Someone Stronger
Luke 11:14-28 ·November 19, 2023· Joel Passmore
Part of: Luke
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We're also VCU alumni, and when they cut down those nets, we were all saying together, I was one of many saying, we did it, we did it. I didn't do anything, really. I turned on the TV.
We want so much for our team to win that when people that are actually competing hoist the trophy or cut down the nets, we just feel like we're there, and we had some kind of part in it, and that it somehow belongs to us, too, that we're actually on the team. I think that we were made like that. I think God made us like that, to be a part of something, to be a part of victory, to be a part of a team that is overcoming. We develop these strong associations with teams for whatever reason, and we root for them, and when they win, we feel like we've won, too.
And that feeling of overcoming, that feeling of being victorious, it really, it feels good, doesn't it? It feels good. I mean, it's the closest thing you can get to actually being on the field and winning.
I saw a picture from our girls' school, their soccer team, their boys' soccer team won the state championship, and there was a picture, but it wasn't just of the team with the trophy, it was a whole bunch of other people, like spectators and students around them, you know? And that's the picture that was shown, even though it was only the players that actually won the thing, everybody was there in the picture together. We're going to look at the passage today.
There's a lot going on in today's passage, but it's basically all about that. It's about victory. It's exactly like the feeling that you have when you see your team win and you feel like you've won. It's like that only better, like 10,000 times better, a million times better. And it's more real, right? If you rushed onto the field and said, you know, can I take a turn holding the trophy? Take my picture, interview me, people would be, they finally would cross a line where people would be like, come on now, you didn't do anything.
You're just a fan, right? This, I'm going to talk to you today. The passage today is about an honest-to-goodness shared victory that really is your victory. It's really, it's really exciting news. And it comes to be very practical for our lives. So Jesus came to overcome evil. That's the big point here. Jesus came to overcome and defeat evil, and it has huge implications, not just for the world we live in, but our life. And if we're with him, his strength works in our favor, if we're with him.
So let's look at Luke 11 today and see what this is all about. This is Luke 11, and we're going to start in verse 14. This is the word of God for us today. Let's pay attention, let's learn, and let's be changed by the living and active word of God.
Now he, Jesus, was casting out a demon that was mute. When the demon had gone out, the mute man spoke, and the people marveled, but some of them said, he casts out demons by Beelzebul, the prince of demons. While others, to test him, kept seeking from him a sign from heaven. But he, knowing their thoughts, said to them, every kingdom divided against itself is laid waste, and a divided household falls. And if Satan also is divided against himself, how would his kingdom stand?
For you say that I cast out demons by Beelzebul. And if I cast out demons by Beelzebul, by whom do your sons cast them out? Therefore, they will be your judges. But if it is by the finger of God that I cast out demons, then the kingdom of God has come upon you. When a strong man, fully armed, guards his own palace, his goods are safe. But when one stronger than he attacks him and overcomes him, he takes away his armor, in which he trusted, and divides his spoil.
Whoever is not with me is against me, and whoever does not gather with me scatters. When the unclean spirit has gone out of a person that passes through waterless places seeking rest and finding none, it says, I will return to my house from which I came. And when it comes, it finds the house swept and put in order. Then it goes and brings seven other spirits more evil than itself, and they enter and dwell there. And the last state of that person is worse than the first.
As he said these things, a woman in the crowd raised her voice and said to him, blessed is the womb that bore you and the breasts at which you nursed. But he said, blessed rather are those who hear the word of God and keep it. Pray with me.
Lord Jesus, thank you for doing these things, and thank you for giving us a record of them. Not just so that we can sit and say, oh, isn't that interesting, but so that your spirit through the word can be working in us and changing us to be more like you, Jesus. Jesus, accomplish that work in us, bring it to completion, finish the good work that you've begun. And Lord, make yourself captivating before us. Help us to see the victory that we have if we are with you.
We pray this, Jesus, in your name. Okay, there's a lot going on in today's passage. I'll just acknowledge that. But we're going to get through it. It turns out that there is something very powerful in here and very practical. So let's grab hold of it together. Someone stronger. Someone stronger. Victory over cynicism and sin is given to those in Christ. Victory over cynicism and sin is given to those in Christ. Sometimes when I'm reading the accounts of Jesus in the Gospels, I just think, boy, Jesus just couldn't catch a break.
He's going from place to place. He's tired. You'd think with all of the good he's doing, all the people that he's healing, that he would just be celebrated everywhere he went. That he comes into town and everyone's like, Jesus is here. And everyone, 100% of the people are just totally excited that he's there. And receiving what he does with complete vigor and excitement. And then we have passages like this that remind us, everywhere he goes, he's dogged by complaints, by resistance, by antagonism, even when he's healing people.
