I have a pastor friend from West Africa who is an expert on
spiritual warfare. He has told me many stories about demonized people he has helped.
A few years ago my friend came to America for a conference, and some of us who
knew his expertise asked him to do a workshop to equip us to help people oppressed by demons.
It was a good workshop, but the ministry my friend described
seemed incredibly demanding, even frightening. After the training, I didn’t feel
a great deal better prepared.
Which brings me to the point of this post. I was reading
another of Jesus’ face-offs with His critics in Luke chapter 11. Jesus cast out
a demon that was rendering a man mute. Christ’s enemies claimed, blasphemously,
that He had cast the demon out by the power of Satan (Luke 11:15).
Jesus showed what a spiritual and logical absurdity it would
be to try to wield demonic power against demonic power. But then He made this
statement: But if
it is by the finger of God that I cast out demons, then the kingdom of God has
come upon you. Luke 11:20
The finger of God. That
phrase goes all the way back to Exodus 8, where God used Moses to deliver
Israel from bondage in Egypt. Pharaoh’s fake magicians kept up with Moses’ “signs
and wonders” at first. But when Moses struck the earth with his staff and swarms
of gnats began to invade the land, the magicians were stymied. Defeated, they
told Pharaoh, “This is the finger of God” (Exodus 8:19).
God doesn’t even need His whole hand. Just a finger will do. Simply by lifting a finger He can control nature, write His law on stone tablets,
heal broken people, and cast out demons. So when our Savior said He cast demons
out “by the finger of God,” it was because it’s His finger!
You and I don’t need to be afraid of death or hell or demons
or sinful human beings when we are under the protection of such a Savior.
