CCC Cross Reference:
Lk 11:20 700; Lk 11:21-22 385
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Back to Servant of the Word '09
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Reading 1
Jl 1:13-15; 2:1-2
Gird yourselves and weep, O priests!
wail, O ministers of the altar!
Come, spend the night in sackcloth,
O ministers of my God!
The house of your God is deprived
of offering and libation.
Proclaim a fast,
call an assembly;
Gather the elders,
all who dwell in the land,
Into the house of the Lord, your God,
and cry to the Lord!
Alas, the day!
for near is the day of the Lord,
and it comes as ruin from the Almighty.
Blow the trumpet in Zion,
sound the alarm on my holy mountain!
Let all who dwell in the land tremble,
for the day of the Lord is coming;
Yes, it is near, a day of darkness and of gloom,
a day of clouds and somberness!
Like dawn spreading over the mountains,
a people numerous and mighty!
Their like has not been from of old,
nor will it be after them,
even to the years of distant generations.
Responsorial Psalm
Ps 9:2-3, 6 and 16, 8-9
R. (9) The Lord will judge the world with justice.
I will give thanks to you, O Lord, with all my heart;
I will declare all your wondrous deeds.
I will be glad and exult in you;
I will sing praise to your name, Most High.
R. The Lord will judge the world with justice.
You rebuked the nations and destroyed the wicked;
their name you blotted out forever and ever.
The nations are sunk in the pit they have made;
in the snare they set, their foot is caught.
R. The Lord will judge the world with justice.
But the Lord sits enthroned forever;
he has set up his throne for judgment.
He judges the world with justice;
he governs the peoples with equity.
R. The Lord will judge the world with justice.
Gospel
Lk 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.”
Readings from the Jerusalem Bible
First reading Joel 1:13 - 2:12
Priests, put on sackcloth and lament.
Ministers of the altar, wail.
Come, pass the night in sackcloth,
you ministers of my God.
For the house of our God has been deprived
of oblation and libation.
Order a fast,
proclaim a solemn assembly;
elders, call together
all the inhabitants of the country
to the house of the Lord your God.
Cry out to the Lord,
‘Oh, what a day!
For the day of the Lord is near,
it comes as a devastation from Shaddai.’
Sound the trumpet in Zion,
give the alarm on my holy mountain!
Let all the inhabitants of the country tremble,
for the day of the Lord is coming,
yes, it is near.
Day of darkness and gloom,
day of cloud and blackness.
Like the dawn there spreads across the mountains
a vast and mighty host,
such as has never been before,
such as will never be again
to the remotest ages.
In their van the fire devours,
in their rear a flame consumes.
The country is like a garden of Eden ahead of them
and a desert waste behind them.
Nothing escapes them.
They look like horses,
like chargers they gallop on,
with a racket like the clatter of chariots
they hurtle over the mountain tops,
with a crackling like a blazing fire
devouring the stubble,
a mighty army in battle array.
At the sight of them the peoples are appalled
and every face grows pale.
Like fighting men they press forward,
like warriors scale the walls,
each marching straight ahead,
not turning from his path;
they never jostle each other,
each marches straight ahead:
arrows fly, they still press forward,
without breaking ranks.
They hurl themselves at the city,
they leap on to its walls,
climb to the housetops,
and make their way through windows
like marauders.
As they come on, the earth quakes,
the skies tremble,
sun and moon grow dark,
the stars lose their brilliance.
The Lord makes his voice heard
at the head of his army,
and indeed his regiments are innumerable,
all-powerful is the one that carries out his orders,
for great is the day of the Lord,
and very terrible – who can face it?
Responsorial Psalm: Psalm 9A:2-3,6,16,8-9
The Lord will judge the world with justice.
I will praise you, Lord, with all my heart;
I will recount all your wonders.
I will rejoice in you and be glad,
and sing psalms to your name, O Most High.
The Lord will judge the world with justice.
You have checked the nations, destroyed the wicked;
you have wiped out their name for ever and ever.
The nations have fallen in the pit which they made,
their feet caught in the snare they laid.
The Lord will judge the world with justice.
But the Lord sits enthroned for ever.
He has set up his throne for judgement;
he will judge the world with justice,
he will judge the peoples with his truth.
The Lord will judge the world with justice.
