Read Luke 11:14-36. Our Lord faced much more opposition when He was in Jerusalem than in Galilee. The question of how He was able to do the miracles He did arose often. One answer suggested by the religious leaders, and which was echoed by many of the people, was that our Lord performed His miracles through the power of the Devil himself. After our Lord freed someone from an indwelling demonic spirit, this issue was raised again as it had many times before (See Unit 13).
1. When Luke states that people tempted our Lord in asking for a sign from heaven, what do you think they were doing?
They were trying to disprove our Lord’s claim that what He did was from God. They were asking Him to give them a sign from heaven that He was legitimate not so that they might believe but so that they might prove Him false.
2. What is Jesus trying to tell His listeners in Luke 11:17-20 about His ability to cast out demons?
He is telling His listeners that it cannot be by Satan’s power because Satan would not fight against himself.
3. What do you think Jesus is saying in His illustration of the strong, fully armed man?
The only way that one can defeat Satan is by being stronger and more powerful than him.
4. What do you think Jesus is telling these people when He states, “He who is not with Me is against Me; and he who does not gather with Me, scatters.”
By opposing Jesus, you are placing yourself on Satan’s side in the conflict.
5. What do you think Jesus is warning His hearers about in Luke 11:24-26?
He is warning His hearers about the danger of returning to their old way of life after having been freed once from Satan’s power.
6. Why do you think Jesus was not willing to give these people a sign (except the sign of Jonah) from heaven that He was the true Messiah?
These people had already made their minds up not to believe. Any sign would be rejected or explained away by them just as they had rejected and explained away His ability to cast out demons.
7. What is the sign of Jonah? How will our Lord give the people this sign?
a. Jonah’s sign was that he was dead, in the digestive system of a great sea monster for three days, and then returned to life again to finish his ministry.
b. Jesus’ sign was that He would be dead, in the grave three days, then rise again to life.
Read Luke 11:37-54. While He was in Jerusalem for this feast, He was invited to dinner by one of the religious leaders. Our Lord attended probably along with some of His disciples. One of the important religious customs of that day was that everyone washed their hands before eating. This was not done for health reasons but for religious reasons. The thinking of that day was that a person probably had touched something that was ceremonially unclean sometime prior to eating. This made your hands ceremonially unclean. If you picked up your food with unclean hands, you would make your food ceremonially unclean, which in turn would make you ceremonially unclean inwardly when it entered your digestive tract. To prevent this ceremonial contamination, good Jews would wash their hands to cleanse them ceremonially before eating. Jesus did not do this when He came to dinner at this religious leader’s home.
8. When this Pharisee marveled (he probably said something as well!) that Jesus had not washed His hands before eating, what was our Lord’s reply in verses 11:39-41?
They worry more about outward cleanliness than inward cleanliness. If they dealt with the inside, the inner man, and acted then out of a clean heart, then they would not have to worry about outward cleansing.
9. What was our Lord’s reply to the Pharisee in verses 11:42?
They worried more about unimportant points of the ceremonial law and ignored the major issues of right and wrong and the love of God.
10. What do you think our Lord was saying about the Pharisees in Luke 11:43 and in Luke 11:44?
They were more interested in the honor given by men than the honor from God. They looked good, but people had no idea how corrupt they were.
11. When Luke speaks about lawyers, to whom is he referring?
They were religious leaders who were skilled in the Old Testament Law (religious scholars and experts).
12. What is stated of these lawyers in Luke 11:46, in 11:47-51, and in Luke 11:52?
a. They made life difficult for ordinary people by their interpretation of the Law but did not keep it themselves.
b. Although they outwardly honored the prophets whom God had sent and who were martyred, they really would have sided with their fathers who murdered the prophets.
c. They had refused to accept the truth of God’s Word and had prevented others by their teachings from getting it as well.
13. What was the reaction of the scribes and Pharisees after our Lord severely criticized them?
They tried to get Him to speak about many things so that they might catch Him in something they could accuse Him about.
The Applications:
What are the applications of these passages to our lives today? Identify as many as you are able.
1. Our Lord did not spend time trying to prove to the religious leaders that He was indeed the promised Messiah, for they had already made up their minds. No amount of evidence was going to get them to change it. He refused to perform a miracle just to vindicate who He was. It was simply a waste of time. Make no mistake; the evidence was there for anyone to see. The Old Testament Scriptures witnessed of Him. He had performed numerous miracles to help people in need, miracles witnessed by these leaders. But they had made their mind up as to what they wanted to believe; they were not open to any change at all.
