Luc. 11, 14-28.
And he cast out a devil, which was dumb. And it came to pass, when the devil was cast out, that the dumb man spake. And the people marveled. But some of them said: He casts out devils through Beelzebub, the chief of the devils. But the others tempted him, and desired a sign from him out of heaven. But he heard their thoughts and said to them: Every kingdom, if it be divided against itself, shall be desolate, and one house shall fall upon another. If Satan also be at variance with himself, how shall his kingdom stand? Because you say that I cast out devils by Beelzebub. But if I cast out devils by Beelzebub, by whom do they cast out your children? Therefore they will be your judges. But if I cast out devils by the finger of God, the kingdom of God will come to you. If a strong man keeps his palace, his own remains in peace. But if a stronger man comes upon him and overcomes him, he takes away his armor, on which he relied, and divides the spoil. He that is not with me is against me; and he that gathereth not with me scattereth. When the unclean spirit departs from a man, he wanders through dry places, seeking rest, and does not find it; so he says: I will return to my house from whence I came. And when he cometh, he findeth him clothed and adorned with vessels. Then he goes and takes to himself seven spirits worse than himself, and when they come in, they dwell there; and afterward he becomes worse with the same man than before. And it came to pass, as he spake these things, a certain woman of the people lifted up her voice, and said unto him, Blessed is the womb that bare thee, and the breasts which thou hast sucked. And he said, Blessed are they that hear the word of God, and keep it.
*) Called Oculi. D. Red.
This is a beautiful gospel, in which we learn much and various things, and in which almost everything is presented, what Christ, his kingdom, the gospel is, what it creates, and how it is for everyone in the world. And first of all, as all the gospels do, it teaches us faith and love; for it holds Christ up to us as a Savior and helper in all troubles out of great love: he who believes this is blessed. For there we see that he has nothing to do with the healthy, but with the poor man who has many troubles. He was blind, as Matthew says, dumb and possessed, as Lucas says here. Now all the dumb are also deaf, that also in Greek deaf and dumb is One Word. With this he draws us to himself, that we should provide ourselves with all good things to him and run to him in all distress. Then again, after the manner of love, do to others as he does to us; this is the common and most lovely teaching of this and all the Gospels throughout the year. But the poor man did not come to this without the word; for those who brought him to Christ must ever have heard of such love of Christ, by which they are moved to trust him; that we may learn how faith comes by the word, of this enough elsewhere.
2. Secondly, it is shown here how Christ and the gospel are in the world, namely, that there are three kinds of listeners: Some are astonished, that is, the pious and true Christians, who think so highly of it that they are also astonished at it; some blaspheme it, as, the Pharisees and scholars, who were displeased that they could not do so much, and worried that he would be held higher than they before the people; some try him and want to have signs, and he shall do as they think, that they have it for a game, as Herod also desires of Christ. But he answers them both, first the blasphemers in this gospel, then the tempters, that no sign of the evil kind should be given without the sign of Jonah the prophet, which is not given today. He answers the blasphemers kindly and acts against them in five ways.
(3) First, with good and reasonable cause, that he concludes from two parables that one devil cannot cast out another; for if that were so, the devils would be divided, and Satan's kingdom would not exist. Because nature gives this, where a kingdom is divided among itself and they drive themselves out among themselves, against the same one no dispute may be made, it will probably perish from itself much worse than through dispute. So, where a house is divided among itself, it must not be destroyed. As the pagan Sallustius, taught by nature and experience, says: "Great good perishes through disunity, but small good becomes great through unity. If the devils were so divided as to drive out one another, their kingdom would be nothing, and we would be at peace with them.
(4) What have these blasphemers to say to such a bright cause? Their mouths are stopped, but their hearts are hardened, so that they ask nothing. For an obdurate heart cannot tell how brightly and clearly the truth is put forward; but the faith of the upright is confirmed by it, who see that the reason of faith is right and good. And for the sake of such, one must answer and shut the mouths of the hardened. Even though they do not convert or keep silent, their stubborn foolishness is revealed when they speak more and more foolishly, so that it may be grasped, lest their actions appear to be good and right; as Solomon also says Prov. 26:5.Answer the fool, lest he think himself wise," that is, answer his folly, that it may be put to shame, for the sake of others, that they may not follow him and be deceived, as if he were right; otherwise, where the cause is not, it is better to be silent; as Solomon also says there, v. 4: "Answer not the fool out of his folly, lest thou also be like him."
