Bible Study series: Luke 11:14-23. It can also be spelled Beelzebul. Either way, Jesus has bound him and is plundering Satan’s domain, looking for people under his thrall.
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In the next link to the original chapter, I comment more and offer the Greek text. At the bottom you will find a “Summary and Conclusion” section geared toward discipleship. Check it out!
In this post, links are provided for further study.
Let’s begin.
Scripture: Luke 11:14-23
14 Now, he was in the process of expelling a mute spirit, and it happened that when the demon left, the mute man spoke, and the crowds marveled.
15 Some of them said, “By Beelzebub, the ruler of demons, he expels demons.” 16 Others, to test him, were seeking from him a sign from heaven. 17 But he knew their thoughts and said to them, “Every kingdom divided against itself undergoes destruction, and a household against household falls. 18 If Satan is divided against himself, how can his kingdom stand? You say that I expel demons by Beelzebub. But if I expel demons by Beelzebub, by whom do your followers expel them? 19 For this reason, they shall be your judges. 20 But if I expel demons by the finger of God, then the kingdom of God has come upon you.
21 Whenever a strong man who is armed guards his house, then his possessions are secure. 22 But whenever a man stronger than he comes and overtakes him, then he takes his armor in which the first man had been confident and distributes his plunder. 23 He who is not with me is against me. He who does not gather with me scatters.” (Luke 11:14-23)
Comments:
Don’t be afraid to stand toe to toe with deceived people who are falsely accusing you in public. Don’t slink away. See vv. 53-54 for more information.
14:
“in the process”: the Greek is emphatically in the continuous tense, so this is a sound translation. Sometimes it takes a process to cast out a demon.
Once again, the crowds marvel or are amazed at the miracles Jesus did for the benefit of humanity.
“expel”: it is the verb ekballō (pronounced ehk-bahl-loh), and it literally means to “throw out.” It is the same verb throughout this pericope or section. Be sure to use your authority in Christ to throw out a demon from a person where the evil spirit does not belong.
Bible Basics about Deliverance
“The way to be armed against trial is to pray not to be led into trial. This petition prevents us from the danger of triumphalism (see 1 Cor 10:12)” (Garland, comment on 14c).
15:
The false accusation reflects the meanness of soul, a shriveled mind. “Let me think about it! How could a man who was obviously not from God expel demons? I got it! By the ruler or prince of demons!” Wrong. And Jesus is about to show, by intelligent reasoning, why they are wrong.
“ruler of demons”: these are the words of his critics, so are the words reliable? Is Satan really the ruler of demons? Yes. He heads up the demonic kingdom that is invisible to our eyes, but which manifests itself in cases like the mute man.
“Beelzebub”: This is another name for Satan (v. 18). It probably comes from the Canaanite deity Baal-Zebub (2 Kings 1:2, 3, 6, 16), or it may refer to dwelling of Baal, the Hebrew word zebul, meaning “residence” or “palace.” So it means “lord of the high abode” or “prince Baal.” Matt. 9:34 calls him prince or ruler of demons. Jesus called him the prince of this world (John 14:30).
See my posts about Satan in the area of systematic theology:
Bible Basics about Satan and Demons and Victory Over Them
Bible Basics about Deliverance
Magic, Witchcraft, Sorcery, and Fortunetelling
16:
Who are the others? They are the legal experts and Pharisees (Matt. 12:24, 38-42)
“to test”: it means, depending on the context, “to try” or “to tempt.” They wanted him to show them a sign in the sky or heaven. I struggled with either of those two words. They were tempting him to run out ahead of his calling. He did not want to broadcast his Messiahship with a magical super-sign. But in what OT context? Possibly in these ways, next.
Elijah confronted the false prophets of Baal and called down fire from heaven, which consumed the drenched sacrifices (1 Kings 18:20-40). He ordered the false prophets to be put to the sword. Would he call down fire on the Romans?
Then Elijah also called down fire to consume the soldiers from king Ahaziah (2 Kings 1:1-16), exactly in the passage where the god of Ekron, Baal-Zebub, is mentioned. Jesus’s critics must have taunted him to call down fire on the pagan Romans. Would he do it? Recall his response to James and John, when they asked permission to call down fire on the Samaritans who rejected them (Luke 9:51-55). He wheeled on them and told them no. He rebuked them. Or maybe they tested him to do some other sign, like God making the shadow go backwards, as a sign to king Hezekiah (2 Kings 20:9-11; Is. 17:14-20).
Moses commanded the sky to go dark (Exod. 10:21-29) and other nine plagues. Could Jesus do that to deliver Israel from Rome or prove he was the Messiah?
Whatever the demanded sign was, he rejected their games. He would not produce a sign in the heavens or skies to dazzle the crowds. He was going to be a different kind of sign (see vv. 29-32).
