1 00:00:10,800 --> 00:00:13,400 Hi everyone. Welcome again to logical bible 2 00:00:13,400 --> 00:00:15,600 study. This is the Catholic podcast 3 00:00:15,600 --> 00:00:18,800 where we take an in-depth, look at scripture and in particular, 4 00:00:19,100 --> 00:00:22,700 we do an exegesis of verse-by-verse analysis of the 5 00:00:22,700 --> 00:00:25,300 Gospel readings, that you would hear it today's mass. 6 00:00:26,100 --> 00:00:28,300 So, if you went to mass today, you would hear this really 7 00:00:28,300 --> 00:00:31,500 interesting reading from Luke. Chapter 11, and that's what we 8 00:00:31,500 --> 00:00:36,200 will have a go out today. So Luke chapter 11, verses 14 to 9 00:00:36,200 --> 00:00:40,400 26. Jesus was casting out a devil 10 00:00:40,400 --> 00:00:43,800 and it was dumb. But when the devil had gone out 11 00:00:43,900 --> 00:00:48,400 the dumb man spoke and the people were amazed, but some of 12 00:00:48,400 --> 00:00:50,800 them said, it is through be eligible. 13 00:00:50,800 --> 00:00:55,300 The prince of devils that he casts out devils, Others asked 14 00:00:55,300 --> 00:00:59,900 him as a test for a sign from heaven, but knowing what they 15 00:00:59,900 --> 00:01:03,900 were thinking, he said to them, every Kingdom divided against 16 00:01:03,900 --> 00:01:08,800 itself is headed for ruin and a household divided against itself 17 00:01:08,800 --> 00:01:12,700 collapses. So, to with Satan, if he is 18 00:01:12,700 --> 00:01:17,600 divided against himself, how can his kingdom stand since you 19 00:01:17,600 --> 00:01:21,000 assert that it is through be eligible that I cast out devils? 20 00:01:21,900 --> 00:01:25,700 Now if it is through be eligible but I cast out Devils through 21 00:01:25,700 --> 00:01:29,300 whom, do your own experts, cast them out, let them be your 22 00:01:29,300 --> 00:01:33,700 judges then, but if it is through the Finger of God, that 23 00:01:33,700 --> 00:01:37,300 I cast out Devils, then know that the kingdom of God has 24 00:01:37,300 --> 00:01:41,800 overtaken you so long. As a strong man, fully armed 25 00:01:41,800 --> 00:01:46,000 guards, his own Palace, his goods are understood herbed, but 26 00:01:46,000 --> 00:01:50,100 when someone stronger than he is attacks and defeats him, the 27 00:01:50,100 --> 00:01:52,900 stronger man takes away. Away all the weapons. 28 00:01:52,900 --> 00:01:55,600 He relied on and shares out his spoil. 29 00:01:56,800 --> 00:02:00,700 He who is not with me is against me and he who does not gather 30 00:02:00,700 --> 00:02:05,400 with me scatters when an unclean Spirit goes out of a man. 31 00:02:05,400 --> 00:02:08,699 It wanders through waterless country looking for a place to 32 00:02:08,699 --> 00:02:13,300 rest and not finding one. It says I will go back to the 33 00:02:13,300 --> 00:02:17,400 home, I came from but on arrival, finding it swept and 34 00:02:17,400 --> 00:02:21,500 tidied it then goes off and brings seven other Spirits more 35 00:02:21,500 --> 00:02:25,700 wicked than itself and they go in and set up house there. 36 00:02:26,200 --> 00:02:30,400 So That the man ends up by being worse than he was before. 37 00:02:31,400 --> 00:02:34,700 So fascinating reading today about devils and about 38 00:02:34,800 --> 00:02:37,500 Beelzebub, the prince of devils and about the kingdom of God, 39 00:02:37,500 --> 00:02:40,600 coming on the people. So, let's start by asking what 40 00:02:40,600 --> 00:02:43,500 the context is. So Jesus Is On The Way From 41 00:02:43,500 --> 00:02:46,600 Galilee up to Jerusalem and he's doing Ministry along the way. 42 00:02:47,300 --> 00:02:50,500 We're starting at verse 14, it says Jesus was casting out a 43 00:02:50,500 --> 00:02:53,400 devil or a demon. Now, we know, from earlier in 44 00:02:53,400 --> 00:02:56,300 the gospels, that Jesus has the power to cast out demons. 45 00:02:56,400 --> 00:02:59,900 He's been doing that for a while now and this particular demon is 46 00:02:59,900 --> 00:03:03,200 dumb. The Greek word here Cabos, which 47 00:03:03,200 --> 00:03:06,200 is translated dumb can actually mean deaf as well, or it could 48 00:03:06,200 --> 00:03:08,300 even be someone. That's both a deaf-mute. 49 00:03:08,900 --> 00:03:11,400 So we'll go with your lectionary translation here and assume that 50 00:03:11,400 --> 00:03:14,900 the person is dumb. So, the demon is causing this 51 00:03:14,900 --> 00:03:18,900 person to be unable to speak. This itself, shows the demons 52 00:03:18,900 --> 00:03:22,200 have the power to cause quite severe physical conditions, in 53 00:03:22,200 --> 00:03:25,700 some cases, some physical conditions can be attributed to 54 00:03:25,700 --> 00:03:28,700 Demons. Now, it's likely that this man 55 00:03:28,800 --> 00:03:31,000 who is possessed has been brought to other exercise. 56 00:03:31,200 --> 00:03:34,000 It's because they did have other Exorcist set the time, but it 57 00:03:34,000 --> 00:03:36,800 hadn't worked. So now they bring him to Jesus. 58 00:03:37,100 --> 00:03:39,000 So the Devil comes out of the dumb, man. 59 00:03:39,300 --> 00:03:42,800 And he speaks now, we're not told how exactly Jesus does the 60 00:03:42,800 --> 00:03:45,300 exorcism here. Whether he uses certain words, 61 00:03:45,300 --> 00:03:48,300 or if he lays his hands on the, we're not told that just that he 62 00:03:48,300 --> 00:03:51,800 is able to cast out the demon and the people were amazed, 63 00:03:51,800 --> 00:03:55,300 which makes sense, because presumably a demon, which can 64 00:03:55,300 --> 00:03:59,600 cause dumbness is probably quite a strong demon and no other 65 00:03:59,600 --> 00:04:01,000 exercise have been able to successfully. 