So it is in our day as well. As we witness about the person of Jesus Christ, there will be those who want to debate the issue, not to determine if they should accept Him or not, but only to try to prove us wrong. As the religious leaders tested Jesus, so we will be tested as well. And just as our Lord did not waste His time, for the most part, arguing with them, so we too should not waste time given to us in these debates. If the person’s mind has been made up and set, no amount of reason or evidence will avail.
When it comes to the existence of God, one must remember that this issue is not open to empirical proof, nor is the non-existence of God. Whether or not there is a God is a postulate, an axiom, or an assumption that one makes to start with. Axioms or postulates can be evaluated for reasonableness, but they cannot be proven or disproven. Either there is a God, or there is no God, or there might or might not be a God. One assumes one of these positions as true and works out or accepts a system of beliefs based upon this assumption and other assumptions. For those who have started with the assumption that there is no God, no amount of data can convince them to the contrary, for all data is interpreted by them in a manner consistent with their basic assumptions.
Do the geologic layers of sediment and abundant fossilized remains indicate a worldwide catastrophic flood for atheists? No! It is explained by millions if not billions of years of slow geologic processes now seen. It must be, for there is no other explanation for them. Does the magnificent creation extending further than we can peer with the most powerful telescopes indicate an omnipotent creator? Not for those who have assumed there is no creator as a fundamental basis of their beliefs! For them, it is there, a product of the random processes of the laws of physics! Is the existence of life itself in the wondrously complex home we call earth any proof that there is an infinitely wise creator? Not for those who choose to believe it must be the product of chance and time alone. No matter how infinitesimally small those chances must be, for them, there is no other explanation.
For those who assume there is no God, all data must be consistent with this. Hence all explanations, all theories, all tests, and processes must agree with this. If a test or process indicates a contrary idea, it is thrown out or reinterpreted so that it is consistent with their basic presuppositions.
How can you prove the existence of God, or the deity of Jesus Christ to someone who has already decided there is no God and that Jesus, if He indeed existed, was just an ordinary man? You cannot! It is, for the most part, a futile effort. As our Lord spent most of His time in ministering where the fields were ripe, so also should we. While we should always be ready to give an answer to anyone for the hope that is in us, let us not waste time and effort in futile debates with those whose mind is set. To be sure, however, there are some that God has called specifically to minister and witness in this hard and cold field. Theirs is a very hard and very difficult ministry indeed.
2. There are today, just as in our Lord’s time, those religious leaders who are more concerned with the outward appearance than with inward righteousness, more concerned with the approval of men than the approval of God. Just as it was in our Lord’s time, so too today, this is true not only on the liberal end of the religious spectrum, that end which denies the deity of our Lord but on the very conservative end as well. There are those who want to have and minister in large churches for the financial rewards it brings, for the public recognition it engenders and for the social and political power it carries. In our western culture, we are responsible for the leaders we choose. As believers, we are often responsible for selecting those to lead the church. We must be very careful carrying out this responsibility, recognizing those not just because they sound good or look good outwardly, but as much as we are able based on their heart’s attitudes. Do they do what they do because they love the Lord or because they love the praise of men? Would they minister with the same zeal if no one ever saw their ministry but God alone? Would they serve in a church of 30 as readily as in a church of 3000?
We all serve God as we exercise the gifts that God has given us. How do we serve? More importantly, why do we serve? Do we serve to win the praise of man, or do we serve to win the praise of God? Do we teach for the praise of men or the love for our Lord? Do we lead in prayer for the status it brings us, or to look spiritual, or do we truly and humbly talk to our heavenly Father? Of whom are we conscious when we pray? Are we more aware and conscious of how we sound to those around us or of the very presence of the God before whom we stand? When we sing in the choir or do a solo, what is our motivation? Why do we do what we do? Is it so others will see our talents and abilities, or is it for Him alone? When we sing, what audience do we visualize ourselves standing before? When we give, is it that others will see how generous we are and consider our spirituality as a function of the amount we give? How would you give if no one ever knew you gave or what you gave? Why do we serve on that committee: is it for the status it brings or as a means of serving the Lord our God? Not only do we need to be careful that those who lead us do so for God’s approval rather than man’s, but we ourselves need to evaluate our own motives as we serve in the local body in which God has placed us.