“Jesus rejected the ‘signs on demand’ approach to revealing himself” (4:9-12). The imperfect tense of the verb may reflect an ongoing demand (Bock, p. 1075).
Miracles of God, particularly the ones Jesus performed to usher in the kingdom of God, are purposed to help people, to set them free from natural deformities and diseases and spiritual, demonic afflictions and falsehoods with the truth—all the abnormalities of a world gone haywire, a fallen world. In Elijah’s case, the fire from heaven flashing down on the sacrifices helped the small nation of Israel to come out from under the false gods. But Jesus could foresee that the kingdom of God would not be restricted to Israel. The kingdom would go far outside its borders to all nations (Luke 24:47). So there is no need to call down fire to protect an old Sinai covenant, for such terrifying displays of instant judgment is not how God works to proclaim the good news of the kingdom in the New Covenant to the entire globe. Nowadays he works by (just) government authorities to express his judgment-wrath (Rom. 13:1-5). And during and in spite of this governmental wrath, the gospel goes forth.
See v. 31 for more comments on judgment.
Now let’s get back to this passage.
17-18:
Jesus could read their thoughts or motives and perceive what they were seeking: a contest of honor and shame. His critics were setting up the rules. “Perform this wonder in the sky, Jesus, like Moses did, and do it now, because we said so!” Uh. No. He is not a trained seal at a waterpark.
Now he launches into an illustration, explaining how he emphatically does not expel demons by Beelzebub. He uses their own distorted logic to smack down his muddle-headed critics. Division is destructive, while unity and a common purpose is constructive.
He begins the first of three if-then hypotheticals, which would come true, if the “if” were to happen. First, if he were tell a demon to stop its work and purpose—making a man mute, of all things—then Satan and his kingdom would be divided against himself and itself. That’s too dysfunctional and self-destructive even for Satan. Even he himself can figure that out. But not Jesus’ critics, for they were too obtuse to make such calculations about the authority and purpose of Jesus. Once again, they had shriveled and even evil minds.
We learn from this passage that Satan has a kingdom that corresponds to countless numbers of worldly kingdoms run by humans (v. 17). So there are three kingdoms (1) God’s, (2) Satan’s, (3) and humanity’s (many of them). God wants to guide—as distinct from theocratically rule over—the many kingdoms of humankind towards righteousness and justice and light, so he gave them moral law, which is figured out by moral reasoning and conscience. The best path for worldly kingdoms is for moral reasoning and conscience to then implement moral law by legislation, so they will have no more injustice, like slavery or joblessness, because the economy booms with liberty and life. The problem is that Satan wants to rule over the third kingdoms and absolutely control them. He does this by blinding leaders with all sorts of human vices, like greed and oppression and extermination. Any society that practices extermination is on the side of Satan. Any nation that practices slavery—or used to practice slavery—was listening to Satan within that singular policy (but not entirely wrongheaded about other issues, like liberty and freedom of the press and freedom of religion and so on). However, the third, human-ruled kingdoms have enough evil people in them that Satan does not need to work very hard to implement his evil oppression. All he has to do is nudge people.
The best news is that eventually, when God sees that the time is right, he will send his Son a second time, and he will sweep aside all worldly kingdoms and set up his lasting kingdom. But right now, we his followers have to fight for truth and righteousness and most of all for the salvation of people’s souls and hearts.
19:
Then Jesus uses the second if-then argument. If he, hypothetically, were to expel demons by Beelzebub, then by whom do the critics’ followers (literally “sons”) expel them? The honest answer is that the followers of the critics do not expel them by Beelzebub; therefore, Jesus does not expel them by Beelzebub, either. The critics’ followers will be the judges of his critics.
“The point is that what the opponents say about Jesus, they must accept for anyone else who does the same thing. If Jesus exorcises by Satan, then so do other exorcists. But if others—whether Jewish exorcists or the disciples—exorcise by God’s power, then so does Jesus. It is one or the other” (Bock. p. 1077).
20:
Now here is the third of the if-then arguments. If Jesus expels demons by the finger of God, then the kingdom of God has come upon them. The “finger” stands in for the power of God in competition with other evil forces. Pharaoh’s magicians said the finger of God worked the miracle of the gnats (Exod. 8:19). Matthew’s version says “by the Spirit of God” Jesus casts out demons (12:28). So one must have the fulness of the Spirit to watch the finger of God expel demons.
Here the aorist tense (simple past) appears. The kingdom of God has come upon you. Therefore, some argue that the kingdom of God is realized or accomplished in its fullness at that time and now. This is called realized eschatology (eschatology is a fancy word for final or end-time issues). However, the professional grammarians teach us that the aorist tense, rather than the future tense, “underscores ‘the certainty and imminence’ of the future action (Culy, Parsons, Stigall, p. 386). In plainer terms, the fulness of the kingdom has not yet come, but its arrival is certain and about to happen. So it is not fully realized eschatology right now. And this is true where the aorist tense appears in contexts like this one. We live in the “already” and “not yet.” The kingdom of God is in the process of invading the kingdoms of the world and Satan’s kingdom. Sooner than later, God’s kingdom will be fully realized.
