Douglas Jacoby Podcast

For additional notes and resources check out Douglas’ website.

Introductory

• Today’s reanimation is well-known and touching.
• Tabitha will be raised from the dead -- the eighth reanimation in the Bible.

Scriptural study: Acts 9:36-42 

• Tabitha (or Dorcas, meaning gazelle), seems to have been an energetic and serving Christian sister (9:36). Like Peter, she had both a Semitic and a Greek name. Keep in mind that Greek was the lingua franca of the Mediterranean world, even though many residents were Semites (like the Egyptians and Palestinians).
• Peter was in Lydda, not far from Tabitha, who lived in Joppa (v.38). The distance is a little over 20 km (13 miles), less than a day’s walk.
• The disciples who invited Peter may have hoped he would bring her back from the dead. It wouldn’t be the first time Peter had worked such a miracle (Luke 9:2). Or they may have simply known of their relationship and been confident Peter would want to pay his respects. The text doesn’t tell us what their exact motive was.
• Have you ever wondered why Peter came to her side (v.39)? Yes, he was in the area, but there’s more. Christians must have been dying all the time. (After all, death comes to all, believers and unbelievers alike). Tabitha was evidently a person of some significance, perhaps even a colleague of the great apostle Peter.
• Quite a crowd has gathered (v.39), perhaps similar to the crowd Peter will join in the following chapter when he meets Cornelius in Caesarea.
• Dorcas didn’t consider herself too important to serve others in modest ways – in her case, by making clothing (v.39).
• These garments were tangible items connecting people with their departed benefactor. It’s little things like these that link us, emotionally at least, to our loved ones.
• A smaller circle will witness the reanimation.
• Peter prays before commanding Tabitha to rise.
• Peter addresses the deceased (v.40).
• This is a nice parallel to John 11:43, where Jesus addresses Lazarus.
• Once her eyes are open, she sees Peter—and apparently recognizes him (v.40). They didn’t have Facebook back then. It is certainly a good possibility that they had met before, or were even (as I like to believe) colleagues in Christian ministry. It is her recognition of Peter that leads her to sit up, take his hand, and get down from the bed / bier.
• He then touches I wonder whether there is a connection with Acts 10, where Peter initially considers Gentiles unclean. In Jewish law, contact with a corpse makes one unclean. Of course, once she rose, Tabitha was no corpse, nor could she contaminate anyone.
• Peter then summons “the saints and widows” (v.41). There were many widows in the early church (see esp. Acts 6 and 1 Tim 5), in part because women married considerably younger than men. Either Luke (the author of Acts) is referring to the widows who were saints – that is, holy widows – or two groups of persons, in which case the saints would have included men, too. Of course never in the Bible is the term “saints” (holy ones) limited to dead persons of extraordinary virtue. Saint is but one of multiple terms for a follower of Christ.
• Imagine the joy among the saints and widows. Perhaps their expressions of joy equaled in volume and intensity their expressions of sadness they expressed when Tabitha was dead (v.39).
• Thus in her life, death, and life (again), Tabitha influenced many for the Lord.

For consideration

• When people are mentioned by name in the Bible, there is usually a reason: they are well known. I used to be dismissive of the minor characters of the Bible—but no more! (In fact, in the OT and NT character podcasts, I have tried to give time to major and minor characters alike.)
• Many of you who are listening to this lesson are busy people. You may well have significant leadership responsibility—as I suspect Tabitha had. Let’s never be too busy for people, or too busy for the thoughtful gestures that will mean so much to others—especially after we’re gone.
• This story is a great reminder to care about people—to be kind, and to serve.
• In our world, where men still tend to value themselves more than the fairer sex, the story is also a great reminder of the dignity and worth of women. The Prince of the Apostles wasn’t too princely to care about an old woman, and those who insisted he make the six-hour walk to Tabitha’s bedside were able to persuade him to make the journey -- which led to Tabitha's return to life!

For additional notes and resources check out Douglas’ website.

