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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 that as Jesus was praying in a certain place, when He ceased, one of His disciples said to Him, "Lord, teach us to pray, as John also taught is disciples." So He said to them, "When you pray, say: Our Father in heaven, hallowed be Your name. Your kingdom come. Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us day by day our daily bread. And forgive us our sins, for we also forgive everyone who is indebted to us. And do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one." And He said to them, "Which of you shall have a friend, and go to him at midnight and say to him, 'Friend, lend me three loaves; for a friend of mine has come to me on his journey, and I have nothing to set before him'; and he will answer from within and say, 'Do not trouble me; the door is now shut, and my children are with me in bed; I cannot rise and give to you'? I say to you, though he will not rise and give to him because he is his friend, yet because of his persistence he will rise and give him as many as he needs. So I say to you, ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened. If a son asks for bread from any father among you, will he give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will he give him a serpent instead of a fish? Or if he asks for an egg, will he offer him a scorpion? 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!"
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." Beelzebub was a pagan god which the Jews derided as "the Lord of the Flies." My study bible suggests that here, as used by Jesus' enemies, it is a direct reference to Satan.
Others, testing Him, sought from Him a sign from heaven. Jesus is many times tempted by those who challenge Him to give "a sign" in order to prove His identity. He always refuses. My study bible says, "A sign is never given to those whose motive is merely to test God (see 4:9-12)."
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." Exorcism was practiced in Jewish faith, so Jesus' question here is very pertinent. How can Satan cast out Satan? The "finger of God" is the Holy Spirit (see Matthew 12:28). He gives them the rundown of a stark choice; it's very clear. Either He is working via demons against themselves -- or if that is not possible, then they must conclude according to the logic they try to present! "The kingdom of God has come near" is the repeated instruction given to the apostles to preach when sent out on their missions (see Luke 10:9-11).
"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." My study bible says that the strong man in Jesus' example is Satan, "who holds sway over the fallen human race, while the stronger is Christ (see 1 John 4:4)."
"He who is not with Me is against Me, and he who does not gather with Me scatters." My study bible says, "It is the work of Christ to gather the children of God, while those who scatter are in direct opposition to Him. Those who work in opposition to Christ are different from those who work in good faith toward His purpose but are not yet united to the Church (see 9:46-50)."
"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." A note tells us that, according to John Chrysostom, the unclean spirit here refers to the rebelliousness cast out of the Jews by the Old Testament prophets to prepare them to receive Christ. Those who refuse to receive Him are left open to the wickedness of seven other spirits or demons. By tradition, seven is a number of completeness, signifying a kind of depth of rejection or worsening state. Other Fathers comment that this is an image of all of us; once we ally ourselves to Christ, we must persist in a life devoted to God -- otherwise our rejection may result in a worse state than before we received the grace of Christ.
It's a very interesting story in today's reading because it illustrates something about the power of God. Salvation isn't a one-time decision, it's more of an affair of commitment, like a marriage, where an every day sort of a life is what we commit to -- a way of life that stays with us. It means there is a constant every day choice to make in all kinds of ways. Every time we make a decision, seemingly, the option is there. Do we live prayerful lives and ask for guidance in prayer? Do we try to remember our "union" with God in all things; does it guide who we are and what choices we make? This is the powerful pull of repentance, the "change of mind" that happens when adopting a life in which this sort of commitment is meaningful. It's like thinking of one's spouse or any loved one or even community in general when making choices. We've made an alliance, a commitment, and if we decide that loyalty isn't our thing then we're headed into a different direction. This choice takes mindfulness, not forgetfulness. And in the discussion Jesus has in today's reading, it's clear there are two ways to choose. We can get our lives all cleaned up, we can put ourselves on what hopefully is the straight and narrow, renew our commitments, and make promises to ourselves and others. But if none of those things really take root, we're back on a different road -- a road, according to Jesus, that leaves us in a much worse state, a more vulnerable state, than we were in the first place. It's a kind of carelessness that has worse consequences than we expect. What's clear is that we each always have work to do; a kind of practice of mindfulness that's essential to understanding where we are in faith. When we pray, it helps us to center in on right where we are in life. We give things over to God in order to more clearly understand what our choices are; even in prayer we may get ourselves "out of the way" and all our jumbled thoughts and concerns and fears and preoccupations and worries, so that we might just get a clearer picture about just what is going on and what our choices are. That kind of mindfulness comes from the remembrance of who we are and what we choose to serve in our lives. It's a choice that gives us grace and illumination, that helps us with strength when we don't have any of "our own" to draw upon. It gives courage. Christ does not present a picture of an easy choice, an easy life in the middle of this kind of struggle with a world that may want to drag us down. There are all kinds of "pulls" that work like demons to drag us to one place or another; it's tempting to give our awareness a rest as well, just going along with whatever everybody else is seemingly doing no matter what "crowd" we're talking about. But mindfulness keeps us somewhere else, gives us a refocus, and in the context of Jesus' teaching, one that is necessary and important. Sometimes we just need to remind ourselves who are our real Friend is, Who loves us best. Today's reading is also a good teaching on why Jesus does not present signs on demand, does not try to force people to faith. Christ doesn't just "fix" everybody and change their minds for them. That's not going to be real faith, because it won't be from the heart and it won't be sustained; inevitably it will result in a rejection of grace. That the last condition is worse than the first is a warning to those who want signs. God wants our love, and love is freely given, not coerced.
