Luke 11:27-28

“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)

There have been indications throughout Jesus’s ministry in Galilee that not everyone is favorably impressed by him. Now the opposition is focused in two specific lines of attack (11:15–16). The first concerns his deliverance of those who were demon-possessed, a major theme of Luke’s account of Jesus’s ministry so far (see 4:31–37, 41; 6:18; 7:21; 8:2, 26–39; 9:37–43). An attempt to turn his exorcisms against him now leads to a “debate” in which the underlying spiritual significance of this ministry is explored. Jesus is not merely a successful village preacher and healer; he is God’s agent in the decisive overthrow of the power of evil. The second line of attack concerns Jesus’s authority to present himself as God’s messenger; they want a “sign from heaven.” While refusing to give such a convenient “sign,” Jesus’s appeal to Old Testament precedent here adds a further significant dimension to his claim to a unique authority.

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