ACC ~ Luke 11 v14 - 36

OVERVIEW:

The Lord’s Prayer was given in a private conversation between Jesus and his disciples. Now the audience switches to the crowds, who at first are amazed at Jesus’ exorcism of a man who is deaf and dumb. Then some of the crowd, accusing him of driving out demons by Beelzebul, test him by asking for a sign (CYRIL OF ALEXANDRIA). Opposition against Jesus arises after his exorcism of a deaf-mute; the first challenge concerns whether his ability to cast out demons is from God or Beelzebul. The reality of God’s kingdom in Christ is that it is eternal and undivided. Jesus’ common sense response is clear: if he were in league with Satan, he would not be attacking Satan’s emissaries (CYRIL OF ALEXANDRIA).

Jesus casts out demons by the finger of God, which is the Holy Spirit, for he is the new and greater prophet like Moses who brings with him the kingdom of God. Jesus’ statement that “the kingdom of God has come upon you” means he is the final, eschatological prophet promised by Moses [1] (CYRIL OF ALEXANDRIA).

Jesus has already demonstrated his power over Satan when, with the Word of God, he overcame the devil’s suggestions that he bypass the cross. Jesus will complete his mission and achieve the final victory over Satan. Satan is not with Jesus but stands against him. When Satan is cast out, the void must be filled with the Messiah, the stronger one, or else Satan will return with even more force and vehemence (CYRIL OF ALEXANDRIA). The human soul is pictured as a house that needs an occupant—and if it is left empty, an undesirable tenant will take up residence. Once a house has been swept clean by baptism and furnished by the Lord’s Supper, it must remain holy and pure by a life of grace (ORIGEN). This picture supports Augustine’s view that all people have a God-shaped void within that only God can fill satisfactorily.

Jesus does not deny the truth of the beatitude spoken by the woman from the crowd; he adds to her words. Mary is blessed more for believing the words of Jesus than she is for conceiving his flesh in her body (AUGUSTINE). Those who are blessed are those who worship Jesus as the Son of God by hearing his word (EPHREM THE SYRIAN).

The sign of Jonah is the passion and resurrection fulfilled in Jesus (CYRIL OF ALEXANDRIA). The sign of Jonah functioned in two ways: for those who believe, it was for their rising; for those who did not, it was their destruction. [2] The Queen of the South is a type of the church because like the church, she will condemn an unbelieving generation by coming to the Lord (EPHREM THE SYRIAN). The mystery of Christ and his church is that it extends even to Gentiles and barbarians like the Ninevites and the Queen of the South (AMBROSE).

The lamp represents the light of the gospel, which shines through Jesus and his preaching, and the lampstand is Christ’s church, upon which he stands (CYRIL OF ALEXANDRIA). Those who have been catechized and baptized are not to hide this light, for faith must not be hidden under the law but must shine forth through Christ (AMBROSE). Jesus expands the metaphor to the eye. The eye is the mind that receives the simple light of Christ so that it might have the mind of Christ (SYMEON THE NEW THEOLOGIAN).

[1] Deut 18:15.

[2] See Lk 2:34.

11:14 | Jesus Casts Out a Demon from a Deaf-Mute

CHRIST’S POWER CASTS OUT A MUTE DEMON

CYRIL OF ALEXANDRIA: They were even grinding their teeth at Christ, the Savior of all, because he made the multitudes wonder by his many divine and astonishing miracles. The very devils cried out at his overwhelming and godlike power and authority. …

“There was brought to him one who was possessed with a mute devil.” Now mute devils are difficult for any one of the saints to rebuke. They are more obstinate than any other kind and excessively bold. There was nothing difficult to the all-powerful will of Christ, the Savior of us all. … Upon the accomplishment of this wonderful act, the multitude extolled him with praises and hastened to crown the worker of the miracle with godlike honor. COMMENTARY ON LUKE, HOMILY 80. [1]

[1] CGSL 327**.

11:15-16 | Seeking a Sign from Jesus

THE SCRIBES AND PHARISEES DEMAND A SIGN

CYRIL OF ALEXANDRIA: “But certain of them,” it says, “being scribes and Pharisees,” with hearts intoxicated with pride and envy, found in the miracle fuel for their illness. They did not praise him but even went to the very opposite extreme. Having stripped him of the godlike deeds he did, they assigned to the devil almighty power and made Beelzebub the source of Christ’s strength. They said, “He casts out devils by him.” Others who were afflicted with a similar wickedness ran without discernment into a disgraceful forwardness of speech. Being stung by envy, they required seeing him work a sign from heaven. They called out, as it were, and said, “Even if you have expelled from a man a bitter and malicious demon, that as yet is no such great matter, nor worthy of admiration. What is done up to now is no proof of divine ability.” … Such were their forward fault findings. The fact of their wishing to ask a sign from heaven proves nothing else than that they entertained such thoughts as these concerning him. COMMENTARY ON LUKE, HOMILY 80. [1]

[1] CGSL 327-28**.