66 00:04:01,100 --> 00:04:03,800 Successfully cast out the demon but here Jesus can do it. 67 00:04:03,800 --> 00:04:07,500 So the people are amazed now at this point Matthews version of 68 00:04:07,500 --> 00:04:09,100 the story adds in some interesting information. 69 00:04:09,700 --> 00:04:13,700 It says that the crowds say to themselves nothing like this has 70 00:04:13,700 --> 00:04:16,700 ever been seen in Israel. So in the Jewish tradition, 71 00:04:16,700 --> 00:04:20,399 there's people who can hear lepers, there's curing the sick, 72 00:04:20,407 --> 00:04:22,700 raising the dead and expelling demons. 73 00:04:22,700 --> 00:04:25,700 Of course, that has been done during Israel's history, but 74 00:04:25,700 --> 00:04:28,600 never quite like this. In a sudden sequence of 75 00:04:28,600 --> 00:04:32,400 incidents by one man who is Is announcing the coming of God's 76 00:04:32,400 --> 00:04:33,900 kingdom. This person who showed up who 77 00:04:33,900 --> 00:04:36,100 can do all of these amazing things all at once. 78 00:04:36,300 --> 00:04:40,800 So never has Israel seen anything like this verse 15, but 79 00:04:40,800 --> 00:04:45,400 some of them said, now, Matthews version of this account. 80 00:04:45,400 --> 00:04:48,200 Makes it clear that it's primarily the Pharisees who were 81 00:04:48,200 --> 00:04:50,000 saying the things that were about to here. 82 00:04:50,300 --> 00:04:51,800 So it's not the crowds in general. 83 00:04:51,800 --> 00:04:54,800 It's apparently the Pharisees and they say it is through be 84 00:04:54,800 --> 00:04:56,700 eligible. The prince of devils. 85 00:04:57,500 --> 00:05:00,100 So let's stop and talk about who be eligible is. 86 00:05:00,900 --> 00:05:04,200 It's the name of a Canaanite god in the Old Testament and it 87 00:05:04,200 --> 00:05:08,700 roughly means the the prince God or the prince of the Masters 88 00:05:08,700 --> 00:05:11,500 Palace or something like that. So you can see that it's 89 00:05:11,500 --> 00:05:13,400 mentioned. Specifically in second Kings, 90 00:05:13,400 --> 00:05:17,500 chapter 1, verse to be eligible is one of the Canaanite gods 91 00:05:17,500 --> 00:05:21,400 that some of the Israelites ended up, worshiping the word be 92 00:05:21,400 --> 00:05:24,100 eligible itself. Derives from two other words so 93 00:05:24,100 --> 00:05:26,900 Baal which means Lord and Z ball. 94 00:05:27,200 --> 00:05:30,600 Which means exalted dwelling. So when you put barnsey ball 95 00:05:30,600 --> 00:05:32,500 together, you get be eligible prince. 96 00:05:32,900 --> 00:05:37,100 The prince God. So to the Jews at this time, 97 00:05:37,100 --> 00:05:40,300 basically all false gods are considered to be demons. 98 00:05:40,700 --> 00:05:43,800 We've lost sight of this in in a lot of our physiology as well, 99 00:05:43,800 --> 00:05:48,100 but certainly the chime of Jesus and the Jews believe that most 100 00:05:48,100 --> 00:05:50,800 false gods that other religions worship to were, in fact, a real 101 00:05:50,800 --> 00:05:52,300 beings. But they are demons. 102 00:05:52,700 --> 00:05:56,300 So they understood be eligible. The prince God to basically be 103 00:05:56,300 --> 00:06:00,400 the prince of demons or roughly equivalent to what we would 104 00:06:00,400 --> 00:06:02,900 consider today to be the devil. They would call that be 105 00:06:02,900 --> 00:06:07,200 eligible. So in here, they accuse Jesus, 106 00:06:07,200 --> 00:06:09,700 they say it is through be eligible, the prince of devils 107 00:06:09,700 --> 00:06:13,700 that he casts out Devils. So they're saying that Jesus is 108 00:06:13,700 --> 00:06:16,000 actually possessed by be eligible and that's why he can 109 00:06:16,000 --> 00:06:19,500 cast out demons. We know that the devil is able 110 00:06:19,500 --> 00:06:22,500 to perform Supernatural works and the Jews know that as well. 111 00:06:22,500 --> 00:06:25,800 They know that the demons and the devil can do quite 112 00:06:25,800 --> 00:06:28,200 miraculous things particularly sorcery. 113 00:06:28,700 --> 00:06:32,100 So, the crowd to juicers that, Jesus must be doing sorcery, he 114 00:06:32,100 --> 00:06:34,400 must be empowered by the devil here. 115 00:06:35,100 --> 00:06:38,700 Notice that the Pharisees or the crowd acknowledge that Jesus is 116 00:06:38,700 --> 00:06:40,200 doing something Supernatural here. 117 00:06:40,200 --> 00:06:43,300 They can see he's got something special something Supernatural, 118 00:06:43,400 --> 00:06:45,000 but they're not willing to accept that. 119 00:06:45,000 --> 00:06:47,700 It's from God. They think it's from Satan or be 120 00:06:47,700 --> 00:06:51,600 eligible. Verse 16 others in the crowd 121 00:06:51,600 --> 00:06:54,500 asked him as a test for a sign from heaven. 122 00:06:55,200 --> 00:06:58,100 So there's another group in the crowd, probably Pharisees again, 123 00:06:58,400 --> 00:07:01,900 who want Jesus to prove that he really is sent from God by doing 124 00:07:01,900 --> 00:07:04,600 a miraculous sign. They don't believe he's from 125 00:07:04,600 --> 00:07:06,700 God, so they don't think he'll be able to do it. 126 00:07:06,700 --> 00:07:09,000 So they're testing him. It's a kind of skepticism. 127 00:07:10,200 --> 00:07:12,600 Now, Jesus has already been doing miraculous signs. 