Correcting the Compliment; Luke 11:27-28

The lady in Luke 11:27-28 was deeply moved by the teaching of Jesus on His identity and the power of God to liberate, restore, and fill with His holy presence. Her compliment to Him was actually a compliment to His mother, Mary. She assumed that Mary had taught Jesus this wonderful truth about His identity and God’s Word.

Jesus corrected her by stating that this teaching was not of the earth from human instruction; it was from God. God-revealed truth, when given and received through faith (heard and done) is the most powerful, creative, life-changing thing that can happen in a person’s life.

Jesus was not putting the lady down or criticizing her for her compliment, but He did correct her. We should receive the correction of Jesus rather than feel condemned by His correction. Condemnation is something that will happen in the end when there is no more opportunity to repent. Correction happens now, to lead us to repentance. In Christ we are no longer condemned (Romans 8:1), but we are corrected (Hebrews 12:4-17).

Luke 11:14-28, Part 2

What do these three images from Luke 11:14-28 have in common; a divided kingdom, a burglary, and clean, but empty house? What was Jesus teaching us with these word pictures?

All three of these word pictures describe the strategy of Satan. He seeks to divide, he seeks to steal, kill, and destroy, and he will fill a vacuum. Jesus was being accused of working by the power of the devil, but the work of the devil is to divide the people of God, to steal from the people of God, and to creep into and fill any space he can in our lives.

The devil knows the downfall that occurs where there is division. It is God’s people who do not know how serious divisiveness is. Proverbs 6:16-19 tells us that sowing discord among brothers is one of the things the Lord hates. He hates it because it destroys unity.

Jesus would overpower a demon when He would cast it out. He would rob the demon of what the demon had stole from the person; their health, their mind, their relationships.

And the image of the clean but empty house is a warning that a person needs more than just help, they need to be occupied by the Strong Man, Jesus Christ.

The central teaching of Jesus in this section of Luke is that God’s Word, when revealed to a person, is powerful to liberate, to take back what the enemy has stolen, and to fill with holy power the life that receives that Word. Head knowledge of the things of God will not cut it. But receiving the revealed truth from God, through faith, will.

Thoughts on Luke 11:14-28

“…a house divided against itself falls.” Luke 11:17. Jesus is giving an answer to those who were accusing Him of using Satan’s power to cast out demons 11:15). He is also answering those who were testing Him, demanding from Him more signs “…from heaven.” (11:16). One group aligning Him with the devil by what He was doing and the other group demanding more proof (signs) that He was from heaven. Here is the question:

How does His answer in 11:17 correct both groups?

The fact that Jesus is teaching both groups is amazing to start with. He desires for all to come into God’s Kingdom whether they are a Pharisee, a publican, or someone in between. The invitation is for everyone, this is grace; but the condition remains singular; through faith in Christ.

The Pharisees were seeking to discredit Jesus because the crowds were flocking to Him and not to them. They were jealous and envious of Jesus. They could not deny the power He demonstrated in overcoming the demons and casting them out, and of healing people who suffered from various diseases. So they sought to justify their own position of not following Jesus from their sin of jealousy and envy. Jesus points out the flaw in their reasoning with the obvious question; How could the devil advance his own kingdom of darkness, destruction, and deception by defeating himself and overpowering his own agents? No way. His kingdom would collapse with that kind of disunity and confusion.

The second group has the same problem but from a different perspective. The second group wants to recognize that Jesus is who He claims to be, but needs more proof…they demand a sign from heaven. In their demand, Jesus hears again the old temptation of doubting God’s word and way and formulating another way to accomplish the same result, getting people to follow. Adam and Eve fell for this, but Jesus did not. He resisted this temptation in the wilderness, “turn these stones into bread… jump off the Temple, His angels will catch you…”

If Jesus would have responded to the crowd, rather than listening to His Father, He would not have been able to do anything. In John 5:19 Jesus said, “Truly, truly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of Himself, unless it is something He sees the Father doing; for whatever the Father does, these things the Son also does in like manner.” Following the demands of the crowd rather than His Father would have divided His Kingdom for God’s way into the Kingdom is through faith, not signs or proof.