Gospel Luke 11:15 – 26
But some of them said, ‘It is through Beelzebul, the prince of devils, that he casts out devils’. Others asked him, as a test, for a sign from heaven; but, knowing what they were thinking, he said to them, ‘Every kingdom divided against itself is heading for ruin, and a household divided against itself collapses. So too with Satan: if he is divided against himself, how can his kingdom stand? – Since you assert that it is through Beelzebul that I cast out devils. Now if it is through Beelzebul that I cast out devils, through whom do your own experts cast them out? Let them be your judges then. But if it is through the finger of God that I cast out devils, then know that the kingdom of God has overtaken you. So long as a strong man fully armed guards his own palace, his goods are undisturbed; but when someone stronger than he is attacks and defeats him, the stronger man takes away all the weapons he relied on and shares out his spoil.
‘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 it wanders through waterless country looking for a place to rest, and not finding one it says, “I will go back to the home I came from”. But on arrival, finding it swept and tidied, it then goes off and brings seven other spirits more wicked than itself, and they go in and set up house there, so that the man ends up by being worse than he was before.’
Readings and Commentary from the Navarre Bible
Friday of the 27th Week in Ordinary Time
From: Joel 1:13-15; 2:1-2
Call to repentance and prayer
------------------------------------------
[13] Gird on sackcloth and lament, O priests,
wail, O ministers of the altar.
Go in, pass the night in sackcloth,
O ministers of my God!
Because cereal offerings and drink offering
are withheld from the house of your God.
[14] Sanctify a fast,
call a solemn assembly.
Gather the elders
and all the inhabitants of the land
to the house of the Lord your God;
and cry to the Lord.
[15] Alas for the day!
For the day of the Lord is near,
and as destruction from the Almighty it comes,
The day of the Lord is coming "after darkness"
------------------------------------------------------------------
[1] Blow the trumpet in Zion;
sound the alarm on my holy mountain!
Let all the inhabitants of the land tremble,
for the day of the Lord is coming, it is near,
[2] a day of darkness and gloom,
a day of clouds and thick darkness!
Invasion by a "powerful people"
-------------------------------------------
Like blackness there is spread upon the mountains
a great and powerful people;
their like has never been from of old,
nor will be again after them
through the years of all generations.
*********************************************************************************************
Commentary:
1:13-20. In the form of a poem, the prophet appeals for public conversion and penance to entreat God to take pity on the people and the land. "Go in, pass the night in sackcloth" (v. 13) -- the same language as is used to describe the penance done by David when his son was fatally ill (cf. 2 Sam 12:16), and, in general, the sign of deep mourning (cf. 1 Kings 21:27, when King Ahab is warned of what will befall him). Judith 4:8ff mentions priests, people and even livestock wearing sackcloth. "Sanctify a fast" (v. 14), that is, declare a holy fast, a penitential rite to move God to mercy; other Old Testament references to this are to be found in 1 Kings 21:9 and Jonah 3:5-9.
The basic purpose of these acts of penance is given in v. 15 with a play on words: the "day of the Lord" is near; it comes as destruction, as a scourge, shod, from the Almighty, Shaddai, Verses 16-18 show that the people admit that their punishment is deserved; this prepares the way for the prophet's prayer that follows. In it, Joel cries to the Lord on behalf of the community (v. 19) -- and not only he: "even the flocks of sheep" sigh to God in a mute prayer.
It is significant that the priests are the first to be called to penance (v. 13). They should be the first to lament -- before calling others (elders, all the inhabitants) to do so (v. 14). This is something embedded in the tradition of the Bible and of the Church -- the idea that ministers should set a good example: "Those who have been called to wait on the table of the Lord should be praiseworthy, shining examples of righteousness, unmarked by any stain or taint of sinfulness. They should live upright lives, as salt of the earth, for their own sake and for the sake of others, giving good example by their behaviour and deeds, as the light of the world. They should be mindful of the warning made by the divine teacher Christ Jesus to his apostles and disciples, and all of their successors, priests and teachers: You are the salt of the earth; but if salt has lost its taste, how shall its saltness be restored? (Mt 5:13)" (St John Capistrano, "Mirror of the Clergy", 1, in the Divine Office, Readings, 23 October).