128 00:07:12,600 --> 00:07:14,900 You would think that by now, they've seen enough miraculous 129 00:07:14,900 --> 00:07:18,300 signs to prove that he really is, who he claims he is, 130 00:07:18,400 --> 00:07:20,700 including the one he just did he just cut? 131 00:07:20,700 --> 00:07:24,700 Cast out pretty significant demon, but this group of people 132 00:07:24,700 --> 00:07:27,400 probably the Pharisees they want something blindingly. 133 00:07:27,400 --> 00:07:30,700 Obvious, they want an on-the-spot miraculous Cosmic 134 00:07:30,700 --> 00:07:33,600 phenomenon, so it's kind of like they're saying, Force us to 135 00:07:33,600 --> 00:07:37,000 believe so that we will not have to trust in you or change our 136 00:07:37,000 --> 00:07:40,400 hearts. So they really asking to do it 137 00:07:40,400 --> 00:07:42,600 in a way that will mean that they don't have to have genuine 138 00:07:42,600 --> 00:07:44,500 faith. I just want to be shocked into 139 00:07:44,500 --> 00:07:47,000 it. They want a full complete 100% 140 00:07:47,000 --> 00:07:50,200 proof that's going to force them to believe that really, they're 141 00:07:50,200 --> 00:07:53,600 asking for the easy option here. Even then if you imagine if 142 00:07:53,608 --> 00:07:57,000 Jesus did do some miraculous sign, they probably still 143 00:07:57,000 --> 00:08:00,900 attributed to the devil. This group of Pharisees or the 144 00:08:00,900 --> 00:08:03,700 crowds here, who are skeptical, it's kind of reminiscent of an 145 00:08:03,700 --> 00:08:08,600 incident in Numbers, Chapter 14, verse 11, where God is dealing 146 00:08:08,600 --> 00:08:10,700 with a very skeptical group of Israelites. 147 00:08:10,700 --> 00:08:13,700 And he says, how long will this people spurn me? 148 00:08:13,900 --> 00:08:16,000 How long will they refuse to believe me? 149 00:08:16,200 --> 00:08:19,900 Despite all the signs? I have performed among them so 150 00:08:19,900 --> 00:08:22,700 Jesus is probably thinking pretty similar to God in that 151 00:08:22,700 --> 00:08:27,200 number situation, verse 17. But Jesus knowing what they were 152 00:08:27,200 --> 00:08:29,800 thinking. Notice this Jesus is able to 153 00:08:29,800 --> 00:08:32,500 read multiple people's minds at once and he knows what they're 154 00:08:32,500 --> 00:08:36,100 thinking and at this point he realizes the crowd has two main 155 00:08:36,100 --> 00:08:38,500 objections. There's one group who think is 156 00:08:38,500 --> 00:08:41,600 empowered by be eligible or the devil and there's another group 157 00:08:41,600 --> 00:08:44,700 that are asking for a sign. He's going to deal with both of 158 00:08:44,700 --> 00:08:48,700 those objections in turn. Now, in today's passage is just 159 00:08:48,700 --> 00:08:51,600 dealing with the first one. The charge that has empowered by 160 00:08:51,600 --> 00:08:53,600 the devil. He doesn't get to the second one 161 00:08:53,600 --> 00:08:55,700 in today's passage, but he will eventually. 162 00:08:56,500 --> 00:08:59,700 Now, the other gospels tell us at this point Jesus actually 163 00:08:59,700 --> 00:09:03,200 calls the Pharisees over to teach them, so he gives him a 164 00:09:03,600 --> 00:09:05,500 teaching opportunity. He and he's going to give them a 165 00:09:05,508 --> 00:09:09,300 kind of mini parable about a divided house to help them. 166 00:09:09,300 --> 00:09:12,400 Understand what is really going on in these exorcisms? 167 00:09:12,400 --> 00:09:14,900 He wants them to understand, it's not be eligible. 168 00:09:15,700 --> 00:09:18,400 So he gives them this mini parable about a divided house. 169 00:09:18,900 --> 00:09:22,500 Here's how he starts in verse 17, every Kingdom divided 170 00:09:22,500 --> 00:09:26,500 against itself, is heading for ruin, and a household divided 171 00:09:26,500 --> 00:09:30,400 against itself, collapses. So, you use, Is the analogy of a 172 00:09:30,400 --> 00:09:33,400 house and the kingdom. And the same point is made in 173 00:09:33,400 --> 00:09:35,800 both. If there's internal fighting 174 00:09:35,800 --> 00:09:38,500 amongst a kingdom or a house, well then the kingdom or the 175 00:09:38,500 --> 00:09:41,600 house won't last long, it's not going to be able to stand, that 176 00:09:41,600 --> 00:09:44,000 makes sense. And of course, they might be 177 00:09:44,008 --> 00:09:46,700 quite familiar with this because they were under the control of 178 00:09:46,700 --> 00:09:48,300 the Romans at this time in history. 179 00:09:48,300 --> 00:09:51,800 And they will be quite familiar with the internal struggles that 180 00:09:51,800 --> 00:09:55,500 go on between the Roman emperors, verse 18. 181 00:09:55,500 --> 00:10:00,000 Jesus says so too with Satan. If he Is divided against 182 00:10:00,000 --> 00:10:03,300 himself. How can his kingdom stand since 183 00:10:03,300 --> 00:10:05,900 you assert that is through? Be eligible that I cast out 184 00:10:05,900 --> 00:10:09,300 Devils. So Jesus, introduces Satan here. 185 00:10:10,000 --> 00:10:11,700 That's the word. He's going to use here for the 186 00:10:11,700 --> 00:10:13,600 devil. Notice the Jesus. 187 00:10:13,600 --> 00:10:16,500 He clearly teaches. That Satan has his own kingdom. 188 00:10:16,500 --> 00:10:20,500 He actually uses that word. He says, how can Satan's kingdom 189 00:10:20,500 --> 00:10:22,700 stand. So from this verse, we learn 190 00:10:22,700 --> 00:10:26,000 that Jesus that Satan genuinely does have a kingdom and of 191 00:10:26,000 --> 00:10:28,900 course, that's what Satan said in one of his Temptations. 