The Consequences of Willful Unbelief

Jesus had been preparing for his rejection already. He appointed the 12 to go and do the same work of preaching and healing that he was doing, because the time was growing short. Because even that wasn’t enough, he appointed the 70 to do the same. He was already trying to tell his disciples that he was going to die and rise again. But up to this point, he could accommodate the resistance of the religious leaders with some degree of grace. He sometimes got into fights with them, but hadn’t yet begun to treat them as hopeless enemies. That was about to change. The response to one miracle altered Jesus’ response to Israel, from one of reaching out to one of preparing to die. From this point of his ministry onwards, there is no more need to reach out to Israel; instead, he needs to start preparing his disciples for his absence.

The problem wasn’t just that they didn’t believe Jesus. It was much worse. Instead, the problem was that they witnessed a miracle they could not deny, a miracle that proved that Jesus must be from God, and therefore they must believe what he says. They didn’t fail to comprehend the implications of the miracle, instead, they understood all too well what that miracle must mean.

What was the miracle? it was yet another case of casting out a demon. The miracle itself wasn’t any more or less spectacular than other miracles Jesus had done. It was a mute man who was unable to speak due to demon possession. Jesus had cast out demons before; even the disciples had cast out demons. The problem was that casting out a demon was proof that the person doing it must be from God. Only God has the power to order a demon around, so that means Jesus must be from God.

The crowds do not dispute that this was a real exorcism. They don’t accuse Jesus of being fake. But the inevitable conclusion, that Jesus is from God, is not something they are willing to consider regardless of the evidence. Because that’s not acceptable, they invent a ridiculous explanation; not because they are stupid, but because they will do anything to avoid the obvious truth. It does not matter how dumb the explanation is, they would rather believe something stupid than admit that Jesus came from God.

Who are the people like this today? I do not think that Christians fall into this category. Rather, this would be unbelievers who have been told the truth often enough that they understand it, but continue to believe it. They don’t have real objections, instead, they have “smokescreen” objections: they grasp at whatever dumb idea they can to avoid the uncomfortable truth - God is real, Jesus is alive, and they will have to answer to him one day.

This is an extremely serious sin, and fairly unlikely to be committed by anyone listening to me; after all, if you hate God that much, why exactly did you choose to come listen to a Baptist preacher talk about God? But you can apply this in a couple of ways. First, you very well may know someone who does fall into this category. It might help to warn them of the consequences of their refusal to consider God and his ways.

Second, remember that it’s not a matter of pure logic to convince people of heaven. Those with only purely intellectual objections to the gospel are quite rare. Instead, most people resistant to the gospel have emotional commitments to their sin or their own false idea of their innate goodness; things they are not willing to discard. It’s good to have a good reason for what you believe, but even if you provide the perfect logical argument, that may not be enough if the person just does not want to believe.

Third, Christians might be resistant to repentance on some practice less serious than the rejection of Jesus himself. They might be so committed to some false teaching or sinful practice that they are similarly unconvinceable. Know that failure to admit the truth of God’s Word is a serious offense, one that will have consequences. What consequences obviously depends on exactly what doctrine or practice you are unwilling to recognize. Those consequences could vary from fairly minor to life-altering and in extreme cases, could result in your premature physical death.

But the miracle was just the setting for Jesus’ teaching on the subject of rejecting the obvious truth of who he is. Jesus provides us with a warning, that we might not fail as that generation failed.

Now in your outline I’ve chosen to label each point with more of a hook than a description; I suggest that if you are taking notes, you add what each point means.

Reason 1: A House Divided

Abraham Lincoln used this verse to argue prior to the Civil War that the nation could not remain forever half slave-owning and half-free. This Biblical allusion worked well because it is a common sense observation that any kingdom or household that is at odds with each other will inevitably fall unless the division can be healed. Jesus is just using common sense - If a kingdom is engaged in civil war, that kingdom will be destroyed, the same is true for a household. If the husband and wife are at fundamental odds with each other, that household unit will cease to function. But they were saying that Jesus was casting out demons by the power of Satan. Jesus’ point is that this just does not make sense. How can Satan cast out his own demons? If he did, then the “kingdom of Satan” would fall.

But what, exactly, is the “Kingdom of Satan?” The Devil is called the prince of the power of the air.

Ephesians 2:2 NKJV

in which you once walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit who now works in the sons of disobedience,

That is, the Devil controls the course of this present world, and he directs all his demonic hordes to deceive humanity and keep them from finding salvation. Obviously, it would be great if that would fail, but look around you. Does it look like the Devil’s deceptions are failing? Unfortunately Satan is Alive and Well on Planet Earth. His kingdom is obviously not falling - yet. It will fall eventually, but not by civil war; by the power of God. But if it is not falling, then Satan can’t be working against his own demons, and therefore Jesus could not possibly be casting out demons by the power of the Devil.

Reason 2: Your sons cast out demons?!