Introductory

• For most people, this is far and away the best known reanimation in scripture.
• In the 7th reanimation podcast, Jesus raises a friend.
• I recorded an earlier podcast on Lazarus (NT Character Podcast 20). You might want to listen before or after today’s podcast.
• Hear also Christ Through the Ages, podcast 10.
• As a result, in order to avoid duplication, I will try to keep my comments to the subject of the reanimation itself. Further, we won’t read every verse in the account.
   

Scriptural study: John 11:1-7, 11-15, 17-27, 32-49a, 51b-53; 12:9-11

• Lazarus (v.1) is not to be identified with the Lazarus in the parable of Luke 16:19-31, although the coincidence of names is intriguing.
• “This illness does not lead to death” (v.4). Of course it does lead to death, but only for a short time.
• Just as with the miracle of the blind man two chapters earlier, God will be glorified (v.4).
• Lazarus is a beloved friend (v.5). We always feel differently when we knew the person who’s died, and never more than when we had a significant relationship.
• A great uncle – 10k – took me fishing. Not close but we’d met several times. Mother father sister
• He delays his visit to Bethany, it seems, precisely in order to make sure that Lazarus has passed.
• Sleep (v.11) is a common biblical metaphor for death. See Q&A 1356.
• This section (vs.17-27) is rich with theology, dense with meaning and insight. Of course Lazarus, the subject of this podcast, isn’t really doing anything. But no one exists to himself alone; there is a sizeable network of friends, family, and acquaintances involved in all our lives, and this network becomes visible at key junctures in our lives, like births, weddings, deaths.
• “Everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die. Do you believe this?” (v.26). How would we answer Jesus? What difference does it make in our lives? Are we always on the lookout for opportunities to share the good news?
• Jesus does not minimize death, even though it isn’t the last word.
• Jesus wept (v.35). He was not so intellectual in his knowledge of truth that the common and human waves of emotion washed over him without affecting him deeply!
• Many were buried in caves (v.38).
• You may also want to listen to Martha (NT Character podcast 19).
• Notice once again Jesus' direct address to the deceased (v.43).
• Notice also how the dead were prepared (v.44).
  • Strips of linen
  • Separate headpiece
  • No coffin or sarcophagus
• Lazarus comes out (v.44)!
• John’s gospel features seven confessions of faith, seven “I am statements,” and seven signs. The raising of Lazarus is the last sign—which itself points to the resurrection of Jesus.
• This miracle places Jesus’ life in extreme danger. For more on the high priest who suggested Jesus' execution, listen to Caiaphas (v.49) NT Character Podcast 42.
• The raising of Lazarus takes place just outside Jerusalem itself, with its religious power center, the Temple, controlled by unscrupulous and rapacious priests and teachers.
• It’s not just Jesus who is in danger; Lazarus himself is now singled out for execution (12:9-11)!
• It is not God’s agenda to grant longevity or immortality. We all die, and hardly anyone comes back from the dead, in the sense of reanimation. And no one is immortal—only God, and those who in Christ receive the gift of eternal life. Every reanimation in the Bible has a reason, and points to deeper truths.

Application

• “Everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die. Do you believe this?” (v.26). How would we answer Jesus? What difference does it make in our lives? Are we always on the lookout for opportunities to share the good news?
• Let’s live like it today!

For additional notes and resources check out Douglas’ website.

Introduction

• Review: There are three reanimations in the OT. And in the NT, not counting the mass event of Matt 27, this is the second reanimation (after the miracle in Nain).
• This takes place during the days leading up to the “Limited Commission” (Luke 9; Matt 10; Mark 3), when Jesus is training his disciples and building up their faith.
• In Luke 8 we find two miracles, intertwined, so we're probably losing something when we isolate one without analyzing its relationship with the other. The stories have in common a span of 12 years. Yet for the purposes of this series we will focus primarily on the reanimation.

