Luke 11:14 - Meaning and Application

The substance of these verses is the same as in Matthew 12:22 and following. Here Christ gives a general proof that he was sent by God, and he does it through a clear sign of his power over Satan. By defeating the devil, he showed the main purpose of his coming into the world, which was to destroy the works of the devil. This miracle also gave a foretaste of how his great work would succeed.

Christ was casting out a demon that had made the man unable to speak. In Matthew, we are told that the man was both blind and mute. When the demon was forced out by Christ’s word, the man spoke at once. His restored speech answered Christ’s word, and his opened lips were ready to praise God.

Some people were moved by this miracle. They wondered at it and admired the power of God, especially because it was shown through someone who seemed so ordinary. They did not expect the Messiah’s work to come through one who had so little of the outward glory they had imagined.

Others were offended by it. To excuse their unbelief, they claimed that Jesus was casting out demons by the power of Beelzebub, the prince of demons, as Luke 11:15 says. It seems that in the devil’s kingdom there are rulers over other spirits, which means there are lesser spirits under them. They wanted people to think, or at least to say, that Christ and the devil had made an agreement. In their version, the devil would lose only in certain cases, while still keeping the final victory.

To support this claim and push back against the evidence of Christ’s miracles, they asked him to give them a sign from heaven (Luke 11:16). They wanted some sign in the clouds to prove his teaching, like the sign on Mount Sinai when the law was given. As if a sign from heaven could not also be imitated by a plot with the prince of the power of the air, who works with power and false signs. In fact, such a sign would not have harmed Satan’s interests in the present way this miracle did. Stubborn unbelief is never short of excuses, even when its reasons are weak and foolish.

Christ answered their objection fully and directly. He showed, first, that it is impossible to think that Satan, such a shrewd enemy, would agree to actions that directly led to his own defeat and the ruin of his kingdom (Luke 11:17, 18). They had not said this out loud, but Jesus knew their thoughts, even though they tried to hide them. He told them, in effect, that they could see how empty and spiteful their charge was. Everyone knows that no kingdom can survive if it turns against itself, and the same is true of a household or family. If a kingdom, house, or family is divided against itself, it cannot stand. Satan would be working against himself if he were helping to cast out demons, because the miracle itself, and even more the teaching that went with it, was destroying his hold on people by breaking the power of sin and turning them toward God. If Satan were divided against himself like that, he would be bringing about his own downfall. No enemy that is so careful to protect his power would choose that course.

Second, Christ showed how unfair their criticism was. They blamed him for what they praised in others from their own nation (Luke 11:19). In other words, some of their own people, even some of their own followers among the Pharisees, had claimed to cast out demons in the name of the God of Israel. Yet those men were never accused of making a hellish alliance. It is deep hypocrisy to condemn in others what we excuse in people who flatter us.

Third, by resisting the truth of this miracle, they were actually hurting themselves and blocking their own way, because they were pushing away the kingdom of God (Luke 11:20). Christ said, in effect, “If I cast out demons by the finger of God, then the kingdom of God has come to you.” The kingdom of the Messiah was offering itself to them, along with all its blessings, and if they refused it, they did so at their own risk. Matthew says “by the Spirit of God,” while Luke says “by the finger of God.” The Spirit is the Lord’s powerful arm (Isaiah 53:1). God’s greatest works are done by his Spirit, but calling it the finger of God may also show how easily Christ could defeat Satan. He did not need to stretch out his full, mighty arm. Satan, like a roaring lion, can be crushed with a mere touch from God. This may also recall the words of Pharaoh’s magicians when they were forced to admit, “This is the finger of God” (Exodus 8:19). If the kingdom of God had truly come near them, then their insults and lies were only making them fight against it, and it would come on them with power they could not resist.

Fourth, Christ showed that his casting out of demons was really the destruction of their power, because it backed a teaching that directly ruined Satan’s kingdom (Luke 11:21, 22). Some may have cast out lesser demons by dealing with Beelzebub, their chief, but that did not truly damage Satan’s rule. Whatever he lost in one place, he gained in another. The devil and such false exorcists were, as we say, playing a trick on each other. While one part of his army gave way, the rest still held firm, and his power over people was not weakened at all. But when Christ cast out demons, he did not need any agreement with them, because he was stronger than they were. He drove them out by force, and he did it in a way that broke Satan’s power and ruined his great plan. The gospel, with the grace that goes with it, breaks the power of sin and puts Satan’s main forces to flight. It takes from him his armor and divides his spoils, something no demon ever did to another.

This applies to Christ’s victories over Satan both in the world and in the hearts of individual people, by the power that went with the preaching of the gospel, and still does. From this we can see the miserable condition of a person who has not been changed by God. In such a heart, which should be a home for God, the devil has his palace. And all the powers and gifts of the soul, because they are used in the service of sin, have become his possessions.

Note, first, that the heart of every unconverted sinner is the devil’s palace. He lives there and rules there, because he works in the children of disobedience. The heart is meant to be a noble dwelling, but an unsanctified heart, a heart not set apart for God, becomes Satan’s palace. His will is obeyed, his interests are served, and he holds the army in that soul. He takes the throne by force.

Second, the devil, like a strong man armed, keeps this palace. He does all he can to hold it for himself and to fortify it against Christ. Every prejudice that hardens people against truth and holiness is like a stronghold he builds to keep his palace. In that sense, the unconverted soul is his garrison.