2:1-11. From the literary point of view, and also by virtue of their theme, these verses form a well-defined poem: this is signaled by the use of what is called "inclusion": cf. the reference to the day of the Lord in the first and last verses. The poem describes how God manifests his presence among his people, arriving with all the trappings of power. The passage is reminiscent of the account of the theophany on Mount Sinai (ex 19:16-25; Deut 4:9-14) and of prophetical texts, too (Zeph 1:15; Is 13:8; etc.). It is all designed to make people conscious of the Lord's transcendence and power, in order to bring about a change of heart: only God can chastise them and by so doing rescue them from their anguish.
The first two verses are a call to attention. The trumpet or horn was blown mainly on two occasions -- as an alarm in times of war, or to call an assembly; here, as in the parallel passage of Zephaniah 1:15-16, it is an alarm call. The "day of the Lord" (v. 1) arrives like a terrible army with all the panoply of war. St. John's Gospel, in the prologue (Jn 1:5) and elsewhere (8:12; 13:30; 20:1; etc.), uses language similar to that found here (v. 2) depicting darkness and night as elements hostile to Christ.
*********************************************************************************************
From: Luke 11:15-26:
The Kingdom of God and the Kingdom of Satan
--------------------------------------------------------------------
(Now Jesus was casting out a demon that was dumb; when the demon had gone out, the man spoke, and the people marvelled.) [15] But some of them said, "He casts out demons by Beelzebul, the prince of demons"; [16] while others, to test Him, sought from Him a sign from Heaven. [17] But He, knowing their thoughts, said to them, "Every kingdom divided against itself is laid waste, and house falls upon house. [18] And if Satan also is divided against himself, how will his kingdom stand? For you say that I cast out demons by Beelzebul. [19] And if I cast out demons by Beelzebul, by whom do your sons cast them out? Therefore they shall be your judges. [20] But if it is by the finger of God that I cast out demons, then the Kingdom of God has come upon you. [21] When a strong man, fully armed, guards his own palace, his goods are in peace; [22] but when one stronger than he assails him and overcomes him, he takes away his armor in which he trusted, and divides his spoil. [23] He who is not with Me is against Me, and He who does not gather with Me scatters."
[24] "When an unclean spirit has gone out of a man, he passes through waterless 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."
*********************************************************************************************
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 demons 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 preaching 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. Matthew 12:28). But principally the Kingdom is revealed in the person of Christ Himself, 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 public 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 some one 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 compares 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).
*********************************************************************************************
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. We encourage readers to purchase The Navarre Bible for personal study. See Scepter Publishers for details.
Jl 1:13-15; 2:1-2
Gird yourselves and weep, O priests!
wail, O ministers of the altar!
Come, spend the night in sackcloth,
O ministers of my God!
The house of your God is deprived
of offering and libation.
Proclaim a fast,
call an assembly;
Gather the elders,
all who dwell in the land,
Into the house of the Lord, your God,
and cry to the Lord!
Alas, the day!
for near is the day of the Lord,
and it comes as ruin from the Almighty.
Blow the trumpet in Zion,
sound the alarm on my holy mountain!
Let all who dwell in the land tremble,
for the day of the Lord is coming;
Yes, it is near, a day of darkness and of gloom,
a day of clouds and somberness!
Like dawn spreading over the mountains,
a people numerous and mighty!
Their like has not been from of old,
nor will it be after them,
even to the years of distant generations.
Responsorial Psalm
Ps 9:2-3, 6 and 16, 8-9
R. (9) The Lord will judge the world with justice.
I will give thanks to you, O Lord, with all my heart;
I will declare all your wondrous deeds.
I will be glad and exult in you;
I will sing praise to your name, Most High.
R. The Lord will judge the world with justice.
You rebuked the nations and destroyed the wicked;
their name you blotted out forever and ever.
The nations are sunk in the pit they have made;
in the snare they set, their foot is caught.
R. The Lord will judge the world with justice.
But the Lord sits enthroned forever;
he has set up his throne for judgment.
He judges the world with justice;
he governs the peoples with equity.
R. The Lord will judge the world with justice.
Gospel
Lk 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.”
Readings from the Jerusalem Bible
First reading Joel 1:13 - 2:12
Priests, put on sackcloth and lament.
Ministers of the altar, wail.
Come, pass the night in sackcloth,
you ministers of my God.
For the house of our God has been deprived
of oblation and libation.
Order a fast,
proclaim a solemn assembly;
elders, call together
all the inhabitants of the country
to the house of the Lord your God.
Cry out to the Lord,
‘Oh, what a day!
For the day of the Lord is near,
it comes as a devastation from Shaddai.’
