“But if it is by the finger of God that I cast out demons, then the kingdom of God has come upon you.
“When a strong man, fully armed, guards his own palace, his goods are safe; but when one stronger than he attacks him and overcomes him, he takes away his armor in which he trusted and divides his spoil.” – Luke 11:20-22
Jesus had an awesome amount of power available to him. He once replied to his disciples, “Do you think that I cannot appeal to my Father, and he will at once send me more than twelve legions of angels? 1A Roman legion was a unit of about 6,000 soldiers. That means that Jesus could have called more than 72,000 angels if he wanted to. The single Angel of the LORD struck down 185,000 men in 1 Kings 19:35 so imagine what 72,000 are capable of!” (Matt26:53). I think we tend to forget he has that kind of power at his disposal because he was mostly meek and humble. The text above is another example of the power at Jesus disposal during his earthly work. When it came to casting out demons, Jesus never had any trouble. They feared him (Luke 8:28 & 31) and they always obeyed him.
The way Jesus explains it, he overcame a strong man who was fully guarded and in armor when he went about casting out demons. His opposition put up the best fight they could. They were as prepared as they were going to get. And how much force did Jesus employ to meet this resistance? The finger of God. That’s it. Jesus cast out demons not by the fully armed and armored power of Beelzebul, but by the power of God’s finger.
It is possible to get hung up on who Beelzebul was or what ‘casting out demons’ really meant in the first century and to miss what Jesus is claiming here. If we do that, we miss the great hope we have in Jesus Christ. That kind of power is on our side. When we face fear of the future or fear of evangelism or doubt about our lives, we need to picture Satan in his armor, bearing the best swords and spears there are and the see Jesus knock him out with the flick of God’s finger. If God is for us, who or what can be against us? (Rom 8:31)
And yes, I recognize that this is easy to write in a blog entry but difficult to live when you’re facing all the ugliness that sin and Satan and the world can muster against us. But this is an important truth that we need to hear and meditate on to support us when everything seems to want to wear us down. I don’t mean this as a trite answer to pain, but as a truth to strengthen us when we face that pain.
| ↩1 | A Roman legion was a unit of about 6,000 soldiers. That means that Jesus could have called more than 72,000 angels if he wanted to. The single Angel of the LORD struck down 185,000 men in 1 Kings 19:35 so imagine what 72,000 are capable of! |
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One Comment
What you have said is true of the greatest horror and the softest touch which would take our eyes off of Christ, even for a second. All who have been delivered into the Kingdom of God are rendered, only in weakness, indestructably strong in the power of His might.
This gift of God is true as you have said in the midst of the most deadly of demons and in the quiet of our own distracted hearts. As we joyfully do the good works which have been laid out before us, power preceeds us, making a way for our feebleness. It is so wonderful!
We are meaty targets for ourselves, the world and the devil outside of the power of God through Jesus Christ. But in his power, nothing stops that which is done in his name by those who he has lovingly called according to his purposes.
Thanks for hangin that out there. It simply isn’t said enough outside the name-it-and-claim-it crowd.
Jason