Isn't that interesting? Well, that's what happens here. Let's start with this. The struggle of disbelief. We're in a different part of Luke. In an earlier part of Luke, there would have been a lot of time spent on the miraculous healing that Jesus does. Establishing who he is. Now, it's just one verse. One verse is all that's given to the exorcism, to the healing. The whole rest of the passage is about people's reaction to it and how Jesus handles it.
A man was afflicted with a demon, an evil spirit living inside of him, and he can't speak. He's mute. Jesus casts out the demon, and he can speak again. He's healed. People marvel. And then what happens? Some people in the crowd are not so easily won over. There are two distinct groups. The second group, if the passage says, kept seeking a sign from him from heaven. You have to wonder exactly what they're looking for, right? I mean, he just cast out a demon.
He's shown his power over nature, over disease, over death, and over demons. What more could he do? But some were still not convinced. They wanted more. We're going to look at what Jesus says to this group next week, because he's going to address them and their demand for a sign. But today, we're looking at how Jesus addresses the first group. And the first group says, they see the healing, and they say, oh, you know what? We know what's going on.
We know what's really happening here. He casts out demons by Beelzebul, the prince of demons. The name Beelzebul, if you haven't heard that before, it comes from Baal-zebub, which means, Baal means lord. The term for any one of the false gods that are around the nation of Israel, Baal-zebub. So, lord of Zebub. It's the god of the nation of Ekron, mentioned in 2 Kings, but you don't really need to know that. What you need to know is that by now, at this point, it had become a name that had been attached to Satan.
It had been a way for Jewish people to refer to Satan, the prince of demons. The same one that tempted Jesus when he was in the wilderness. So, let it sink in for a second how serious of an accusation this is. They're looking at Jesus, who's cast out a demon, and they say, oh, I know what's going on. You're in league with Satan.
They're calling him a charlatan. They're calling him a fake. They're saying, you're basically putting on a show. And they're saying, he's doing it in collaboration with Satan himself.
It's so crazy, actually, you have to kind of wonder if the people even realize what they're saying. Right? I mean, that's a crazy accusation to be saying to Jesus. Now, I think what we're seeing here is the people who are deeply cynical. That's what's afflicting them. Cynicism. They see the works of Jesus. They see people literally freed from demonic forces, and they just can't believe it. They just can't believe it. They think, this is too good to be true.
It can't possibly be true. There's got to be something else going on here. There's got to be some angle, some trick. Cynicism, it can't handle something so beautiful, so good, so true, something so thoroughly life-giving and redeeming. It just has to find some alternate explanation for things, something that's really going on, some reason why it isn't true. So, this is a world full of disappointment, of people letting us down, of things not coming through, people that take advantage of us.
We get jaded. We get cynical. We begin to lose that sense of open wonder, the willingness to accept something and rejoice in something for what it is.
Many years ago, I went to Cadence and Breeze School for a parent meeting, and I had a really remarkable experience. It was morning, and I was standing outside the building, outside the doors, because there was an assembly going on inside. And the whole school was inside, K through 12, and they were in this assembly, and I was waiting, because they were going to leave, and the parent meeting was going to start. So, I was waiting outside, and I look up, and I see a rainbow over the building next to it.
It's a picture here. You can't see the rainbow, maybe, but it's there. So, the rainbow is over that building, and I'm looking at it, and taking it in, and all of a sudden, the doors burst open right behind me, and the kids start coming out. They come out youngest to oldest from this assembly. And so, I, as a dutiful parent, I'm standing there holding the door, and as the kids come out, the first thing they see when they come out is that view right there.
They step out, and they see that. And what I hear is these little kindergartners with this childlike wonder, every one of them, wow, a rainbow, look, a rainbow, oh, wow, look, a rainbow. Oh, over, and over, and over, as they're streaming out. And I smile at them, because kids are cute, but after about a dozen, or two dozen kids all saying the same thing, wow, a rainbow, look, a rainbow, ooh, a rainbow, I look back at that rainbow, and I think, that is beautiful, isn't it?
That is beautiful. They kind of helped restore my sense of wonder at that rainbow, just this torrent of wonder and amazement from kids pouring out of the building. Every one of them, a genuine response to something beautiful that God had given. Wow, a rainbow. But then I noticed something else, because remember, they were coming out youngest to oldest. And I noticed the number of responses started to get lower and lower. Soon it was like every other kid saying, ooh, a rainbow.
Then it was every third kid, every tenth kid, started hearing some sarcastic comments about the rainbow. And then eventually nobody said anything about the rainbow. How easily we lose the acceptance and the appreciation of something that is truly good, that is truly beautiful. How quickly we learn to dismiss it with just an offhanded comment or some kind of rebuttal.
