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Jesus Vs. Beelzebul: the Meaning of His Miracle for Cynics and Skeptics – Part 1 Luke 11:14-23

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Jesus Vs. Beelzebul: the Meaning of His Miracle for Cynics and Skeptics – Part 1 Luke 11:14-23 Jesus Vs. Beelzebul: The Meaning of His Miracle for Cynics and Skeptics – Part 1 Luke 11:14-23 Intro: I. The Miracle (14) The setting for this little confab that Jesus has regarding good, evil, and us arises from a miracle He performed as he journeyed from Capernaum toward Jerusalem. Let’s see it’s very brief description in Lk 11:14 LK 11:14 – Now he was casting out a demon that was mute. When the demon had gone out, the mute man spoke, and the people marveled. The miracle There was a demon possessed man who, as a result of the demon possession, was rendered unable to speak. The demon had a power over him such that his ability either physically or mentally to speak was blunted. For no apparent reason other than evil and hatred of God’s creation, this demon seized the man and rendered him speechless. Luke does not spend much time at all describing the exorcism, he simply says “when the demon had gone out”. When know, however, from the ensuing narrative and reaction of the witnesses that it was Jesus who cast this demon out. When he had done so, the previously voiceless man spoke. Unique among exorcisms In a general sense, this was not a unique occurrence. This is to say that exorcisms were performed by other people of that day as well. Most of those exorcisms were performed over long periods of time with the reading of very extensive and precise incantations that would sometimes work to cast out a demon, and as we will see in the next passage, often fail to keep the demon away for good. This is where Jesus’ exorcism prevailed far and away above all others. He simply issued a command to the demon and the demon obeyed. You see this through the Gospels where Jesus casts out demons. His authority is absolutely preeminent over the world of demons and darkness and when he speaks, they are unable to resist the power of his command. Thus we see the nonchalant manner in which Luke narrates the event, “…when the demon had gone out, the mute man spoke”. Trans: This display of unique authority was a miracle. It was performed publically before the eyes of a gathered crowd and they had responses to what they saw, and then assessments of what they saw. That is what we will look at now. II. The Crowd Assesses the Miracle a. Response: They all marveled (14) The first thing we see is the unanimous and shared response that was common to all who witnessed this miracle. V. 14 tells us what it was. LK 11:14 – Now he was casting out a demon that was mute. When the demon had gone out, the mute man spoke, and the people marveled. Marveled = Luke tells us that the people marveled. This is the Gk word thaumadzo and it means to be struck with admiration or astonishment. It means that the crowd was amazed and impressed by what they saw. Astonishment does not always equal honor And we might assume that this amazement would lead to worship and honor and respect being given to Jesus. But amazement of this kind does not have to result in giving due respect to the one who has amazed. As we will see, though the response of the crowd was astonishment, the assessment of the crowd was not to honor Jesus for who He was, but to seek to explain away their astonishment in other ways. We will look at their assessment presently, but this brings us to an important principle regarding Jesus. Jesus’ miracles were always performed to force people to see him for who he was. However, people can be entertained and amazed by Jesus, but not acknowledge him for who he really is – God and savior. We will learn more about this as we travel through the verse together. But for now, we simply acknowledge how often this can happen; that there are many who are impressed by Jesus and even respect him as a teacher and good man, but who do not let that respect mature into devotion to him and surrender to him as God and savior. The people in our passage here are no exception. They were amazed, but assessed the source of their amazement in two different ways. Let’s look at them now. b. Assessment #1: The cynical accuse (15) Lk 11:15 - But some of them said, "He casts out demons by Beelzebul, the prince of demons," Cynics We see here in v.15 what is a cynical excuse. A cynic is someone who believes most if not all people are motivated by self-interest and do not represent themselves honestly. The cynic has an attitude that is habitually negative and scornful of others. He or she is a jaded person who doubts and disdains the integrity and motives of other people. Accuse There were some very cynical people watching Jesus that day. They saw the amazing exorcism and they were astonished at it, but they assessed the meaning of the miracle through their cynical and doubtful and disparaging filter. This led to a various accusation. They said that Jesus was not casting out the demon on his own authority, nor on the authority of God, but by the power of Beelzebul. What did they mean by this accusation? Beelzebul Lk 11:15 - But some of them said, "He casts out demons by Beelzebul, the prince of demons," Who is Beelzebul? This is a play on the name of the false god mentioned in the Old Testament, Beelzebub. This came from the Canaanite god Baal or Baal-zebub (2Ki 1:2). Baal-zebub meant lord of the dwelling or lord of the court and referred to him having dominion over a particular location. Later, those who despised this false god would call him Beelzebul (not Beelzebub) as a play on words which meant, not lord of the court, but lord of the dung or lord of the flies! While there is some disagreement about exactly what Beelzebub meant, we know what the cynical people there meant by it. Accusation The text tell us doesn’t it? Lk 11:15 - But some of them said, "He casts out demons by Beelzebul, the prince of demons," They were accusing Jesus of casting out demons by the power of the prince of demons, which is, without a doubt, a reference to Satan. These people were attributing the work of God to the power of Satan. They are saying that Jesus is not divine, He is Satanic! This was not the first time this accusation would be hurled at Jesus. We see it some five times in the Gospels. Jn 7:20 - The crowd answered, "You have a demon! Who is seeking to kill you?" Jn 8:48-49 - The Jews answered him, "Are we not right in saying that you are a Samaritan and have a demon?" 49 Jesus answered, "I do not have a demon, but I honor my Father, and you dishonor me. Jn 10:20 - Many of them said, "He has a demon, and is insane; why listen to him?" The danger of a cynical response to Jesus We see then, the danger of cynicism. Jesus had already spoken to the correct assessment to be made regarding miracles like this: Luke 4:18-19 - "The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed, 19 to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor." Jesus had said that his healings and his casting out of demons would be a demonstration that he had been sent by God and was indeed the anointed Messiah and savior. The right response is given, but not necessarily adhered to But just because the right response was given ahead of time, doesn’t mean people will use it. A right response is given and demanded, but it doesn’t guarantee people will accept it. I had a college professor who would basically tell us during lectures what would be on the upcoming exams. He would say something like, “you might want to remember this!” or “It would be a good idea to mark this in your notes” or “Hey, this is going to be on the test”, and then he would literally give the answer to us that he would later ask of us on the exam. It was easy to get a good grade in that class if you simply took the notes he told you to take, remembered the answers and gave them back to him. This really is what Jesus is doing. Before the ministry even started, he basically told the people that when they saw him doing miraculous things it was because he was the savior and messiah and that people should then accept and believe him. But in many cases, and especially this one, they did not. Not enough to be impressed Why not? Cynicism! Cynicism regarding Jesus is a foolish and dangerous thing. I understand cynicism related to certain things or people, I don’t recommend it, but I understand it. But we must be very cautious of assuming the worst about Jesus and scorning his integrity and assuming that his miracles are not significant enough to merit our acceptance and belief in him. It is not enough to be astonished and amused and impressed by Jesus.
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