He who is not with Me is against Me, and he who does not gather with Me scatters

And He was casting out a demon, and it was mute. So it was, when the demon had gone out, that the mute spoke; and the multitudes marveled. But some of them said, "He casts out demons by Beelzebub, the ruler of the demons." Others, testing Him, sought from Him a sign from heaven. But He, knowing their thoughts, said to them, "Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation, and a house divided against a house falls. If Satan also is divided against himself, how will his kingdom stand? Because you say I cast out demons by Beelzebub. And if I cast out demons by Beelzebub, by whom do your sons cast them out? Therefore they will be your judges. But if I cast out demons with the finger of God, surely the kingdom of God has come upon you. When a strong man, fully armed, guards his own palace, his goods are in peace. But when a stronger than he comes upon him and overcomes him, he takes from him all his armor in which he trusted, and divides his spoils. He who is not with Me is against Me, and he who does not gather with Me scatters.

"When an unclean spirit goes out of a man, he goes through dry places, seeking rest; and finding none, he says, 'I will return to my house from which I came.' And when he comes, he finds it swept and put in order. Then he goes and takes with him seven other spirits more wicked than himself, and they enter and dwell there; and the last state of that man is worse than the first."

- Luke 11:14-26

On Saturday, we read of Jesus teaching His disciples to pray. It is the Lord's Prayer He taught, the Our Father. This beautiful prayer of supplication is a kind of tapestry of the plea and promise of the manifestation of God's heavenly kingdom in the world. Jesus taught about the importance of persistence in prayer, and said, "If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him!" See Our Father in heaven.

And He was casting out a demon, and it was mute. So it was, when the demon had gone out, that the mute spoke; and the multitudes marveled. In the previous passage (see Saturday's reading), Jesus had taught the disciples to pray the Lord's Prayer, or the Our Father. The fact that this demon is mute, and causes its victim to be mute, tells us about his handicap - he cannot pray, he cannot have this relationship to God and the heavenly kingdom we wish to manifest upon the earth. We can conclude about evil that it is restrictive, depriving. These are aspects of the punitive - it keeps us from the fullness of relationship, belonging and life in abundance that we desire.

But some of them said, "He casts out demons by Beelzebub, the ruler of the demons." My study bible notes, "Beelzebub: a pagan god, derided by the Jews as 'The Lord of the Flies.' Here it is a direct reference to Satan."

Others, testing Him, sought from Him a sign from heaven. A note reads, "A sign from heaven would be a spectacular miracle validating Jesus' authority. Jesus refused to do such a sign in His temptations in the wilderness by the devil, and He declines here as well (vv. 29, 30)." Throughout the Gospels, we are told that people want spectacular signs, or proofs, from Jesus so that they believe - and He consistently refuses to bow to this demand. He is looking for a kind of faith that comes from the heart.

But He, knowing their thoughts, said to them, "Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation, and a house divided against a house falls. If Satan also is divided against himself, how will his kingdom stand? Because you say I cast out demons by Beelzebub. And if I cast out demons by Beelzebub, by whom do your sons cast them out? Therefore they will be your judges." Here Jesus is referring to the exorcists who performed this act in the Jewish tradition. In other Gospels, we are given this discussion as part of Jesus' conflict with temple authorities - and this reference to Jewish tradition implies the same. Jesus' logic is irrefutable: why would Satan cast out Satan? In some sense, it is a reflection of the understanding in the Lord's Prayer - that Jesus works for the kingdom of heaven. We pray to be delivered from that which acts against this kingdom, and keeps us from knowing, understanding and manifesting God's will.

But if I cast out demons with the finger of God, surely the kingdom of God has come upon you. The finger of God, my study bible says, is the Holy Spirit. See also Matthew 12:28. This is a warning; they must think carefully about their conclusions.

"When a strong man, fully armed, guards his own palace, his goods are in peace. But when a stronger than he comes upon him and overcomes him, he takes from him all his armor in which he trusted, and divides his spoils. He who is not with Me is against Me, and he who does not gather with Me scatters." A note reads, "This verse is seemingly the opposite of 9:50: 'He who is not against us is on our side.' Here however, the unique action of gathering or scattering is the issue: each person does one or the other." We are given a picture of division: we choose the kingdom or we choose to work against it.

"When an unclean spirit goes out of a man, he goes through dry places, seeking rest; and finding none, he says, 'I will return to my house from which I came.' And when he comes, he finds it swept and put in order. Then he goes and takes with him seven other spirits more wicked than himself, and they enter and dwell there; and the last state of that man is worse than the first." My study bible notes: "Those who have been cleansed are here warned not to be careless. Dry places, deserts, were thought to be the abode of demons." All of these verses - and so much more that we have already read in Luke's Gospel - return continually to the idea that there are no bystanders in this experience of the kingdom of heaven that comes near. Once exposed, we have to make choices.

This idea that there are no bystanders is a rather uncomfortable one for many of us, especially we who consider ourselves educated and modern. This is because the concept of doubt is essential for testing and truthfulness in the sense that we desire to know something, not to believe in something false or misleading. But Jesus is addressing here something different from an intellectual concept of "doubt" as it is commonly used in this context. Discernment is a highly important and valued concept in Jesus' teaching - and He warns His followers repeatedly of "wolves in sheep's clothing" who will come to scatter them and use them falsely. But the choice Jesus talks about here is the certainty and reality of this kingdom: when it manifests in our lives and in our world, when it "breaks through," we must use the eyes and ears of perception in our hearts. We have a duty, a responsibility to do this. We make choices. It is there, also, that our discernment lies - the important organ of spiritual perception and understanding, to separate the Good Shepherd from those who would mislead us. So, the development of discernment and the essential need to choose wisely are one and the same thing, a part of the same faculty. Here we are given to know the great importance of choice: there is the heavenly kingdom, which we pray to manifest in the world, and there is that which works against it. We must take these choices seriously and not be frivolous. We must not demand proofs or signs unreasonably, but instead bear the responsibility to develop our own spiritual eyes and ears - our hearts, and to keep them "clean" or "pure" so that our perceptions may also be as clear as they can be. Just as Pilate couldn't really wash his hands of his decision, so we are not just bystanders when something has been given to us, or made manifest to us. We are witnesses - we are presented with choices. What's your testimony? What do you perceive? What do you want to work for in your spiritual life in this world? What do you choose to serve?