192 00:10:29,200 --> 00:10:31,400 He said, I can give you all the kingdoms of the world. 193 00:10:32,000 --> 00:10:34,800 Now when he says to the to the Pharisees, or the crowd here, 194 00:10:34,800 --> 00:10:37,500 how could his kingdom stand? If it is divided against 195 00:10:37,500 --> 00:10:39,700 himself? It's a rhetorical question. 196 00:10:40,000 --> 00:10:42,400 The obvious answer is his kingdom would not be able to 197 00:10:42,400 --> 00:10:44,700 stand. That would not be possible if 198 00:10:44,700 --> 00:10:46,800 there was fighting going on within his kingdom. 199 00:10:47,200 --> 00:10:50,900 So Jesus Point here is if Satan was being forced to get rid of 200 00:10:50,900 --> 00:10:54,400 his own demons or if be eligible was getting rid of his own 201 00:10:54,400 --> 00:10:57,900 demons and be eligible works for Satan, it would not be a very 202 00:10:57,900 --> 00:11:01,100 strong Kingdom. But we know this Satan's kingdom 203 00:11:01,100 --> 00:11:03,300 is strong and it is still standing. 204 00:11:03,300 --> 00:11:05,700 So that can't be right. So he's giving them kind of 205 00:11:05,700 --> 00:11:08,500 logical reasoning here to help them show that look, obviously, 206 00:11:08,800 --> 00:11:12,700 I'm not casting out demons using Satan's power because Satan is 207 00:11:12,700 --> 00:11:16,900 very strong and his kingdom is strong, and if I was casting out 208 00:11:16,900 --> 00:11:19,800 demons in his name, his kingdom would no longer be strong and 209 00:11:19,800 --> 00:11:22,100 that doesn't make sense. So he's trying to get them to 210 00:11:22,100 --> 00:11:25,400 realize that he is not acting in the name of Satan. 211 00:11:26,700 --> 00:11:30,400 Why would Satan do that to himself basically verse 19. 212 00:11:30,500 --> 00:11:34,300 Now if it is through be eligible that I cast out Devils through 213 00:11:34,300 --> 00:11:38,100 whom do your own experts, cast them out some translations, have 214 00:11:38,100 --> 00:11:41,200 this as your son's through, whom do your son's cast them out. 215 00:11:41,900 --> 00:11:45,000 So here, Jesus, clearly teaches that some of the Jewish leaders 216 00:11:45,000 --> 00:11:48,000 in his time did have the power to do exorcisms. 217 00:11:48,400 --> 00:11:50,700 That's interesting. We often don't realize that but 218 00:11:50,700 --> 00:11:53,200 they're apparently were some Jewish leaders that could do it. 219 00:11:54,100 --> 00:11:57,100 But we know from other places in the gospel, But even those 220 00:11:57,100 --> 00:12:01,000 Exorcist can't do exorcisms on their own authority alone, they 221 00:12:01,000 --> 00:12:04,300 have to call on the name of God or the name of a prophet where 222 00:12:04,300 --> 00:12:06,700 is Jesus can do it on his own authority. 223 00:12:07,400 --> 00:12:10,600 So Jesus point is that look if you want to say that I'm 224 00:12:10,600 --> 00:12:13,600 empowered by Satan, when I cast out demons, you're going to have 225 00:12:13,600 --> 00:12:16,000 to say the same thing about your own experts. 226 00:12:16,800 --> 00:12:19,400 And that's another really good point that Jesus makes there and 227 00:12:19,400 --> 00:12:22,000 Jesus finishes that section by saying, we'll let them be your 228 00:12:22,000 --> 00:12:25,100 judges, then then he goes to verse 20. 229 00:12:25,200 --> 00:12:28,700 But if it is, Through the Finger of God that I cast out Devils. 230 00:12:29,000 --> 00:12:31,800 Then know that the kingdom of God has overtaken. 231 00:12:31,800 --> 00:12:34,600 You a better translation. There might be the kingdom of 232 00:12:34,600 --> 00:12:38,800 God has come upon you. This is a profound teaching if 233 00:12:38,800 --> 00:12:41,600 it is through the Finger of God, that I cast out Devils, then the 234 00:12:41,608 --> 00:12:43,300 kingdom of God has come upon you. 235 00:12:44,000 --> 00:12:46,800 Here we learn that Satan's kingdom does have dominion over 236 00:12:46,800 --> 00:12:50,000 the world, but through Jesus Incarnation and his teaching and 237 00:12:50,000 --> 00:12:53,400 his healings, the kingdom of God is breaking into the world at 238 00:12:53,400 --> 00:12:55,800 the time. That Jesus is saying this, the 239 00:12:56,000 --> 00:12:58,900 That's Satan's works are clearly being undone through the 240 00:12:58,900 --> 00:13:01,400 ministry of Jesus. That should indicate to the 241 00:13:01,408 --> 00:13:04,800 crowds that the kingdom of God, which they waited for for a long 242 00:13:04,800 --> 00:13:08,600 time that has now obviously arrived in the person of Jesus. 243 00:13:09,000 --> 00:13:11,300 He's saying to them. Look if I'm casting out demons, 244 00:13:11,300 --> 00:13:14,400 this is a strong sign that the kingdom of God has arrived and 245 00:13:14,400 --> 00:13:17,400 it's turning back. It's destroying the works of 246 00:13:17,400 --> 00:13:20,400 Satan in a sense. This is also a warning for the 247 00:13:20,400 --> 00:13:22,700 Pharisees to get on the right side of the battle. 248 00:13:22,700 --> 00:13:25,000 He's saying the victim of the kingdom of God is here. 249 00:13:25,000 --> 00:13:28,400 Whose kingdom are you? Going to belong to some Scholars 250 00:13:28,400 --> 00:13:31,600 think there might be links here to Exodus chapter 8, verse 19. 251 00:13:31,600 --> 00:13:36,700 Remember that famous scene where the Pharaohs magicians are able 252 00:13:36,700 --> 00:13:38,500 to. Replicate all the Miracles that 253 00:13:38,500 --> 00:13:42,600 Moses is doing eventually at the end of Exodus chapter 8, verse 254 00:13:42,600 --> 00:13:47,100 19, Pharaoh's magicians, finally confessed that their power to do 255 00:13:47,100 --> 00:13:49,200 sorcery, is weaker than God's power. 