When Jesus talks about “your sons” he doesn’t mean the literal children of his audience, but rather to the then common practice of Jewish Exorcists. Certain Jews would go around casting out demons. They were very different from Jesus and his disciples, for they were quite unsavory characters. They would try to expel demons by whatever chant or incantation they could find. So they would chant the names of all kinds of false gods, or supposed magical words from whereever they could find them. They weren’t picky about what magic they used. Yet, though most Jews didn’t think much of these exorcists, they did not argue that those exorcists did their work by the power of the Devil.

The point is that when confronted with an obviously scammy exorcist, they didn’t draw the conclusion that even this rather evil person is empowered by the Devil; rather, they would have a problem with the exorcists’ methods as being borderline or even actually blasphemous - because that’s exactly what they were. Yet if that’s not enough to conclude that they are empowered by the Devil, why would they then reach the conclusion that Jesus was Satanically empowered?

There is only one explanation. They hated Jesus so much that no matter what Jesus did, they were going to find a way to make it look like Jesus was the bad guy; even when it didn’t make a lick of sense.

So when Jesus says that the exorcists will be your judges, he does not mean they would literally sit in judgment over them; instead, he means that comparing their reaction to Jesus and to the exorcists doing pretty much the same thing demonstrates their unfair and biased standard; thus demonstrating their guilt. In other words, they suffered from Jesus of Nazareth Derangement Syndrome.

Implication 1: The Finger of God

So, having demonstrated that he must be from God in two ways, Jesus then tells them what it means that he obviously is from God. To cast out demons by the finger of God means that he is just asking them to believe that God is working through him to cast out demons - not a particularly big ask. He is not even asking them to believe that he is God, only that God works through him.

However, admitting that Jesus comes from God carries with it some implications. The basic gist of Jesus’ teaching is “Repent, for the Kingdom of Heaven is near.” that is, Jesus is offering the Kingdom to Israel, and therefore, He himself is the King. He is asking them to accept that he is the Messiah, and that they must submit to his teaching to be part of that Kingdom.

He is not saying that the Kingdom has already come - Luke just got done relating the Lord’s Prayer to us, where we are directed to pray “Your Kingdom Come” If the Kingdom is already here, how can we ask God to send it?” Rather, Jesus is stating that he is the King and that he is offering this kingdom to them, if they will accept his message. But for the Kingdom to actually come, Israel must accept her king; the presence of Jesus of Nazareth Derangement Syndrome demonstrates that this is not happening.

Thus, he is telling them that if they admit that he is from God, they must also admit that he is the King, and therefore that rejecting him is an incredibly dangerous practice. The implication is that rejecting him as they are doing will mean something really bad is going to happen to them. What exactly, isn’t stated. But it does not take a genius to figure out that rejecting God’s appointed King is going to be really bad for you and for the nation.

Implication 2: Bind the Strong Man

But if Jesus really does come from God, then how is he casting out demons? There’s only one way - overwhelming power. He points out that as long as a fully armed strong man guards his house, his stuff is safe. Who would be dumb enough to challenge a strong, well-armed man and try to take his stuff? Only someone who thought he was even stronger; and if he really is stronger, then that challenge would work.

The implication is clear. Jesus is casting out demons because he is stronger than the demons. But no mortal is stronger than a demon. Jesus casts out any demon effortlessly. The only explanation that makes sense is that he is exponentially more powerful than the strongest demon. Even the Gadarene Demoniac, discovered this. The poor guy had a huge host of demons controlling him, yet Jesus’ power was so overwhelming that he cast out the demons effortlessly. But if he can do that, he must be stronger then they are. But who could possibly be that strong? There is only one. Only God is strong enough to pull that off.

Implication 3: With Me or Against Me

We have seen so far two implications of the fact that Jesus really is from God. First, since Jesus preaches that he is the King, rejecting him means rejecting the Kingdom, and rejecting that means enormous guilt. Second, since Jesus has overwhelmingly more power than any demon or demonic host, he must carry with him the power of God almighty. Only that kind of power is enough. But there is one more implication - You must be on his side; and he is selective about who is actually on his side. Now Jesus appears to say the opposite thing earlier

Luke 9:50 NKJV

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

What’s going on here? notice that the pronouns are different. Who is not against us - our group specifically - is on our side. But whoever is not with ME - Against Jesus, God’s Annointed King and the Son of God in the Flesh - is against ME. That is, just because someone isn’t part of our church, just because they do not believe everything exactly the way we do, does not mean they are the enemy. Obviously if they believe enough wrong things, then they do become the enemy; but just because they aren’t part of our church specifically does not mean they are the enemy. There are plenty of gospel preaching churches that differ from us on a number of doctrinal or practical issues; those churches are still working for fundamentally the same goal.

But those who reject Jesus are against us. If they refuse to confess the Gospel; if they deviate from Biblical truth so much that they reject what is essential to going to heaven, then those people are working for the enemy. They might not be false teachers themselves, only duped by false teaching. But those who reject the gospel are not on God’s team, they are on the Devil’s and they are doing the Devil’s Work.

Therefore the real agents of the Devil are those, like Jesus’ audience, who reject Jesus and reject the reality of the Gospel.

