The Sign of Jonah

Hello everyone.

I will continue my exegesis of Luke 11.  Today, we will look at verses 29-32.  Here is my translation: 

29 As the crowd gathered, he began to speak, “This is a wicked generation. It looks for a sign, but no sign will be given to it, except for the sign of Jonah. 30 For just as Jonah became a sign to the Ninevites, so the Son of Man will be a sign for this generation. 31 The Queen of the South will rise up in judgment of the men of this generation, and will condemn them, because she came from the far reaches of the Earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon, and someone greater than Solomon is here. 

32 The people of Nineveh will rise up in judgment of this generation, because when Jonah preached to them, they repented, but someone greater than Jonah is here.

To remind of what has been going on, we would back verse 14. Jesus has cast out a demon from a man that was mute. Some had accused Jesus of being in league with Satan, while others tested him, asking for a sign. Jesus has dealt with the accusers, but now will talk to those who wanted a sign. They will be given a sign, but they will also be given judgment.

Jesus is very straightforward with these sign-watchers. He starts by telling them that their generation is wicked. They are pressing Jesus for some kind of sign that he is from God. He has shown them countless miracles and yet they do not believe and still ask for a sign. What kind of sign is going to be good enough for them to believe?

So, he tells them that they are only going to get one sign, the sign of Jonah. Remember Jonah? Jonah spent three days in the belly of a fish and then he appeared to the Ninevites. Jesus, soon enough, will spend three in the tomb and then rise.

Jonah’s reappearance led the Ninevites to repent. Jesus’ resurrection and reappearance does lead some to repent, like his brother James, but most do not. Truth be told, they asked for a sign and Jesus gave them an incredible sign, he came back from death. That is a sign that is hard to beat, but was still not a good enough sign for them. What were looking for? Were they looking for Jesus to create lightning flashes across the sky or turn the sun into darkness? Jesus could have done those things, but his resurrection was a far better sign than that.

So Jesus states that this generation was going to be judged harshly. He also makes reference to the Queen of Sheba. The Queen had come a long distance just to hear the wisdom of Solomon. Jesus says that both she and the Ninevites would all rise up in judgment against that generation, because rather than seek wisdom, refused to listen to Jesus’ wisdom and they refused to repent.

The people of Nineveh repented when they heard the message from Jonah, and the Queen of Sheba had traveled a great distance to seek wisdom from Solomon, but Jesus is greater than both Solomon and Jonah, but they were refusing to listen to him. These words must have been very difficult for Jesus’ audience, as he tells them that a Gentile queen and a Gentile city would judge them, God’s chosen people.

If nothing else, at least generation can serve as a bad example for us. They show us how not to be. They asked for some miraculous sign, while ignoring what was right in front of them. So let's sure that we do the opposite of what they did, and diligently seek the wisdom of Jesus, and let that lead us to repentance.

Tom

Full House

Hello everyone

In my post I wrote about binding the strongman.  The devil is the strongman, but Jesus is stronger.  He is the stronger man, that can bind up the strongman.  Jesus has said all of this in response to accusations that he was in league with the devil.  Today, we will look at how Jesus finishes his rebuttal to his accusers and how one woman in the crowd responds.  Here is my translation of verses 24-26:

 24 When an unclean spirit comes out of someone, it goes through arid places seeking rest, but doesn’t find it. Then it says, “I will return to the house that I came out of.” 25 When it gets there, it finds the house swept out and put in order. 26 It then goes and brings back seven other spirits that are even more evil than itself. They go in and live there, making things worse in the end than they were in the beginning.

Jesus has just stated, in verse 23, that a person is either with him or against him.  Now he begins talking about those who have been exorcized of demons. He is still responding to the charge that he was casting out demons through the power of Beelzebub.  Alan Thompson says “The previous warning against neutrality seems to remain in view here.  Experience of an exorcism without an accompanying trust in the “stronger one” still leaves one weak and vulnerable to Satan’s destructive designs.” (Thomspon, 189.) 

Jesus tells his audience,that when an evil spirit comes out of a person, it goes into arid places, seeking rest, but is unable to find it. Without finding rest, the spirit then decides to return to its previous home. So, where can a demon find rest? One would assume that they find it in another person.  Jesus says they go to arid places to find rest. Does this mean that demons wander around in isolated places, like the desert?  It appears that upon finding no rest, the demon decides to return to the one that it had previously inhabited.  It finds the house swept clean and put in order, but it is just a clean empty house.  The owner of the house has not replaced the evil spirit with something positive.  Finding an empty house, the evil spirit moves back in.  It becomes a squatter in the house, but he brings seven other evil spirits with him. According to Jesus, the person involved here ends up even worse off than he was in the beginning. Why?  Since he didn't fill himself up with good things, he left the door open for all of the evil to return, and it did. 

After Jesus finishes his rebuttal, a woman in the crowd speaks up. Here is may translation of verses 27-28: 

 27 As Jesus said these things,  a woman in the crowd raised her voice and said to him, “Blessed is the womb that gave birth to you, and the breast that nursed you.” 28 Jesus responded, “Even more blessed are those that hear the word of God and obey it.”

Remember, Jesus has just finished a rebuttal to those who would accuse him of being in league with Satan,and now a woman speaks up, offering praise to Jesus and a blessing to Mary.  She says, “Blessed is the womb that gave birth to you, and the breast that nursed you.”

Jesus responds to this, saying, “Even more blessed are those that hear the word of God and obey it.”   Jesus is not correcting the woman, or showing disrespect to his mother.  What he is doing is showing that he is not seeking praise as much as he is seeking those who would be obedient to God. 

