14 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. 15 But some of them said, “By Beelzebul, the prince of demons, he is driving out demons.” 16 Others tested him by asking for a sign from heaven. ~ Luke 11:14-16
Everyone in this world falls into one of two categories, we are either with Christ or we are against Him. And our eternal destiny is determined by which of these two we follow. There is no third option. In the war between God and Satan, between good and evil, between light and darkness, between truth and lies there is no middle ground. Those who do not believe in the Lord Jesus Christ are in partnership with Satan whether they know it or not. It is not necessary to oppose Jesus Christ to be against Him.
Our text for today begins in v.14 with "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
Yet again, the Lord Jesus performs the miraculous to free another man from the domain of Satan, all the while, providing His hearers with another piece of evidence of His deity.
The tragic reality is some in that crowd that day, according to v.15, concluded the Lord Jesus was from hell, not heaven. They concluded He was of Satan, not of God. They concluded He was a liar, He was not of the truth. They concluded, He's the source of death, not life, He's from the darkness, not the light. They concluded the exact opposite of the truth.
They opposed the Lord Jesus because it suited their self-righteousness. This is why the nation rejected Him. They didn't just sort of stumble into this, they were led into it by their false leaders. And it wasn't just the scribes and the Pharisees that wanted Him dead. Eventually the whole crowd screamed, "Crucify Him, Crucify Him!" They had been sufficiently brainwashed over months and months and months, even over a couple of years to buy the party line against the Lord Jesus.
In v.14 we discover a man who was accuse the Lord Jesus of doing this miracle by Satan's power.
In v.15 we read, "By Beelzebul, the prince of demons, he is driving out demons." This is an absurd statement. No rational person would assume that statement to be true. This response is different than what we saw in John 7:20 where the multitude said, "You have a demon." In the middle of some marveling, the religious leaders sow this lie.
And yet, according to v.16, "Others tested him by asking for a sign from heaven." These people didn't need more information. They had been given so many reasons to believe in the Lord Jesus. This wasn't about getting more information. All the evidence had been manifest. And this is where they end up.
They didn't even use the word Satan, they used the word Beelzebul. That goes way back into the Old Testament. It was one of the names of the Philistine god Baal (2 Kings 1:1–3); it means “lord of flies.” The Jews often used this name when referring to Satan.
This is the third miracle of deliverance the Lord Jesus performed that elicited from His enemies the accusation that He was of Satan (Matthew 9:32–34; 12:22–37). Instead of rejoicing that God had sent a Redeemer, the religious leaders were rebelling against the truth of God’s Word and seeking to discredit Christ’s work and character. Imagine people being so blind that they could not distinguish the work of God from the work of Satan!
He offered them the same that He offers us: a personal relationship with the Father, wherein we experience Him. The abstracts, like love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness and self control are important, but most important is knowing Him. Most people pursue the abstracts of God but it is really about pursuing Him and knowing Him.
We, like these religious leaders, struggle with our doubts. And, if we are not friendly with the skeptic within, we will take the safe path of being our own god. This is what they did, they were not willing to embrace the Lord Jesus by honestly wrestling with their questions. A quote from Philip Yancey helps to clear the air at this point: “Faith means believing in advance what only makes sense in reverse.”
So, we must entertain the skeptic within. We must wrestle with the scary questions. We must make it our habit of running to Him with our skepticism, worries, trials, troubles, and anxieties. Have you got your running shoes on? What are you waiting on?
