Jesus And Beelzebub
JESUS AND BEELZEBUB
LUKE 11:14-23
After expelling a demon, Jesus was accused of being in league with Satan.
It is part of the viciousness of human nature to shut the eyes to good. Some perversity of mind corrupts the whole outlook of the determinedly rebellious. An ingenuity of wickedness suggests some means of rejecting good. It is part of human free will. Conviction is forced on no one. Nothing is so compellingly proved, that the obstinately skeptical has no alternative to faith. They saw the healing touch of Christ on distracted minds, were unable to deny the visible and factual evidence, but sought a base and evil explanation of it all.
What then is faith? It is not blind credulity. There is evidence on which the questing mind can build a structure of confidence. There is enough to satisfy the reason which seeks enlightenment, not enough to beat into submission the mind which is eager for a way out and fertile in objections. Alternatives stand before the seeker. He must, in point of fact, take one or another path of faith. For let the one who rejects God and his Christ realize that he is not done with faith. If he pleads insufficient proof to warrant acceptance, he must equally admit that the contrary choice also lacks final proof. The last act is the committal of the life to the likelier alternative, and the choice of likelihood is often, indeed invariably, determined by the desire that this way or that be true. The moral choice, therefore, at last determines the balance of the intellectual choice. Perhaps this gives a glimpse of why faith saves. But, again, let the one who rejects Christ not delude himself into imagining that he avoids faith. He has committed his life to that which he cannot prove. For the one who accepts, the promise of John 7:17 proves true.
Notes Note here how the accounts in Matthew 12 and Mark 3 supplement each other and Luke’s account; especially the strong words of Matthew 12:31-32. 11:14: the tense is significant—it suggests that the cure was not in this case instantaneous. 11:15: Beelzebul—in New Testament = Satan. Possibly derived from Baal-zebul—“Lord of the high place,” a Canaanite deity. 11:19 “sons” = pupils. 11:23: see note on 9:50.