnessed what Jesus did that denied that a miracle occured.

They didn’t accuse Jesus of being some sort of magician.

They didn’t think this was some parlor trick.

They knew that something miraculous had happened.

But they didn’t have a category to put Jesus in.

They knew that Jesus had cast out a demon, but the question on their lips was how and could he do more.

These responses aren’t so different from people today.

The response from the first crowd claiming that he cast out the demon through Beelzebul simply want to reject Jesus.

They don’t see him as anyone important.

They want to minimize the impact and importance of Jesus and his ministry.

This is what we see in the hearts of many today.

Sure Jesus did and said some stuff, but what he did and said can’t be that important.

After all, we are the enlightened ones.

Jesus’ lived over 2000 years ago how can what he taught have any application to our lives.

He may have been a prophet but so were, Muhammed, Buddha, and others.

He’s not special.

They downplay his importance and reject him as God.

This group is hostile toward God and his church.

They want to sully his name and say that he’s not good.

There is a hatred and vitriol that comes from their lips toward Jesus.

That’s the first group.

The second group doesn’t really have hostility toward Jesus, but they want more verification from him.

They demand another sign.

They need more proof that he’s important and impactful.

They are the wait and see crowd.

Even if they’ve seen something amazing.

Even if they stop and think about the beauty of the world around them.

Even if they witness the miracle of life, it’s not enough.

They can see those around them that have been changed by the grace of God and still walk around thinking that Jesus needs to prove himself.

The first group is against Jesus, but this group doesn’t hold animosity toward him but they aren’t for him either.

They may admire him from afar.

They may even recognize that he’s good and that people benefit from following him.

However, they want nothing to do with submitting to him, until he shows them something more.

Something greater.

This is even true for those who come to church.

Those who sit in the pew every week or every other week but you don’t walk away transformed by Jesus.

You think he’s good. You think going to church is fine.

But you don’t trust him enough to give your all to him.

I’ll like Jesus from this distance.

If he truly wants me to follow him, then he must show me more.

He must do more for me.

I need to see more from him.

And here’s the thing, you can play these games and we will never know your true motivations, but Jesus does.

And he demonstrates it here.

These groups kept their thoughts to themselves, but Jesus knew what they were thinking.

He knew what they truly believed so he confronts them.

Luke 11:17–20 CSB

17 Knowing their thoughts, he told them, “Every kingdom divided against itself is headed for destruction, and a house divided against itself falls. 18 If Satan also is divided against himself, how will his kingdom stand? For you say I drive out demons by Beelzebul. 19 And if I drive out demons by Beelzebul, by whom do your sons drive them out? For this reason they will be your judges. 20 If I drive out demons by the finger of God, then the kingdom of God has come upon you.

For all intents and purposes, Jesus is telling them that their argument makes no sense.

There is no way that Satan would send out someone to undo what he’s already done.

There’s no reason to think that Jesus is an agent of Beelzebul.

Let’s talk for just a moment about Beelzebul.

This was used as a moniker or place holder for Satan.

Beelzebul was one of the Ancient Philistine Gods that was worshipped in Caanan.

He was identified with the god of Ekron, but by Jesus’ time he was seen as the chief demon of Hell, therefore it was equated to the Arch enemy of God.

So they were essentially saying that, Yes, Jesus has power, but his power isn’t granted by God, it’s granted by Satan.

The demon listened b/c Jesus was playing on the same side as the demon.

But why would they say this?

Why would they believe this illogical conclusion?

The only reason I could come up with is that they were going on the belief that Jesus, though he was working for the enemy, was deceiving the Jewish people into following after him.

So, the tactic, they were arguing for was deception at the hands of the devil and Jesus was his vessel.

But Jesus is saying if Beelzebul was fighting against his own demons this would cause chaos and destruction.

A kingdom divided is headed for destruction.

So their position is unreasonable.

And even Jesus hits them back with “if I cast out demons through Beelzebul who do your sons cast them out by.”

Essentially Jesus is saying if you condemn me you are also condemning yourself.

Some Jewish people during Jesus’ time would practice incantations that would ward off evil spirits or even exorcise demons.

There was one of the scrolls found of these incantations through the discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls.

So exorcism practices were uncommon in the ancient world.

And even Jesus here is acknowledging that at times the Jewish Exorcists were successful.

