The Finger of God

 “…by the finger of God.” Luke 11:20

This phrase is found in the Bible in four places. The first time in the Old Testament we read this is in Exodus 8:19 when Moses unleashed the third plague and Pharaoh’s magicians could not replicate the appearance of thousands of gnats. In Exodus 31:18, and Deuteronomy 9:10, it is written that it was the finger of God that made the engraving of the Covenant Law on the stone tablets. 

The fourth mention is by Jesus Himself where He claims that it is by God’s power that He drives out demons. Even a small portion of Jesus’ power is enough to defeat the enemy. In this passage, Jesus cast a demon out of a man who could not speak, and the man’s voice returned, amazing the crowd. Jesus did many miracles but some believed He did it by Satan’s power, the prince of demons. 

“A kingdom at war with itself is doomed,” Jesus reminded them. “How will it stand? If it is by the finger of God that I drive out demons, then the Kingdom of God has come upon you.” Jesus warns that, “Whoever is not with me is against me, and whoever does not gather with me scatters.” 

I recently learned that one of the men who has stolen billions from our government coffers was a former seminarian. Another one used to be an altar boy assisting at mass. What happened? 

Sometimes the problem is we are not fully committed to God. Instead of being solidly on His side, we sit at the sidelines. On Sundays, we go to church, and pray. We even decide to do better, to love God and neighbor. But then during the week, it’s back to our favorite sins and worldly pleasures. One man told a priest during confession, “Father, I keep confessing the same sins!” The priest responded, “What do you want, new sins??!”

God can work powerfully in us, even an ounce of His power would be enough to change us, but the deceiver is so insidious. A man does not start with stealing billions. He gets an invitation to drink perhaps, or visit a nightclub where he meets people throwing money around. Before he knows it, he’s up to his ears in shady deals. The only solution is to decisively cut away from our lives that which lures us into sin from the start. Then we can show Jesus we want to be on His side, not against Him.