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 

 

Yesterday 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 his 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 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 name for the pagan god Baal.  Throughout the Old Testament we can read the names of different Baal gods in various pagan regions and towns dedicated to them (1 Kings 1:18).  "Beelzebub" was a name given by the Jews to deride the god, meaning "the Lord of the Flies."  But here it is meant as a direct reference to Satan.

 

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.  My study Bible comments that a sign is never given to those whose motive is merely to test God (see Luke 4:9-12).  Jesus explicitly brings out the notion of spiritual warfare, of a host of spirits (led by Satan) who are against God.  Can Satan's kingdom stand if his house is divided and he is therefore at war with himself?  Moreover, if Christ is casting out demons by Beelzebub, how do the Jewish exorcists (your sons) cast out demons?  By what power?  If they accuse Him of casting out demons by demonic power, then their spiritual sons will be their judges.  The finger of God, my study Bible explains, is the Holy Spirit (Matthew 12:28).  

"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."  The strong man in Christ's example is Satan, who holds sway over the fallen human race, my study Bible explains, while the stronger is Christ (see 1 John 4:4).  It is in this illustrated sense that Christ is also Deliverer, Savior, and Judge.

"He who is not with Me is against Me, and he who does not gather with Me scatters."  My study Bible comments that it is the work of Christ to gather the children of God, while those who scatter are in direct opposition to God.  Those who work in opposition to Christ are different from those who work in good faith toward God's purpose but are not yet united to the Church (see Luke 9:46-50).  My study Bible quotes St. Seraphim of Sarov, who comments that  only "good deeds done for Christ's sake bring fruit," and therefore deeds done for other purposes, "even if they are good, are deeds that scatter abroad."

"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 cites the commentary of St. John Chrysostom, who calls the unclean spirit a reference 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.  We may also understand this teaching as one exhorting us to consider what it is to become a "temple of God," in whom the Holy Spirit dwells -- and the vigilance that becomes all the more necessary as a result (1 Corinthians 3:16).  It reminds us that salvation is not a one-time action, but asks of us an ongoing discipleship and awareness.

It's interesting that today's reading speaks about spiritual battle, about the "competition" constantly being waged in this world between the forces of Christ (the stronger man) and Satan (the strong man).  We accept that Christ has come as Savior and Liberator, the One who will deliver us from the evil one.  And yet, we are still intrigued with the composition of the text, in which it was in yesterday's reading that Christ taught His disciples to pray to "our Father in heaven."  If we recall, it was in the prayer (see yesterday's reading, above) in which we are taught to pray, "deliver us from the evil one."  Here, in today's reading which involves an exorcism by Christ and then accusations that He is working by the power of demons, we are given a taste of Christ's clear teaching about forces for good and evil in this world.  These aren't by any means equal forces, for He is clearly the "stronger man" while Satan is the "strong man" who has so many bound in the world.  But Christ is our Liberator, for He has the power to overcome him, take away his armor, and divide his spoils.  This language would make perfect sense to one familiar with first century warfare (as indeed, it makes sense to many in today's world), but Christ is speaking of spiritual warfare, a war that goes on unseen and yet felt today in the world.  It is a battle for souls, and hearts and minds, and our prayers become a first source of strength and armor and weapons for the battle, for it is through our prayers that we are prepared, disciplined, and trained -- and hence we get another marvelous reason for the construction of the Gospel:  yesterday's reading has prepared us for the events we read of in today's reading.  Jesus taught us a universal prayer for all Christians to pray for all the world -- on behalf of the world, for all the world, and for ourselves -- but we see that it isn't just a simple prayer, it's a weapon for the battle.  It is a prayer for the kingdom of God to be manifest in this world.  It constitutes an alignment with the "stronger man," so that we are fully arrayed for battle and we have declared whose side we're on, whose troops we form, whose battlements we stand behind.  So often we are tempted to think of faith as simply intellectual abstraction, a kind of philosophical divide that purveys questions of ideology or of competing systems of rules and regulations, of varied outlooks upon life and what it is to be a human being under various deities or belief systems.  But Christ phrases this spiritual condition of the world in completely different terms, and takes us away from abstractions such as a simple set of competing ideas. He makes it quite clear that this battle is essential, and most of all that it is in fact waged within us, and that it affects us human beings not just on the surface or in terms of  beliefs and concepts, but rather from the inside out.  It determines the conditions of the places we feel at home in the world, where we belong, and to what do we have our allegiance.  His actions in the world and His teachings make it very clear that the battle isn't just about ideas, but rather the very things that make life worth living, or not.  The demons in the Bible oppress and afflict, they give pain.  In fact the very word in the Greek text which is translated as "the evil one" is πονηρός/poneros, whose root πόνος/ponos literally means "pain."  The word could easily be translated as "the painful one" (as in the one who brings pain).  We are not talking about abstract ideas or slogans or theories, but rather conditions of living that affect the entirety of one's life, as so many have experienced and understood.  A spiritual reality forms the background and basis for our lives, unseen as it may be, but it has been shared and understood by so many throughout so much of the history we know -- and it equally remains a mystery in which we may participate as well, should we continue to "ask" and "seek" and "knock" as Christ advised also in yesterday's reading (see above).  So let us take the story in today's reading to heart, and especially in the context of the teaching by Christ of the Lord's Prayer and the comments that followed in yesterday's reading.  For we do not have a complete sense of Christ's work on our behalf without each one and without the understanding He seeks to teach.  Let us take seriously the thought that so much depends upon what path we're on, and what and whom we choose to follow, in whom we place our trust.