Sound the trumpet in Zion,
give the alarm on my holy mountain!
Let all the inhabitants of the country tremble,
for the day of the Lord is coming,
yes, it is near.
Day of darkness and gloom,
day of cloud and blackness.
Like the dawn there spreads across the mountains
a vast and mighty host,
such as has never been before,
such as will never be again
to the remotest ages.
In their van the fire devours,
in their rear a flame consumes.
The country is like a garden of Eden ahead of them
and a desert waste behind them.
Nothing escapes them.
They look like horses,
like chargers they gallop on,
with a racket like the clatter of chariots
they hurtle over the mountain tops,
with a crackling like a blazing fire
devouring the stubble,
a mighty army in battle array.
At the sight of them the peoples are appalled
and every face grows pale.
Like fighting men they press forward,
like warriors scale the walls,
each marching straight ahead,
not turning from his path;
they never jostle each other,
each marches straight ahead:
arrows fly, they still press forward,
without breaking ranks.
They hurl themselves at the city,
they leap on to its walls,
climb to the housetops,
and make their way through windows
like marauders.
As they come on, the earth quakes,
the skies tremble,
sun and moon grow dark,
the stars lose their brilliance.
The Lord makes his voice heard
at the head of his army,
and indeed his regiments are innumerable,
all-powerful is the one that carries out his orders,
for great is the day of the Lord,
and very terrible – who can face it?
Responsorial Psalm: Psalm 9A:2-3,6,16,8-9
The Lord will judge the world with justice.
I will praise you, Lord, with all my heart;
I will recount all your wonders.
I will rejoice in you and be glad,
and sing psalms to your name, O Most High.
The Lord will judge the world with justice.
You have checked the nations, destroyed the wicked;
you have wiped out their name for ever and ever.
The nations have fallen in the pit which they made,
their feet caught in the snare they laid.
The Lord will judge the world with justice.
But the Lord sits enthroned for ever.
He has set up his throne for judgement;
he will judge the world with justice,
he will judge the peoples with his truth.
The Lord will judge the world with justice.
Gospel Luke 11:15 – 26
But some of them said, ‘It is through Beelzebul, the prince of devils, that he casts out devils’. Others asked him, as a test, for a sign from heaven; but, knowing what they were thinking, he said to them, ‘Every kingdom divided against itself is heading for ruin, and a household divided against itself collapses. So too with Satan: if he is divided against himself, how can his kingdom stand? – Since you assert that it is through Beelzebul that I cast out devils. Now if it is through Beelzebul that I cast out devils, through whom do your own experts cast them out? Let them be your judges then. But if it is through the finger of God that I cast out devils, then know that the kingdom of God has overtaken you. So long as a strong man fully armed guards his own palace, his goods are undisturbed; but when someone stronger than he is attacks and defeats him, the stronger man takes away all the weapons he relied on and shares out his spoil.
‘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 it wanders through waterless country looking for a place to rest, and not finding one it says, “I will go back to the home I came from”. But on arrival, finding it swept and tidied, it then goes off and brings seven other spirits more wicked than itself, and they go in and set up house there, so that the man ends up by being worse than he was before.’
Readings and Commentary from the Navarre Bible
Friday of the 27th Week in Ordinary Time
From: Joel 1:13-15; 2:1-2
Call to repentance and prayer
------------------------------------------
[13] Gird on sackcloth and lament, O priests,
wail, O ministers of the altar.
Go in, pass the night in sackcloth,
O ministers of my God!
Because cereal offerings and drink offering
are withheld from the house of your God.
[14] Sanctify a fast,
call a solemn assembly.
Gather the elders
and all the inhabitants of the land
to the house of the Lord your God;
and cry to the Lord.
[15] Alas for the day!
For the day of the Lord is near,
and as destruction from the Almighty it comes,
The day of the Lord is coming "after darkness"
------------------------------------------------------------------
[1] Blow the trumpet in Zion;
sound the alarm on my holy mountain!
Let all the inhabitants of the land tremble,
for the day of the Lord is coming, it is near,
[2] a day of darkness and gloom,
a day of clouds and thick darkness!
Invasion by a "powerful people"
-------------------------------------------
Like blackness there is spread upon the mountains
a great and powerful people;
their like has never been from of old,
nor will be again after them
through the years of all generations.