But it’s foolish to believe that Satan and his minions would go through all the difficulty of ruining someone’s life to then come and undo that with another person.

Instead, Jesus declares that it is through the “finger of God” that he casts out demons.

This is a weird expression, but it ties back to the the OT and God’s power over his enemies.

In Ex. 8:19, during the 10 plagues, pharaoh’s magicians talk about the finger of God doing things that they can’t do.

God Wrote his law on the stone tablets with his own finger in Ex. 31.

The Lord’s power is all over the scriptures.

And here, Jesus is saying that it’s this power that he drives out the demons.

But we can’t forget why he does this.

Jesus never dismembers the miracle from the message.

The kingdom of God has come.

Jesus, through his miracles, is demonstrating that God is working through him.

That the restoration promised by God has come and Jesus is not the agent of Satan, but God himself who is demonstrating the kingdom.

The exorcisms of Jesus are demonstrations of his authority and the arrival of God’s Kingdom.

The fullness of the kingdom hasn’t been realized yet, but the initiation of the Kingdom has arrived.

This work of Jesus is clear and definitive that God is at work to restore creation.

Ancient theologian Cyril of Alexandria said this:

“The Son is called the hand and arm of God the Father because he does all things by the Son, and the Son in a similar way works by the Spirit. Just as the finger is attached to the hand as something … belonging to it by nature, so also the Holy Spirit … is joined in oneness to the Son.… The Son does everything by the Spirit.”

Jesus here is claiming to not just be sent by God, but to be the messiah.

The savior and restorer of God’s created order.

What a beautiful picture of God’s grace to send Jesus not just to preach the kingdom, though that is priority, but he also restores the broken. Heals the helpless, and restores creation.

But Jesus isn’t done with his rebuke of those that stand against him, he is going to double down.

Luke 11:21–23 CSB

21 When a strong man, fully armed, guards his estate, his possessions are secure. 22 But when one stronger than he attacks and overpowers him, he takes from him all his weapons he trusted in, and divides up his plunder. 23 Anyone who is not with me is against me, and anyone who does not gather with me scatters.

This is obviously a parable of sorts.

There are two characters there is a strong man who is protecting his possessions.

Then along comes someone who is stronger and he overpowers the strong man takes all he has and divides the spoils.

The first strong man represents the Devil.

I want to make a few observations about him real quick.

Here Jesus acknowledges that Satan is strong.

Meaning that he can do things that we can’t do.

He’s got powers that we can’t even truly comprehend.

If you remember the demons we’ve read about in Luke’s Gospel they wreaked havoc.

One caused a man to have super human strength.

Other’s have caused illness and diseases.

The one mentioned earlier in this text took away someones’ ability to speak.

Satan and his demons are not impotent.

They have power, they have strength.

Even if we go back to the days of Moses in the exodus account, we can see that during the plagues that God sent on Egypt, Pharaohs magicians were able to do some of the same things.

We can’t walk around thinking that Satan has no power.

He obviously has power and influence over people, places, and things here in the real world.

And even more than that, Satan has dominion over the lost.

Those who haven’t given their lives to Jesus are children of wrath and serve the devil.

They are in bondage to sin.

They are dead in their sins and trespasses.

Workers of inequities.

This represents every single one of us before we gave our lives to Jesus.

We belonged to the devil.

We were his possessions.

We were his tools.

We were under his dominion.

This also represents all the people you know who are far away from God.

They could be your co-worker, they could be your neighbor, they could be you family member.

It could be the person you walk past in the grocery store.

It could even be that non-committed person sitting in the chair next to you.

But that’s the good news of the gospel.

Jesus is stronger than the devil.

He breaks into the devils domain and takes his possessions.

That would be our lives and souls.

He rescues us from the tyrannical reign of Satan and brings us into the glorious light of the Father.

Jesus is the only one who can overcome the devil.

Though Satan may be strong.

Jesus is stronger.

More powerful.

In fact, Jesus is so much stronger than the devil that any resistance is futile.

Satan is overwhelmed with the power of Jesus.

Jesus can break every stronghold of Satan.

He can heal all brokenness.

He can cure all diseases.

Jesus can remake, recreate, and renew all the devil seeks to destroy.

And it’s not even hard work for him.

He comes in through his eternal power and destroys the strongholds to set prisoners free.

We don’t have to stay in bondage to satan.

We can be set free.

If only we trust and believe in the power and work of Jesus.

