¡§No Middle Ground¡¨
Luke 11:14-28
The Rev’d Quintin Morrow
qgmorrow@st-andrew.com
Preached at St. Andrew¡¦s Episcopal Church, Fort Worth
March 3, 2002
Outline:
I. THE ACTION (v. 14)
a) Jesus exorcises a demon from a mute man and the man speaks.
b) The crowd responds in amazement.
II. THE ACCUSATION (vv. 15-16)
a) The religious crowd attributes Jesus’ miracle to Satan.
b) The religious crowd demands more miraculous signs to validate Jesus’ divine claims.
III. THE ANSWER (vv. 17-28).
a) Jesus rebuts His opponents’ charge
1. By reason (17-20).
2. By revelation of His superiority (21-22).
b) Jesus removes the option of spiritually neutral ground
1. By proclomation (23).
2. By parable (24-26).
c) Jesus reveals the recipients of God’s favor (27-28).
Several years ago Christian speaker and writer Josh McDowell authored an apologetic book, or a book making a reasonable and rational case for the Christian faith, entitled Evidence That Demands a Verdict. Evidence That Demands a Verdict was a very successful book which went through multiple printings and in fact is still in print today.
The title of McDowell¡¦s book is a little misleading, however. As any attorney will tell you, evidence alone cannot demand a verdict. In a trial, several matters of great importance surround the issue of evidence. What kind of evidence does the plaintiff or defendant have? Is it compelling evidence or circumstantial evidence? How much evidence does the attorney have, and in what order should it be presented? And just as important as any evidence, the lawyer must anticipate the bias of the members of the jury; for it is the jury which will ultimately decide the coherence and value of the evidence presented, and they who will decide the case.
And so it is with evidence and juries and verdicts in mind that we examine the Gospel lesson for today in Luke chapter 11 verses 14 through 28.
It is clear from the text and the context that Jesus here is again about to enter another of what in the Gospels will prove to be a series of running engagements with religious leaders of Israel. As the Gospels portray it, as Jesus begins His ministry, the scribes, Pharisees and Sadduccess follow Him on the periphery of the crowds with an attitude of reluctant curiosity. But as Jesus¡¦ popularity with the people grows, and His miracles incite more excitement and commitment, the religious crowd begins to feel their own popularity with and authority over the people decline. Their curiosity changes into hatred and malice, and these religious leaders of Israel commit themselves to a course of action involving active opposition to Jesus which will finally culminate in handing Him over to the Roman Procurator Pontius Pilate for crucifixion.
The incident relayed to us in Luke 11:14-28 presses three important questions upon us. The first is, Is this Jesus who He claims Himself to be; namely, the Son of God? The second is, How do I know? And the third is, If He is, what must I then do? All three questions will have answers, as we shall see. And all three involve compelling evidence, reasoned arguments, and the bias of the jury.
The spark that lighted this confrontational powder-keg between Jesus and members of the religious establishment in Luke chapter 11 was a miraculous action by our Lord in verse 14.
14And He was casting out a demon, and it was mute. So it was, when the demon had gone out, that the mute spoke; and the multitudes marveled.
We don¡¦t much about the poor demon-possessed man. Luke doesn¡¦t tell us his name, where he came from, or how long he had been tormented. All we do know is that a certain man was demon possessed, that the demon squelched speech in the man so that he was unable to speak, and that when Jesus exorcised the demon the formerly-possessed man was able to speak. Moreover, we hear from Luke that the crowd witnessing this exorcism responded with amazement. As we shall see, this exorcism becomes ¡§exhibit A¡¨ in the case for the identity of Jesus Christ.
Apparently, there were some religious leaders in the crowd at the time of this exorcism. Luke does not name those who respond to this miraculous action on the part of Jesus with an accusation that it was accomplished by the power of the devil; he only calls them ¡§some people.¡¨ Matthew and Mark, however, who also record this incident in their gospels, call Jesus¡¦ opponents ¡§Pharisees¡¨ and ¡§scribes¡¨ respectively.
This exorcism¡Xthis miraculous action¡Xwrought by Jesus is met with amazement from the crowd, and an accusation that is accomplished by the power of Satan, and a demand for more evidence of Christ¡¦s divinity, by the religious establishment. Verses 15-16:
15But some of them said, ¡§He casts out demons by „TBeelzebub, the ruler of the demons.¡¨ 16Others, testing Him, sought from Him a sign from heaven.
The identity of Beelzebub is first revealed in the Old Testament, in II Kings chapter 1. There, the Canaanite fertility deity Ba¡¦al is named and worshipped as Baal-zebub. The name Beelzebub, depending on just a slight variation of spelling or pronunciation, can meaning anything from ¡§Lord of the House,¡¨ to ¡§Lord of the Flies¡¨ or ¡§Lord of Manure.¡¨ In any case, Beelzebub is another name for Satan.
