The Life of Christ in the Synoptic Gospels
DARKNESS AND LIGHT
The Life of Christ in the Synoptic Gospels
DARKNESS AND LIGHT
Lesson Plan:
1. War Between Good and Evil (v 14)
2. Which of the Two Did Jesus and His Opposers Belong? (vs 15-23)
3. Replacing Evil With Good (vs 24-26)
4. Light Overcoming Darkness (vs 33-36)
Time: Either (a) December, A.D. 29, in the order of Luke, or (b) more than a year earlier in the
Autumn of A.D. 28, when Jesus was also warning the Pharisees, as He was in Luke 11.
Place: If (a) He was in Perea. If (b) He was in Galilee near the sea, just before He began to speak
in parables.
Research Thoughts: Devils or demons. The miracle of Jesus in healing dumb demoniac. Why Jesus would not work another sign from heaven for the Pharisees. The divided vs. the united kingdom. The teaching of the man from whom a demon had been cast out, with nothing good taking the demon's place. Hiding our light. The gain of letting our light shine.
Scripture Reading: Luke 11:14
1. War Between Good and Evil
Every person born into this world falls into a conflict between Good and Evil. The forces of Evil are on every side, as are the forces of Good. "For our wrestling is not against flesh and blood, but against the principalities, against the powers, against the world-rulers of this darkness, against the spiritual hosts of wickedness." Most children know early in life about this conflict. By means of it a child can hopefully grow strong and good. Early in life, it becomes our personal business to be arrayed on the side of right, under the leadership of Jesus. Christian leaders should always be steadfast and determined to make this fact very clear and plain to the little ones among us. Help them see clearly the character of the two sides or forces. Keep in front of them the two contending powers, as set forth in the New Testament:
On the Side of Good: The fruits of the spirit (Gal. 5:22); The ten commandments (Rom. 8:16, 17, 26; Jn. 1:12; Eph. 5:9; Ps. 46:7; Is. 41:10; many of the Psalms, Prophets, and Revelation)
On the Side of Evil: The works of the flesh (Gal. 5:19-21); The ten commandments without the "not" Satan, demoniacs (1 Cor. 6:10; Eph. 5:6; Rev. 21:27, etc.).
Illustration: The Mute Demoniac on one side and Jesus on the other.
v 14 ... "And he," Jesus, "was casting out a devil," Gk. "a demon." Its especial characteristic was that it made the man dumb.
v 14 ... "was casting," as if the process was difficult, and required a little time.
v 14 ... "when the devil," "demon" as in all such cases "was gone out, the dumb [mute] spake, and the people wondered." All three narratives (here, Matt. 12:22; Mk. 3:20-22) suppose a great throng to have been present, including hostile observers, and strangers. They wondered because the result was different from that of the common incantations of those who pretended to cast out demons. To understand this miracle and the conversation that follows, it is necessary to make some real distinctions.
First: Christ makes it clear that there are in the world Two Distinct and Opposing Spiritual Kingdoms – God's Kingdom and Satan's Kingdom, and this fact pervades the whole New Testament (see Matt. 25:31-46; Jn. 8:38; 14:30; Eph. 6:11-16; 1 Jn. 3:8-10; Rev. 12:9-11; 20:1). Satan's kingdom is composed of all evil beings, evil men, demons, and all who embody the principles of sin and its consequences. All selfishness and its whole brood of sins, crimes, hatred, and all that seeks good for itself at the expense of others. All the diseases and sufferings of body and of spirit, the wrongs of society and of the individual, that are the fruit of selfishness, belong to this kingdom of evil. We see this kingdom pervading the whole history of man; we see it everywhere around us, and in us. Exactly opposed to this is the Kingdom of God. Jesus is its King. Angels and the spirits of just men made perfect are its ministering spirits. Love is its motive. All the fruits of the spirit; everything that makes for the welfare of man, body and soul; whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, and just, and pure, and lovely, and if there be any virtue or any praise – these things belong to the kingdom of God. Just so far as individuals embody these principles do they belong to the kingdom of God. The two kingdoms are intermingled in each individual and in the community. And there is a continual warfare between them. The question for each person to decide is, To which side do I belong? Am I on the side represented by Christ, or the side represented by the demon?