256 00:13:49,500 --> 00:13:52,300 And in fact, in that phrase, they actually use the phrase, 257 00:13:52,300 --> 00:13:55,500 the Finger of God. The same phrase Jesus uses here. 258 00:13:56,500 --> 00:13:58,700 Interestingly Matthews version of this phrase. 259 00:13:58,900 --> 00:14:02,600 He identifies the Finger of God as the spirit of God. 260 00:14:02,800 --> 00:14:05,300 So those two phrases are apparently interchangeable. 261 00:14:05,300 --> 00:14:08,200 What's the Finger of God? How does what's God's action in 262 00:14:08,200 --> 00:14:10,000 the world? It's the spirit of God. 263 00:14:10,000 --> 00:14:14,600 That's what Jesus is casting out demons using Jesus, is now going 264 00:14:14,600 --> 00:14:17,700 to give another mini Parable to help them understand how the 265 00:14:17,700 --> 00:14:20,400 kingdom of God, is overpowering the kingdom of Satan. 266 00:14:20,400 --> 00:14:22,700 So he's giving them an insight into the mechanics here. 267 00:14:23,600 --> 00:14:26,600 Verse 21. So long is a strong man, fully 268 00:14:26,600 --> 00:14:31,100 armed guards, his own Palace, his goods are undisturbed. 269 00:14:31,700 --> 00:14:35,100 So the mental picture here, his painting, is that if a man is 270 00:14:35,100 --> 00:14:38,100 guarding his possessions, diligently, a strong man, well 271 00:14:38,100 --> 00:14:42,100 then no one is going to be able to deal to steal his Goods verse 272 00:14:42,100 --> 00:14:44,200 22. But when someone stronger than 273 00:14:44,200 --> 00:14:48,200 he attacks and defeats him, the stronger man takes away all the 274 00:14:48,200 --> 00:14:50,700 weapons. He relied on and shares out his 275 00:14:50,700 --> 00:14:53,500 spoil. So the image here, isn't When 276 00:14:53,500 --> 00:14:56,700 stronger man comes along defeats the man, in the palace, and 277 00:14:56,700 --> 00:15:00,000 takes his Goods. What's going on here, Jesus 278 00:15:00,000 --> 00:15:02,600 doesn't make it entirely clear but we can work it out. 279 00:15:02,600 --> 00:15:06,200 Logically. Jesus is saying that Satan is 280 00:15:06,200 --> 00:15:08,500 the strong man guarding his possessions. 281 00:15:08,700 --> 00:15:12,200 So he's the one who has a palace in what would his possessions be 282 00:15:12,400 --> 00:15:15,200 humans? Satan's possessions are humans 283 00:15:15,200 --> 00:15:16,600 and that's what he wants to guard. 284 00:15:16,800 --> 00:15:21,000 But Jesus is the even stronger man who has come to claim the 285 00:15:21,000 --> 00:15:23,300 goods of Satan. So he's come to claim people. 286 00:15:23,500 --> 00:15:26,600 Back into the kingdom, and that makes sense in context, doesn't 287 00:15:26,600 --> 00:15:28,600 it? Because by Jesus performing 288 00:15:28,600 --> 00:15:32,100 these exorcisms, Satan's kingdom is being weakened. 289 00:15:32,400 --> 00:15:35,000 More people are being transferred from Satan's kingdom 290 00:15:35,000 --> 00:15:36,900 to God's kingdom. That's quite a nice analogy, 291 00:15:36,900 --> 00:15:38,600 isn't it? People moving from the kingdom 292 00:15:38,600 --> 00:15:41,800 of darkness, to the kingdom of light, that's actually developed 293 00:15:41,800 --> 00:15:44,000 more later in the New Testament. If you look particularly at 294 00:15:44,000 --> 00:15:49,400 Hebrews 2:14-15, there's that language of Jesus transferring 295 00:15:49,400 --> 00:15:53,000 us to his kingdom from Satan's kingdom some Scholars. 296 00:15:53,000 --> 00:15:55,500 Think the might also be an additional reference here to a 297 00:15:55,500 --> 00:15:58,600 passage in the Old Testament or a couple of passages in Isaiah 298 00:15:59,100 --> 00:16:02,000 when Jesus he talks about plundering his goods and 299 00:16:02,000 --> 00:16:05,400 dividing The Spoils of the strongman there's similar 300 00:16:05,400 --> 00:16:11,100 language used in Isaiah 49 verses, 24 to 25 and Isaiah 53. 301 00:16:11,100 --> 00:16:13,800 Verse 12. There's some descriptions there 302 00:16:13,800 --> 00:16:16,500 of the coming Messiah. How he's going to kind of divide 303 00:16:16,500 --> 00:16:18,800 the spoils. And so some think that that's 304 00:16:19,000 --> 00:16:22,000 kind of fulfilled here in the way that Jesus talks about how 305 00:16:22,000 --> 00:16:24,500 he's going to break into Satan's, Kingdom and take the 306 00:16:24,500 --> 00:16:26,900 spoils for himself. So that's an interesting 307 00:16:26,900 --> 00:16:29,800 possible connection. Well, here we have a clear 308 00:16:29,800 --> 00:16:33,300 teaching that Jesus is more powerful and Satan, some 309 00:16:33,300 --> 00:16:35,300 Christian Cults. Don't agree with that. 310 00:16:35,300 --> 00:16:38,800 Some think that Jesus and Satan are equal will hear Jesus 311 00:16:38,800 --> 00:16:42,800 himself in his own Parable describes himself as stronger 312 00:16:42,800 --> 00:16:45,700 than Satan. So that's an important thing to 313 00:16:45,700 --> 00:16:48,500 keep in mind. In fact, John the Baptist uses 314 00:16:48,500 --> 00:16:52,800 the same Greek word when he says earlier, one mightier than I is 315 00:16:52,800 --> 00:16:55,800 coming. John 3:16 John, the Baptist says 316 00:16:55,800 --> 00:16:58,600 Jesus is mightier than I same Greek word. 317 00:16:59,500 --> 00:17:02,200 Now marks version, if you look at marks version of this same 318 00:17:02,800 --> 00:17:05,300 passage and it's important to compare across the synoptic 319 00:17:05,300 --> 00:17:08,099 gospels where possible marks version seems a little more 320 00:17:08,099 --> 00:17:10,800 precise. When Jesus describes this mini 321 00:17:10,800 --> 00:17:13,800 Parable and marks version, he describes it as involving two 322 00:17:13,800 --> 00:17:16,500 phases. First, the strong man and is 323 00:17:16,500 --> 00:17:20,000 bound and then his goods are plundered. 