5. even here you may not say that the devils stand as if they were at odds, and one yields to the will of the other to deceive the people; for one sees publicly how they lock and resist, scream and rage, tear and rage, when they see the seriousness that they are to go out; that one must be-
They know how they are opposed to Christ and his spirit and how they are at odds with him, than whom they must reluctantly yield and give way. Therefore nothing remains here but the public blasphemous lie, in which they are seized and disgraced, that they appropriate God's work to the devil out of poisonous hatred and envy. From this we learn that we should not be surprised if our teachings and actions are blasphemed, and if hardened hearts cannot be satiated or converted, even though they have been overcome with tangible truth and their mouths have been shut. It is enough that their hardened foolishness is exposed, recognized and nullified by our answer before the pious, so that they are not deceived by them in good appearances; then let them go wherever they want, they have their judgment, says St. Paul Titum 3:11.
006 Secondly, with a public example, and with like work, saying, By whom do they cast out your children? As if to say, Is not this a public desolation? The very thing you praise in your children, you condemn in me. Because your children do it, it is from God; but because I do it, it must be from the devil. This is how it must be in the world: what Christ does is of the devil; if another did it, it would be right. So do our tyrants and enemies of the gospel, who also condemn that in us which they themselves do, and confess and teach; they must do so, that their judgment may be publicly approved, as they are rightly condemned. The children of whom Christ speaks here, that they cast out devils, are, I think, some devil-charmers among the people; as God has given this people various spiritual gifts from the beginning; and calls them their "children", as if he should say: I am God's child and must be of the devil, while those who are your children and are born of you do the same and do not have to be of the devil.
7 "Therefore they will also be your judges," that is, I refer to them. They will have to judge that you blaspheme me unjustly and condemn yourselves. If then one devil does not cast out another, another power must do it, which is neither devilish nor human, but divine.
Therefore follows: "If I cast out devils by the finger of God, the kingdom of God comes upon you." This finger of God is interpreted by Matthew Cap. 12, 28. itself as the Holy Spirit; for its text reads thus: "If I cast out devils by the Spirit of God" etc. Summa, Christ wants to say this much: If the kingdom of God is to come to you, the devil must be cast out; for his kingdom is contrary to God's kingdom, as you yourselves must confess. Now one does not cast out the devil with devils, much less with men or through the power of men, but only through God's spirit and power.
It follows that where God's finger does not cast out the devil, there is still the devil's kingdom; where the devil's kingdom is, God's kingdom is not. So it follows that as long as the Holy Spirit does not come into us, we are not only incapable of doing good, but are also in need of the devil's kingdom. But if we are in his kingdom, we can do nothing else but what is dear to the devil, otherwise it would not be called his kingdom; as St. Paul also says to Timothy, 2 Tim. 2, 26, that people are caught in the snares of the devil according to his will. How then should he suffer his own to entertain a thought of doing anything contrary to his kingdom, and not for his kingdom? O it is an excellent, terrible, great word that Christ here admits such a kingdom to the devil, which cannot be avoided without the spirit of God, and God's kingdom cannot come, his kingdom will then be driven out from us by divine, heavenly power.
9 This poor man, who was physically possessed by the devil, proves it. Tell me, what could he do with all the people on earth to get rid of the devil? Without a doubt, nothing. He had to do and suffer as the devil, his master, wanted until Christ came with God's power. Now, behold, if he could not be rid of the devil bodily from his body, how could he be rid of the devil spiritually and from his soul by his own power? since the soul is the cause of the body being possessed for punishment, because it is possessed by sin, and it is more difficult to be rid of sins than the body.
Punishment, and also the soul is always more severely possessed than the body. This is proved by the fact that the devil leaves the possessed body its natural powers and works, but deprives the soul of reason, sense, wit, understanding and all its powers, as can be seen in possessed people.
