A lot of Jesus’ great arguments make sense.  In other words Jesus uses the philosophy of arguentation.  He puts together a good argument.  Many Christians today are swept by emotion.  Tonight at the men’s group I will talk about ‘A Cuddly Murderer’:  The cuddly murderer never swears.  The cuddly murderer is always polite.  He is on death row and he is reading his Bible.  He writes loving letters to his family.  He takes care of a sparrow that comes to his prison window each day by laying out a small dish of water and some seeds.  He’s such a caring and thoughtful cuddly murderer that he should be allowed to live …  Of course, we have ignored the fact that he murdered someone and we have not discussed whether death is a fitting punishment for murder.

So many times I see Christians hate a man (e.g. Al Gore) and discard the argument without logic.  The Pharisees were like this in the Bible.  They discarded and discredidited Jesus without really hearing him.  Jesus acknowledges that there are those who will be prejudice and they do not gather with him, they just scatter.

Luke 11:14-23

¹⁴ Jesus was driving out a demon that was mute. When the demon left, the man who had been mute spoke, and the crowd was amazed. ¹⁵ But some of them said, “By Beelzebul, the prince of demons, he is driving out demons.” ¹⁶ Others tested him by asking for a sign from heaven.

 ¹⁷ Jesus knew their thoughts and said to them: “Any kingdom divided against itself will be ruined, and a house divided against itself will fall. ¹⁸ If Satan is divided against himself, how can his kingdom stand? I say this because you claim that I drive out demons by Beelzebul. ¹⁹ Now if I drive out demons by Beelzebul, by whom do your followers drive them out? So then, they will be your judges. ²⁰ But if I drive out demons by the finger of God, then the kingdom of God has come upon you.

   ²¹ “When a strong man, fully armed, guards his own house, his possessions are safe. ²² But when someone stronger attacks and overpowers him, he takes away the armor in which the man trusted and divides up his plunder.

   ²³ “Whoever is not with me is against me, and whoever does not gather with me scatters.

Questions

1. How is Jesus’ authority over demons interpreted?
2. What is Jesus’ statement of fact that he gives in reply?
3. How does he show by logical reasoning that this ‘fact’ does not occur in his case?
4. Do you value logic and truth even if it comes from sources you don’t like?
5. Can Jesus’authority working through you overcome something oppressive?

Going Deeper

Observation

1. What was Jesus driving out?
2. In what two ways is Jesus tested (v.15,16)?
3. How many times is ‘if’ used?
4. What is the name of the authority people assume Jesus serves?
5. What is the statuse of those who are not with Jesus?

Interpretation

1. Who or what was Beelzebub?  What is the link with William Golding?
2. If people were not satisfied that Jesus’ miracles already were a sign, what kind of sign were people expecting?
3. Could ‘if’ be placed before ‘any’ in verse 17 and it still make sense?
4. What is a syllogism and why is that relevant?
5. How could the Kingdom of God have already come if Jesus had not died and risen?

Application 

1. How do people challenge Jesus’ authority today?
2. How is the existence of the church after 2,000 years evidence of Jesus’ authority?
3. Do you know how to construct and evaluate arguments like Jesus did?  How could you learn to do so as an act of worship?
4. How can we prevent churches from being divided by Beelzebub and falling?
5. How does Jesus bring the same harmony of The Kingdom of God (which remains standing) today as he did when he was physically present in Israel?