From: Luke 11:15-26:
The Kingdom of God and the Kingdom of Satan
[24] “When an unclean spirit has gone out of a man, he passes through water-
less places seeking rest; and finding none he says, ‘I will return to my house
from which I came.’ [25] And when he comes he finds it swept and put in order.
[26] Then he goes and brings seven other spirits more evil than himself, and they
enter and dwell there; and the last state of that man becomes worse than the
first.”
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Commentary:
14-23. Jesus’ enemies remain obstinate despite the evidence of the miracle.
Since they cannot deny that He has done something quite extraordinary, they
attribute it to the power of the devil, rather than admit that Jesus is the Messiah.
Our Lord answers them with a clinching argument: the fact that He expels de-
mons is proof that He has brought the Kingdom of God. The Second Vatican
Council reminds us of this truth: The Lord Jesus inaugurated His Church by prea-
ching the Good News, that is, the coming of the Kingdom of God, promised over
the ages in the Scriptures [...]. The miracles of Jesus also demonstrate that the
Kingdom has already come on earth: “If it is by the finger of God that I cast out
demons, then the Kingdom of God has come upon you (Luke 11:20); cf. Mat-
thew 12:28). But principally the Kingdom is revealed in the person of Christ Him-
self, Son of God and Son of Man, who came ‘to serve and to give His life as a
ransom for many’ (Mark 10:45)” (Vatican II, “Lumen Gentium”, 5).
The strong man well armed is the devil, who has enslaved man; but Jesus Christ,
one stronger than he, has come and conquered him and is despoiling him. St.
Paul will say that Christ “disarmed the principalities and powers and made a pub-
lic example of them, triumphing over them” (Colossians 2:15).
After the victory of Christ the “stronger one”, the words of verse 23 are addressed
to mankind at large; even if people do not want to recognize it, Jesus Christ has
conquered and from now on no one can adopt an attitude of neutrality towards
Him: he who is not with Him is against Him.
18. Christ’s argument is very clear. One of the worst evils that can overtake the
Church is disunity among Christians, disunity among believers. We must make
Jesus’ prayer our own: “That they may be one; even as Thou, Father, art in Me,
and I in Thee, that they may also be one in us, so that the world may believe
that Thou hast sent Me” (John 17:21).
24-26. Our Lord shows us that the devil is relentless in his struggle against man;
despite man rejecting him with the help of grace, he still lays his traps, still tries
to overpower him. Knowing all this, St. Peter advises us to be sober and vigilant,
because “your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking
someone to devour. Resist him, firm in your faith” (1 Peter 5:8-9).
Jesus also forewarns us about the danger of being once more defeated by Satan
— which would leave us worse off than were before. The Latin proverb puts it very
well: “corruptio optimi, pessima” (the corruption of the best is the worst.) And St.
Peter, in his inspired text, inveighs against corrupt Christians, whom he com-
pares in a graphic and frightening way to “the dog turning back to his own vomit
and the sow being washed and then wallowing in the mire” (cf. 2 Peter 2:22).
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Source: “The Navarre Bible: Text and Commentaries”. Biblical text from the
Revised Standard Version and New Vulgate. Commentaries by members of
the Faculty of Theology, University of Navarre, Spain.
Published by Four Courts Press, Kill Lane, Blackrock, Co. Dublin, Ireland, and
by Scepter Publishers in the United States.
| First reading | Galatians 3:7-14 © |
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| Psalm | Psalm 110:1-6 © |
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| Gospel Acclamation | Jn10:27 |
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| Or | Jn12:31-32 |
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| Gospel | Luke 11:15-26 © |
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