10) Thirdly, with a likeness taken from the food, namely, when a strong man is overcome by a strong man and his armor and household goods are taken etc. With this he also testifies that no one can overcome the devil without God alone; but that no one can boast that he can cast out sin or the devil by himself. And look how he describes the devil. He calls him a strong giant who keeps his court and house, that is, the devil not only has the world as his own kingdom, but has also kept it and confirmed that no one can take it away from him; he also has it with quiet peace, so that it does what he wants. Now as much as a house or a court may stand or defend itself against the tyrant who holds it, so much may free will and human power stand against these, sin and the devil, namely, nothing everywhere; it must be under them. And just as the house must be conquered by a stronger man and won over from the tyrant, so man must also be redeemed by Christ and won over from the devil; so that we see here once again how nothing our doing and righteousness helps at all for our redemption, but is only God's grace.
(11) Fourthly, with beautiful sayings and doctrines, as, "He that is not with me is against me, and he that gathereth not with me scattereth." The devil is not with me, for I cast them out; so he must certainly be against me. But this saying applies not only to the devil, but also to the blasphemers, whom he hereby condemns and condemns as being against him, because they are not with him. "To be with Christ" is to have the same mind and opinion with Christ, that is, to believe in Christ, that His works, and not our works, are our salvation; for this Christ holds and teaches. But "to gather with Christ" is through love.
Do good and become rich in good works. Now he that believeth not is with himself by his own works, not with Christ, but against Christ: for he denieth Christ, because he buildeth upon works. Therefore he that loveth not gathereth not with Christ, but doeth corrupt works, whereby he is only made worse, and goeth further from the faith.
12. Fifthly, with fear, lest hereafter there should be more evil than before; lest therefore the gospel and Christ should be left blasphemed, who doeth such great things among us, and casteth out devils from us; but also lest with earnestness and fear it should happen unto us, that hereafter seven more devils should possess us, than before one possessed us; just as it happened to the Jews, who were never so bad before as now after the preached gospel; and we also under the papacy have become seven times, that is, many times worse Gentiles under the name of Christ than we ever were before; as St. Peter says, 2 Peter 1:2. Peter says, 2 Pet. 2, 20: "It has become worse with them afterward than before." And if we are not careful, after this great light it will happen to us that we will become worse than we were before; for the devil does not sleep, so we are warned enough.
13) At the last, when the woman proclaims and praises Christ, that the mother is blessed who bore such a child, etc. he meets her carnal devotion, and thereby teaches us all the summa of this gospel, namely, that we should not gape at the works or dignity of the saints, but rather at the word of God, that we may hear and keep it. For it is nothing to us, nor does it matter to us how holy and worthy the mother of this child is, nor how noble the child and the fruit are; but what such a child has done for us: that it has redeemed us from the devil by grace, without our doing or merit; which is presented to us by the word of God, which we are to hear and keep with firm faith; so we also will be saved, like the mother and her child. Even though such a word and work must be blasphemed, we must suffer and answer for it with meekness, as St. Peter teaches, for the sake of the correction of others.
II Allegories.
This mute, deaf, blind, possessed man means all Adam's children, who are possessed by the flesh with the devil in the original sin, that they must be his own and do according to his will. Therefore, they are also blind, that is, they do not recognize God. They are deaf, for they also do not hear God's word, nor are they obedient to Him, nor subject to Him. They are also dumb, for they give thanks, praise, say and preach nothing of Christ and God's grace; but they are all too talkative about the devil's teachings and man's tricks. They also see too keenly, and are wiser than the children of light in their presumption, conceit, and lust; they also hear with both ears, and accept all things that are of the mind of flesh and blood. That therefore all our works, word and being, both in body and soul, whether outward holiness or sin, are of the devil, and must be redeemed by God's work; for he owns us to the kingdom, so then we recognize him, and see and hear, and follow him, and praise and preach him. All this is done by the Spirit of God in the Word of God, which casts out the devil with his kingdom.
