Luke 9:1

Verse of the Day Devotion Luke 9:1 

“And He called the twelve together and gave them power and authority over all the demons, and to heal diseases. ” – Luke 9:1 

These verses of Jesus, from our focus verse through verse 6, recounts a new phase in Jesus’ ministry.  Up to that time, His disciples watched Jesus minister to the people while helping Him where they could.  Now, Jesus is involving them directly by sending them out to do the work they were being called to do. Now He was sending them out to permit them to participate with Him.  He commissioned them to go out and do what He had been doing.

First, He “gave them power and authority over all the demons, and to heal diseases.” Luke 9:1b. Jesus gave them a share of His authority given Him by the Father, as well as the power to heal the sick and cast out demons.  Without receiving this power, the mission would not be fulfillable, but he gives them what is required to do the work He taught them.  This was not given them to build up themselves and their power and abilities, but to bring freedom and healing to those they would minister to.  For their mission was to go out and preach and proclaim the Kingdom of God and to heal the sick and deliver those who have demons. The idea with the phrase ‘He Sent’ in verse 2 is clarified by the Greek word apostello, which means to send forth as a messenger.  In essence, He was sending them out to reach out just as He was doing.

Then Jesus lets them know some rules He expects them to follow what He did, which will help them be fruitful in this task.  First, they were told not to take anything for the journey. “And He said to them, take nothing for your journey, neither a staff, nor a bag, nor bread, nor money; and do not even have two tunics apiece. “ Luke 9:3. The Twelve were to travel without equipment or extra goods, such as clothing, money, food, etc. This may have been due to the brevity of their mission or to Jesus’ desire to have them avoid the appearance of preaching for profit. This was something no doubt done by many Jewish and cultic leaders. It may also have been in order to require them to trust in God alone to supply their needs. Paul put it like this, “And my God shall supply all your needs according to His riches in glory in Christ Jesus.” Philippians 4:19.   

Then in verse 4, Jesus says “And whatever house you enter, stay there, and take your leave from there.” Luke 9:4. Those ministering in Jesus’ name should not use their ministry for personal gain and seek better housing if it becomes available later. The implications of this, while clear and forever applicable, is to not put down those of a lower state or puff up those of a higher state. Matthew puts it like this, “And into whatever city or village you enter, inquire who is worthy in it; and abide there until you go away.” Matthew 10:11.  John Wesley understood this as they should abide with him: who is disposed to receive the Gospel. Then abide in that house until you leave the town.

And then in the next verse, “And as for those who do not receive you, as you go out from that city, shake off the dust from your feet as a testimony against them.” Luke 9:5. Their job as preachers wasn’t primarily to change people’s minds. They were to persuasively present the message, but if their listeners didn’t receive it they could leave and shake the very dust from your feet as they left.  If Jewish people of that time had to go in or through a Gentile city, as they left they often shook the dust off their feet as a gesture saying, We don’t want to take anything from this Gentile city with us. Essentially, Jesus told His disciples to regard a Jewish city that rejected their message as if it were a Gentile city.

Then they left and went out to do the Lord’s work.  “And departing, they began going about among the villages, preaching the gospel, and healing everywhere.” Luke 9:6. These twelve men went out and proclaimed the Kingdom of God, essentially that the Messiah is with them providing salvation for all who accept His words.  Jesus was, in a way,  helping them by allowing them to go out and do the work they would eventually do at the ascension of Jesus after His resurrection.  And through the scriptures, we see how we are to spread the word of the Kingdom of God to the world as well.  Just as the disciples of Jesus prepared the way for the word of God regarding Jesus, we are to do the same.  Both with words and with deeds.  Similarly, while we may get excited about visible miracles and demonstrations of supernatural power, the greatest miracle of all is the fact that unworthy sinners can become righteous children of God. When our focus moves to ourselves and how God is using us, we are headed the wrong direction. It is a good reminder that, since their names are unimportant, ours are as well. It is the name of Jesus Christ alone who deserves all attention and glory.

William Funkhouser MDiv, ThD, Founder and President of True Devotion Ministries. 

Matthew 12:24

Verse of the Day Devotion Matthew 12:24 

“But when the Pharisees heard it, they said, This man casts out demons only by Beelzebul the ruler of the demons.” –  Matthew 12:24 

Today we will look at the Parable regarding Blasphemy Against the Holy Spirit.  Here is this parable as found in Matthew’s gospel.