He has already established that obedience to God’s word makes one a part of his family, and so those people are even more blessed.

In five verses, we get two different stories back-to-back. Can they be tied together? Certainly. In one story, we see Jesus telling about those who may have exorcised their demons, but without refilling themselves with something positive, they will likely fall prey to the same demon, and more, making their situation worse. In the next story, Jesus lifts up those who hear God's word and obey it. They are ones who are truly blessed. The connection is obvious. As we rid ourselves of our 'demons,' let us refill ourselves with the Word of God, and then obey it.

Tom

Alan Thompson, Exegetical Guide to the Greek New Testament: Luke, Nashville, Tennessee, B&H Academic, 2016.

Binding the Strongman

Hello everyone.

Today, I will continue my exegesis of Luke 11.  We will look at verses 14-23, where Jesus is casting out demons, and he is accused of casting demons out by the power of Beelzebub. Here is my translation:

14 Then, one day, Jesus was casting out a demon that was mute.  When the demon came out, the one who had been mute, spoke, to the great amazement of the crowd. 15 But some among them said, “It is through Beelzebub, ruler of the demons, that he casts out demons.” 16 Still others, testing him, were seeking a sign from Heaven from him. 17 Knowing their thoughts, Jesus said to them, “Any kingdom that is divided against itself gets destroyed, and when a house is against itself, it falls down. 18 So then, if Satan is divided against himself, how will his kingdom stand? You say that it is through Beelzebub that I drive out demons.  19 But if I am driving them out through Beelzebub, by whom do your followers drive them out? By this, they will be your judges.  20 But if, however, it is by the finger of God that I am casting out demons, then the kingdom of God has come to you. 21 When the strong man, who is fully armed, guards his own house, his belongings are safe.  22 But when a stronger man attacks him, he is overpowered, and the armor that he had trusted in, is taken away and his plunder is divided. 23 Those who are not with me are against me, and those who do not gather with me, scatter. 

Jesus continues to teach and heal, and he continues to amaze, this time, casting out a demon that was making a man mute.  When the previously mute man began to speak, the crowd was amazed. (In the parallel passage in Matthew 12:22-23, the man is said to be both mute and blind and Jesus heals both infirmities.) 

However, some in the crowd float the idea that Jesus is casting out demons, through the power of Beelzebub. Matthew’s account attributes this idea to the Pharisees. (Matt. 12:24) Beelzebub is described here as the ἄρχοντι τῶν δαιμονίων (archonti tone daimonione).  Ἄρχοντι can be translated as ‘ruler’ or ‘prince.’ So they are ascribing to Jesus, either the ‘ruler of demons,’ or the ‘prince of demons.’ So, as some are wondering out loud whether Jesus is the “Son of David,” (Matt. 12:24) his detractors throw out there that this power is not divine, but demonic. 

No one is denying that Jesus is powerful.  They are willing to admit that much about Jesus, but they attribute that power to a different place, (Satan) that fits their own narrative better.  They bring their criticism of Jesus to a new level.  He is not just a Sabbath-breaker or a blasphemer, but now he is in league with Satan.

Others in the crowd are not ready to go that far in their criticism, yet are not ready to embrace him, either.  They test him, seeking some sort of sign, as though his continued expressions of power mean nothing.  What sign do they need?  This crowd had had just witnessed a great miracle, but this wasn’t enough. 

Jesus offers logic and reason to defend himself against ridiculous accusations, such as being in league with Beelzebub.  A kingdom divided against itself cannot stand.  A house divided against itself cannot stand.  They will fall down.  If Satan is working against himself through Jesus, his kingdom will sooner or later fall apart.  Jesus makes this point: It is not through Satan that he casts out demons, but it is because he is stronger than Satan that he can cast them out.  Jesus uses this logic to show that their accusation and reasoning doesn’t make any sense. Satan would not work against himself. 

Jesus then asks them a question.  If it is through Beelzebub that he drives out demons, what force is at work when their own people drive them out? Are all Jewish exorcists, then under the power of Satan. Jesus attributes his power to the finger of God.  God’s finger is powerful, more powerful than Satan. 

Jesus uses a parable to illustrate his power.  He talks about the strong man’s house.  No one goes into the house of the strong man and plunders it. Before you can plunder the house of the strong man, you first have to incapacitate the strong man. Jesus talks about overpowering the strong man.  In order to do that you have to be stronger than the strong man.  So Jesus is not in league with him, Jesus is stronger than he is, breaking through the armor πανοπλίαν (panoplian) that the strong man had trusted in. 

In fact, when Jesus came into the world, he entered the house of the strong man to plunder it. Then, once the strong man is bound, then his house can be plundered.  Jesus is trying to do that very thing.  Many belong to Satan, the strong man.  Satan is guarding his own house, not wanting to lose anything that belongs to him.  But, Jesus is trying to plunder them from Satan’s house and He is the more powerful one of the two. 

We have to always remember that Satan is not Jesus’s evil counterpart, because Satan is not equal to God.  He is not as powerful and is subordinate to Him. Jesus is the greater power. Satan is the "strong man,' but Jesus is the "stronger man."

Read verse 23.  Either you are with Jesus or against him.  Darrell Bock makes the point that there is no Switzerland in the spiritual battle. (Bock, 1084.) We either gather with Jesus, or we scatter. It makes sense to be on the side of the stronger man, as he bound up the "strong man," and no one can bind him.  

Tom 

     Darrell Bock, Luke:Volume 2 - 9:51-24:53, Grand Rapids, Michigan, Baker Academic, 1996.