Luke 11:14-26
Opposition to Jesus

As usual, I read this week’s verses while drinking my early morning coffee on Sunday. I wondered what Pastor Dave would do with this confusing passage. Later, as I listened to his sermon, I was thankful for probably the thousandth time for the outstanding preaching we sit under at Calvary.

When Jesus healed a demon-possessed mute man, many in the watching crowd marveled. But some accused Jesus of casting out demons by the power of Satan, an illogical argument Jesus handily refuted. For other spectators, the miracle wasn’t enough. They asked for yet another sign. These latter two groups certainly fall into the category, not with Jesus – in fact, against him.

Dave noted that the unconvinced group might have been nice people, certainly nicer than the group that accused Jesus of doing Satan’s work. But neither were saved. “Nice resistance has the same result as nasty opposition,” Dave said. We have no problem with the prospect of hell for strident opponents who, figuratively speaking, spit in the face of Jesus. But it’s uncomfortable to think about kind, caring, generous people who reject Jesus going to hell. I think that’s evidence that, even though we talk about and sing about grace, our thinking retains an element of works-based salvation. Lord, I understand that I am saved, not because of anything I’ve done, but because I know Jesus. Convince me and remind me that the same criterion applies to my kind neighbor who rejects Christ. Use the discomfort I feel at the thought of a nice person going to hell to motivate me to share the gospel with the nice unbelievers in my life.

Verses 24-26 contain a sobering warning: When an unclean spirit has been cast out of a person, it can return, with reinforcements, resulting in a situation worse than at first. The demon may be driven from the “house” and the house swept clean and put in order, but if the house is left empty with no one to defend it, the demons return in force. “An empty soul is a vulnerable soul,” Dave said. As a modern example, he cited a person who overcomes an addiction but does not fully submit to the lordship of Christ and who later succumbs to a different addiction. Are you praying for someone (maybe yourself) who is in bondage to something – a substance, pornography, anger and bitterness, past trauma? We tend to pray only for release from bondage; Dave urged us to pray for filling, not just emptying. Jesus is not like a junk removal company, just making the bad stuff go away. Pray he will clean house and then move in, by the Holy Spirit, to fill and defend the house. 

In Christ,
Carol Gilbert

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