The Finger of God
Posted by: forthrightmag <forthrightmag@...>
http://www.forthright.net
Going straight to the Cross
When someone tells you, "You can't miss it," you
probably will. But not this.
The Finger of God
by J. Randal Matheny
Unmistakable. No way to confuse the two. That was
Jesus' answer, and Luke's phraseology, to answer a
slanderous accusation against the Lord's work.
Jesus had cured a mute by driving out a demon.
Some of the Jews assigned the power behind the
cure to Beelzebub, a name for Satan.
But the devil would be shooting himself in the
foot were he to do that, answers Jesus. And
besides, he continues, your disciples purport to
expel demons, so they must be doing it by some
"good" power. They are your own judges.
And then he says, "But if I drive out demons by
the finger of God, then the kingdom of God has
come to you" (Luke 11:20 NIV).
Luke's choice of the phrase "by the finger of God"
draws us closer. Matthew used the phrase "by the
Spirit of God" (12:28). Both phrases mean the
power of God at work in Jesus' ministry, so we
shouldn't trot off too quickly to yell
contradiction.
Luke probably takes his phrase from Exodus 8:18.
In previous plagues, Pharaoh's magicians had
replicated to the king's satisfaction the miracles
performed by Moses' hand. But they failed at the
plague of the insects. "Then the magicians said to
Pharaoh, 'This is the finger of God.'" The next
time they are mentioned, they cannot appear before
Pharaoh because they were covered with boils
(9:11). They then disappear from the picture.
In the Expositor's Greek Testament, A. B. Bruce
thought Luke's choice of phrase emphasized "the
immediateness of the Divine action through Jesus"
(1:549). But if we take Exodus 8 as the
background, I would think Luke wanted to emphasize
the obviousness of the divine power behind Jesus.
The magicians were quick to acknowledge there was
no mistaking the power of God evident in Moses'
plagues. His power was clearly far beyond the
powers of evil.
So what does that mean for us?
First, in something of a reverse situation, plenty
of people want to use the power and blessing of
God as a blanket for supposed miracles and good
works. Just as Jesus didn't let the Jews get by
with confusing minds about the source of his
power, neither should we let go unchallenged
assertions that people and religions operate by
the power of God, when in fact the divine curse
rests upon them for negating Christ.
Second, the finger of God is not only a symbol for
the power of God, but also for the word of God.
Moses received two tablets of stone "written by
the finger of God" (Exodus 31.18). When we insist
upon objective truth and full obedience to the
gospel, people sometimes label us as "legalists"
or worse. While we refuse to get into a mud fight,
neither should we let them get away with calling
light darkness and darkness, light.
Third, identifying the power and word of God just
isn't that difficult. A hardened heart like
Pharaoh or the self-righteous Jews could look at
the working of the finger of God right in front of
their faces, but not because they couldn't
recognize it. Because they didn't want to
recognize it, because it didn't fit their
ambitious plans. For when God speaks, when God
works, it's unmistakable.
The finger of God. When it moves, you can't miss
it.