Second: We must distinguish between: (a) the ancient popular belief in almost all times and peoples, that sicknesses of body and mind, and misfortunes of all kinds were caused by malignant demons, to be warded off or cured by magic and exorcisms and not concerned with moral character. It is such as these of whom Jesus said to the Pharisees "by whom do your sons cast them out?" (v 19). (b) The demons whom Jesus cast out were representatives of the kingdom of evil, of Satan who tempted Jesus. There was always an element of moral evil in them. They were called unclean spirits because they are impure, unholy, defiling, and produce such effects both in the body and the spirit of those whom they possess. The outward filth was a type of the moral defilement. Jesus cured the demoniacs both physically and morally. They became true, natural men. His cures were blows at the whole kingdom of evil. They were symbols and illustrations of the cures of intemperate, selfish and worldly men; victories over the kingdom of evil. Note: While evil is around every child, it is not wise to dwell too much on this aspect of life around children. Rather we should emphasize that with the help and love of Jesus Christ, they need to strive against the evils they see and know.
Illustration: A doctor was once asked how he could endure to live in constant contact with so many awful diseases and pains. He replied that he was happy because he looked on disease and suffering from the curative standpoint. He dwelt on the cure more than on the disease. Likewise, the minister of Jesus Christ, seeing and knowing the sins and wrongs around him, finds his greatest joy in looking upon these from the curative standpoint, rejoicing with joy unspeakable because it is his privilege to help men away from sin and its consequences, into the body of Christ. Teach the children to feel this joy, the joy of victory over faults and temptations; the joy of the hero.
Illustration: All boys are familiar with Marathon races, both here and abroad. But they may not be familiar with its origin. At the supreme moment of Grecian history, a runner brought to Athens the news of the victory of the ten thousand Athenians over one hundred thousand Persian soldiers at Marathon, about twenty-five miles away. Worn, panting, exhausted with the effort, he sank in death on the threshold of the first house he reached with the tidings of victory, and sighed forth his gallant soul in one great sob almost in the very same words as those used by the Apostle Paul concerning his preaching of the Gospel of Christ, Rejoice Ye, We too Rejoice.
Illustration: Every child in the home, every student in Sunday Bible school, who gains a victory over sin and temptation, dying to the past, but living for the days to come, brings the same joy to parent and teacher, "Rejoice Ye, We too Rejoice."
Scripture Reading: Luke 11:15-23
2. Which of the Two Did Jesus and His Opposers Belong?
Jesus claimed that He was the representative of the kingdom of God; as shown by His teaching and His works. The Scribes and Pharisees (Matt. 12:24; Mk. 3:22), the leaders of the Jewish church, who were looking for the Messiah Deliverer, claimed that they represented the kingdom of God. They bitterly opposed Jesus. The Multitudes, when they saw the miracle Jesus had worked by casting out demons from the tormented man, "were amazed, and said, Is this the Son of David?" the Messiah whom they expected to bring in the kingdom of God. He is on the side of Good, and opposed to Evil.
The Scribes and Pharisees "said He casteth out devils through Beelzebub the chief of the devils" (v 15). They charged that Jesus was in collusion with the prince of evil, who permitted Him to cast out inferior demons so that He would appear to be on God's side while He was in fact undermining the real kingdom of God of which the Scribes considered themselves the representatives. They urged that under the cloak of seeming goodness, He was seeking to gain currency for evil teaching.
v 16 ... "And others, tempting him," i.e., putting Him to a test, "sought of him a sign from heaven," i.e., some great marvel like those Satan proposed to Jesus in the wilderness temptations. But this, even if He had done it for them, would not have proved that He was from God; while healing the sick, and delivering men from the over-mastering power of evil, was the natural proof that He was serving the kingdom of God.
v 17 ... "But he, knowing their thoughts," perhaps not hearing what they said in verse 15, but knowing their motives and designs "said unto them, Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation ... If Satan also be divided against himself, how shall his kingdom stand?" Therefore it cannot be true that ...
v 18 ... "I cast out devils by Beelzebub." Beelzebub is too wily to do that. Then again, their own conduct refuted the charge.
v 19 ... "If I by Beelzebub cast out devils, by whom do your sons," i.e., the Jewish exorcists, "cast them out?" Those men at least pretended to cast out demons, and the Pharisees had never charged them with being in league with Satan. Therefore the malice of their charge against Jesus was evident. But our Lord does not stop with this negative conclusion. His mode of casting out demons was ...