324 00:17:20,000 --> 00:17:22,200 Whereas in Luke's version we have a shorter version which 325 00:17:22,200 --> 00:17:25,300 doesn't talk about the Being but marks version here, seems to be 326 00:17:25,300 --> 00:17:28,300 a bit more precise and you can have a read of that. 327 00:17:28,500 --> 00:17:34,300 It's in Mark chapter 3 we get to verse 23 and Jesus says, he who 328 00:17:34,300 --> 00:17:38,300 is not with me is against me and he who does not gather with me 329 00:17:38,300 --> 00:17:41,300 scatters. Now this is clearly a metaphor 330 00:17:41,300 --> 00:17:43,300 of some sort. It could be an agricultural 331 00:17:43,300 --> 00:17:47,000 image referring to harvesting as in those who don't help with the 332 00:17:47,000 --> 00:17:50,200 Harvest. A depicted as doing the opposite 333 00:17:50,200 --> 00:17:53,100 of harvesting which is scattering grain or maybe it 334 00:17:53,100 --> 00:17:55,200 refers to gathering in scattering people. 335 00:17:55,500 --> 00:17:58,800 It could either option but either way it's a metaphor. 336 00:17:58,800 --> 00:18:02,000 That means this. Basically Jesus says if you're 337 00:18:02,000 --> 00:18:05,300 not helping me then you are completely opposed to me. 338 00:18:05,400 --> 00:18:08,700 So Jesus says that while he's on Earth, there's no neutral. 339 00:18:08,700 --> 00:18:10,400 You're either with him or you're against him. 340 00:18:10,800 --> 00:18:13,700 Now, in this context it's a reference to the Pharisees who 341 00:18:13,700 --> 00:18:17,100 are opposing Jesus by their opposition to Jesus. 342 00:18:17,100 --> 00:18:18,300 They're actually furthering the king. 343 00:18:18,400 --> 00:18:20,600 Name of Satan rather than the kingdom of God. 344 00:18:20,700 --> 00:18:22,700 Those are the only two kingdoms in effect. 345 00:18:22,700 --> 00:18:24,200 You're either part of one or the other. 346 00:18:25,300 --> 00:18:27,900 That verse would be quite striking for Luke's original 347 00:18:27,900 --> 00:18:30,500 readers. He who is not with me is against 348 00:18:30,500 --> 00:18:32,000 me. So it would have forced them to 349 00:18:32,000 --> 00:18:34,700 think about, which side they are on and we should think about 350 00:18:34,700 --> 00:18:36,200 that too. Are we part of the kingdom of 351 00:18:36,200 --> 00:18:39,400 God or the kingdom of Satan? Both of those kingdoms are still 352 00:18:39,400 --> 00:18:41,500 on Earth today. Although the kingdom of God is 353 00:18:41,500 --> 00:18:45,300 expanding, now, in Matthew and marks version of this same 354 00:18:45,300 --> 00:18:47,400 story. This is the point at which Jesus 355 00:18:47,400 --> 00:18:51,000 goes on to describe the unforgivable sin but in Luke's 356 00:18:51,000 --> 00:18:53,600 version, it's actually in the next chapter in chapter 12. 357 00:18:53,600 --> 00:18:55,000 So we'll talk about that when we get there. 358 00:18:55,900 --> 00:18:59,200 Jesus is now going to continue the theme of casting out demons. 359 00:18:59,200 --> 00:19:02,400 He has more to say about it. He's now going to explain to the 360 00:19:02,400 --> 00:19:05,200 crowd, why it is important that the kingdom of Satan, is 361 00:19:05,200 --> 00:19:07,200 actually replaced with something else. 362 00:19:07,500 --> 00:19:09,900 It's an interesting subtle thing, he's going to say here. 363 00:19:10,500 --> 00:19:13,800 Now, this next bit doesn't appear to be a parable, it could 364 00:19:13,800 --> 00:19:16,900 be taken that way, but it appears that Jesus is actually 365 00:19:16,900 --> 00:19:20,800 describing the way things really work in the Demonic realm. 366 00:19:20,800 --> 00:19:23,300 So he's describing them actual State of Affairs here. 367 00:19:24,000 --> 00:19:27,700 So here's what he says. As when an unclean Spirit goes 368 00:19:27,700 --> 00:19:30,900 out of a man, it wanders through waterless country, looking for a 369 00:19:30,908 --> 00:19:33,900 place to rest. So the image here that Jesus is 370 00:19:33,900 --> 00:19:37,700 setting up is when a demon is cast out of a person in that 371 00:19:37,700 --> 00:19:41,700 Society then it would kind of wander around the countryside of 372 00:19:41,700 --> 00:19:46,200 Israel looking for someone to inhabit and not finding one. 373 00:19:46,200 --> 00:19:48,900 It says, I will go back to the home where I came from. 374 00:19:49,300 --> 00:19:53,300 So the demon can't find anyone to inhabit and so it goes back 375 00:19:53,300 --> 00:19:57,200 to the place where it came from. The person that was cast out of 376 00:19:57,200 --> 00:19:59,800 now this could be a hypothetical situation, but I think Jesus 377 00:19:59,800 --> 00:20:02,700 intends us to understand that demons can operate this way. 378 00:20:03,200 --> 00:20:06,900 So it goes back to the person that came from verse 25 but on 379 00:20:06,900 --> 00:20:09,800 arrival, finding it. Swept and tidied. 