Friday in the 27th Week of Ordinary Time, October 9, 2020

Luke 11:15-26

When Jesus had driven out a demon, some of the crowd said: “By the power of Beelzebul, the prince of demons, he drives out demons.” Others, to test him, asked him for a sign from heaven. But he knew their thoughts and said to them, “Every kingdom divided against itself will be laid waste and house will fall against house. And if Satan is divided against himself, how will his kingdom stand? For you say that it is by Beelzebul that I drive out demons. If I, then, drive out demons by Beelzebul, by whom do your own people drive them out? Therefore they will be your judges. But if it is by the finger of God that I drive out demons, then the Kingdom of God has come upon you. When a strong man fully armed guards his palace, his possessions are safe. But when one stronger than he attacks and overcomes him, he takes away the armor on which he relied and distributes the spoils. Whoever is not with me is against me, and whoever does not gather with me scatters. When an unclean spirit goes out of someone, it roams through arid regions searching for rest but, finding none, it says, ‘I shall return to my home from which I came.’ But upon returning, it finds it swept clean and put in order. Then it goes and brings back seven other spirits more wicked than itself who move in and dwell there, and the last condition of that man is worse than the first.”

I was looking at my calendar today.  There are seven weeks until Thanksgiving, and twelve weeks left in the year.  Pumpkins are for sale at the supermarket and on lots belonging to church organizations.  The leaves on the trees here have not changed color yet, but the mornings are a little chilly.  The wonderful and holy feasts of All Saints and All Souls are coming up, to be followed shortly by that of the Immaculate Conception, and then Christmas.  Viewed in one way, the Church’s feast days are like rungs on the ladder of the year.  When we come to this part of the year and the big feasts are packed together like this, time slips by quickly.

“When Jesus had driven out a demon, some of the crowd said: ‘By the power of Beelzebul, the prince of demons, he drives out demons.’ ”  What a strange reaction!  It is almost as if this were the parting shot of the devil who was driven out, speaking through some random person in the crowd, attempting to impugn Jesus.  Jesus provides us with a show of remarkable patience, here.  And when people demand a sign from heaven, he speaks in order to educate.  We see here how we are to act even when attacked with the most preposterous slurs: we are not to take these personally, but we can use them to challenge the assumptions of those who originated them.  At the very least, we can also give an example of patience, keeping in mind the glory that awaits those who persevere.

Now, this demand for “signs from heaven” comes after witnessing signs on earth — the sick being cured, demons being cast out.  For some people, no sign is ever good enough.  These are obstinate but needy people whom no one could satisfy.  And yet, the Lord gives them their chance to believe by engaging with them.  “He knew their thoughts”, he knew what they yearned to hear.  “Every kingdom divided against itself will be laid waste and house will fall against house.”  The people of the Ancient Middle East had seen many great and powerful nations come and go: the Assyrians, the Babylonians, the Persians, the Greeks.  The empire of Alexander had broken apart at his death and each part fought against the others, and factions within each part battled for supremacy.  But Jesus might be referring here to the tragic and ultimately fatal division of the Kingdom of Israel in the north and the Kingdom of Judah in the south, following the death of Solomon.  These two parts of David’s empire feuded with each other and, in their weakened state, fell to larger empires in time.  “And if Satan is divided against himself, how will his kingdom stand?”  Beelzebul was the name of one of Satan’s lieutenants.  If the two were at war with one another, certainly their kingdom would also be at an end.

“For you say that it is by Beelzebul that I drive out demons. If I, then, drive out demons by Beelzebul, by whom do your own people drive them out?”  That is, By whom do your own people seem to drive them out?  For before the time of Christ, no one on earth had the authority to cast out demons.  In the case of Jewish exorcists, the demons would simply stop manifesting themselves in a person and lie low for a time.  The Jewish exorcists would seem then to have successfully cast the demons out.  Jesus drives out the demons with great power and sometimes with a great show of force, as in the case of Legion, doing so in order to teach the people looking on that the forces of darkness are powerful indeed, compared with humans, and that only by Jesus, and later by his commissioned Apostles, may they be driven away.  The Jewish exorcists would have no such show of power because they did not cast out any demons.  “Therefore, they will be your judges.”  If Satan and Beelzebul are to be their judges, their fate will be terrible indeed!

“But if it is by the finger of God that I drive out demons, then the Kingdom of God has come upon you.”  The people have seen the power and horror of the demons in their manifestations, but they are ejected only by “the finger of God”, reminding us that God’s power is infinite.  And if the Jews see clear evidence that for the first time in history, demons truly are being cast out, then the meaning of the sign is evident to all of good will: “the Kingdom of God has come upon you.”  That is, the Son of God stands in your presence.

“When a strong man fully armed guards his palace, his possessions are safe. But when one stronger than he attacks and overcomes him, he takes away the armor on which he relied and distributes the spoils.”  This figure that Jesus uses can be understood in very different ways.  We can see the “strong man” as the Lord, who despoils the devil of the souls he had gained through treachery.  The “armor” would be the fear the devil instilled in humans, and the “spoils” would be the souls “distributed” by the Lord into places of nourishment and safety: “He has set me in a place of pasture. He has brought me up, on the water of refreshment” (Psalm 23, 2).  The figure can also be understood as the devil seizing a soul when that soul becomes complacent and ceases to watch over his thoughts.  The armor is his “complacency”, and the “spoils” are his hopes for salvation, now “distributed” into the flames of eternal fire.

“Whoever is not with me is against me, and whoever does not gather with me scatters.”  The teachings found in today’s reading seem to have been given at different times but are related as to their subject.  Elsewhere, Jesus has said that, “Whoever is not against you is for you.”  This implies a contradiction, but it is really a matter of context.  Here, Jesus is referring to spiritual powers, not men.  The spirits who assist him are angels, while those who drive men away from him — those who “scatter” — are demons.  This is one important way to discern spirits.  We may occasionally struggle to understand if a contemplated action would fulfill the will of God or not.  We can decide such matters by considering the effects of the action in terms of whether they would draw us or others to Jesus or away from him.  Are we gatherers or scatterers?

“When an unclean spirit goes out of someone . . .”  This is a very valuable teaching and it is found only in St. Luke’s Gospel.  Not only does it teach us how demons think and act, but also how bad habits and addictions may be overcome.  When a person suffering from a bad habit or addiction tries to break away from it, he usually concentrates on simply not performing the action connected with it.  It is as though he sits in his room and tries not to do something.  He may have just gone to confession and gotten a clean slate and he has every intention in the world of not committing the act again.  This is what Jesus means when he speaks of the soul “swept clean and put in order.”  But it is empty, unoccupied, and so “[the demon] goes and brings back seven other spirits more wicked than itself who move in and dwell there.”  The habit or addiction worsens because nothing has taken its place.  The solution is for the person to occupy his mind and hands with other things, good things, hobbies or other absorbing activities.  Exercise is good, and so is practicing a musical instrument or playing cards with friends.  Any number of activities can help.  By these means we fill up the empty space in our soul and develop our minds, bodies, and lives in such a way as to make them more fit for God’s purposes.  And of course, we do all these upon a foundation of prayer.  In this way, the last condition of that man is not “worse than the first,” but it will be better, and lead to freedom.