The scribes and Pharisees witness an incredible miracle: A demon-possessed man, deprived of speech, is released from bondage and begins to speak. This miracle requires explanation and interpretation. They provide them with a rejoinder claiming that Jesus exorcised this demon by the power of Satan, and with a demand for more evidence. Don¡¦t miss the irony here. The spiritual blindness of these scribes and Pharisees is such that they don¡¦t see the dangerous and contradictory road on which they are embarking. ¡§You performed this miracle by the power of Satan!¡¨ they thunder to Jesus. Then they follow up with, ¡§Now show us more miracles.¡¨
This exorcism of and restoration of speech to this demon-possessed man was a miraculous, divine action by Jesus. It was exhibit A in the case He was making that He was in fact the long awaited and anticipated Jewish Messiah and also the very Son of God. But the jury is extremely biased. We know that because the crowds witnessing such events, made up of the poor, the sick, the common and the sinner, respond with amazement and belief. The scribes and Pharisees respond to this miraculous action with an accusation that this miracle was wrought by the power of Satan and with a request for more miracles.
What follows this accusation is a withering answer from Jesus to the accusation of His opponents. In this answer, the Lord will first rebut the accusation of the religious leaders, second, ¡§rattle the fence,¡¨ or remove any falsely-held notion of spiritual neutrality in the cosmic war currently being waged between God and Satan, and finally reveal the true recipients of God¡¦s favor.
Firstly, then, notice that the Lord Jesus answers the accusation of His accusers by rebutting their charge. He does so by an appeal to reason and by a revelation of His divine superiority over Satan.
To begin, notice, in His answer, Jesus appeals to reason to expose the ridiculous accusation of His opponents. Jesus says quite clearly that the accusation that He is in the devil¡¦s service, healing, preaching and exorcising demons is unadulterated tommyrot. This charge of the scribes and Pharisees is a non-sequitor, a self-referential absurdity, with a premise that must logically collapse under its own weight into utter nonsense.
Christ¡¦s appeal to reason argues this way. There is a war between God and Satan in the universe. Both sides are struggling to win. Exorcising a demon from a man is clearly a victory for good and God¡¦s side. A house divided cannot stand. So why would Satan deliberately impede his own chances for victory? This strategy would be tantamount to a general sending a battalion to the front lines with orders to shoot its own soldiers. Satan is not going to fight against himself. Therefore, the accusation that Jesus is winning battles against Satan by Satan¡¦s power is patently absurd.
To continue, in His rebuttal, Jesus reveals His divine superiority over Satan. The Lord here tells a story about a strong man and his house. The Lord says that a man cannot plunder another man¡¦s house if he is of equal or lesser strength. A robber must be more cunning and stronger than his victim to bind the master of the house and steal his goods. In this short parable, Satan is the householder and Jesus is the man coming to plunder his house. The conclusion is that since Jesus is spoiling the devil¡¦s kingdom, He can¡¦t be Satan¡¦s equal or lesser minion; He must be stronger than the devil. These arguments¡Xrational, cogent and compelling¡Xbecome exhibit B in the case for Christ¡¦s claims.
Jesus answers the accusation of His opponents firstly with a rebuttal, and secondly here with a ¡§rattle of the fence,¡¨ or the removal of any spiritually neutral ground in this struggle between God and Satan. He makes a proclamation and tells a parable to illustrate the point. Verse 23:
23He who is not with Me is against Me, and he who does not gather with Me scatters.
I can¡¦t speak for everyone, of course, but I don¡¦t see lots of wiggle room here. The premise behind the words and actions of the scribes and Pharisees up to this point was that they could straddle the fence, inhabit a non-existent spiritually neutral ground, and wait and see before making a decision about Jesus¡¦ identity, origin and mission; that there was some middle ground, some tertium quid, or third way between siding with God and siding with Satan. But there isn¡¦t. Here the Lord shakes the fence of neutrality, and people will fall on God¡¦s side or Satan¡¦s side. There is no other side. A man simply exorcised of an evil spirit must fill that vacuum with God or it will be refilled with more evil spirits. Jesus either is who He claimed to be¡Xthe divine Son of God who came to die as the atonement for the sins of the world¡Xor He is not. And, anyway, the religious leaders here cross the Rubicon. They abandon any feigned neutrality for active opposition to Jesus. Their spiritual blindness causes them to look at a merciful miracle and call it evil, and look the Son of God in the face and claim He is working under the auspices of God¡¦s enemy the devil.