380 00:20:10,100 --> 00:20:13,000 So the demon comes back to the person who was cast out of and 381 00:20:13,000 --> 00:20:14,500 he finds that. There's no one inhibiting the 382 00:20:14,500 --> 00:20:16,600 person's body. It's just waiting to be 383 00:20:16,600 --> 00:20:20,600 inhabited so it then goes off and brings seven other Spirits 384 00:20:20,700 --> 00:20:24,400 more wicked than itself. Now, seven is obviously a 385 00:20:24,400 --> 00:20:25,500 symbolic. Jewish number. 386 00:20:25,500 --> 00:20:29,500 So it could mean many spirits or Perfection of evil or something 387 00:20:29,500 --> 00:20:32,600 like that, or it could literally mean he gets a seven literal 388 00:20:32,600 --> 00:20:34,900 other demons. So, think about this picture. 389 00:20:34,900 --> 00:20:38,500 Jesus is painting here, a demon goes and gets many other demons 390 00:20:38,800 --> 00:20:41,500 more wicked than itself. Or in fact, more literally more 391 00:20:41,500 --> 00:20:45,100 evil than itself and they all go in and set up house there. 392 00:20:45,500 --> 00:20:48,300 So all of them come back into that person who has been cleared 393 00:20:48,300 --> 00:20:51,000 of demons and they all go in inhabit, the person again. 394 00:20:51,400 --> 00:20:54,000 So it is possible for someone to have a demon cast out of them 395 00:20:54,400 --> 00:20:58,100 and then To need another exorcism later in life and 396 00:20:58,100 --> 00:21:00,300 indeed assist. Today will tell you that that 397 00:21:00,300 --> 00:21:05,700 can happen if the person allows themself or to be inhabited by a 398 00:21:05,708 --> 00:21:08,700 demon again, or they don't replace it with the kingdom of 399 00:21:08,700 --> 00:21:09,600 God. And that's the point. 400 00:21:09,600 --> 00:21:12,800 Jesus is going to make here. Why does Jesus even bring this 401 00:21:12,800 --> 00:21:14,400 up here? He seems to be getting into some 402 00:21:14,400 --> 00:21:16,900 very specific demonic theology here. 403 00:21:16,900 --> 00:21:20,700 Well, the point he seems to be making is that he wants the 404 00:21:20,700 --> 00:21:25,600 crowds to understand that in his time whenever a Jewish rabbi or 405 00:21:25,700 --> 00:21:27,400 A Jewish expert, does an exorcism. 406 00:21:27,400 --> 00:21:31,400 Then really, they're just they're not, there's nothing 407 00:21:31,400 --> 00:21:33,800 stopping the demon from coming back into the person. 408 00:21:33,800 --> 00:21:36,000 He so, he's telling the crowd that if they really want to do a 409 00:21:36,008 --> 00:21:39,400 proper exorcism and allow God to work in the person, they need to 410 00:21:39,400 --> 00:21:42,000 put something back into the person to prevent the demon from 411 00:21:42,000 --> 00:21:44,900 ever coming back. They need to fill the void that 412 00:21:44,900 --> 00:21:47,300 the demon has left with something positive, the kingdom 413 00:21:47,300 --> 00:21:49,900 of God. And Jesus says that, if that 414 00:21:49,900 --> 00:21:53,900 happens, if the seven demons do go back into the man, that man 415 00:21:53,900 --> 00:21:58,800 ends up being worse than He was before the more literal 416 00:21:58,800 --> 00:22:00,400 translation here is a bit better. 417 00:22:00,400 --> 00:22:04,600 I think it says and that last state of the man becomes worse 418 00:22:04,600 --> 00:22:08,300 than the first so it's clearly far worse for a man to be 419 00:22:08,300 --> 00:22:11,400 possessed by 7D demons rather than just one. 420 00:22:11,600 --> 00:22:15,100 So Jesus is going to go on and explain how to solve that 421 00:22:15,100 --> 00:22:18,200 problem, how to prevent it. They're from being seven demons 422 00:22:18,200 --> 00:22:20,200 that come back into someone in this case. 423 00:22:20,800 --> 00:22:23,300 Now, later in the New Testament similar language is used for 424 00:22:23,300 --> 00:22:27,100 Christians and their salvation. So The language of that statute, 425 00:22:27,100 --> 00:22:29,000 the last state is worse than the first. 426 00:22:29,300 --> 00:22:32,500 It is used later in Paul's letters and Hebrews in reference 427 00:22:32,500 --> 00:22:35,500 to people who used to be Christians, but then they turn 428 00:22:35,500 --> 00:22:37,800 their back on. God, it says well the last state 429 00:22:37,800 --> 00:22:40,200 is worse than the first because they're more accountable to know 430 00:22:40,200 --> 00:22:42,300 the truth but they still turn their back on God. 431 00:22:42,500 --> 00:22:45,400 So we need to keep that in mind to the point. 432 00:22:45,400 --> 00:22:49,300 At this stage Jesus is making is that if a demon is cast out of a 433 00:22:49,308 --> 00:22:52,700 man, something else needs to come and inhabit him in order to 434 00:22:52,700 --> 00:22:56,900 prevent worse demons from coming back Now here Jesus doesn't 435 00:22:56,900 --> 00:22:59,300 exactly explain what should enter the man? 436 00:22:59,300 --> 00:23:01,700 He doesn't give us an explanation of that but I think 437 00:23:01,700 --> 00:23:06,400 in context we can work it out. Jesus is suggesting that he 438 00:23:06,400 --> 00:23:09,200 means the kingdom of God needs to claim the man. 439 00:23:09,200 --> 00:23:12,100 So he wants the crowds to understand that if you cast the 440 00:23:12,100 --> 00:23:14,800 kingdom of Satan out of someone you then need to put the kingdom 441 00:23:14,800 --> 00:23:18,400 of God into the person elsewhere, Jesus explains more 442 00:23:18,400 --> 00:23:20,300 clearly. That people need to be inhabited 443 00:23:20,300 --> 00:23:24,300 by the Holy Spirit specifically. So if you look at 1 Corinthians 444 00:23:24,300 --> 00:23:28,900 3 verse 16, It says that if a spirit of God dwells in a person 445 00:23:28,900 --> 00:23:32,100 or the Holy Spirit, then there's going to be no room for evil 446 00:23:32,100 --> 00:23:36,300 spirits to dwell there. In fact Matthews version of this 447 00:23:36,300 --> 00:23:38,800 text. Remember says it is by the 448 00:23:38,800 --> 00:23:40,900 spirit of God that I cast out demons. 