Scripture: Luke 8:41-42, 49-56

• Jairus (v.41) is a synagogue ruler. Notice how Jesus’ influence is building. It’s not just the common man whom Jesus touches. He touched the lives of persons of influence as well -- highborn and lowborn, rich and poor, master and slave, leader and follower.
• Jairus is desperate. His daughter is slipping away (v.42). She may be his only child, or else his only girl. Either could be the case.
• Interestingly, Jairus means “[God] will awaken.”
• His daughter is at (or nearly at) marriageable age, the time when she herself would soon bring a life into the world. Instead, hers is about to be snuffed out.
• The clock is ticking, yet unfortunately the following (interrupting) scene leads to girl’s death. Jesus heals the woman with the flow of blood, but this delays his arrival to the synagogue ruler’s house.
• Jesus addresses the twin issues of fear and faithlessness.
• This isn’t mind over matter – or “word-faith” power – but the imperative to put our trust in the Lord. We can take him at his word, even if “common sense” or worldly thinking would lead us to reject it.
• Already this is a very different healing to the woman’s. She approached Jesus to tap into his healing power, seeking relief anonymously, apart from any relationship with the Lord. But that sort of seeking for blessings or power is impersonal, worldly – like magic or manipulation.
• Jesus restricts the number of persons in the house (v.51) – and even then there are seven there!
• Everyone else laughed (v.53); it was a good thing that Jesus excluded them (v.51). Faith is not easily nourished amidst mocking or skepticism.
• Notice that Jesus addresses the deceased directly (v.54).
• She rises (v.55). There are parallels with the reanimation of 1 Kings 17.
• Jesus tells them to give her something to eat. Even though she has been reanimated, she still has biological needs. Time to prime the system!
• Her parents are astonished. The disciples had been similarly astonished in 7:11-17 (the son of the Widow of Nain).
• “Don’t tell anyone” probably means not to implicate Jesus. After his death and resurrection, this will not be an issue. Before these events, it is too easy for things to be misunderstood and get out of hand.

Challenge

• I need to be patient. Sometimes before the Lord gets around to my request, he may need to take care of someone else’s. I am not the most important person. (He is.)
• In my approach to Christ, am I overly mechanical or intellectual? Do I truly cherish the relationship?
• How much am I governed by fear and faithlessness?
• Even if it appears that all is lost, I should trust him.

For additional notes and resources check out Douglas’ website.

Introduction

• Today we return to a rather conventional reanimation.
• The event takes place not in Sidon or Zarephath (modern Lebanon), not in the Holy City of Jerusalem, but in the central Israelite town of Nain—mentioned only here in the Bible (Luke 7:11).
• Today Nain is an Arab village in Lower Galilee. (And a town in Jamaica, Australia, Canada—and Virginia. There are even towns called Nain in Iran and Pakistan.)
• We join an immensely sad situation.

Scripture study: Luke 7:11-17

• Imagine the scene: great solemnity, sadness, pain, and devastation.
• People everywhere, including Jesus’ entourage that accompanied him from Capernaum, as well as much of the population of Nain (v.12).
• The widow has lost her “social security.” Her husband first, and now her sole son, have passed away. In an economic sense, she was vulnerable and unprotected. At least that was the situation with most widows—which explains why the Bible—in both testaments—constantly emphasizes our responsibility to take care of widows.
• Notice how Jesus inserts himself into the situation.
• “Do not weep” (v.13). Weeping is a normal and necessary part of the mourning process. This isn’t Jesus telling her, “Stop crying and man up.” She may soon weep for joy, but there will be no need to weep tears of sadness.
• Jesus’ words are result from his compassion, not just his knowledge that the son will be reanimated. (John 11:35 reveals a similar dynamic.)
• Jesus interrupts the procession. He hardly stands on tradition! He speaks to dead man directly (v.14).
• The son was not spiritually or metaphorically dead (as in Luke 15:32), but literally and biologically dead.
• There is no doubt about the miraculous nature of the event; the dead man has not only moved, but also spoken (v.15)!
• Imagine the joyous reunion of mother and son!
• The reaction among the people is not only joy or wonderment, but fear—hopefully fear of God. They perceive Jesus a prophet, though not necessarily as Messiah.
• Everyone feels and acknowledges the presence and working of God. (“God has visited his people” may or may not refer to the divinity of Christ.)
• And naturally the report spreads... By the time of Jesus’ execution, a huge proportion of Israel knows about this miraculous deeds (Acts 2:22).