I think that's what's happening to these people here. To say something so crazy. A man can speak again, and they say that Satan helped him do it. That's cynicism. Cynicism is like a kudzu. It starts off so small, and it blends in, but then it grows, and it grows, and it just overtakes, and it kills what's underneath. It kills it.
Now, Jesus cares for cynical people like me and like you. He cares. He cares for these people. I mean, this would have made me mad if I was Jesus. You're saying I'm in league with Satan? Let me shake off the dust from my feet and go to another town. But he doesn't. He doesn't do that. He knew what they were thinking. He knows the suspicions of our hearts. And he calls us out of cynicism. He says, come out from there. Come out of cynicism and into the light that I want to give you.
The light of hope. The first thing he does is he lovingly and firmly pokes holes right in their argument. Look at verse 18. He says, look, why would Satan set people free and heal them? Why would he lead people to trust in someone who is teaching people to pursue God, turn away from sin, and love their neighbors? Nothing in that equation benefits Satan at all. In fact, it tears down his kingdom. So why would Satan do that? He wouldn't do that. And then he says, well, what about the Jewish exorcists that are casting out demons?
If the only way that I can do it is by Satan's power, then what about them? So right away he knocks down their argument, but then he swoops in to give them something to take its place. He gives them the truth. Right? Let's look at this. The strength of Jesus. There is only one plausible explanation for what they saw. There's only one explanation, and that is it's through the power of God that Jesus did this. God working through him. And the implications of that are huge.
Look at what Jesus says. But if it is by the finger of God that I cast out demons, then the kingdom of God has come upon you. Now this is a pivotal sentence in this passage. It's the turning point in this whole passage. It is a big deal. Among his audience, this would have made jaws drop and eyes go wide. Did he just say that? The kingdom of God has come? The glorious rule of God? The promised reign of the promised king? Everything that the prophets had spoken of?
Jesus is saying, it's begun. And it's happening through me. This is what he's saying in verses 21 and 22. If you're confused by this parable about the strong man guarding his house, he's talking about his own victory over Satan. Satan is the first strong man. Verses 21 and 22. He guards his house successfully with his weapons and his security system and his armor. He's impenetrable. Unless someone stronger comes along who can defeat all that and who can get around it and who can overcome him and tie him up and take from him.
It is really good to have someone strong on your side. Right? If you've ever been a kid that's been bullied, think of how good it is if you have an older brother. If that older brother was in school waiting around the corner, you don't worry about a bully anymore. Because your older brother is there looking out for you. Jesus is the stronger man. He's saying, look, I know you know that Satan is strong. In fact, there is none of you who can overcome him.
But I'm here to tell you that I can and I will. I'm going to overcome him. And this is not just big talk from Jesus. He's not just talking a big game. He's going to follow through. But not in an arm wrestling match or in the back alley or someplace. Not the octagon. That's not where Jesus wins his victory. But in his own death. Now, think about this. When Jesus died, it looked like defeat to so many people. People were laughing at him. It might have even looked like defeat to Satan.
Have you ever thought about that? Satan might have thought, I did it. I won. But he was so wrong. He was so wrong. Because that death was immense power. Because it was in the place of sinners. He accepted their punishment and he paid it completely. And so if you were in Christ today, you're freed two ways. You're freed from the guilt of sin. The condemnation of sin. There is no accusation that Satan can bring against you anymore. And you're free from the power of sin.
You don't have to keep on sinning. You've got the spirit of God in you now. That you can live in a way that honors God. In a way that you couldn't live before. You're freed in two different ways. Satan's got no power anymore. It's gone. He who is in you is greater than he that is in the world.
We are changed and we have hope. And the resurrection of Christ, when he came up out of that grave, it proved his victory was solid and complete. There was nothing left to do. It is finished. It is finished for you. And it's finished for Satan. Because his doom is sealed.
That's why his victory becomes our victory. Lisa Page read this earlier. He gives us the victory. Through Christ, we have that victory over death and over sin. The sting of sin has been removed. And it no longer has any power over us. But here's the implication that Jesus draws out. There are only two kingdoms. God's, gods and Satan's, there is no middle ground. There's no middle ground. There's no Switzerland. You can't be Switzerland in this great cosmic battle.
All right? It's not even accurate to say that each person has to choose a side. In reality, every person on earth is already on one side or the other. They have already chosen. Jesus says, whoever is not with me is against me. There is no middle ground. Whoever does not gather with me scatters. Indifference, ambivalence about Jesus, it is not neutrality, my friends. It is hostility. You've got to remember that. Indifference and ambivalence about Jesus is not neutrality.
It's hostility. These exorcisms reveal Jesus as the one who is stronger. Who's bringing God's kingdom. In fact, who is already bringing it now. And it calls for a response. Jesus says, are you with me? Are you with me? If you want to be with him and share his victory, then heads up. Because that's what these last two sections are all about. It's about living a life of reliance on him. So let's close with this. The activity of faith. These last two sections are actually very practical.
