Luke 11:14-23

The placement of this pericope isn’t accidental or meaningless. This is right after saying God won’t give bad/dangerous things to those who ask for the Holy Spirit. Jesus is accused of doing the miraculous by the power of Satan or it being fake. This trend has continued in every movement through history that operates in the power of the Holy Spirit where the physical and spiritual world intersect. 

The Pharisees don’t have a problem with the act of casting out demons. They were doing it themselves. It was Jesus they didn’t like. We are inconsistent with our assessment of people’s motives between people we like and dislike. 

Beelzebul (Baal) became synonymous with the ultimate evil- Satan. 

Vs 20 finger of God vs hand of God

Exodus 8:17-19 Jesus is connecting the hard hearts of the Pharisees to Pharoah’s. Jesus is also saying that Moses was a foreshadowing of what is happening in front of them. Jesus is leading a new Exodus that reaches beyond the physical to the spiritual. 

Vs 21-23 It’s not that you have the source of my strength wrong. You have it all inside out, upside down, and backwards. His source of power doesn’t come from somewhere else. He is power and he beats up the enemy and takes what is His. Satan is a mortally wounded, toothless, limping lion. His roar still sounds scary, but he is defeated. 

Now that you are faced with the truth you must choose. You are for Jesus or against him. There is no neutral ground. Luke says this same type thing elsewhere. In one case those who are neutral are for God and in another they are against God. 

Proverbial wisdom is always declared definitively. Eg. Proverbs 26:4

Each is true in a different scenario.