The Gospel of Luke describes an incident in which Jesus heals a demon-possessed man and then receives a very mixed reaction from a crowd of people who witness the miracle.
The man was possessed and unable to speak. Upon being healed, the man reveals that he is well again and speaks.
The witnesses, however, are divided. Some express amazement after seeing Jesus overpower a demon. But others accuse Jesus of receiving his miraculous power from Satan, also known as Beelzebul, even though the miracle itself showed that Jesus has power over Satan.
And some of the witnesses demand that Jesus gives them a sign from heaven, perhaps to prove that he is the Messiah, even though the miracle itself should have been evidence of that.
Jesus responds that the accusation against him is false, and absurd, explaining that Satan would be working against himself if he was the source of the power to cast out demons.
This miracle, as well as the accusation, have similarities with other exorcisms that are described in the Gospels, such as when Jesus heals a blind and mute demon-possessed man in Matthew 12:22-37.
This event, as recorded by Luke:
21 “When the strong man, fully armed, guards his own dwelling, his goods are safe. 22 But when someone stronger attacks him and overcomes him, he takes from him his whole armor in which he trusted, and divides his plunder.
23 “He that is not with me is against me. He who doesn’t gather with me scatters. 24 The unclean spirit, when he has gone out of the man, passes through dry places, seeking rest, and finding none, he says, ‘I will turn back to my house from which I came out.’ 25 When he returns, he finds it swept and put in order. 26 Then he goes, and takes seven other spirits more evil than himself, and they enter in and dwell there. The last state of that man becomes worse than the first.”
27 It came to pass, as he said these things, a certain woman out of the multitude lifted up her voice, and said to him, “Blessed is the womb that bore you, and the breasts which nursed you!”
28 But he said, “On the contrary, blessed are those who hear the word of God, and keep it.” (Luke 11:14-28, WEB)
Read more in the book Jesus the Miracle Worker: The 50 miracles of Jesus explained in chronological order (The Jesus Series) -- now available at amazon.
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