11:17-20 | The Kingdom Has Come in Jesus’ Ministry

JESUS’ COMMONSENSE RESPONSE

CYRIL OF ALEXANDRIA: He proceeds to arguments drawn from common things but which have the force of truth in them. …

Kingdoms are established by the fidelity of subjects and the obedience of those under the royal scepter. Houses are established when those who belong to them in no way whatsoever thwart one another but, on the contrary, agree in will and deed. I suppose it would establish the kingdom too of Beelzebub, had he determined to abstain from everything contrary to himself. How then does Satan cast out Satan? It follows then that devils do not depart from people on their own accord but retire unwillingly. “Satan,” he says, “does not fight with himself.” He does not rebuke his own servants. He does not permit himself to injure his own armorbearers. On the contrary, he helps his kingdom. “It remains for you to understand that I crush Satan by divine power.” COMMENTARY ON LUKE, HOMILY 80. [1]

[1] CGSL 328-29**.

THE FINGER OF GOD IS THE HOLY SPIRIT

CYRIL OF ALEXANDRIA: By the finger of God, he means the Holy Spirit. The Son is called the hand and arm of God the Father because he does all things by the Son, and the Son in a similar way works by the Spirit. Just as the finger is attached to the hand as something not foreign from it but belonging to it by nature, so also the Holy Spirit, by reason of his being equal in substance, is joined in oneness to the Son, although he proceeds from God the Father. The Son does every thing by the consubstantial Spirit. Here he purposely says that by the finger of God he casts out devils, speaking as a man. The Jews in the infirmity and folly of their mind would not have endured it if he said, “by my own Spirit I cast out devils.” COMMENTARY ON LUKE, HOMILY 81. [1]

[1] CGSL 331**.

IN JESUS, WE SEE THE KINGDOM OF GOD

CYRIL OF ALEXANDRIA: Although he is by nature God and the Giver of the Spirit from God the Father to those who are worthy and employs as his own that power which is from him, he spoke as a man. He is consubstantial with him, and whatever is said to be done by God the Father, this necessarily is by the Son in the Spirit. He says, “If I, being a man, and having become like you, cast out devils in the Spirit of God, human nature has in me first attained to a godlike kingdom.” For it has become glorious by breaking the power of Satan and rebuking the impure and abominable spirits. This is the meaning of the words “the kingdom of God has come upon you.” COMMENTARY ON LUKE, HOMILY 81. [1]

[1] CGSL 331**.

11:21-22 | Jesus Has Conquered Satan

THE STRONGER ONE PREVAILS OVER SATAN

CYRIL OF ALEXANDRIA: He has conquered the ruler of this world. Having, so to speak, hamstrung him and stripped him of the power he possessed, he has given him over for a prey to his followers. He says, “The strong man, being armed, guards his house; all his goods are in peace. But when one who is stronger than he shall come on him and overcome him, he takes away all his armor wherein he trusted and divides his spoil.” This is a plain demonstration and type of the matter depicted after the manner of human affairs. … Before the coming of the Savior, he was in great power, driving and shutting up in his own stall flocks that were not his own but belonging to God over all. He was like some voracious and most insolent robber. Since the Word of God who is above all, the Giver of all might and Lord of powers attacked him, having become man, all his goods have been plundered and his spoil divided. Those of old who had been ensnared by him into ungodliness and error have been called by the holy apostles to the acknowledgment of the truth and been brought near to God the Father by faith in his Son. COMMENTARY ON LUKE, HOMILY 81. [1]

[1] CGSL 331-32**.

11:23 | Those Who Reject Jesus

SATAN IS NOT WITH JESUS

CYRIL OF ALEXANDRIA: “He that is not with me,” he says, “is against me, and he that gathers not with me, scatters.” “For I,” he says, “have come to save every man from the hands of the devil and to deliver from his deceit those whom he had ensnared. I came to set the prisoners free, to give light to those in darkness, to raise up them that had fallen, to heal the broken-spirited, and to gather together the children of God who were scattered abroad. This was the object of my coming. Satan is not with me; on the contrary he is against me. He ventures to scatter those whom I have gathered and saved. How then can he, who wars against me and sets his wickedness in array against my purposes, give me power against himself? How is it not foolish even barely to imagine the possibility of such a thing as this?” COMMENTARY ON LUKE, HOMILY 81. [1]

[1] CGSL 332**.