v 20 ... "with the finger of God," and very different from the method employed by the Jewish exorcists. It proved itself divine in changed lives, purified hearts, as well as in transformed bodies and clarified intellects. The kingdom of God, and not the kingdom of Satan, showed itself by the result in all of Christ's miracles. This is a fundamental distinction. Then Jesus makes His argument plain by the illustration of a castle, or palace. The human soul may be justly compared to a palace, for it is a most beautiful, noble, and magnificent edifice, formed of imperishable materials, a house not made with hands, the master place of the all-wise and all-powerful Architect, Who formed and adorned it with His own use. Satan has taken possession of this house, and holds it by strength and arms. Most evidently in the case of a demoniac, Satan had possession of the house. "Now how," Jesus asks, "could I enter the castle unless I were stronger than Satan? And how could I regain the spoil that Satan has stolen, the rich spoil of health and character and happiness, without proving Myself the enemy of Satan?" Jesus finally clinches His argument by the simple fact that a person cannot be on both sides. He cannot serve God and Mammon. He cannot belong to both kingdoms at the same time. And since His character and teachings, and deeds, all were characteristic of the kingdom of God, He belonged to that kingdom. Questions: (a) To which kingdom do you belong? (b) To which kingdom do you propose to belong? (c) In what ways can you show to which you belong?
Scripture Reading: Luke 11:24-26
3. Replacing Evil With Good
Jesus warned the man from whom the demons had been cast out, and who doubtless kept near the Master during the above discussion, that there was only one way in which his redemption could be permanent. If he did not fill his cleansed life with holy thought and good works, the devil would again seize upon his mind, and would bring with him seven others, all more wicked than the first.
v 24 ... "When the unclean spirit is gone out of a man, he walketh through dry places," i.e., deserts, where there is nothing attractive, and he is restless because he finds no congenial home. This explains why "he saith, I will return unto my house whence I came out," to his familiar haunt in the man. The sinful heart is the natural home of the evil spirit.
v 25 ... "And when he cometh he findeth it swept and garnished." Nothing new, no great interest, no fullness of the Holy Spirit had taken his place. Here was the fatal mistake of the man. The emptiness of the house was an invitation to the evil spirit to return.
v 26 ... "Then he taketh to him seven other spirits more wicked than himself." Even bad spirits want company; sins grow in clusters. Evils are allied one to another.
v 26 ... "and dwell there." They knew they could remain in a heart that being once cleansed did not put good in the place of evil. In this warning to the saved demoniac, Jesus laid down one of the great Principles of Reform, both of individuals and churches of Christ, as well as nations. Jesus Himself applied it to the Jewish nation – "even so shall it be also unto this evil generation" (Matt. 12:45). They had cast out idolatry, and the neglect of God's Word. The nation had become empty, swept, and garnished – swept and garnished by the decencies of civilization and discoveries of secular knowledge, but empty of living and earnest faith. They had not filled the nation with piety, with good works, with labors for the salvation of men. The place of the old had not been filled. Then entered impurity and selfishness, ambition, hypocrisy, adultery, false swearing, narrowness, hate of what was good, love of money, and love of praise. The end was that the nation and the temple were destroyed, and destroyed by these very evils, as the story of the destruction of Jerusalem forty years later shows. If they had only taken Christ and the Holy Spirit into their emptied house, they would have remained unto this day.
Emptying by Filling: Two old sayings: "We must empty by filling," "Nothing is ever displaced until it is replaced." In these two utterances lies the secret (if it be a secret) of all reform. Here, as elsewhere, nature (which abhors a vacuum) teaches. We cannot pump the darkness out of a room; we must empty it by filling it with light. As was said a century ago, "One tallow-dip will do more to exclude darkness than a thousand steam-pumps." The only way to shut out disease is to fill our veins with health. In morals we must banish the degrading by the elevating – not by prohibition but by substitution. We must crowd out the night-club with Sunday Bible school, family camp, the home, with its light and pleasant rooms, games, and cheerful welcome. The popular superstition which credits every deserted house with being haunted and filled with bad spirits has a germ of truth. If the demon be excluded and the soul be swept and garnished, yet, if it be empty, the demon will return with seven other spirits more wicked than himself. The Holy Spirit, by entering the soul, empties it of evil spirits; and, by dwelling in the soul, filling it to the utmost, he maintains the exclusion of the bad.