Implication 4: Seven Other Spirits

The fourth implication of Jesus’ being from God is a warning from the example of demon possession. Jesus gives us a glimpse into the spirit world; he says that when a demon is cast out, it wanders for a while, but can’t find anything as fun as messing up the guy he used to mess up; thus, he returns to that person, and finds that the guy has gotten his life back together, but this poor guy has not really replaced the demon with anything.

And that’s the problem. That means that this poor guy is still ripe for demon possession, so the demon goes and gets seven other spirits more evil than him, to prevent him from being thrown out again. And when they take control, the poor guy ends up in a worse state than before. But how could this be avoided?

He must replace the demon with something stronger, or he is just going to end up in the same situation he was in before, only worse this time. But who is stronger than a demon? God. In other words, if someone who has recently experienced deliverance from demonic possession wants to stay that way, he has to replace the control of the demon with being controlled by the Spirit of God. He must truly turn to God, then God will come and dwell there. If God is there, no demon can ever disturb him again.

But I don’t believe that Jesus is just telling us something about demon possession. In Matthew’s account of this same teaching, he adds a line

Matthew 12:45 NKJV

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. So shall it also be with this wicked generation.”

In other words, the example of the demon possessed man who relapses is a warning not just to the formerly demon possessed, but rather, this is an illustration of what happens to anyone who moves towards living for God without replacing the old things with new ones. There are differences, of course. A demon is a person, not a force. Demons make decisions and choose; an old habit is not a person. But similar things happen in both cases.

Something similar was going to happen to the world where Jesus taught. They had, for a while, been blessed by the teaching of the Son of God, and the miracles that he did to prove he was real. For a short time the hope that the Messiah would overcome the Romans and sickness too was everywhere. But since they were not accepting Jesus, they were not replacing what they were delivered from with anything else. That means that it will not be long after Jesus leaves that the problems that had been masked by Jesus’ presence will return again. Only worse this time.

That is exactly what happened. Everyone in Israel was fed up with the Roman Occupation. They wanted someone to come and restore Israel to its former glory and drive out the Romans. That is something the Messiah would do, but Jesus demanded they truly turn to God before he would do that. This is what they rejected - not a national conqueror, but truly turning to God. Since rejecting God is rejecting his Messiah, they rejected Jesus. Because they rejected Jesus, the Kingdom of God that was supposed to replace Roman Occupation never came. In less than a generation, the Romans would finally get fed up with the difficult to govern people of Israel, and come down with a vengeance. They would inflict the people with unimaginable suffering for more than three years, culminating with the destruction of the temple in Jerusalem. This was considerably worse than the Roman Occupation that bothered so many Israelites for good reason.

Something similar would also happen to you if you try to turn over a new leaf but don’t replace your old habits with godly habits. For a while, your life will improve as you stop doing the things that had prevented you from living a full godly Christian life. But because you left a gap, a void where those old habits were, eventually you will start to slip. And when you do, you will fall right back into the old habits that got you in trouble in the first place. But this time, those habits will be even more deeply ingrained, even harder to get rid of.

How do you solve that problem? You have to replace ungodly, bad habits, with godly ones. If you wish to live as a Christian, you must have the Spirit of God, which you receive the moment you are saved. With the Spirit of God indwelling you, your life will change permanently, and the old way of life will not come back. If you put off the old life, and also put on the new life, the change will last.

Implication 5: Those who are more blessed than Mary

Now, the last implication comes from Jesus’ response to a random woman in the crowd. She almost seems like a feminist, but feminism didn’t exist. She declares a blessing on the one that bore Jesus - obviously that is Mary. And there is a sense in which she is obviously correct.

Luke 1:42 NKJV

Then she spoke out with a loud voice and said, “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb!

Elizabeth declared that Mary is indeed blessed, so what exactly does Jesus mean when he counters the woman with “blessed rather are those who hear the word of God and keep it.

I don’t think the woman was in fact a feminist. Instead, it was just a random comment meant as a complement to Jesus. She is not angry, instead, she is impressed by Jesus’ restraint in the face of attack, and wisdom in his answer. She is thinking of motherhood, and just blurts out that whoever his mother was must be proud to have such a wise son. She isn’t wrong, but it is not a particularly helpful observation for those who are opposing him. Most of the people there don’t need a higher view of motherhood; they need to start listening to the Word of God that comes from Jesus himself. Unless they start doing the things they are resisting doing, the things that prevent them from accepting Jesus’ words, the real blessings of motherhood won’t do any of them a bit of good in the long term. In order for the blessing of motherhood to mean much, the would-be mother must first dedicate herself to doing the Word of God. Then the blessings of being a parent mean a great deal; but only then.

This is quite a bit different from our present-day culture; motherhood is treated more as a curse then a blessing; of course obeying the Word of God is a non-entity. Instead, ours is a pluralistic culture; most people might believe in God, but they think that religion is a choose-your own adventure where there is no objective reality, just whatever feels right to you. Our culture needs a higher view of both; but especially that of hearing the Word of God. Religion is not a choose your own adventure where one road is as good as another. The Word of God is objective truth; anyone who want to can verify its reality, if they are willing to accept its inconvenient truths. Those who do choose to live a life that is governed by a Biblical worldview will find true blessing; and incidentally, they will also gain a more positive view of motherhood than is culturally normative.