READ THIS: Luke 11:24-28
24 “When an impure spirit comes out of a person, it goes through arid places seeking rest and does not find it. Then it says, ‘I will return to the house I left.’ 25 When it arrives, it finds the house swept clean and put in order. 26 Then it goes and takes seven other spirits more wicked than itself, and they go in and live there. And the final condition of that person is worse than the first.”
27 As Jesus was saying these things, a woman in the crowd called out, “Blessed is the mother who gave you birth and nursed you.” 28 He replied, “Blessed rather are those who hear the word of God and obey it.”
WHAT’S THIS MEAN, ANYWAY?
This section of verses completes Jesus' response to people accusing Him of expelling demons through the power of Satan. To see Jesus' immediate response to that accusation, check out the verses from yesterday! Here, today, Jesus continues to correct the crowd's misconceptions (aka wrong ideas), but this time about where true power comes from.
One of the biggest mistakes we make is giving a bunch of credit to circumstances and/or people for accomplishments when the glory should go to God. With demon-possessions, it is only through the act of God that a demon can be removed, yet the crowd wanted to give credit to Satan. Today, people struggling with demons, whether literal or figurative, give a lot of power and credit to themselves or to self-help books, etc. We think we can sweep ourselves clean, so when we do tidy ourselves up for a little bit, we applaud ourselves. But, then, we get confused when we end up getting even dirtier than we were before.
For example, if you've ever given up anything for Lent, you might relate to the spiritual high of giving something up successfully. And you may also relate to the days following Easter where you completely overindulge in that thing you gave up to a point that's FAR worse than before Lent! That could be in part because we gave up something that was in our control that we could take credit for giving up. God's the only one who can remove something for forever, particularly the hard things like sin and demons. The first step in being able to let God remove something is by knowing that He is the one with the ability and power to do it, not us!
In verses 27-28, once again the credit for something amazing is given to the wrong person. Instead of giving credit to God for Jesus' wisdom, someone in the crowd gives credit to Mary, His mother. Jesus quickly corrects that misconception and points out that blessedness comes from a relationship with God. In the most classic Jesus move, He corrects the misconception in a way that actually highlights how Mary does happen to be blessed because, if you remember the beginning of Luke, Mary heard the word of God and obeyed when Jesus' birth was announced!
THINK ABOUT IT:
1. Who or what do you tend to give credit for amazing things happening? Yourself? Friends? Parents? God? Why?
2. How can you go about quickly correcting misconceptions when people try to give you credit when the credit should go to God? How can you do that in a way that makes God appealing and doesn't make you look obnoxious?
TRY THIS:
Pick one amazing thing in your life and thank God for it, and see if you can remember to give credit to God the next time it comes up in conversation with someone else!
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