The Wicked Generation
Luke 11:14-36 – January 9, 2022
First a correction. Last week when I spoke about the Lord’s prayer her in Luke 11:2-4, I said it begins with Father which is an intimate term which is correct. I also said there is no record of anyone using this term to address God prior to Jesus, meaning in the Old Testament and the New Testament. That was incorrect for there are up to eleven verses in the Old Testament that refer to God as Father using the KJV. You may find them here at From the Narrow Desert. However, none are what I would call intimate and intended for use by anyone to call upon Him as Father. In the NT God is referenced as Father 67 times in the first three gospels and 122 times in the fourth.
John 1:1-5 as an introduction to the verses today. In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was with God in the beginning. 3 Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. 4 In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind. 5 The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.
Luke 11:14-16. Let’s first ask, who or what is Beelzebul or Beelzebub? Simply stated it is simply a name for Satan. But what does it mean? The two most common names are lord of flies and lord of dung.
Luke 11:17-20. The point was that Satan would not work against himself and His accusers had to answer how Satan benefited from the work Jesus had just done. And in v20, Jesus answered the charge that He was in league with the Devil.
Luke 11:21-22. Satan is the strong man, but Jesus is the stronger man. His message, “I’m not under Satan’s power.”
Luke 11:23. Who will you team up with? To be undecided is to be decided. Choose light or choose darkness.
Luke 11:24-26. This is the picture of a person delivered from a demon, but not yet filled with Jesus. It is a picture of a person who tries to be neutral who has not chosen to be with God, with Jesus. Demons love to possess humans as we are made in the image of God.
Luke 11:27-28. Some woman thought so much of Jesus she thought His mother must be very blessed. He did not deny His mother was blessed, but even more so (more blessed) are those who hear the word of God and obey it. Us.
Luke 11:29-32. Jesus now addresses those in verse 15 who demanded a sign from heaven. After all He had just stated how blessed are those who hear and do God’s word. In other words, hearing and keeping the word are more important than signs. Just as Jonah provided a sign, after being in the belly of whale Jesus would provide a like sign when He would rise 3 days after His crucifixion and death.
And just as Jesus is a greater sign than Jonah He is also greater than Solomon. The men of Nineveh repented after 40 days of Jonah reluctantly preaching repentance to them, Jesus preached over 3 years throughout Israel.
Luke 11:33-36. Just as a lamp should be displayed out in the open so that all can benefit from its light, so the word and work of God should be displayed. Going back to the beginning at v14, one would have to be spiritually blind to attribute Jesus’ miracles to Satan and to ignore the work of Jesus right before the eyes.
As I began with a few verses of John, I will close with a few from John as well.
John 3:19 – And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil.
John 12:46 – I am come a light into the world, that whosoever believeth on me should not abide in darkness.
Conclusion
Luke 11:34 – Your eye is the lamp of your body. Are we letting the light in or are we keeping it out and remaining in darkness?