Bock:
The Spirit reflects God’s presence in people, as well as God’s work or power and his promise. Humans are now able to live as God would desire because they respond to his Spirit, so that his rule becomes evident in their lives. This group of disciples, which becomes the church, is not all there is to the kingdom nor is it all there is to God’s plan and promise, but it is a microcosm of what the kingdom will be when the OT promises are completely fulfilled in Jesus’ return. The Spirit is the down-payment of the redemption to come. (p. 1082)
21-22:
The strong man is Satan, and the stronger man is Jesus. Jesus invades the domain of Satan and overpowers and conquers him. Now what does the conquering Lord do? What else but take the arms and armor—Satan’s weaponry—away from the evil strong man. Jesus then distributes his plunder or spoils of war. What are Satan’s spoils? One commentator says things like salvation and the Holy Spirit, but this is impossible, since they are not Satan’s possessions. So what is the plunder? You and me. Now, after he liberates us from the kingdom of Satan, Jesus distributes us where he wills in the new kingdom of God. Yes, Satan is strong, so never underestimate his power and authority to make people’s lives miserable. However, never underestimate Jesus’s victory over him and ultimately over his entire house or kingdom. Demon expulsion is the key sign in Jesus’s ministry that Satan was losing his grip and power.
“house”: the word could be translated as a courtyard, surrounding the house, the living spaces. The noun assumes a rich person’s house, so this illustrates that Satan’s kingdom is wealthy, and his kingdom influences and oversees wealthy, worldly kingdoms. There is a lot of plunder and spoils in his kingdom, so when God redistributes them, his kingdom is enriched by you and me, by his grace, not our personal efforts.
“armor”: it is the noun panoplia (pronounced pah-noh-plee-ah, and yes, we get our word panoply from it). It is the Roman’s soldiers full armor—sword, shield, shin guards, shoulder guards, helmet, belts, and so on. Eph. 6:10-18 describes the armor and weaponry more fully.
Satan had confidence in his own weaponry. That’s self-centered and arrogant. It is literally God-less. Let’s do the opposite of what Satan does. Let’s have confidence in God’s armor and gifting, not ours.
“first man”: this phrase has been added for clarity.
21 On that day the Lord will punish
the host of heaven, in heaven,
and the kings of the earth, on the earth.
22 They will be gathered together
as prisoners in a pit;
they will be shut up in a prison,
and after many days they will be punished. (Is. 24:21-22, ESV)
“That day” typically refers to the wrap-up of the entire age, the final day. The host of heaven may refer to elemental principles that have a life of their own, in a spiritual sense—evil invisible beings. The NT clarifies them as satanic (Eph. 6:12).
12 For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places. (Eph. 6:12, ESV)
Right now, before the last day, we have victory over them because of Christ’s work on the cross:
13 And you, who were dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made alive together with him, having forgiven us all our trespasses, 14 by canceling the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands. This he set aside, nailing it to the cross. 15 He disarmed the rulers and authorities and put them to open shame, by triumphing over them in him. (Col. 2:13-15, ESV)
Verse 15 is the important one for us here. On the cross, he disarmed the invisible rulers and authorities. We now have victory over the strong man, by Jesus’s death, and in his name.
23:
Luke has a similar saying in 9:50: “But Jesus said to him, ‘Do not forbid him, for whoever is not against you is for you.’”
Now is the time for choosing. Jesus has set his face like a flint to die in Jerusalem. Yes, he is taking his time to get there, because a lot of ministry and training still has to be done. But if you don’t follow him right now, you won’t do it later. If you are not with him, you oppose him. It’s cut and dry, right now. And if you don’t gather with him right now, you will scatter and run away when he gets to Jerusalem. And in your life now, when you don’t have a deep and rooted and personal relationship with him, then you will run away from him when times get tough.
GrowApp for Luke 11:14-23
1. Do you have a unified household? How do you get or maintain one?
2. Jesus has rescued you from Satan’s kingdom. How has God distributed you in his kingdom? What is your mission or purpose in life, big or seemingly small?
3. How do you develop a relationship with Jesus, so you don’t scatter when times get tough?
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3. Church Fathers and Luke’s Gospel
2. Archaeology and the Synoptic Gospels
1. The Historical Reliability of the Gospels: Introduction to Series
BIBLIOGRAPHY AND MORE
To see the bibliography, please click on this link and scroll down to the bottom. You will also find a “Summary and Conclusion” for discipleship.
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