Luke 11:14-16 (NIV) 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. But some of them said, “By Beelzebub, the prince of demons, he is driving out demons.” Others tested him by asking for a sign from heaven.
The occasion for this conflict was the simple casting out of a demon that had made a man unable to speak. And, as was always the case, Jesus successfully drove out the demon, restoring the power of speech to the man.
The majority of the people who witnessed this exorcism were powerfully impressed with Jesus’ easy command over the demon. He employed none of the usual accoutrements of exorcists – anointing oil, candles, bells, and such. He simply spoke a word of command, and the demon left. There was never any struggle, never any sign of resistance.
This caused some Pharisees in the crowd (Matthew 9:34) to accuse Jesus of being possessed by Beelzebul, the king of demons. How else could they explain Jesus’ easy command of the demons, His inexplicable authority over them that none of the exorcists in their own crowd had? How else could they explain the fact that the demons never fought back, unless Jesus was using the authority of their own king, against whom they did not dare to rebel?
Others in the crowd, again, predominantly Pharisees, were demanding of Jesus a sign from heaven (of their own choosing, of course) to prove to them Jesus’ authority. Maybe if He could do the impossible task that they set for Him (such as moving the sun back in the sky, like Isaiah did) they would set aside their doubts and listen to Him.
But all of those accusations and demands did not come from an honest pursuit of the truth. Instead, they were motivated by jealousy of Jesus’ power and authority. The Pharisees had no spiritual power – they only had rules and regulations that they were champions at obeying. And they had no spiritual authority. They themselves could not cast out any demons or do any of the miracles that Jesus pulled off without any apparent effort. So the only way that they could maintain their own illusion of authority was to attack Jesus’ credibility, which they did with increasing vigor.
But Jesus was not a trained dog that would jump at the commands of those who were challenging Him to prove Himself. He did not need to be accepted by these “authorities” to validate His own identity. He was the eternal Son of God, and they should have been seeking HIS approval instead!
Father, Jesus’ authority was always questioned by those who saw themselves as having authority. And His miracles were doubted by those who could do no miracles themselves. His identity was challenged by those who had proved themselves to be spiritually blind. And He never took the bait! He was always 100% confident of who He was and what He had been called to do. Help me, along with all of Your people, to have that same confidence, that same assurance of our identity in Christ, so that the doubters and nay-sayers can never shake our confidence and faith. Amen.