In summation

• God cares about us in our loneliness, our desolation, our pain, and our despair. Whether we receive concrete assistance or answered prayers, we can be confident of his love and concern. This passage and many others attest to God’s love.
• When we have a strong faith in Christ, there are times when we might not stand on tradition. We do, after all, believe in miracles and answered prayer. Be bold. Step out, dare to be uncool / politically incorrect. Follow the Lord's example!
• The reanimation of the widow’s son provided a new lease on life not only for him, but also—and possibly even more—for her. We too may experience a new lease on life. Is our faith sickly or moribund? Has our personal outreach died? In the fellowship, are you distant and dead, superficial and stagnant? God’s resurrection power (Eph 1:19-20) can renovate our faith and reenergize our walk with the Lord.
• As we continue to examine the reanimations of the Bible, we grow in our knowledge of God and our faith in his mighty power to cleanse, purify, reanimate, and transform our own lives!

For additional notes and resources check out Douglas’ website.

Introduction

• This is the fourth reanimation in the Bible. Actually, no single person is raised from the dead. Rather, it’s a mass reanimation.
• There are two discussion into which we will not enter today:
  • There is some disagreement among conservative Christians about whether we are required to interpret the phenomenon as an historical event. In today’s podcast we will not join that discussion. (My friend and NT scholar Mike Licona has addressed this passage, for those who want more.)
  • And, although it might be interesting to explore what life for the returnees was like, the true import of this passage lies in the theological and Christological areas. So be ready to learn about God, and to grow in our appreciation of Christ.
• Powerfully meaningful events attend the death of Christ, 3 in particular: the rending of the veil; the splitting of the earth; and the opening of tombs and reanimation of OT saints.
• Jesus’ death affects even the realm of the dead.
• The blood of Christ saves not only us who live under the new covenant, but also those who followed the Lord under the old covenant.
  • Keep in mind that Matthew’s gospel is written for those from a Jewish background.
  • The mass reanimation would have meant little to those from a Gentile background.
• Holy persons. Without holiness no one will see the Lord (Heb 12:14).
• The impact on those who were watching was tremendous.
• This event signals that Jesus is the Messiah of the Jews, even those who have died—and who one day will be raised to life (Dan 12:1-2).
• Jesus’ death makes new creation possible:
  • New creation is changed, holy, pure, reverent, transformed lives.
  • And the re-creation of the entire cosmos. 2 Cor 5:17 applies to both levels (personal and cosmic).

For your consideration

• In Matthew's gospel, the death of Christ was literally an earth-shattering event.
• Notice all the separations: the separation of Jesus' spirit from his body; the rending of the temple veil; the splitting of the earth; and even the division of faithful deceased Jews from those (seemingly the majority) who were not reanimated.
• There’s no need to worry about those who died before the gospel message was preached. God will take care of them. The scope of the impact of the crucifixion and resurrection is enormous, touching every segment of humanity, in all generations.
• Thought question: If I had lived and died before the cross, would I have been included among those holy people who came back from the dead?
• John the Revelator speaks of Christians who have a reputation for being alive, but who are in fact dead. Jesus warned: “... I know your works. You have the reputation of being alive, but you are dead. Wake up, and strengthen what remains and is about to die, for I have not found your works complete in the sight of my God... If you will not wake up, I will come like a thief, and you will not know at what hour I will come against you" (Rev 3:1b-3a).
• If we happen to fall into that lamentable category, let’s put our trust in Jesus’ renovating and revitalizing power!

