NYUBF | New York UBF

Luke Lesson 38 (2009)

NO NEUTRAL GROUND

Luke 11:14-28
Key Verses: 11:23, 28

“He who is not with me is against me, and he who does not gather with me scatters.” “He replied, ‘Blessed rather are those who hear the word of God and obey it.’”

Ever since Jesus had set out resolutely for Jerusalem (9:51), where he expected to be rejected by the elders of the Jews, arrested and crucified, Jesus focused his attention mainly on his disciples. In almost every occasion until he was crucified, Jesus spoke to them about true discipleship. (9:57-11:13). In last week’s passage, Luke 11:1-13, Jesus taught his disciples what they ought to pray for as his disciples (11:1-4) and what kind of attitude they should have when they prayed (11:5-13). In order for them to grow as spiritually mature servants of God, the disciples needed to overcome their exclusive attitude that was rooted in their pride and selfish ambition. Some of you might remember that one day John, the brother of James, said to Jesus, “Master, we saw a man driving out demons in your name and we tried to stop him, because he is not one of us.” Jesus said, “Do not stop him, for whoever is not against you is for you.” (9:50) He was gently rebuking John’s exclusive attitude toward the other disciples. In order for his disciples to be truly great in God’s sight, they should be inclusive, viewing other groups of believers as associates and partners, not as enemies or competitors. But in today’s passage, Jesus said, “He who is not with me is against me, and he who does not gather with me, scatters.” (11:23) What was he talking about? Jesus meant that there is no neutral ground in spiritual warfare. Many people today seem to think that neutrality is good and is considered a virtue. But Jesus says that neutrality is not always a virtue. Neutrality is different from objectivity. Jesus wasn’t saying that we should not be objective. But he strongly warns his followers about the danger of remaining spiritually neutral. Let’s see why it’s dangerous to remain spiritually neutral and how we can overcome evil both in us and in the world.

Look at verse 14. One day Jesus cast out a demon from a man who couldn’t speak. We don’t know much about this man, except for the fact that he was unable to speak because of the demon inside him. As soon as the demon left, however, the man who had been mute spoke, and the crowd was amazed. At the beginning of Luke’s Gospel is the account of the priest Zechariah, the father of John the Baptist, who was struck dumb for ten months by the angel Gabriel because of his unbelief. Not being able to speak a word for 10 months must have been so difficult. But Zechariah was a godly man. During the ten months of God’s divine discipline, he could actually meditate on the word of the Lord. So when he finally opened his mouth, he was filled with the Holy Spirit and began to sing a song of praises, “Praise be to the Lord, the God of Israel, because he has come and has redeemed his people.” (1:68) How about this man who was not able to speak because of demon possession? We wonder what this man might have said when the demon first left him. This man probably did not praise God, like Zechariah had done.

Look at verses 15 and 16. Although the crowd was amazed at the miracle, some of them criticized Jesus by saying “By Beelzebub, the prince of demons, he is driving out demons.” The name “Beelzebub” means “Lord of the flies” or “god of filth” and was another name used for Satan in Jesus’ time. They accused that Jesus’ healing of the man’s speech was not the work of God but the work of Satan. Their accusations were outrageous and groundless and politically motivated. According to Matthew’s account, the accusers were the Pharisees and the teachers of the law who had been gnashing their teeth against Jesus. These politically motivated people tried to damage Jesus’ popularity and reputation among the people by labeling him as an agent of the devil.

Sometimes people whisper some slanderous rumors about others. A hint at sexual harassment or financial misconduct can be really damaging, even if it is completely false. It’s extremely difficult to remove lingering doubts from people’s minds. It’s like a slow cancer in the minds of innocent people. That’s why spreading rumors or slandering others is not only destructive but also very evil. (Ro 1:30)

Look at verse 16. “Others tested him by asking for a sign from heaven.” These were the skeptics. Although they didn’t accuse Jesus of driving out the demon by the power of Beelzebub, Satan, they still didn’t want to endorse Jesus’ spiritual authority. Perhaps, these skeptics had already seen many miraculous healings of Jesus. But they were not satisfied by them. They demanded Jesus to prove his authority by showing them a more spectacular sign from heaven, like calling down fire from heaven (1 Kings 18), rather than ordinary signs.

