Jesus's Self-Defense in Luke 11:14–26: Confounding Challengers and Critiquing Other Exorcists

Abstract:Luke presents Jesus defending his exorcistic power in 11:14–26 through two connected portions of text. After the initial challenges in vv. 14–16, Jesus refutes his accusers in vv. 17–20 by placing them in a series of confounding challenges through an unarguable proverb (vv. 17b–18), a conundrum regarding other Jewish exorcists (v. 19), and the eschatological risk of missing the kingdom of God (v. 20). The second part of Jesus's defense (vv. 21–26) is a critique of other Jewish exorcists. These other exorcists are the "strong ones," who are regularly overcome by "stronger" demonic forces (vv. 21–22). Thus, they end up being "against" Jesus (v. 23). They may have the capacity to cast out a single demon, but their techniques cannot resist the greater demonic powers that return to repossess a person (vv. 24–26). Jesus's invincible exorcistic power trumps anything that other exorcists can do, proving that his ministry signals the arrival of God's kingdom.