For additional notes and resources check out Douglas’ website.

Introduction

• The first two reanimations we covered were both of boys with older parents.
• Today's spans a mere two verses!
• No sense of disappointment, at least none that we read about. The burial could have been of an old man, full of years. Or maybe that of a youth. The passage just doesn’t say.
• Elisha, who brought about the second reanimation in the Bible, is long dead – yet plays a crucial role in the unexpected and radical reversal of what would otherwise have been a routine burial.
• In fact, the miracle almost feels like it shouldn’t be in the Bible – like a legend.

Scripture: 2 Kings 13:20-21

• No time to put the body in the family grave site. To save time, they decided to double up. Dump the load and run.
• The corpse comes into contact with Elisha’s bones.
  • Elisha hadn’t been buried in a coffin. They used burial clothes (as in John 11). It may have been in his family burial chamber. Whatever the case, the body had decomposed. Which means…
  • You would think the burial was to take place some time after Elisha’s burial, at a minimum a number of years.
  • Yet, we need not press the literal sense of "bones," as though a long time had elapsed since Elisha's death. The old prophet of Bethel (1 Kings 13:31), referring to his own death and burial, requested "Lay my bones beside his bones." (He certainly wasn't asking to delay his burial until the soft parts of his body had all disappeared.)
• The corpse is reanimated!
• We don’t need to seek a novel explanation, or make the account any more sensational than it is already.
  • The man wasn't coming to attention in the presence of Elisha, or reporting for duty as the Moabite skirmishes or the Syrian War dragged on.
  • And it’s doubtful he was raised in order to scare away the Moabites. Or course it’s possible they pursued the family and realized he had been dead.
  • There’s not a hint of speculation about what went on, what was said, or how the man lived out the rest of his natural life.
• God's power was still working through the prophet Elisha
  • We should be alert to the miraculous parallels in the lives of Elijah and his understudy, Elisha. With both are miracles in association with the final end of their ministry. (Elijah ascends in a chariot of fire; Elisha’s bones revivify a corpse hastily and temporarily placed in his burial spot.)
  • In the previous section of 2 Kings 13, Elisha calls the national leaders to faith, before he himself dies and is buried. There was no prophet of God in Israel at that time, just the dead bones of Elisha.
  • Although there may have been no prophet in Israel, God’s power was still and always available.
    • It's as though to say, “I’m still here. Trust me!”
    • Because the death of the messenger hardly undoes the message.
    • Elisha’s influence continues to benefit the nation!
  • One more thing: Touching a dead man’s bones made one unclean. But not in this case! It’s the exact opposite. This fellow wasn’t contaminated by contact with a corpse (he was himself a corpse, after all), but he was infused with life by touching Elisha’s bones!

Application

• Good news: Death does not have the final word. Thus we have permission to have mixed feelings when a loved one dies.
• In the case of some, their influence will continue after their death—and perhaps even long after they have passed away.
• Even when times are dark, God’s power is still available.

For additional notes and resources check out Douglas’ website.

Introduction

• CLEAN 21, The Wealthy Shunammites’ Son = also OT character study 64.
• Yesterday we saw how the prophet Elijah saved the life of the son of the Widow of Zarephath. Today we will look at a similar account—and it’s easy to confuse the two!—involving Elijah’s successor, Elisha.
• This woman is probably younger than the widow of Zarephath. Her husband is still living, and out in the fields working, probably as a supervisor. That makes more sense, since they were wealthy. But even wealthy persons have problems, suffer tragedies, and need God.
• Perhaps the woman is the main character because the money came from her family. At any rate, she eclipses her husband.

