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.”
This reading can be very difficult to understand. It seems confusing. It starts with the accusation that Jesus drives out the devil by the devil. This is, of course, insane, but it leads Jesus to tell us two stories that help us to understand how the demons view us and the world. The first story is about a strong man that is over powered by a stronger man and all that he has is taken away. The second is the story of the person that has a demon driven out, and puts his life back in order but the demon returns with 7 other demons and is worse off than before.
What these stories tell us, simply, is that if physical strength is all you have then there will always be someone stronger that will come along and take everything you have. This is the way of the world, it is the reason we have war, and it is the reason we have kings and tyrants and it is the reason that some have nothing, while others are surrounded by riches. It is also the reason that many of these strongmen are so ruthless and violent, because they know that there is always someone lurking in the shadows waiting to pounce and take it all from them. The same is true about the second story, if you do only enough to drive the demon away, but do not make the changes your life completely expunge him from your life in every way, then the demons, will return with more backup and make your situation worse than before.
Both of these stories reveal a reality about this world and the way that the evil ones look at it. The evil look at the world as a pie, and if I take a slice that means someone else will have less, and so they take as much as they can so that others will not take from them. This is how they view every aspect of physical human existence. All of the sins that we attribute to the devil, Pride, envy, greed and lust, all flow into this same mentality… “I need to take mine, before someone else takes it away from me.”
But this is not the way God views the world, and it is not how things really are in heaven or on earth. With the good true and beautiful things of this world…, these things they are multiplied when they are shared. Think of love. If I give love to another, we are both filled up with more love. If I speak truth we are both better off for having known it. And if I create something beautiful every one that looks upon is then blessed for having seen it.
The answer in either case is God, fully and completely…, we must do all things with God. He is the ultimate strongman, there is no one that can take anything away from Him, because He is the creator of everything. But the difference between God and all of the strongmen that have come after Him is that God does not want to take anything from us, but instead wants to give us everything He has. We must do the same. If you have strength, offer it up and unite it to God and share your strength with the world. If you want to expel demons from your life, then you must do it with God, united with His power and kingship then the demons will flee from you. Alone we are desperately outnumbered. But with God, we are an overwhelming majority.
But then might ask, how do you unite all things with God? With prayer and thanksgiving, you must give it all to Him. If you have strength and power and riches, you offer it all to him and allow Him to use it for His purposes. If you want to live a life of virtue, and uprightness, you must first offer it up to Him, and listen for His call in your life, and humbly do as you are told. It is hard to give every aspect of your life to God, our culture, our wold, teaches the opposite at every turn. But if you don’t, you will be forever divided one against another for all time, just like the demons. But if you do, then you will be blessed with more love than you can possibly imagine, and you will be able to experience that joy for all eternity. The choice is yours, what will you choose?
