He Who Is Not With Me Is Against Me

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. 15 But some of them said, "By Beelzebul, the prince of demons, he is driving out demons. 16 Others tested him by asking for a sign from heaven.

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. 18 If Satan is divided against himself, how can his kingdom stand? I say this because you claim that I drive out demons by Beelzebul.

19 Now if I drive out demons by Beelzebul, by whom do your followers drive them out? So then, they will be your judges. 20 But if I drive out demons by the finger of God, then the kingdom of God has come upon you.

21 "When a strong man, fully armed, guards his own house, his possessions are safe. 22 But when someone stronger attacks and overpowers him, he takes away the armor in which the man trusted and divides up his plunder. 23 "Whoever is not with me is against me, and whoever does not gather with me scatters.

24 "When an evil spirit comes out of anyone, it goes through arid places seeking rest and does not find it. Then it says, 'I will return to the house I left.' 25 When it arrives, it finds the house swept clean and put in order. 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 person is worse than the first."

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." 28 He replied, "Blessed rather are those who hear the word of God and obey it."

Here we find Jesus portrayed not as a tragic figure bravely facing a tragic end. He is the Messiah and a warrior who has come to fight (spiritually)!

Jesus made war with the demonic. He made war with Satan. And ultimately he will make war with death.

There was no denying that Jesus had demonstrated some kind of incredible authority over the demons that could not be simply explained away or denied. This left two options.

Either Jesus was working within the power of God or he was somehow in league with Satan.

He answers the objections being thrown against him and shows the lack of logic and strength to those arguments. How could Jesus be operating by the power of Satan?

Satan is deceitful, but surely he wouldnt engage in activities that would bring down his own little kingdom. If Jesus were working with Satan, then Satan would be engaging in bringing down his own kingdom. This is war language Jesus is using!

Satan might be a strong man that was fully armed and prepared to guard his own house but a strong man can do nothing when a stronger man makes war on him. Jesus is the stronger man. He is attacking and overpowering Satan.

Yet, he knew that this fight would end in his own violent death. That is what his disciples had such a hard time understanding. How could one defeat their enemy by dying?

With any war, sides must be carefully chosen. There is no sitting on the fence in this fight. One is either with Jesus, working to bring the kingdom of God into the world and continuing the assault on Satans stronghold or they are working against him, scattering what he is trying to gather.

Explain the spiritual point and application in Luke 11:24-26.

As Jesus was wrapping up his remarks, a woman cried out to him a standard Jewish blessing upon his mother. If a son was acting in a honored way, then the honor and blessing extended to the whole family. The family, after all, was the source of their identity as the people of God.

Yet, Jesus used this as an opportunity to make the point again that he was redefining family. Physical descent was not what showed one to be blessed or the people of God. The family of God were those who heard the word of God and obeyed it.

REFLECTION Are we engaging in the battle? Are we involved in Jesus work? Are we with him or against him?