Scripture: 2 Kings 4:8-37; 8:1-6

• The couple are friends and supporters of the prophet Elisha -- and his ministry.
• The couple ups their game: hospitality will now include a room (v.10). It makes us think of the guest room Paul anticipates Philemon will provide.
• They were a very giving couple. Elisha wishes to reciprocate, to give them a precious gift for all their kindness (v.14).
• Quite naturally, the woman cannot believe her ears (v.16)! Her dream of being a mother (again?) has died, or lain dormant. Now the Lord is revivifying it.
• Barrenness is a common theme in the Bible. Just think of all the older women who were enabled to conceive (think Sarah and Elizabeth).
• This child wasn’t conceived of the Holy Ghost! Since the baby came a year later, she and her husband obviously took action sometime in the three months after Elisha made the promise.
• Now the scene is several years later (the child can talk (v.19) – perhaps he is two or three years old).
• Notice how the father delegates the care of his son to a servant, and then his wife. Was he overcome with worry, or too busy to help, or overconfident that the child’s medical complaint was minor?
• Just imagine what it must have been like to watch your child’s life slip away, while you were holding it in your lap (v.20)!
  • Those who have lost a child (miscarriage, car accident, cancer, suicide...) face overwhelming and heavy sadness.
  • Sometimes we lose our "spiritual" children. We helped them to become Christians, and we invested in their lives. When they turn back from following Christ, the disappointment and grief can really set us back.
• Then something really surprising happens.
• The surprise is not that she turned to the prophet for help, but that she has completely bypassed her husband (v.22-23)!
• Gehazi seems clueless as to what’s happening, as well as to her deeper emotional state (v.27), which is not all that surprising, since at first Elisha himself hasn’t fathomed the situation.
• It is for the woman to alert them to the horror of the situation.
• The woman will not leave Elisha. He is her connection with God, her source of hope!
• Gehazi simply doesn’t have the spiritual power to bring back the child (v.31).
• The child is resuscitated – or reanimated (vs.32-25)!
• Gehazi is still useful, even if he is slower on the uptake than his master.
• She has her life back (v.37)! Her shattered dreams have been repaired.
• It seems the story is over – but then four chapters later she reappears (8:1-3).
• Elisha stays in touch. Or maybe it’s simply that she knew who to turn to if she really needed help again…
• This is after 2 Kings 5, where Gehazi received the leprosy of Naaman.
• Her family, her household, has already been restored; now it’s her house (2 Kings 8:1-3). People first, then things.
• What a remarkable story! But what makes it remarkable isn’t the plot, the persons, or even the reanimation. It’s God.

Application

• Being healthy and whole isn’t just the absence of impurity. It involves your key relationships, and, to a much lesser extent, your possessions. Nothing is more important than relationships. What relationships need restoring in your life?
• Like the woman, we need to know what’s out of place, where it hurts, what needs to be restored, before we can feel wonderful and clean and in God’s presence.
• Do you relate more to the woman, to her husband, to Gehazi, or to Elisha?
• What will you be willing to do today to have a full, godly, wholesome life?

For additional notes and resources check out Douglas’ website.

Introduction

• Reanimation = back from the dead.
• Why this is important will be explained more fully in the 10th reanimation podcast.
• How does this tie in with the theme of purity? Keep in mind that in Jewish thought, death is associated with uncleanness.
• Some positive feedback: "I'm enjoying CLEAN in '17. Very needed lessons. I've often wondered if impurity is like a story I once heard about a dirty river. The teller of the story said that once pollutants stopped being poured in the river, the river over time 'got pure' again, which is such a hope of mine, as I've struggled to live purely during my whole Christian life. Thank you again. Life giving-rebukes these are!"