How did Jesus respond to their false accusations? In verses 17-22, Jesus answered their accusations in a very logical way. He first appealed to his listeners’ reasoning by demonstrating how the accusations were preposterous. Look at verses 17-18. “Jesus knew their thoughts and said to them: ‘Any kingdom divided against itself will be ruined, and a house divided against itself will fall. If Satan is divided against himself, how can his kingdom stand? I say this because you claim that I drive out demons by Beelzebub.” If Jesus drove out demons by the power of Satan as they accused him of, it meant that Satan was fighting against himself and dividing his own kingdom. Satan is not that stupid. Secondly, their accusation was self-incriminating. Look at verse 19. “Now if I drive out demons by Beelzebub, by whom do your followers drive them out? So then, they will be your judges.” At that time, a number of Jews, especially the disciples of Pharisees, also practiced exorcism (Mt 7:22; Acts 19:13-16). If Satan was behind Jesus’ exorcism, it was logical to assume that the Satan was behind the exorcism of their disciples as well. Would they admit that their disciples’ exorcism was done by the power of Beelzebub? Their accusation was not only irrational but also false. Look at verse 20. “But if I drive out demons by the finger of God, then the kingdom of God has come to you.” If Jesus’ healing of the man from demon-possession was indeed the demonstration of God’s power, it means that the kingdom of God had come. In fact, Jesus was declaring that he is the Messiah whom they had refused to accept.

In verses 21 and 22, Jesus proves that he is the Messiah with this illustration. Look at verses 21 and 22. “When a strong man, fully armed, guards his own house, his possessions are safe. But when someone stronger attacks and overpowers him, he takes away the armor in which the man trusted and divides the spoils.” No one can take away the possessions of a powerful man without first overpowering the person. The powerful man must first be overpowered, then disarmed, and finally bound, so that his goods can be plundered. In this illustration, Satan is the strong man and his possessions are those who are captivated by him and Jesus is one who has greater power and is taking away those the powerful man has possessed. Jesus is saying that he must overpower Satan before he can deliver those whom Satan had formerly possessed. Even though his accusers refused to acknowledge that his power was God’s power, logic proved the conclusion that Jesus is much more powerful than Satan.

Satan is described as having 7 heads and 10 horns and seven crowns on his heads. (Rev 12:3, 13:1) So he is much smarter and more powerful than any man and woman. In fact, Revelation 12:7-9 describes the spiritual warfare in heaven. “There was war in heaven. Michael and his angels fought against the dragon, and the dragon and his angels fought back. But he was not strong enough, and they lost their place in heaven. The great dragon was hurled down – that ancient serpent called the devil, or Satan, who leads the whole world astray. He was hurled to the earth, and his angels with him.” (Rev 12:7-9) In the spiritual warfare, the devil has always been the arch-enemy of God. He is called the prince of this world. In the illustration, he is called the strong man, fully armed. No one in history, no matter how smart, gifted, able or well-intended he or she might be, could stand against this arch-enemy. Why was he so powerful? What was the most powerful armor or weapons of Satan? It’s not nuclear weapons. Satan’s most powerful weapon is the power of sin and accusation. (1 Cor 15:56) Now, Jesus the Messiah who is much more powerful than Satan, attacked, overpowered Satan and took away his armor so that he could set free those who had been captivated. Hebrews 2:14-15 reads, “Since the children have flesh and blood, he too shared in their humanity so that by his death he might destroy him who holds the power of death – that is, the devil- and free those who all their lives were held in slavery by their fear of death.” Jesus is not only powerful but also unique. He is not just one of the great men or great teachers in history. He is God. He is the champion of the spiritual world who dominated the devil – the former champion of the world — from the outset of his ministry on earth. When the demons hear the name “Jesus”, they are scared and run away. Wherever Jesus comes, the devil runs away and the kingdom of God comes.