449 00:23:41,100 --> 00:23:44,800 So apparently one aspect of Jesus exorcisms that makes it 450 00:23:44,800 --> 00:23:48,500 better than the common Jewish exorcisms is when Jesus does an 451 00:23:48,500 --> 00:23:52,600 exorcism. He replaces it with the spirit 452 00:23:52,600 --> 00:23:55,100 of God, he puts the Holy Spirit into a person. 453 00:23:55,500 --> 00:23:58,700 After he casts the demons out and that's what he wants the 454 00:23:58,700 --> 00:24:02,500 crowds to understand. It's not just enough to cast out 455 00:24:02,500 --> 00:24:05,000 one demon. You need to actually understand 456 00:24:05,000 --> 00:24:07,500 that there's a war between kingdoms and we need to claim 457 00:24:07,600 --> 00:24:11,400 people for the kingdom of God. So Jesus has addressed, the 458 00:24:11,400 --> 00:24:14,800 first crowds concern or the first concern from the crowd 459 00:24:14,800 --> 00:24:18,500 about casting out demons by the power of Beelzebub. 460 00:24:18,500 --> 00:24:22,200 All and now he's going to address the second which is 461 00:24:22,300 --> 00:24:25,100 about. Can you show us a sign Jesus? 462 00:24:25,100 --> 00:24:27,100 And he's going to do that in the coming versus. 463 00:24:28,300 --> 00:24:29,700 That's the end of our text for today. 464 00:24:29,700 --> 00:24:32,100 Let's turn to the catechism to see what it has to say about 465 00:24:32,100 --> 00:24:36,000 this passage paragraph 700. This is in symbols of the Holy 466 00:24:36,000 --> 00:24:40,300 Spirit and here we learned that the finger can be used as Symbol 467 00:24:40,300 --> 00:24:43,600 of the Holy Spirit. Interestingly paragraph, seven 468 00:24:43,600 --> 00:24:46,900 hundred says it is by the Finger of God, that Jesus cast out 469 00:24:46,900 --> 00:24:49,500 demons. If God's law was written on 470 00:24:49,500 --> 00:24:53,100 tablets of stone by the Finger of God, then the letter from 471 00:24:53,100 --> 00:24:57,300 Christ entrusted to the care of the Apostles is written with the 472 00:24:57,300 --> 00:25:00,300 spirit of the Living. God not on tablets of stone but 473 00:25:00,300 --> 00:25:04,300 on tablets of human hearts the him Veni Creator. 474 00:25:04,300 --> 00:25:08,300 Spiritus invokes the Holy Spirit as the finger of the father's 475 00:25:08,400 --> 00:25:11,200 right hand. So That language of the Finger 476 00:25:11,200 --> 00:25:13,800 of God, is actually used all throughout scripture and 477 00:25:13,800 --> 00:25:17,300 paragraph 700 attempts to bring all those references together 478 00:25:18,300 --> 00:25:20,800 paragraph. 385 this is a really interesting one. 479 00:25:20,800 --> 00:25:24,200 It's in the section about the fall of Man and the problem of 480 00:25:24,200 --> 00:25:26,600 evil. And here's what it says, God is 481 00:25:26,600 --> 00:25:30,400 infinitely, good and all his works are good yet, no one can 482 00:25:30,400 --> 00:25:33,400 escape the experience of suffering, all the evils in 483 00:25:33,400 --> 00:25:36,700 nature, which seem to be linked to the limitations proper to 484 00:25:36,700 --> 00:25:39,900 creatures and above all to the question of moral. 485 00:25:40,500 --> 00:25:44,500 Where does evil come from? I saw it when several comes and 486 00:25:44,500 --> 00:25:46,200 there was no solution. So the st. 487 00:25:46,200 --> 00:25:49,900 Augustine and his own painful Quest would only be resolved by 488 00:25:49,900 --> 00:25:53,300 his conversion to the Living. God for the mystery of 489 00:25:53,300 --> 00:25:56,600 lawlessness is clarified. Only in the light of the mystery 490 00:25:56,600 --> 00:26:00,500 of our religion, the revelation of divine Love In Christ 491 00:26:00,600 --> 00:26:03,700 manifested. At the same time, the extent of 492 00:26:03,700 --> 00:26:08,200 evil and the super abundance of Grace we must therefore approach 493 00:26:08,200 --> 00:26:11,700 the question of the origin of Evil by Fixing the eyes of our 494 00:26:11,700 --> 00:26:14,200 faith on him who alone is its conqueror. 495 00:26:15,200 --> 00:26:18,200 Quite an amazing paragraph there about the Theology of the fall 496 00:26:18,200 --> 00:26:20,800 and the problem of evil, and that last part of it, where it 497 00:26:20,808 --> 00:26:24,400 talks about, in order to understand the extent of evil, 498 00:26:24,400 --> 00:26:26,800 we need to understand the super abundance of Grace. 499 00:26:27,000 --> 00:26:30,100 It actually references here, Luke chapter 11, where it talks 500 00:26:30,100 --> 00:26:32,400 about. Jesus casting out, evil and 501 00:26:32,400 --> 00:26:34,700 putting the kingdom of God back into people. 502 00:26:35,200 --> 00:26:36,600 So hopefully you found those paragraphs. 503 00:26:36,600 --> 00:26:39,600 Interesting, I'll include those in the show notes as always. 504 00:26:40,300 --> 00:26:43,000 Thanks for listening today. If you thought today's text was 505 00:26:43,000 --> 00:26:46,300 interesting in the exegesis was useful, then please share it 506 00:26:46,300 --> 00:26:49,200 around with people. So more and more people can come 507 00:26:49,200 --> 00:26:53,000 to know God's word, more deeply, thanks and will continue in the 508 00:26:53,008 --> 00:26:53,800 coming days.