But here’s the thing, when we see the power of Jesus.

When we understand his gospel.

We either choose to reject or accept it.

We cannot be neutral when we hear the gospel.

Standing on the sidelines and hoping to get a free pass isn’t the calling that Jesus puts forth.

You are either for him or against him.

There is no middle ground.

Luke 11:23 “23 Anyone who is not with me is against me, and anyone who does not gather with me scatters.”

If you aren’t with Jesus.

If you aren’t committed to following after him.

If you aren’t steadfast in pursing holiness.

If you aren’t continually walking behind him.

Then you aren’t with him.

You are against him.

You are his enemy.

You can’t be changed by the grace of God and continue to do the same things.

You can’t experience the divine love of God and live in sin.

You can’t be lazy in your discipleship.

You have to be all in.

Jesus demands our obedience.

He demands our allegiance.

We can’t claim to be his followers once or twice a week, then live however we want to live the rest of the week.

This is where the myth of neutrality comes in.

Many Christians want to be silent about the injustices of the world.

We want to take on the culture of kindness and tolerance.

But church, let me tell you.

The kindness the world offers is one that lets people go straight to hell.

B/c the world tells us that we can’t call other people’s sin out.

But is it kind of us.

Is it loving of us.

Is it Christlike of us to let people live their own lives without telling them the reality of hell?

Is it right of us as believers to stand on the sidelines.

Knowing what you know now, that to not be aligned with Jesus is to be aligned with Satan.

Does that burn within you a sense to go and tell someone about the good news.

To tell them that though they are in bondage there is one who sets them free?

Is it better to hurt someones feelings by telling them they are a sinner than it is to know that they are going to spend eternity in hell?

There is truly a battle for souls out here.

But the good news is that Jesus wins the battle if we believe.

If we place our trust in him.

The devil cannot over come.

He is powerless in the presence of Jesus.

For those of us that are standing on the sidelines of Christianity Jesus does leave us with a warning.

Luke 11:24–26 CSB

24 “When an unclean spirit comes out of a person, it roams through waterless places looking for rest, and not finding rest, it then says, ‘I’ll go back to my house that I came from.’ 25 Returning, it finds the house swept and put in order. 26 Then it goes and brings seven other spirits more evil than itself, and they enter and settle down there. As a result, that person’s last condition is worse than the first.”

What could possibly be the point of what Jesus is saying here?

I believe that here there is warning.

It’s another parable.

An exorcism happens, the demon flees, but if the person doesn’t fill the void with something bigger and stronger, the demon will return and create more of a stronghold.

Think about it this way, let’s reflect on the parable of the soils for just a moment.

In that parable, Jesus tells us that there are some who recieved the word with joy, but then they were absorbed by the things of this world, greed, anxiety, etc, and they then withered in the sun.

This man who had been exorcised was free from the demon, and he celebrated by trying to do all the right things, but he didn’t actually believe.

He hadn’t replaced the sin with Godliness.

He “cleaned up his house” put didn’t allow something stronger than the demon to dwell there.

He had a spiritual experience.

Then tried to do some self-reformation and ended up withering in the sun b/c something came along that seemed better.

He tried to live a moral life without the power of God living in him, so he was overcome with sin once again.

All the good he did when he cleaned up his house was broken again b/c he didn’t fill it up with the presence of God.

You can be convicted of your sins and try to make a change, but if you do it without the power of God, you will become susceptible to even greater sins.

Moral reform will never bring about spiritual transformation.

You can clean out pride, but be overcome by greed.

You can clean out lust, but then be overcome by self-righteousness.

You can clean out addiction, then be overcome hypocrisy.

And then because you think you have the power to overthrow sin in your life.

You become hard hearted toward Jesus.

I don’t need him, I can do this myself.

And now your condition is worse off than it was before that spiritual conviction you had.

Jesus here is speaking to those who are hostile or neutral against him.

He’s warning them.

He’s saying if they believe then they can have a clean house.

Their lives can be set free.

He’s revealed to them the truth of who he is.

They are now faced with a choice.

They are confronted with two options.

Follow him or continue to deny him.

You are faced with the same option.

Follow him and be set free.

Or deny him and live for the devil.

There is no room for neutrality.

You are either for Jesus wholeheartedly Committed to him.

Or you belong to satan.

Choose this day who you will serve.

Let’s pray.