Look at verse 23. “He who is not with me is against me, and he who does not gather with me, scatters.” This is a very difficult statement to understand. Unless we understand that there is a spiritual warfare between God and His enemy the devil, we don’t fully understand what Jesus really meant. In this verse, Jesus is saying that in the spiritual warfare between God and the devil, not only those who are against Jesus but also those who are neutral are his enemies. We know that the former US president used this phrase for his military campaign against the terrorists. At that time, anyone who was not with the US was considered an enemy of the US. But that’s not what Jesus really meant. The problem is that terrorists are not the only evil ones in the world. If we kill all terrorists, will there be no more evil in the world? No. Why not? It’s because all humans are evil. I should say that we are good and evil, but there is no one who is only good and who is only evil. We all are both good and evil. So we cannot remain neutral spiritually. In the context of spiritual warfare between demonic powers and the kingdom of God there can be no middle ground. We should be with Jesus and gather with him. Otherwise, there is no way that we can overcome the power of evil.

We live in a world where neutrality is considered a virtue. They think that by remaining neutral, they are being objective. But according to Jesus, spiritual neutrality is very dangerous. Why can’t we remain spiritually neutral? Why should we accept Jesus and remain with him? It’s because Jesus is the only one who can set us free from the power of sin and the devil. Jesus explains it further in verses 24-26. Look at verses 24-26. “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.’ With it arrives, it finds the house swept clean and put in order. 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.” Here, “evil spirit” is “unclean spirit” or “impure spirit.” Whatever the reason was, the unclean spirit had gone out of the man. Maybe, this man decided to clean up himself with a high standard of morality, self-discipline or even religion. He might have gotten rid of some bad habits and even tried to be really nice to people. But when the unclean spirit didn’t find a better place to live and came back to him, he really liked the fact that the house was swept clean and put in order. What did the unclean spirit do? It moved in with seven more unclean and wicked spirits. As a result, the final condition of that man was worse than the first.

What does Jesus try to teach us through this illustration? He is saying that without the strong power of Jesus in our lives, we cannot overcome the devil’s power and temptation. Although we may want to remain autonomous, it’s such a dangerous thing to do so. Without commitment to Jesus, we are so vulnerable to the devil’s temptation. Living a religious life is not enough. We need to be filled with the Holy Spirit. It’s very easy to indulge in something. The disciples are no exceptions. Ephesians 5:15-18 reads, “Be very careful, then, how you live – not as unwise but as wise, making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil. Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the Lord’s will is. Do not get drunk on wine, which leads to debauchery. Instead, be filled with the Spirit.” We should not remain spiritually neutral. We need to commit our minds, hearts and body to our Lord Jesus Christ. We need to constantly abide in Jesus and his words. (Jn 15:5-9) We need to crucify our sinful nature with its passions and desires to be filled with the Holy Spirit and commune with God. (Gal 5:24-25)

It’s easy to forget that there is a spiritual warfare going on and that the Christian life is a war against the devil. We need to fight the spiritual battle even when we take a vacation from work. When we are fighting against our enemy, we need to focus and full engagement in battle. Ephesians 6:10-13 reads, “Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the realms. Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand.”

What is our most potent weapon? It’s the word of God – the sword of the Spirit. (Eph 6:17b) Look at verses 27-28. “As Jesus was saying these things, a woman in the crowd called out, ‘Blessed is the mother who gave you birth and nursed you.’ He replied, “Blessed rather are those who hear the word of God and obey it.’” When compared to the hostility of some and the neutrality of others, the woman’s comments on Jesus seem pretty complimentary. Jesus’ mother was indeed a blessed woman. Probably, the lady envied Jesus’ mother. Yet, according to Jesus’ answer, those who hear and obey the words of Jesus are more blessed than even the mother of Jesus. Obedience to Jesus and his words is one of the central themes of Luke’s Gospel, and one of the fundamental principles of discipleship. We should not remain spiritually neutral. We need to constantly abide in him and his words. I am glad that many of us are traveling and taking a vacation. But even though we may take it easy physically and emotionally, we should not give room to the devil. We need to hear and obey Jesus’ words.