And finally, Jesus answers the accusations of His accusers by a revelation of who are the recipients of God¡¦s favor. In verse 27 a woman in the crowd yells out in a common Jewish manner a word of blessing on Jesus by reference to His mother. ¡§Blessed is the womb that bore You, and the breasts which nursed You!¡¨ she cries out. To be blessed in Scripture is to be the recipient of divine favor. And Jesus replies, ¡§No, those who receive God¡¦s favor are those who recognize me, hear me, believe me, follow me¡Xthose who hear God¡¦s Word and put it into practice.¡¨ In John chapter 6, after the miraculous feeding of the five thousand, the astonished crowd asks Jesus, ¡§What should we do that we might work the works of God?¡¨ Jesus¡¦ reply is simple: Believe in the one whom God hath sent.
The evidence in this case is before you. Jesus healed the sick, raised the dead, caused the blind to see and the deaf to hear; He demonstrated His authority over Satan by exorcising and banishing his demons. He claimed to be the Son of God, and substantiated that claim with signs, wonders and proclamation. Exhibits A and B, and for that matter, all other pertinent evidence, are found in this book, and in the lives of those who believed before you and would not deny Him even when threatened with death. You must decide. There is no middle ground. The jury of the contemporary religious leaders of the Lord was so biased¡Xso spiritually blind¡Xthey were unable to arrive at the inarguable conclusion that the weight of this evidence pointed. Jesus of Nazareth is the Christ, the Son of God, and the only name given under heaven whereby men are saved.
Please do not mistake me. Jesus Christ is not on trial here. But eternity is at stake. Perhaps one of the most important questions Jesus ever asked is this: ¡§Who do you say that I am?¡¨
The evidence here may not demand a verdict, but it certainly requires a conclusion. What we cannot do is pretend the evidence is insufficient. As we shall discover at Easter Sunday, the entire Christian faith¡Xall of its claims and all of its promises¡Xhangs on a witnessed, historically verifiable event: The bodily resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. Nor can we pretend that the con-clusion of the evidence doesn¡¦t matter. Eternity hangs in the balance. The Scriptures declare without shame that those who have the Son of life, and those who have not the Son have not life. Jesus Himself declares in John 3:18,
18¡§He who believes in Him is not condemned; but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.
Nor can we say that this Jesus of Nazareth was just a good man, a wise spiritual teacher, one among many sages and prophets who have brought enlightenment through human history. Jesus claimed to be the Son of God. Consequently, our choices as to a response to that claim are extremely limited. In fact, we are forced into a trilemma. Jesus Christ is either a liar, a lunatic or the Lord. If He is a liar then He is one of the most despicable men who ever lived, for He propagated a falsehood which deceived millions, calling for a commitment and promising a hope that never existed. In this case, Jesus is not a good man but an evil man; and He was not a wise and spiritual prophet but a malevolent huckster. If He is on the other hand a lunatic¡Xsomeone with a ¡§messiah complex¡¨¡Xwe should be able to detect that in His behavior and His teachings. Yet what we find in the gospel narratives is not a man exhibiting signs of megalomania, egotism, narcissism, rigidity or madness, but one who is kind, selfless, compassionate, and willing even to surrender His life for others; and one who illicited wonder, faith, friendship and loyalty from others.
The only alternative left, and the conclusion to which all the evidence points, is that Jesus Christ is who claimed to be: The only begotten Son of God and the Lord of heaven and earth.
To the agnostic or the unbelieving, the evidence in the case for Christ requires a response and calls for a response of trust. Christ is who He said He is, and the only response is repentance and faith in Him. There is no other way. Allah can¡¦t get you there. Buddha won¡¦t get you there. Krishna isn¡¦t going to get you there. Science, education, fame, possessions or wit will finally fail you. C.S. Lewis rightly synthesized the question down to this: Either Jesus is liar, lunatic or Lord. And the evidence will invariably steer you to the final conclusion.
To the believer this evidence calls not for just belief in Christ¡Xby belief I mean that lowest common denominator kind of intellectual assent to some facts about Jesus. That kind of faith, James says, is dead. What Jesus calls us to as saints is whole-hearted reliance, complete trust and obedience. What we want to do is hold on to the world, and all of the pleasures, promises and rewards it offers with one hand, and clasp on to Christ for heaven with the other. But it doesn¡¦t work that way. Christ¡¦s call is a total commitment of all that you have and all that you are. It calls for a kind of love that makes all other loves pale by comparison, a call to a poverty and humility that sees nothing but the loss of Jesus as a loss, and a call for a continual striving to be like Jesus.
During the infamous O.J. Simpson trial, one of the counselors for the defense, Johnny Cochran, brought the jury to a moment of crisis¡Xa moment of decision¡Xwhen he uttered that phrase: ¡§If the glove doesn¡¦t fit, you must acquit.¡¨ Jesus likewise brings us to a moment of crisis¡Xa moment of decision. ¡§If I drive out demons by the finger of God, then the kingdom of God has come to you.¡¨ ¡§He who is not with me is against me, and he who does not gather with me, scatters.¡¨
The evidence has been presented to you. Your heart is on trial. There is no middle ground. Jesus Christ, whose Son is He? Who do you say that He is?
AMEN.
