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

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 rega...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Bruehler, Bart B. (Author)
Format: Electronic Article
Language:English
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Published: Catholic Biblical Association of America 2023
In: The catholic biblical quarterly
Year: 2023, Volume: 85, Issue: 2, Pages: 297-314
Standardized Subjects / Keyword chains:B Bible. Lukasevangelium 11,14-26 / Exorcism / Exorcist
IxTheo Classification:HC New Testament
Further subjects:B Demons
B Kingdom
B Beelzebul
B Rhetoric
B Exorcism
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Summary: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.
ISSN:2163-2529
Contains:Enthalten in: The catholic biblical quarterly
Persistent identifiers:DOI: 10.1353/cbq.2023.0044