11:24-26 | Satan’s Conqueror, Jesus

THE VOID LEFT BY SATAN’S ABSENCE

CYRIL OF ALEXANDRIA: That the Jewish crowds fall into such thoughts concerning Christ he makes plain by saying, “When the wicked spirit has gone out from the man, it returns with seven other spirits more bitter than itself, and the last state of that man is worse than the first.” As long as they were in bondage in Egypt and lived according to the customs and laws of the Egyptians that were full of all impurity, they led polluted lives. An evil spirit dwelled in them, because it dwells in the hearts of the wicked. When in the mercy of God they had been delivered by Moses and received the law as a schoolmaster calling them to the light of the true knowledge of God, the impure and polluted spirit was driven out. Since they did not believe in Christ but rejected the Savior, the impure spirit again attacked them. He found their heart empty and devoid of all fear of God, swept and took up his dwelling in them. COMMENTARY ON LUKE, HOMILY 81. [1]

[1] CGSL 332**.

THE HOUSE SWEPT CLEAN MUST REMAIN HOLY

ORIGEN: The unclean spirit dwelt in us before we believed, before we came to Christ when our soul was still committing fornication against God and was with its lovers, the demons. Afterward it said, “I will return to my first husband,” and came to Christ, who “created” it from the beginning “in his image.” Necessarily the adulterous spirit gave up his place when it saw the legitimate husband. Christ received us, and our house has been “cleansed” from its former sins. It has been “furnished” with the furnishing of the sacraments of the faithful that they who have been initiated know. This house does not deserve to have Christ as its resident immediately unless its life and conduct are so holy, pure and incapable of being defiled that it deserves to be the “temple of God.” It should not still be a house, but a temple in which God dwells. If it neglects the grace that was received and entangles itself in secular affairs, immediately that unclean spirit returns and claims the vacant house for itself. “It brings with it seven other spirits more wicked,” so that it may not be able again to be expelled, “and the last state of that kind of person is worse than the first.” It would be more tolerable that the soul would not have returned to its first husband once it became a prostitute than having gone back after confession to her husband, to have become an adulteress again. There is no “fellowship,” as the apostle says, “between the temple of God and idols,” no “agreement between Christ and Belial.” HOMILIES ON EXODUS 8.4. [1]

[1] FC 71:324-25*.

11:27-28 | Blessings for Hearing and Keeping the Word

MARY BLESSED BY FAITH

AUGUSTINE: Mary was more blessed in accepting the faith of Christ than in conceiving the flesh of Christ. To someone who said, “Blessed is the womb that bore you,” he replied, “Rather, blessed are they who hear the word of God and keep it.”

Finally, for his brothers, his relatives according to the flesh who did not believe in him, of what advantage was that relationship? Even her maternal relationship would have done Mary no good unless she had borne Christ more happily in her heart than in her flesh. HOLY VIRGINITY 3. [1]

[1] FC 27:146*.

THOSE WHO WORSHIP JESUS ARE BLESSED

EPHREM THE SYRIAN: “Blessed is the womb that bore you.” He took blessedness from the one who bore him and gave it to those who were worshiping him. It was with Mary for a certain time, but it would be with those who worshiped him for eternity. “Blessed are those who hear the word of God and keep it.” COMMENTARY ON TATIAN’S DIATESSARON 11.10. [1]

[1] ECTD 180.

11:29-32 | Like Jonah, Jesus Is a Sign

THE SIGN OF JONAH

CYRIL OF ALEXANDRIA: He will not grant you another sign, so that he may give holy things to dogs or throw pearls before swine. …

He said only the sign of Jonah will be given to them. This means the passion on the cross and the resurrection from the dead. COMMENTARY ON LUKE, HOMILY 82. [1]

[1] CGSL 335**.

A SIGN FOR THE FALL AND RISING OF MANY IN ISRAEL

EPHREM THE SYRIAN: The sign of Jonah served the Ninevites in two ways. If they would have rejected it, they would have gone down to Sheol alive like Jonah, but they were raised from the dead like him because they repented. Just as in the case of our Lord, who was set for the fall and the rising of many, [1] people either lived through his being killed or died through his death. … They were asking him for a sign from heaven [2] like thunder. … Jonah, after he went up from within the fish, was a negative sign to the Ninevites, because he proclaimed the destruction of their city. The disciples were also this way after the resurrection of our Lord. COMMENTARY ON TATIAN’S DIATESSARON 11.2. [3]

[1] Lk 2:34.

[2] Mk 8:11.

[3] ECTD 175-76*.