15 The Jews call the chief devil Beelzebub. Sebub means a fly in Hebrew; Baal or Beel a man or overlord, as a householder is. Now when Beelsebub comes together, it means an arch-fly or supreme fly, or in coarse German, fly king or great bumblebee. And they have called Satan so contemptuously, as if they were quite free and safe from him and equal to his lords. For so do all safe, lazy hypocrites, who make themselves believe that they are so pure and holy that the devil is a powerless dull fly against them, that they do not need Christ's grace and God's word, although they think he is strong enough for others; yes, what the godly teach and do must be the devil's, and they regard it as a loose thing, as if it were the thing of dull flies. And the devil can also gladly suffer such contempt, under which he is nevertheless higher in their hearts than the right God.
The tyrant in the court or house is the devil, as has been said. But in peace he sits, if God's word and finger through Christ does not come against him, then one does what he wants, because one does not know any better, just as this dumb and deaf man did. His weapons and defenses are the carnal conceits, doctrine and statutes, so that he may keep consciences and protect himself.
But when the stronger comes, the gospel, then peace is over, then he rages and becomes senseless, he does not want to be condemned, betrayed, punished nor denounced; then he raises his armor, the mighty, wise, rich, holy people, he hounds them all against God's word, as we see in the persecution of the evangelical teachers. Such raging of persecution means that the devil is so reluctant to go out, and rages in the whole body; for as he stands in one body, when he is to go out, with the limbs, so he stands in the whole world, when he is to give way to the Gospel, and stirs up all his forces; but it does not help him, he must go out.
18 For a stronger one comes and overcomes him, that is Christ; and takes away his armor, that is, he converts some of the same persecutors, and thereby makes him weaker and his kingdom stronger. He also distributes the spoil, that is, those whom he converts he uses for various ministries, graces and works in Christendom, of which Paul writes Rom. 12:6. He is also in the court, or in the house; for the devil's kingdom is in the outward appearance and glitter of wisdom, holiness, and strength; but when it is taken by the gospel, it is found to be all foolishness, sin, and folly.
(19) That after the unclean spirit has gone out, he walks through dry places, seeking rest, is, as they say, the devil neither feasts nor sleeps, but seeks again how he may take hold of man. Dry places are not the godless hearts, for in them he rests and dwells as a strong tyrant, as the Gospel says here: but there are dry and desolate places in the lands now and then, where no people dwell, as, the forests and wildernesses. Thither he flies with malice and wrath, that he is cast out; even as Christ the devil found.
in the desert. Now in the land of the Jews there is not much water, therefore he says here that there is much arid desert; but in other places than ours, which are waterless, devils also dwell in the waters and marshes, and there they sometimes drown the people who bathe or sail in them. In some places there are mermaids who drag children into the water and drown them; they are all devils.
20 But when he returns, he finds the house swept and adorned (St. Matthew adds: idle), that is, the man is sanctified and adorned with beautiful spiritual gifts, so that the evil spirit sees that he can no longer do anything with his old previous intrigues, because he is known. As soon as the idolatry among the heathen was driven out, he no longer attacked the world with it. But what does he do then? He takes another, goes and takes seven worse spirits with him, and so goes in and dwells in it, that afterward it becomes worse than before. So also he did unto us, when Chri
stus had become known in the world, and the devil's previous kingdom had been destroyed with idolatry, he took up another and attacked us with heresy, until he brought in and set up the papacy, since Christ was forgotten altogether, and thus afterwards became worse Gentiles under the name of Christ; as we see before our eyes. It happened the same way to the Jews after the destruction of Jerusalem, and to the Greeks under the Turk, and it happens to everyone who hears God's word, and after that he is safe and lets it be, as St. Matthew says here, Matth. 12, 44, that he finds the house idle. And, Matth. 13, 25, he casts the evil seed among the wheat at night, because the people sleep; therefore it is necessary for us to watch, as the apostles admonish us everywhere, especially St. Peter, 1 Petr. 5, 8.Brethren, be sober, and watch: for your adversary the devil walketh about as a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour: for wheresoever he overthroweth faith, he bringeth in easily all the former vices.