Luke 11:14-26 - Homiletics

Christ and his adversaries.

Observe—

I. THE CONTRAST . "He was casting out a devil, and it was dumb." This was his work. As the Redeemer, he was ever intent on setting the human nature free from its manifold evil by acting on the hidden cause of the evil. It is to be noted that the dumbness is traced to a demon—to the possession of the inner nature by a spirit whose fettering of the man was evidenced in the fettering of the organ of speech. "To cure sorrow by curing sin" is the special service of Christ's Church. In this deeper reference—the reference to sin and the evil one—it is distinguished from mere philanthropy. Philanthropy contemplates the evil, and seeks to remove its occasions in social life or in the personal history. Christianity reaches to the springs of the evil. It contemplates sin; and it sees in sin an enslavement from which the soul is to be delivered by the One stronger than Satan. But see the attitude of the world. There is wonder ( Luke 11:14 ) on the part of some when the long silence is broken, and the dumb speaks. There is ( Luke 11:15 ) the tempting or provocation of the Holy One by the demand for some flaming portent. And there is the devilish opposition of the Pharisees, who always hung on his rear, and who, unable to deny facts, insinuated that there was a league between the Lord and Beelzebub. So it is still. The darkness which will not receive the light has degrees of guilt. The blackest form of the guilt is that which cannot but admit the force that is active amongst men, which sees the results of that force, and yet refuses to acknowledge it to be light, closes the soul against it.

"The deaf may hear the Savior's voice,

The fettered tongue its chain may break;

But the deaf heart, the dumb by choice,

The laggard soul, that will not wake,

The guilt that scorns to be forgiven,—

These baffle e'en the spells of Heaven.

In thought of these, his brows benign

Not e'en in healing, cloudless shine."

II. THE LORD 'S DISCOURSE IN REPLY TO THE THOUGHTS WHICH HE READS , The three " ifs " in Luke 11:18 , Luke 11:19 , Luke 11:20 , may well be studied. The first exposes the absurdity of the supposition that he is possessed by Beelzebub. Beelzebub in him divided against Beelzebub without him! the one destroying the works of the other! How could such a power stand? The second takes another ground. Before him there are heads of the state; now, their sons claimed to exorcise spirits by repeating formulas of incantation: would they allow that such exorcism was by Beelzebub? They pointed to it as an evidence of Divine favor; how inconsistent and absurd to see the hand of the devil in his work, and the finger of God in theirs? The third drives the argument home. If the same finger as that which they recognized in their so-called exorcisms is being really put forth, as they themselves can discern, is it not clear that the kingdom of God is come on them, and that to resist this kingdom is their condemnation? The parable and the words which follow ( Luke 11:21-26 ) relate to this. A strong man, fully armed, guards his own court, and all his goods are secure; he and his will stand or fall together. How can the goods be taken? Only by overcoming the strong man, by proving that there is Another stronger than he. It is only through this personal conflict that the possessions can be abstracted. So in the Lord's holy wars, a symbol of which had been given that day. Satan had been holding the afflicted person in his grasp; and the wasted life could be restored only by the mightier power of love—the love incarnated in Christ—"coming upon him, and overcoming him, and taking from him his whole armor wherein he trusted." This he had done; the departure of the malignant spirit, and the restoration of the man, were the sign of his victory to be fulfilled through all the ages.

III. And then follow Two WORDS CONSTANTLY TO BE PONDERED .

1 . In respect of this, Christ's holy war, there can be no neutrality. The eye, perhaps, is directed to the groups of the people "wondering," and of those tempting him. They had not actually token part with the scorners; they are now reminded, as all in all times are reminded, that a negative attitude is virtually an attitude of hostility. It is, by so much, a subtraction of the strength to be utilized against the enemy. It is an occasion of stumbling to others. More than this, it withdraws from the attraction of his presence and love, and lays the heart open to alienating influences. Ever to be insisted on is the sentence, "He that is not with me is against me." There is another saying of Christ, one uttered a short time before ( Luke 9:50 ), which may seem to be at variance with the tone of this saying, "He that is not against us is for us." But a glance at the context shows the difference between the circumstances in which the words are spoken, and the references which they bear. The case brought before us in the ninth chapter is this: John mentions that he and his brethren had seen a man casting out demons in Christ's Name, and that they had forbidden him, because he was not one of their company. This was the only offense. The man acknowledged the authority of Jesus, was really receiving the power from Jesus. He wanted only in knowledge el the Lord; the affection and will were right. And the charge of the Master is, "Do not forbid such a one; No one can do a miracle in my Name who will lightly speak evil of me; he that is not opposing me is, in such a ministry, on our part.' In the case introduced in the eleventh chapter Christ is alluding to the attitude of the affections and will. The one sentence is a reproof of exclusiveness of spirit; it is virtually—and truly the lesson is most necessary to-day—"Do not ban one who is seeking the same ends as yourself, who is acknowledging me as you do, because his methods are not yours, or his orders seem of doubtful validity, or he stands apart from your fellowship." The other sentence is a reproof of indecision, of colourlessness in the religious life, of the absence of vital sympathy with the Lord. Virtually it is, "Let every one take his side, and stand by it; be out and out with me; have his share in my war with the devil: for all purposes, the unsympathetic or faint-hearted is my enemy; he whose life by its influence, whose action by its tone and aims, is not gathering with me, is practically scattering." We hear the old cry, sounding ever on, "Who is on the Lord's side?"

2 . The picture of moral deterioration in verses 24-26 is most graphic. Those around Christ had been witnesses to the exodus of an unclean spirit. Let them suppose that such a spirit is impelled by a ceaseless activity; "it passes through waterless places , seeking rest, but finding none." It must have some embodiment. It resolves to return to the old home—" the house whence he came out." "How can a devil find rest which the creature can find only in God? He has lost it for ever; he seeks it in vain in all waste places, which otherwise please him; he seeks it especially in vain there where God, the Lord of creation, will have his rest, and where, therefore, the devil, if he can force an entrance, finds himself relatively best — namely , in man. Therefore the desire soon returns upon him to look after his own more peculiar house" (Stier). He finds the old home "swept and garnished.'' "Empty" is a word added—and an expressive word it is—by Matthew. Good the sweeping would have been, if the house had not been empty. God is not there; it is open to the evil one. There is his opportunity. He comes to it, resumes possession, but with reinforcements. "Seven other spirits more evil than himself. And the last estate is worse than the first." Verily, a sketch awfully true! It was applied by the Lord to the generation whom he addressed. Israel had indeed been swept from the corruption of idolatry; it had been garnished by the traditions of the elders, by the scrupulosities of the Pharisees; but it was empty—a living faith in God had been crushed out. And the attitude of its wise men towards the Truth was the token of an occupation by a spirit of darkness, sevenfold more virulent than in the earlier days. But its applications reach to all. "He that hath an ear, let him hear."