Luke 11:14-20
The connection between these verses and those which immediately precede them, is striking and instructive. In the preceding verses, our Lord Jesus Christ had been showing the power and importance of prayer. In the verses before us, he delivers a man from a dumb devil. The miracle is evidently intended to throw fresh light on the lesson. The same Saviour who encourages us to pray, is the Saviour who destroys Satan’s power over our members, and restores our tongues to their proper use.
Let us notice, firstly, in these verses, the variety of ways in which Satan exhibits his desire to injure man. We read of a dumb devil. Sometimes in the Gospel we are told of an “unclean” devil. Sometimes we are told of a raging and violent devil. Here we are told of one under whose influence the unhappy person possessed by him became “dumb.” Many are the devices of Satan. It is foolish to suppose that he always works in the same manner. One thing only is the common mark of all his operations,–he delights to inflict injury and do harm.