“Jesus was driving out a demon that was mute. When the demon left, the man who had been mute spoke, and the crowd was amazed. But some of them said, “By Beelzebul, the prince of demons, he is driving out demons.” …Jesus knew their thoughts and said to them: “Any kingdom divided against itself will be ruined, and a house divided against itself will fall. If Satan is divided against himself, how can his kingdom stand? I say this because you claim that I drive out demons by Beelzebul. Now if I drive out demons by Beelzebul, by whom do your followers drive them out? So then, they will be your judges. But if I drive out demons by the finger of God, then the kingdom of God has come upon you.”
Luke 11:14-15, 17-20 NIV
Jesus’ argument for His authority to drive out demons has interesting connotations. His opponents, the religious leaders, accused Him of being in league with the devil. Imagine that! The Son of God and His arch enemy in partnership…how ridiculous! If there was ever a perverse generation, it was the religious leaders of Israel!
With open eyes and hearts, the Pharisees could have recognised the source of Jesus’ power. At least one of them had the honesty to admit…
“Now there was a Pharisee, a man named Nicodemus who was a member of the Jewish ruling council. He came to Jesus at night and said, “Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher who has come from God. For no one could perform the signs you are doing if God were not with him.”
John 3:1-2 NIV
Apart from the fact that He, God’s Son, could never be in cahoots with the devil, Jesus pointed out that no household that is divided can survive. If unity is the glue that provides stability, then disunity fractures a family in conflict.
Jesus’ final, triumphant statement put an end to their ridiculous claim…
“But if I drive out demons by the finger of God, then the kingdom of God has come upon you.”
What did Jesus mean?
How often Scripture uses what theologians call “anthropomorphisms” to describe or explain God in ways we can understand.
Google AI explains…
“Definition: From Greek anthropos (man) and morphe (form), it’s attributing human qualities to God.”
It is important to understand the way Hebrew people thought. They focused on what something does rather than what it is. This means that Jesus emphasised that His miracles, referring in this instance to driving out demons, was what God was doing through Him.
In Matthew’s version of this incident, he uses “the Spirit of God” instead of “the finger of God”.
“But if it is by the Spirit of God that I drive out demons, then the kingdom of God has come upon you.”
Matthew 12:28 NIV
So, Jesus insisted, first, that the Father, through the power of the Holy Spirit, was doing the miracles, not Satan casting out Satan. Second, the miracles Jesus did was evidence that God’s kingdom was present among them. No longer did Satan have freedom to harass and even take people over. The king had come to put the record straight. Jesus, not the devil, was in charge.
This is huge! After 400 years of silence…no prophet, no prophetic message from God, no word of either rebuke or encouragement, the people of God left to their own devices and at the mercy of their religious leaders, God’s word pulled out of shape by every religious opinion…Jesus comes. He speaks with authority. He announces that God’s rule is back. He does outrageous miracles that confirm His message. It was up to the people to believe or reject Him.
Would they listen to their perverse leaders or would they believe the testimony of the words and works of Jesus that pointed to the truth that God was really there?
To be continued….