From the Holy Gospel according to Luke
Luke 11:14-28
At that time, Jesus was casting out a devil, and the same was
dumb: and when he had cast out the devil, the dumb spoke: and the multitudes
were in admiration at it. And so on.
Homily by the Venerable Bede, Priest at Jarrow.
Bk. iv, 48 on Luke xi
We read in Matthew xii. 22 that the devil, by which this poor creature was
possessed, was not only dumb, but also blind; and that, when he was healed by
the Lord, he saw as well as spake. Three miracles, therefore, were performed on
this one man; the blind saw, the dumb spake, and the possessed was delivered.
This mighty work was then indeed wrought carnally, but it is still wrought
spiritually in the conversion of believers, when the devil is cast out of them,
so that their eyes see the light of faith, and the lips, that before were dumb,
are opened that their mouth may show forth the praise of God. But some of them
said: He casteth out devils through Beelzebub, the chief of the devils. These
some were not of the multitude, but liars among the Pharisees and Scribes, as
we are told by the other Evangelist.
While the multitude, who were less instructed, wondered ever
at the works of the Lord, the Pharisees and Scribes, on the other hand, denied
the facts when they could, and when they were not able, twisted them by an evil
interpretation, and asserted that the works of God were the works of an unclean
spirit. And others, tempting Him, sought of Him a sign from heaven. They would
have had Christ either to call down fire from heaven like Elias, 4 Kings i.
10, or, like Samuel, 1 Kings
vii. 10, to have made thunder roll, and lightning
flash, and rain fall at midsummer. And yet and if he had so done, they had been
still able to explain away these signs also, as being the natural result of
some unusual, though, till that moment, unremarked state of the atmosphere. O thou,
who stubbornly deniest that which thine eye seeth, thine hand holdeth, and thy
sense perceiveth, what wilt thou say to a sign from heaven? In good sooth, thou
wilt say that the magicians in Egypt also wrought diverse signs from heaven. Ex. vii.,
viii.
But He, knowing their thoughts, said unto them: Every kingdom
divided against itself is brought to desolation, and an house divided against
an house falleth. He answered not their words, but their thoughts; as though He
would compel them to believe in the power of Him Who seeth the secrets of the
heart. But if every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation,
then have not the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost a divided kingdom, since
His is a kingdom that, without all contradiction, shall never be brought to
desolation by any shock, but abideth unchanged and unchangeable for ever. If
Satan also be divided against himself, how shall his kingdom stand? Because ye
say that I cast out devils by Beelzebub. In saying this, He sought to draw from
their own mouth a confession that they had chosen for themselves to be part of
that devil's kingdom, which, if it be divided against itself, cannot stand.