“But when the Pharisees heard it, they said, This man casts out demons only by Beelzebul the ruler of the demons. And knowing their thoughts He said to them, Any kingdom divided against itself is laid waste; and any city or house divided against itself shall not stand. And if Satan casts out Satan, he is divided against himself; how then shall his kingdom stand?  And if I by Beelzebul cast out demons, by whom do your sons cast them out? Consequently they shall be your judges. But if I cast out demons by the Spirit of God, then the kingdom of God has come upon you. Or how can anyone enter the strong man’s house and carry off his property, unless he first binds the strong man? And then he will plunder his house. He who is not with Me is against Me; and he who does not gather with Me scatters.” Matthew 12:24-30.

First, it is importance to note that the Jewish leaders repeat their earlier charge; for Beelzebul, also called Beelzebub. Interestingly, this charge persisted as a common view of Jesus among Jews in the early centuries of the Christian era. They did not deny the genuineness of his miracles but ascribed his power to the devil, so that he was branded worthy of death.  Therefore, these Pharisees publicly pronounced the same charge after Jesus cast a demon out of a man. “Then there was brought to Him a demon-possessed man who was blind and dumb, and He healed him, so that the dumb man spoke and saw. And all the multitudes were amazed, and began to say, “This man cannot be the Son of David, can he?” Matthew 12:22-23.  Here, we see the people amazed and questioning whether Jesus could be the Messiah. The Pharisees could not allow this to happen, so they came forth with their blasphemous accusation. “This man casts out demons only by Beelzebul the ruler of the demons.” 

Jesus, knowing their thoughts and purposes, answers them.  “Any kingdom divided against itself is laid waste; and any city or house divided against itself shall not stand. And if Satan casts out Satan, he is divided against himself; how then shall his kingdom stand?” Matthew 12:25-26.  What He essentially was saying is that internal conflict within a country, city, or even a family will tear it apart, or leave it ruined, if left unchecked.  Jesus concludes that because demonization promotes Satan’s designs, Satan would not himself seek to cast out demons. He would be undermining his own work.

Moreover, Jesus is not the only exorcist in the area. “And if I by Beelzebul cast out demons, by whom do your sons cast them out? Consequently they shall be your judges.” Matthew 12:27.  Other Jews practiced exorcism as well. In the schools of the Pharisees, a so-called higher magic was taught, by which demons were to be expelled and drawn out of the noses of persons possessed, by means of certain roots, by exorcism and by magical formulas, supposed to have been derived from king Solomon. Without evaluating this state of affairs, Jesus points out that the logic of the charge against him condemns those making it. If Satan is the one who enables exorcisms, then other Jewish exorcists must also be devilish. Jesus’ accusers judge their own sons/disciples by their accusations. 

Then He adds, “But if I cast out demons by the Spirit of God, then the kingdom of God has come upon you.” Matthew 12:28.  What this implies is that the coming of the kingdom is to be discerned in Jesus’ defeat of the demons. Mostly Matthew speaks of the kingdom as future, but here it is a present reality.  He then ends this with two analogies.  “Or how can anyone enter the strong man’s house and carry off his property, unless he first binds the strong man? And then he will plunder his house.” Matthew 12:29. One cannot attack a well-protected home without first rendering the guard powerless. So, too, Jesus must first bind Satan before he can plunder or lay hold of his house, for example cast out his demons.  And finally, He declares that “He who is not with Me is against Me; and he who does not gather with Me scatters.” Matthew 12:30.  This must be balanced by “For he who is not against us is for us.” Mark 9:40.  The point here is that Christ leaves no room for neutral ground. If people cannot accept his teaching and work, they are in danger of God’s judgment.  And the last part of this. “and he who does not gather with Me scatters” has the idea that He who does not help the true shepherd to gather his flock into the fold is, most likely, one who wishes to scatter them, that he may have the opportunity of stealing and destroying them.

The thought here is that He is explaining to the Pharisees that He casts our demons by the Holy Spirit and not by Satan, as they said to Him.  This was basically saying that the power by which He did this was Satan himself.  And by alluding to the Spirit in Him as Satan was essentially blaspheming the Holy Spirit.  And when this is done, this cannot be forgiven. “Therefore, I say to you, any sin and blasphemy shall be forgiven men, but blasphemy against the Spirit shall not be forgiven. And whoever shall speak a word against the Son of Man, it shall be forgiven him; but whoever shall speak against the Holy Spirit, it shall not be forgiven him, either in this age, or in the age to come.”  Matthew 12:31-32. 

William Funkhouser MDiv, ThD, Founder and President of True Devotion Ministries.