Jesus talks about how to respond and how not to respond. First, let's talk about how not to respond. Verses 24 through 26. This is the part about the unclean spirit that's cast out of someone. Sometime later, the unclean spirit comes back. Finds the person empty. Quite tidy, actually. Nothing has taken its place. So it moves back in along with seven friends. And the person is worse off than before. Now what is Jesus talking about here? There's an old saying.
Nature abhors a vacuum. Nature hates a vacuum. To take the air out of a space and leave nothing in it, it leaves that space just begging for something new to enter. The first opportunity is something is sucked in. If you try to suck all of the air out of a space, it's just going to be constantly pulling, trying to get something else to take its place. We are the same way. If we empty out the bad things of our lives, but don't fill it with something, it's just begging for something else that's even worse to come in its place.
But there's a better way. Take a look at this. This little vase here. It's got air in it, right? You all agree? What's the easiest way to take out all the air inside this vase?
Put something in it. I heard somebody say it. Pour water in it. If you pour water in this, all the air is gone. Here's the point. Don't be an empty vessel. Be filled with God. Be filled with the love of God. Our hearts were made to love something. That's how you were designed. You are going to love something. And it's either God or it's something else. It isn't enough just to get rid of idols from your life, from your heart, from your mind. And you've got to put something good and godly in its place.
A new affection. A new love. Otherwise, it's an incomplete change and something else is just going to come along in its place. If you get rid of a bunch of bad habits, but you don't replace it with love of God, I can tell you what's going to happen. You're going to start loving yourself. You're going to start saying, look at how good I am. I cleaned up my life. What's wrong with the rest of these people? And they can't clean up their lives too. That's love of self.
It's taken the place of your love of whatever was bad before. And you're worse off than you were before. You've become a Pharisee, basically. Scottish pastor, Thomas Chalmers, said this. How impossible it is for the heart to cast the world away. The heart must have something to cling to. The only way to dispossess it of an old affection is by the expulsive power of a new one. I love that phrase. The expulsive power of a new one. That's the water in this vase.
It expels the air. And the love of God can expel all kinds of bad things from you. Friends, don't be empty vessels. Don't be complacent. Fill your life with God. Pursue Him. And ask Him to increase your love for Him. He loves to answer those prayers.
Last thing. Verses 27 through 28. Jesus gets an opportunity to add something else to what He's already said. A woman responds to His profound teaching. With a beatitude. Blessed is the womb that bore you. And the breasts at which you nursed. But He said, Blessed rather are those who hear the Word of God and keep it. Now Jesus is not disparaging His mother. He's not actually disagreeing with this woman either. He's saying, My disciples are those who follow Me.
Those whose faith shows up in obedience. That's what Mary did, right? She heard the Word of God and she did it. Here's the point. Don't use empty words. Trust and obey God. Don't be an empty vessel and don't use empty words. Put your words into practice in your life. Imagine a man with a life-threatening illness going to see a specialist. He sits down with a specialist. He listens to the doctor's counsel and he says, Thank you, doctor. The patient goes home and writes a Google review for the doctor.
Five stars. He praises the doctor's bedside manner. He says, She has stellar credentials. She laid out an excellent treatment plan. A few months later, someone says to the man, Oh, I saw your Google review. How'd the treatment turn out? And he says, Oh, well, I didn't follow it. You know, it seemed like a lot of work. I'm kind of busy right now. I just wasn't sure I was ready for that kind of change in my life.
What good does it do to give a doctor a five-star review but not do what she tells you to do? Don't give Jesus a five-star review and not do what he tells you to do.
Blessed rather are those who hear the word of God and keep it. The only way to have the strength of Jesus on your side, the victory of Jesus in your column, is to be with him. To be with him in faith. The kingdom of God has come upon you. It's come upon you and me and all of us. Embracing Jesus with active faith means that we have a victory over a powerful enemy that we have no hope against. That's good news for us today. Let's rest and let's celebrate in that victory.
Pray with me. Jesus, thank you that you're stronger. We praise you that you are stronger. There is no way that we could have overcome what we were up against. The guilt, the bondage. Jesus, all of that was here to stay. That would have been our life and our death. But you, according to your great mercy, have caused people to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus from the dead. Hallelujah and praise you, God, for the victory that you have won through Christ.
A victory that is ours today. If we belong to you, and I pray, Lord, that you would work faith in all of our hearts. Help us to be people that don't just hear the word of God, but also keep it. I pray that we would be filled with you, Lord, that we would not be empty, but be filled every day with greater and greater love for you. Jesus, we praise you for what you have done and what you will do. You will have a final defeat of Satan that is permanent.
And bring us to you to be with you in glory forever. Jesus, we pray this in your name.