23. Who is Jesus?
February 06th, 2010
A House Divided
In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. He made angels who are spiritual beings designed to serve, worship, and carry out the commands God. One of those created angels decided he did not like his lot, being subject to his creator, and he led a rebellion against God in which one third of the other angels joined with him. They lost the battle and were cast from heaven and have been causing problems ever since. Satan was there in the garden to deceive Adam and Eve and corrupt God’s perfect creation. The angels who sided with Satan are now known as demons. They are spiritual creatures who live to bring suffering to men in an effort to lead us away from God.
We are in Luke 11:14 were we meet this man who is suffering from demonic possession. We have Jesus vs. Satan in a clash of the titans match. Throughout Jesus ministry we see demonic forces at work in the world around Him. There is a war around us: an epic battle between two kings. On one side you have the creator God. He is good, powerful, loving, truthful, and gracious. On the other side you have the devil king who is called in Scripture the king of this world. He is evil, powerful, not so powerful as God but more powerful than you, hateful, lying, manipulative, deceitful, and destructive. Jesus ministry shows us a glimpse of this war that surrounds us.
When Jesus was running around performing miracles in Northern Israel in the boondocks He was dangerous but could be ignored. His miracles could be credited to a superstitious audience who wouldn’t really know better, or that over time they were exaggerated. Now that Jesus has arrived in Judea He is doing a lot of the same things and it is no longer possible for the religious leaders to deny the great things miracles that Jesus has done. Like the crowds they have now seen them with their own eyes. As such they are faced with two choices: since they can longer deny His power they will either admit that Jesus power comes from God and submit themselves to His Lordship, unlikely, or they try to accuse Him of having demonic power and thus remove their need to follow Him. This is a serious accusation. They are accusing Jesus of being Satanic.
Lk 11:14 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. Lk 11:15 But some of them said, “By Beelzebub, the prince of demons, he is driving out demons.” Lk 11:16 Others tested him by asking for a sign from heaven.
The demon wasn’t mute, the demon made the man he was possessing mute. This guy is a victim of the spiritual war and his spiritual condition is manifested in physical ways. Notice who is telling us this story: it is Luke, who is a doctor. As such he is reasonable and well educated. If this were a cheap parlor trick, Luke is the guy would figure it out. This guy didnt just burn his tongue on his morning coffee.
The spiritual world can affect the physical one. What we don’t see can affect what we do. It like wind, we cant see it but we can certainly see its effects. That doesn’t mean we shut off our brains when a reasonable solution is available it should be considered. Yet we must remember that while there is always a reason, that reason may not be discernible in this life. Sometimes what a person with physical symptoms needs is not a physical healing but a spiritual one. Notice Jesus didn’t give the man a healing He cast the demon and when the demon left the man’s physical symptoms went with it.
It is pretty impressive. As such people start talking. They start trying to reason how it was possible for Jesus to do this? Some come along and play the role of judge. Casting out the demon is great but we are not sure that makes Him God, but they want to see more: Jesus, born of a virgin, heals the sick, calms storms, raises the dead, feeds crowds with a sack lunch, even turns water into wine, not only is He powerful but He is the life of a party. There is more than enough evidence. Their hearts are hard so they demand Jesus perform more tricks for them. They want to see more signs, more wonders, but always more. Nothing Jesus does will ever be enough for them. You probably know something like this, maybe it’s you. If Jesus really is God, I want to see it for myself. Jesus needs to do something, to give me a sign so I can know He is real. You are not the judge and Jesus is not a cheap entertainer. This is not American Idol. Jesus is who He is. What you think of Him does not change that reality. If after investigating the gospels and seeing all the things Jesus did you still do not believe He is who He says He is, then no amount of miracles or signs are going to prove that to you. This is a cowardly rejection of Jesus. Then there are some who say: well Jesus is obviously powerful but how do we know He is good? Maybe He is Beelzebub. The name Beelzebub goes back to the Old Testament times, it was a name given to the pagan god of the Philistine city of Ekron. His name means "Lord of the flies" catchy, he was considered to be either Satan himself, or the prince of demons, Satan’s right hand man. There is a certain hierarchy in the spiritual world. It seems that demons have different powers and abilities almost like people they are diverse. They can affect the world we live in and even perform counterfeit miracles as signs of their authority. You have to wonder of the 'gods' of the Greeks and other world religions are not just demons taking on the name of a deity so as to lead people astray. Religion and spirituality without Jesus is just demon worship.
Lk 11:17 Jesus knew their thoughts and said to them: “Any kingdom divided against itself will be ruined, and a house divided against itself will fall. Lk 11:18 If Satan is divided against himself, how can his kingdom stand? I say this because you claim that I drive out demons by Beelzebub. Lk 11:19 Now if I drive out demons by Beelzebub, by whom do your followers drive them out? So then, they will be your judges. Lk 11:20 But if I drive out demons by the finger of God, then the kingdom of God has come to you. Lk 11:21 “When a strong man, fully armed, guards his own house, his possessions are safe. Lk 11:22 But when someone stronger attacks and overpowers him, he takes away the armor in which the man trusted and divides up the spoils. Lk 11:23 “He who is not with me is against me, and he who does not gather with me, scatters.
