Lk. 11:14 And He was casting out a demon, and it was mute. So it was, when the demon had gone out, that the mute spoke; and the multitude marveled.
Here we have Yeshua casting out a “dumb demon,” a Messianic Miracle (see segment #061). The first time it took place was in Galilee. This time it is in Judea. The first time it was the leadership of Israel that proclaimed that He was possessed by a demon. This time it is the people.
Lk. 11:15 But some of them said, “He casts out demons by Beelzebub, the ruler of demons.”
Lk. 11:16 And others, testing Him, sought from Him a sign from Heaven.
When they see what is truly a sign from Heaven, they treat it as if it was a sign from hell.
Lk. 11:17 But He, knowing their thoughts, said to them, “Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation, and a house divided against a house fails.”
Lk. 11:18 “If Satan also is divided against himself, how will his kingdom stand? Because you say I cast out demons by Beelzebub.”
Lk. 11:19 “And if I cast out demons by Beelzebub, by whom do your sons cast them out? Therefore they will be your judges.”
The “sons” of the Pharisees are their disciples. Exorcism was done by most Rabbis, except for this type.
Lk. 11:20 “But if I cast out demons with the finger of God, surely the Kingdom of God has come upon you.”
In His teaching, preaching and healing ministry, especially among the outcasts of society, Yeshua demonstrated that God’s salvation had come. He proclaimed that the Kingdom of God had, in some real sense, arrived in His Person. As the reign of God broke into human lives, the power of the Kingdom was unleashed. In Hebrew thought the Kingdom was wherever God sovereignly takes charge and rules human affairs. In the case of Yeshua, as the power of God penetrated lives through Him by snapping the fetter that bound and the chains that oppressed, God’s salvation had come.
How can the Kingdom be coming in the future if it has arrived in Jesus’ ministry? Here Yeshua makes an illusion to the redemption of Israel by using the idiom Finger of God. This expression is rare in the Hebrew Scriptures, appearing only twice. When the Egyptian magicians stood powerless before the Pharoah in the face of Moses’ mighty miracles, they declared, “This is the finger of God’ (Exodus 8:19). The other reference to the “Finger of God also appears in the book of Exodus (31:18). God gave Moses two tablets of stone, written by the “Finger of God.” In the Beelzebub controversy, Yeshua connects the Kingdom of Heaven to His deliverance ministry. And the former redemption from Egypt is, then, related to His redemptive acts. We see God’s Kingdom when we see Him in action. In the same way, people saw the Kingdom when they saw Yeshua in action.
Source: Exodus 8:19; 31:18
Lk. 11:21 “When a strong man, fully armed, guards his own palace, his goods are at peace.”
M:Avoth 3:16 says, “R. Akiba used to say, All is given on pledge, and a net is spread over all the living; the shop is open, and the dealer gives credit, and the ledger lies open, and the hand writes, and whosoever desires to borrow may come and borrow, but the collectors regularly go their round every day and exact payment from man with his consent or without his consent, since they have that whereon they can rely, and the judgment is a judgment of truth; and all is prepared for the feast.” This is a picturesque saying stressing that man is responsible and accountable for all his deeds. Exacting payment from man with or without consent is a reference to reward and punishment. The prepared feast is a symbolic reference to the world to come (Olam haBah).
Lk. 11:22 “But when a stronger man than he comes upon him and overcomes him, he takes from him all his armor in which he trusted, and divides his spoils.”
Lk. 11:23 “He who is not with Me is against Me, and he who does not gather with Me scatters.”
Lk. 11:24 “When an unclean spirit goes out of a man, he goes through dry places, seeking rest; and finding none, he will say, I will return to my house from which I came.’”
Lk. 11:25 “And when he comes, he finds it swept and put in order.”
Lk. 11:26 “Then he goes and takes with him seven other spirits more wicked than himself, and they enter and dwell there, and the last state of that man is worse than the first.”
Lk. 11:27 And it happened, as He spoke these things, that a certain woman from the
crowd raised her voice and said to Him, “Blessed is the womb that bore You, and blessed is the breasts which nursed You!”
“Blessed is the womb that bore you” is a common blessing of that day. M:Avoth 2:8 says, “Rabbi Joshua ben Chaninyah said: ‘Blessed is she that bore him.’” The Catholic Church might try to use this verse to solidify their concept of Mary worship, but the following verse contradicts that.
Lk. 11:28 But He said, “More than that, blessed are those who hear the Word of God and keep it.”
Those who hear the Word of God and keep it are the most blessed of all. They are not to be worshiped, but they are to help bring God’s salvation to this world.
Lk. 11:29 And while the crowds were thickly gathered together, He began to say, “This is an evil generation. It seeks a sign, and no sign will be given it except the sign
How many times does Yeshua have to point out which generation He is talking about before people today finally get the idea that He is not talking about a future generation like us???
Jonah 2:1 says, “The Lord provided a huge fish to swallow Jonah, and Jonah remained in the fish’s belly three days and three nights.”
Lk. 11:30 “For as Jonah became a sign for the Ninevites, so also the Son of Man will be to this generation.”
“The sign spoken against” of Simeon’s prophecy is Jesus Himself. Yeshua, as He Himself declared, was a sign to that generation just as Jonah was a sign to the people of Nineveh.
Lk. 11:31 “The queen of the south will rise up in judgment with the men of this generation and condemn them, for she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon; and indeed a greater than Solomon is here.”
The Wisdom Literature of ancient Israel is mainly found in the books of Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, Job, Song of Songs, and certain Psalms. In the gallery of Hebrew greats, Moses is recognized as the patron of the Law, David the patron of psalms and music, and Solomon the patron of wisdom literature. Scripture tells us that Solomon composed three thousand proverbs, and his wisdom was “greater than the wisdom of all the Kedemotes, and greater than all the wisdom of Egypt” (I Kings 5:10). It was so great that it attracted the queen of the south to come and test him and learn from him (I Kings 10:1-3). But, the Gospels declare that Yeshua’s wisdom, evident in His teachings and parables, to be greater than Solomon’s.
Sources: I Kings 5:10; 10:1-3
Lk. 11:32 “The men of Nineveh will rise up in judgment with this generation and condemn it; for they repented at the preaching of Jonah; and indeed, a greater than Jonah is here.”
Lk. 11:33 “No one, when he has lit a lamp, puts it in a secret place or under a basket, but on a lampstand, that those who come may see the light.”
Lk. 11:34 “The lamp of the body is the eye. Therefore, when your eye is good, your whole body also is full of light. But when your eye is bad, your body also is full of darkness.”
Lk. 11:35 “Therefore take heed that the light which is in you is not darkness.”
Lk. 11:36 “If then your whole body is full of light, having no part dark, the whole body will be full of light, as when the bright shining of a lamp gives you light.”
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