Scripture: 1 Kings 17:8-24; 2 Kings 4:34-35; Luke 16:29-31; Luke 4:25-26 

• This miracle and the next are very similar: children of older parents being brought back to life. There are multiple parallels between the lives and miracles of Elijah and his protégé and successor, Elisha.
• Sidon (v.9) is in modern Lebanon, well north of the land of Israel.
• Elijah asks for water, then bread. It seems she fears he may soon ask her for something she doesn’t have.
• Notice the defeatist attitude of the widow (v.12).
• Elijah requests food (v.13). Often the Lord asks us to take action – to do something specific – before he grants our wish.
• The supply of flour and oil  -- essentially, the basic stuff of mealtime – will not run out, as long as it is needed (v.14). God is not a stingy giver.
• Some time later there is another problem: The woman’s son is dying (v.17). The brain and heart may still be working, but every outward indication is that he has given up the ghost.
• Or not. He may already be dead.
• This is a triple tragedy:
  • As an outsider to Israel, she would normally have little access to the blessings of being a member of God’s people, worshipping at this temple, sharing in the heritage and tradition of the Jews, and so on.
  • She has lost her husband. It would have been hoped the son would grow up to be her protector and provider.
  • And now she has lost her son, too. Quite possibly the widow is now childless. Maybe her relations died in a war, or through famine or disease. (I say that because it seems she has no support group—such as would have been provided by a network of children and grandchildren.)
• Yet God specializes in impossible situations!
• The seems to be a sort of resuscitation ritual (vs.19-22).
  • See 2 Kings 4:34-35.
  • This procedure is accompanied by prayer.
• The miracles confirms the prophet’s status (v.24).
• At various times in the Bible miracles confirm the spoken word of God – or perhaps we could say they confirm the speaker. (See Acts 14:4; Heb 2:4; Exod 4:5; and esp. Luke 16:29-31.) Note: Miracles never confirm the written word of God.
• Not only does the child have a new lease on life, but his mother also does. She transitions from hopelessness to hope.
• Jesus points to this account in his opening sermon in Nazareth (Luke 4:25-26).
  • There were many widows in need in Elijah’s time, but he did not work wonders for them. Jesus, too, healed or exorcized or reanimated only a small percentage, or fraction of a percent, of those in desperate straits in his day. His purpose was far more to preach than to work miracles.
  • God loves Gentiles, too.

For us

• God meets our needs.
• Or, if we have suffered for some time, he sends a friend to bring relief.
• Obviously there are exceptions, but the real point isn’t about miracles or even getting our prayers answered. It’s about learning what kind of a God we serve. It’s about coming to grips with his character.
• He reanimates dead hopes and restores shattered dreams!

For additional notes and resources check out Douglas’ website.

Context (A)

• Luke 11:14-23
• Jesus, exorcism, and Beelzebul

Scriptural study: Luke 11:24-26

• This is a picture of an exorcism, though not explicitly so stated.
• When we become followers of Christ we remove some behaviors and replace them with others. We subtract, but we also add. If we're only characterized by what we don't do, or by what we are against, instead of by what we do do, we will be empty, and mislead many. God has work for us to do (Eph 2:1-10)!
• It's worse to be a religious, hollow hypocrite than to be lost entirely. Matthew 23: review the woes and notice how hard Jesus hammers hypocrisy.
• Use the time wisely (Eph 5:15). God cares about how we schedule our days!

Context (B)

• Luke 11:27-28
• Focus on the mother of Christ, rather than on obeying Christ's teaching. This is what completes us, and what keeps the Devil away. "Idle hands are the Devil's workshop."
• God values religion and piety a lot less than he values obedience.
• It's amazing that already in the 2nd century veneration of Mary was beginning. By 431 she was promoted to being Mother of God.
• There will always be religious people trying to distract us, and make us feel okay about not obeying the will of God.

Conclusion

• Don't just conquer laziness, or lying, or lust, without cultivating a strong devotional life. This won't work!
• Don't just go to church, without going out into the world. Don't let the Great Commission become in your life the Great Omission!
• Don't become rid of one sin only to be overtaken by seven! It makes no sense to cut out drunkenness -- only to be overtaken by envy, bitterness, hypocrisy, judgmentalism, a critical spirit, pride, and arrogance!
• Don't be a house swept clean. Be clean, of course, but don't stop there. A truly pure devotion to God   means being ministers of the gospel. Everyone is in the ministry. If that's not true in your case, or your church teaches that only staff members or leaders are in the ministry, don't be deceived.
• A true disciple longs (1) to know God and (2) to make him known!