THE QUEEN OF THE SOUTH IS A TYPE OF THE CHURCH

EPHREM THE SYRIAN: The Queen of the South will condemn it [1] because she is a type of the church. Just as she came to Solomon, so too the church came to our Lord, and just as she condemned this generation, so also will the church. If she, who wished to see wisdom that passes away and a king who was mortal, was judging the synagogue, how much more the church, which desires to see a king who does not pass away and wisdom which does not go astray, will judge? If we suffer with him, we will also be glorified with him. [2] COMMENTARY ON TATIAN’S DIATESSARON 11.4. [3]

[1] Mt 12:42.

[2] Rom 8:17.

[3] ECTD 176*.

THE MYSTERY OF CHRIST AND HIS CHURCH

AMBROSE: The mystery of the church is clearly expressed. Her flocks stretch from the boundaries of the whole world. They stretch to Nineveh through penitence [1] and to the Queen of the South through zeal to obtain wisdom. Thus it may know the words of the peaceable Solomon. [2] The queen’s kingdom is undivided and rises from diverse and distant peoples to one body. That great sacrament is concerning Christ and the church, [3] but this is nevertheless greater because of what prefigured it. The mystery is now fulfilled in truth. There was the image of Solomon, but here is Christ in his own body. EXPOSITION OF THE GOSPEL OF LUKE 7.96. [4]

[1] Jonah 3:5.

[2] See 1 Kings 10:1; 2 Chron 9:1.

[3] Eph 5:32.

[4] EHG 271**.

11:33-36 | The Eye Illuminates the Body

CHRIST IS THE LAMP AND HIS CHURCH THE LAMPSTAND

CYRIL OF ALEXANDRIA: He says that a lamp is always elevated and put on a stand to be of use to those who see. Let us consider the inference that follows from this. Before the coming of our Savior, the father of darkness, Satan, made the world dark and blackened all things with an intellectual gloom. In this state of affairs, the Father gave us the Son to be a lamp to the world, to illumine us with divine light and to rescue us from satanic darkness. Since you blame the lamp because it is not hidden but on the contrary is being set high on a stand and gives its light to those who see, then blame Christ for not wishing to be concealed. On the contrary, he wishes to be seen by all, illuminating those in darkness and shedding on them the light of the true knowledge of God. He did not fulfill his miracles so much in order to be wondered at or to become famous. He did miracles so we might believe that although he is God by nature, yet he became man for our sakes, but without ceasing to be what he was. The holy church is like a lampstand, shining by the doctrine he proclaims. He gives light to the minds of all by filling them with divine knowledge. COMMENTARY ON LUKE, HOMILY 82. [1]

[1] CGSL 336**.

FAITH MUST NOT BE HIDDEN UNDER THE LAW

AMBROSE: The Word of God is our faith. The Word of God is the light, and faith is the lamp. “That was the true Light, that enlightens everyone that comes into this world.” [1] The lamp cannot shine unless it has received light from elsewhere. The lamp that is lit is the virtue and perception of our mind, so that the woman can find the coin that she lost. [2] No one finds faith beneath the law, for the law is within a bushel basket. Grace is outside. The law overshadows, but faith illumines. No one conceals his faith within the bushel basket of the law but brings it to the church in which shines the sevenfold grace of the Spirit. [3] … The church standing on the highest mountain of all, that is, on Christ, cannot be hidden in the darkness and ruins of this world. [4] Shining with the splendor of the eternal Sun, it enlightens us with the light of spiritual grace. EXPOSITION OF THE GOSPEL OF LUKE 7.98-99. [5]

[1] Jn 1:9.

[2] Lk 15:8.

[3] Is 11:2.

[4] Mt 5:14.

[5] EHG 272-73**.

THE MIND OF CHRIST THAT ILLUMINES THE WHOLE BODY

SYMEON THE NEW THEOLOGIAN: What else does he mean by “the eye” than simply the mind, which will never become simple unless it contemplates the simple light? The simple light is Christ. He who has his light shining in his mind is said to have the mind of Christ. [1] When your light is this simple, then the whole immaterial body of your soul will be full of light. If the mind is evil, that is, darkened and extinguished, then this body of yours will be full of darkness. …

We say, “See to it, brothers, that while we seem to be in God and think that we have communion with him [2] we should not be found excluded and separated from him, since we do not now see his light.” If that light had kindled our lamps, that is, our souls, it would shine brightly in us. Our God and Lord Jesus Christ said, “If your whole body is full of life, having no dark part, it will be wholly bright, as when a lamp with its rays gives you light.” What other witness greater than this shall we adduce to make the matter clear to you? If you disbelieve the Master, how will you, tell me, believe your fellow servant? DISCOURSES 33.2. [3]

[1] 1 Cor 2:16.

[2] 1 Jn 1:6.

[3] SNTD 340-41*.