Illustration: A century ago, James Gordon Bennett offered the great Norwegian violinist nicknamed, Ole Bull, the free use of the columns of The New York Herald so he might reply to enemies who were vilifying him. 'Ole Bull' responded to Mr. Bennett's offer by saying, "I think it is best they write against me, and I play against them." Fill the soul with the music of the Gospel, and many a trying discord in life will be drowned in the heavenly strains. For parents and teachers this principle is a mighty power in saving children from bad habits and dangerous temptations. We are apt to give them too many "don'ts" and too few "do's." Fill their lives with interesting work, duties done for love's sake. In the church of our Lord, as well as in our life and nation, we need to constantly strive to cast out the devils of selfishness, graft, bribery, fraud, war, anger, strife, hatred, etc. It is equally necessary to make duty, love, helpfulness, reform, etc., fill their places.
Scripture Reading: Luke 11:33-36
4. Light Overcoming Darkness
A little later Jesus gives another illustration and symbol of the two kingdoms between which we must choose – the kingdom of Light, and the kingdom of Darkness. Light signifies truth and the revelation of the truth. It signifies life, beauty, comfort, peace, purity, blessing, health, power. It is for the soul and the spiritual world what the sun is to the earth. The business of Light is to overcome and destroy Darkness, i.e., moral darkness. The darkness of a blind heart, a crooked and corrupt will, the shadow of death. The darkness that does not see God, goodness, heaven, salvation, or a pure and holy life; seeing only a hopeless, painful emptiness, full of dangers and sins. Note: There are two things necessary for light to accomplish its purpose. It must shine, and it must be received by good eyes.
The Light must First Shine: "No man when he hath lighted a candle putteth it in a secret place" (v 33), i.e., a cellar, or dungeon. Jesus was, and is, the Light of the World. His whole life and teaching were the outshining of that Light. There was no use in His coming unless He let His Light Shine. And the same is true of His disciples. The diffusion of light in our world is caused by the reflection of the rays of the sun from the particles in the air, from the clouds, from the earth and all that is on it. Otherwise we could see only the sun, and in all other directions would be darkness. But by the dispersion of light every particle becomes a miniature sun, and the world is full of light, even to those who do not live in the direct rays of the sun. It is this work which every Christian, and every Christian word or act, is to do for the moral world.
v 34 ... "When thine eye is single," pure, undeflecting, reflecting things just as they are "but when thine eye is evil." There are many diseases of the eye which dim or distort, or deflect, or confuse, the rays that come to it; so that the eye sees things different from what they really are, or sees double, or is blind to them altogether.
Thus ... "thy body also is full of darkness" (v 34), groping in ignorance uncertain as to what is truth and duty, but certain to go astray; blind to the most important interests of life. The heart, the eye of the soul, will mistake wrong for right. But if the heart is "single," i.e., has one supreme purpose to serve God and lay up heavenly treasurers, and is not confused by seeking other aims and by worldly attractions, the path of duty will be clearly seen, and the questions regarding what to do are easily decided. It is only the pure in heart that can see God.
Illustration: Light from Above – ‘Not long ago I visited a beautiful building. There was one strange thing about it; some of the rooms had no windows. Perhaps you have already guessed what building it is – an Art Museum. Why are there no windows in these fine rooms? One reason is that the wall space is all wanted for pictures. But the chief reason is that paintings must be lighted from above to bring out their beauty. The windows are, therefore, in the roof, and the light comes through the ceiling. Sometimes paintings are lighted by electricity. The lights are then put at the top of the frame, never at the side. You see this would of ours is lighted from above, and artists try to show things as they are. If we will truly see their work, we must light it from above. Your life is like a painting. If you will see it truly, it must be lighted from above. Perhaps it seems to you just the same old round of study and play, work and sleep, with nothing grand or beautiful in it. In some of the greatest paintings, the artists have shown us the beauty hidden in just such everyday scenes. Splendor and beauty are all about us, if we can only see them. We shall not find them if we have only earthly side lights. That is why it is so important to begin each day with prayer, and to open the Book of God and let the light from Jesus shine on our path. Then shall we see truth, honor, kindness, and love in every common day. Nothing can be more beautiful than these. They make the beauty of heaven. Open the windows of your soul to heaven and let the light from above fall upon your life (From a sermon preached by Dr. William Harrison).