People are deciding whether or not Jesus is good or evil. Jesus responds with this: If Jesus was evil why would He cast out a servant of Satan? Why would evil battle evil? The power of God expresses itself differently then the power of Satan. Satan uses power to corrupt, to control, to manipulate, and to destroy. God uses power to heal and to set free. So what does this look like? The man had been living under the torment of an evil spirit. Jesus cast the spirit out and the man was free. Does that look like a God thing or like a Satan thing? If Jesus was serving Satan why would He use His power to oppose Satan? The demon was doing Satan's work. It is not that Satan couldn’t order a demon out, its why would he? Fighting against himself would result in defeating himself, it makes no sense. Even if it did, by what authority then would the Jewish exorcists who called on names of God be casting out demons? The crowd recognized Jesus had power over demons. If it doesnt make any sense for Him to cast out demons with evil power, then the only option left available is that Jesus is working with the power of God. If Jesus is working with the power of God, then He has been given that power to share a message from God and the people should pay very close attention to what He has to say.
Jesus ends with a frightening thought. Those who are not with Him are against Him. We know Satan is powerful. Jesus just walked into Satan’s territory, gave Satan a beat down, took Satan’s property and walked back without breaking a sweat. Jesus is powerful and it unwise to stand against Him.
Lk 11:24 “When an evil spirit comes out of a man, it goes through arid places seeking rest and does not find it. Then it says, ‘I will return to the house I left.’ Lk 11:25 When it arrives, it finds the house swept clean and put in order. Lk 11:26 Then it goes and takes seven other spirits more wicked than itself, and they go in and live there. And the final condition of that man is worse than the first.”
Jesus casting out this spirit was helpful. Jesus came in and cleaned up this guy’s house. Like a Trading Spaces episode Jesus came in and renovated for the man. That is great. But it doesn’t solve the problem. If this man doesn’t fill his life with something else, the spirit that Jesus got rid of is going to back with a vengeance. Getting rid of evil is not enough. People want the problems and bad stuff out of their life but they don’t always invite Jesus in it. They just want to get rid of the junk. That is useless!
Say your body is like your house. It is the physical dwelling for the spiritual soul. This evil spirit was living in this guy’s house. Jesus comes along and kicks the spirit out. Well if this guy doesn’t let Jesus into his heart then his house may be nicely cleaned and renovated but it’s vacant. What will eventually happen is that spirit is going to tired of wandering around like a homeless person and its going to head back to its former home. If the house is empty guess what that spirit is going to do? He is going call up some of his nasty demon friends and they are going to have a keg party to celebrate moving back in.
If your house got robbed because you left the doors and windows unlocked. Finally when you got the intruders out and your life back what are going to do? Are you going to learn to secure your house, or are you going to leave it open inviting them to come back in whenever they would like? When we get evil out of our lives it is not enough to just be done with the evil. We need to learn to fill our lives with good, with Godly, with the Holy Spirit of God.
This is not just true with spirits but with addictions as well. Addiction is at attempt to fill a vacuum in your life. Drugs, gambling, alcohol, facebook these are ways in which we try to fill the void. Getting free from these addictive behaviors does not prevent us from going back. Getting the bad out just opens up the vacuum again. If you want to be free you have to get the bad out and get Jesus in.
Satan and demons are stronger, smarter, and better prepared then you are. They have thousands of years of tricks and tactics prepped to bring you down. You cannot defeat Satan with tools of morality, ethics, will or religion. We cannot stand against the army that seeks to destroy us. We need a savior. We need someone to come along and deliver us, to defend us. That is what Jesus does. Through His own death Jesus gains victory over Satan. He offers that victory to us. We dont stand on our own or by our own strength, we stand in Jesus or not at all. Only in Him is their victory.
Lk 11:27 As Jesus was saying these things, a woman in the crowd called out, “Blessed is the mother who gave you birth and nursed you.” Lk 11:28 He replied, “Blessed rather are those who hear the word of God and obey it.”
We cannot protect ourselves against Satan and his demons. We need to bring ourselves into close proximity with Jesus. He tells us how to do that: hear the word of God and obey it. Two parts: hear and obey. For us Sunday are mostly about hearing the word of God, the rest of the week is about doing it. Obeying the word of God is what secures our house and helps make us safe from attacks from our enemies.
Some people attribute everything to demons: guess what, not everything is their fault, but some things are. Where can you see the enemy's work in your life? Satan and demons are involved in the life and story of Jesus and they are involved in your life. They are tempting you, lying to you, deceiving you.
Demons have right to us through sin. Jesus cross removes that right. When we repent of our sin and live in relationship with Jesus Satan no longer has the right or access to you. You can have victory. You can be free. You can even use the authority of your victory in Jesus to combat evil spirits in your life.
Demons obey Jesus, the Holy Spirit commands them away. If we are in Christ we share in His victory and demons access to us is gone. The same power that was at work in Jesus is at work in us. By being positionally close to Jesus and developing in our relationship with God grants us a freedom and protection. If you struggle with sin, the solution is not just get the sin out. That is only the first step. The most important step is that you learn not just to draw near to Jesus but how to dwell in His presence. Otherwise it is meaningless. Some of us need to repent of the sin and struggles of our lives, we need to lay them down at the feet of Jesus and we need to genuinely and permanently invite Jesus into our hearts, to live and to rule. Hear the word of God, obey it, and Jesus will be with you giving you the strength to overcome.