Internalize this lesson, and our faith will be powerful and pure and effective. Materialism, sexual sin, and apathy about the things of God will be far from our hearts. We will burn with righteous passion for him and his mission.

For additional notes and resources check out Douglas’ website.

Introduction

• Divination and magic were highly popular and very real in the 1st century Mediterranean world.
• Also, many were enslaved by their fear of the future. Contemporary writers mention a strong and abiding sense of fate.
• The spiritual world is real!

Scriptural study: The Slave Girl of Acts 16.16-19

• We meet our character (v.16), unnamed, but able to divine by the power of a Pythian spirit, πνεῦμα πύθωνα.
• Lucrative possibilities!
• "Servants of the most high God" (v.17) contrasts with her own service to a pagan spirit.
• The term "Most high God" (see Mark 5:7) may be indirectly belittling her owners.
• She follows Paul and Sila as they head to the place of prayer (and evangelism, as Philippi lacked a synagogue).
• It sounds like she's promoting Christianity (v.17)! Was this mockery? Were her prophetic outbursts intended to turn people off to the Way of Christ?
• For Paul, her jabbering was annoying (v.18). Why?
  • Christianity doesn't need gimmicks or tricks to spread. Paul sees little promise of assistance in the Christian mission. He doesn’t just incorporate the girl’s unusual ministry into his own.
  • In a place of prayer, this girl could have been quite a distraction.
  • One would think the testimony of a competitor would be the ultimate advertising. Imagine a picture of Bill Gates happily using an iPad. (Source: link)
  • The way or a way (v.17) -- is the spirit relativizing the Way? Perhaps.
  • Or maybe it's simply a problem of emphasis. She seems to be focused on the preachers, instead of on the message. Christian missionaries didn't present themselves as elite missionaries. They preached Christ, not themselves, and presented themselves as servants for the sake of others (2 Cor 4:5).
  • There's a parallel in Luke 4:33-35. Jesus did not welcome demonic advertisement.
• Exorcism (v.18) -- "that very hour."
• We learn nothing more of the girl, though we hope that once set free, she joined the Christians in the newly founded Philippian church.
• Her owners, too, are greatly annoyed (v.19).
  • Paul and Silas are imprisoned -- which leads to Philippian jailer's family's conversion.
  • Persecution in the 1st century was born of religious motives (particularly in the case of jealous Jewish leaders), as well as of economic motives (pagan persecution), as also in Acts 19:23-27.

Application

• The account makes us think about economics. How does this exorcism inform our study of purity? See the Theology of Work Project (Tim Keller). Click here.
• The  Lord desires purity at four levels: actions, words, thoughts, heart/motives.
• This account probably has most to do with the deepest level, heart (conscience, motives, who we truly are at the core of our being). Yet her activity was off base at all four levels:
  • Her actions were displeasing to God. Enriching her pagan masters, and treating the Way of Christ as a novelty or commercial phenomenon.
  • Her words gave the wrong impression about the way of Christ.
  • We don't know her exact thoughts, yet we know that at the heart level, she was controlled by, or at the very least interacting with a heathen spirit.

Conclusion

• Paul's action changed her life -- and for the good. No longer would she enjoy celebrity -- or be used because of it. This unnamed girl got into the Bible! And we would like to believe that she became a true daughter of the Most High God.
• This girl was being used. Cash cow. We read of her "owners." May still have been a slave, but no longer would she have been pressed into service as a revenue-generating sideshow.
• Am I still a slave? Unhealthy and unholy patterns of behavior? Have I been a slave to credit card debt? I may be liberated from the darkness, yet still not freed from financial debt or other forms of bondage. In her case, her behavior changes, though she's still a slave.
• Sometimes people think that supernatural experience places us in an elite tier of the faith. Or worse, that miraculous activity proves one is saved. But this is wrong. In her case she became free from her supernatural abilities. The miraculous dimension of her old life had been hurting her -- as well as somehow impeding the cause of Christ.