Third, there is a kind of peace in the unconverted soul while the devil keeps that control. The sinner thinks well of himself, feels safe, and is often cheerful. He has no doubt about the good state of his soul and no fear of the coming judgment. He flatters himself and says, “Peace,” to his own heart. Before Christ came, all was quiet, because everything moved in the same direction. But the preaching of the gospel disturbed the peace of the devil’s palace.

This shows the wonderful change that happens in conversion, which is Christ’s victory over this usurper, someone who has taken authority that does not belong to him. Satan is a strong man armed, but our Lord Jesus is stronger than he is, both as God and as Mediator, meaning the one who brings God and sinners together. If we speak of strength, Christ is strong, and more are with us than against us.

See how this victory happens. Christ comes upon Satan by surprise, when his goods seem to be at rest and he thinks all is safely his forever. Then Christ overcomes him. The conversion of a soul to God is Christ’s victory over the devil and his power in that soul. It restores the soul to freedom and brings back Christ’s rightful rule over it.

We can also see the signs of this victory. First, Christ takes away the armor the devil trusted in. The devil is a confident enemy, like Pharaoh trusting in the strength of his rivers (Ezekiel 29:3). But Christ strips him of his defense. When the power of sin and corruption is broken, when wrong ideas are corrected, when the eyes are opened, and when the heart is humbled, changed, serious, and spiritual, then Satan’s armor is taken away.

Second, Christ divides the spoils. He takes possession of the conquered things for himself. All the gifts of mind and body, along with estate, power, and influence, which were once used in sin and Satan’s service, are now turned to Christ’s service. But that is not all. He also shares the victory with his followers, and all believers gain the benefit of it.

From this, Christ shows that his teaching and miracles were aimed at breaking the power of the devil, that great enemy of mankind. So it is the duty of all to join with him, follow his guidance, receive his gospel, and come fully into its interests. Otherwise, they are rightly counted as siding with the enemy (Luke 11:23). “He who is not with me is against me.” Those who rejected Christ’s teaching and dismissed his miracles were treated as enemies of Christ and allies of the devil.

There is also a great difference between the devil’s going out by agreement and his being cast out by force. Those from whom Christ cast him out never had him return, because that was Christ’s command (Mark 9:25). But if he had only gone out when he pleased, he would have returned whenever he wanted, because that is the way of the unclean spirit in Luke 11:24-26. The prince of devils may even order his forces to retreat for a time, or stage a fake retreat, in order to trap the poor deceived soul. But Christ gives the enemy a total defeat, and he gives it a final one.

In this part of the argument, Christ also means to describe people who have had fair offers of grace, in whom God has begun to break the devil’s power and overthrow his kingdom, yet who reject God’s counsel and fall back under Satan’s rule. Here we see the condition of a formal hypocrite, his bright side and his dark side. His heart is still the devil’s house. He calls it his own, and Satan still keeps his interest there. Yet the unclean spirit has gone out. He was not driven out by converting grace, that saving power that truly changes a person. There was no strong work of heaven here. He simply withdrew for a time, so the man seemed no longer to be under Satan’s power as before, and not so chased by temptation.

The house is swept from common sins by a forced confession, like Pharaoh’s, a fake sorrow for sin like Ahab’s, and a partial reformation like Herod’s. Some people escape the outward sins of the world and still remain under the power of the god of this world (2 Peter 2:20). The house is swept, but it is not washed. Christ has said, “If I do not wash you, you have no share with me.” The house must be washed, or it is not his. Sweeping only takes away loose dirt. It leaves untouched the sin that clings closest to the sinner, the favorite sin. It may be cleaned of the filth that everyone can see, but it is not searched for secret filthiness (Matthew 23:25). It is swept, but the disease is still in the wall and will remain until something more is done.

The house is also decorated with common gifts and outward graces. It is not filled with true grace, but it is decorated with the appearance of grace. Simon Magus had the look of faith, Balaam had good desires, Herod showed respect for John, and the Pharisees had many outward religious acts. The house is garnished, but it is like a potsherd covered with silver dross, all paint and varnish, not real and not lasting. The house is decorated, but ownership has not changed. It was never given to Christ, and the Spirit never lived there. So we must be careful not to rest in something a person may have and yet still come short.

Here is also the condition of a final apostate, a person who falls away at last, into whom the devil returns after leaving. Then he goes and takes seven other spirits more wicked than himself (Luke 11:26). The number seven stands for a complete set, not just a fixed count, as when seven devils are said to have been cast out of Mary Magdalene. These seven wicked spirits stand against the seven spirits of God (Revelation 3:1). They are said to be more wicked than the first one. It seems even devils are not all equally evil. Perhaps their ranks in wickedness now match the ranks of holiness they once had when they stood before their fall.

When the devil wants to do the most harm, he uses those who are even more harmful than himself. These spirits enter without trouble or resistance. They are welcomed, they dwell there, they work there, and they rule there. Then the last state of that man is worse than the first. Hypocrisy is the main road to apostasy. If the heart still belongs to sin and Satan, outward shows and empty shadows will come to nothing. Those who have not set the heart right will not remain steady for long.

Where secret sins are kept alive under a visible profession of religion, conscience is corrupted. God is then provoked to withdraw his restraining grace, his gracious help that holds people back from sin. In time, the hidden hypocrite often becomes an open apostate, one who turns away from the faith.

The last state of such a person is worse than the first, both in sin and in punishment. Apostates are often among the worst of people, because they grow empty, reckless, bold in evil, and hard against conviction. Their consciences become seared, meaning they no longer feel the sharp pain of guilt as they should, and their sins are more serious than others.

God often shows his displeasure against them even in this world, and in the next world they will face greater condemnation. Let us then hear, fear, and hold firmly to our integrity.