*********************************************************************************************
Commentary:
1:13-20. In the form of a poem, the prophet appeals for public conversion and penance to entreat God to take pity on the people and the land. "Go in, pass the night in sackcloth" (v. 13) -- the same language as is used to describe the penance done by David when his son was fatally ill (cf. 2 Sam 12:16), and, in general, the sign of deep mourning (cf. 1 Kings 21:27, when King Ahab is warned of what will befall him). Judith 4:8ff mentions priests, people and even livestock wearing sackcloth. "Sanctify a fast" (v. 14), that is, declare a holy fast, a penitential rite to move God to mercy; other Old Testament references to this are to be found in 1 Kings 21:9 and Jonah 3:5-9.
The basic purpose of these acts of penance is given in v. 15 with a play on words: the "day of the Lord" is near; it comes as destruction, as a scourge, shod, from the Almighty, Shaddai, Verses 16-18 show that the people admit that their punishment is deserved; this prepares the way for the prophet's prayer that follows. In it, Joel cries to the Lord on behalf of the community (v. 19) -- and not only he: "even the flocks of sheep" sigh to God in a mute prayer.
It is significant that the priests are the first to be called to penance (v. 13). They should be the first to lament -- before calling others (elders, all the inhabitants) to do so (v. 14). This is something embedded in the tradition of the Bible and of the Church -- the idea that ministers should set a good example: "Those who have been called to wait on the table of the Lord should be praiseworthy, shining examples of righteousness, unmarked by any stain or taint of sinfulness. They should live upright lives, as salt of the earth, for their own sake and for the sake of others, giving good example by their behaviour and deeds, as the light of the world. They should be mindful of the warning made by the divine teacher Christ Jesus to his apostles and disciples, and all of their successors, priests and teachers: You are the salt of the earth; but if salt has lost its taste, how shall its saltness be restored? (Mt 5:13)" (St John Capistrano, "Mirror of the Clergy", 1, in the Divine Office, Readings, 23 October).
2:1-11. From the literary point of view, and also by virtue of their theme, these verses form a well-defined poem: this is signaled by the use of what is called "inclusion": cf. the reference to the day of the Lord in the first and last verses. The poem describes how God manifests his presence among his people, arriving with all the trappings of power. The passage is reminiscent of the account of the theophany on Mount Sinai (ex 19:16-25; Deut 4:9-14) and of prophetical texts, too (Zeph 1:15; Is 13:8; etc.). It is all designed to make people conscious of the Lord's transcendence and power, in order to bring about a change of heart: only God can chastise them and by so doing rescue them from their anguish.
The first two verses are a call to attention. The trumpet or horn was blown mainly on two occasions -- as an alarm in times of war, or to call an assembly; here, as in the parallel passage of Zephaniah 1:15-16, it is an alarm call. The "day of the Lord" (v. 1) arrives like a terrible army with all the panoply of war. St. John's Gospel, in the prologue (Jn 1:5) and elsewhere (8:12; 13:30; 20:1; etc.), uses language similar to that found here (v. 2) depicting darkness and night as elements hostile to Christ.
*********************************************************************************************
From: Luke 11:15-26:
The Kingdom of God and the Kingdom of Satan
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(Now Jesus was casting out a demon that was dumb; when the demon had gone out, the man spoke, and the people marvelled.) [15] But some of them said, "He casts out demons by Beelzebul, the prince of demons"; [16] while others, to test Him, sought from Him a sign from Heaven. [17] But He, knowing their thoughts, said to them, "Every kingdom divided against itself is laid waste, and house falls upon house. [18] And if Satan also is divided against himself, how will his kingdom stand? For you say that I cast out demons by Beelzebul. [19] And if I cast out demons by Beelzebul, by whom do your sons cast them out? Therefore they shall be your judges. [20] But if it is by the finger of God that I cast out demons, then the Kingdom of God has come upon you. [21] When a strong man, fully armed, guards his own palace, his goods are in peace; [22] but when one stronger than he assails him and overcomes him, he takes away his armor in which he trusted, and divides his spoil. [23] He who is not with Me is against Me, and He who does not gather with Me scatters."
[24] "When an unclean spirit has gone out of a man, he passes through waterless 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 demons 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 preaching 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. Matthew 12:28). But principally the Kingdom is revealed in the person of Christ Himself, 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 public 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 some one 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 compares 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. We encourage readers to purchase The Navarre Bible for personal study. See Scepter Publishers for details.
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