39. And note that since speech has been given to man for three purposes, namely for praising God, for edifying one's neighbor, and for accusing oneself: this threefold speech is taken away by a threefold demon. The first is taken away by the spirit of lust, according to that passage in Isaiah 1: "When you multiply your prayers, I will not hear. For your hands are full of blood."
The second is taken away by the spirit of avarice, which makes one attend only to oneself, according to that passage in Matthew 25: "He who had received one talent went away and dug in the earth." The third is taken away by the spirit of pride, which does not permit man to accuse himself, according to that passage of the Psalm: "Because I kept silent, my bones grew old"; and Jeremiah 2: "Behold, I will contend with you in judgment, because you have said: I have not sinned." - Concerning this threefold demon it is said in Revelation 16: "I saw coming out of the mouth of the beast and out of the mouth of the dragon and out of the mouth of the false prophet three unclean spirits in the form of frogs." - The first demon is cast out by fasting, according to that passage in Matthew 17: "This kind of demon is not cast out except by fasting." The second is cast out by the memory of the Lord's passion, according to that passage in Tobit 6: "If you place a piece of the fish's heart upon coals, its smoke drives out every kind of demon," etc. The third by prayer: 1 Kings 16: "David took the harp and struck it with his hand, and Saul was refreshed and felt better: for the evil spirit departed from him."
40. (Vers. 15.). Secondly, regarding the blasphemy of human fraud, it is added: But some of them said: He casts out demons by Beelzebub, the prince of demons. And this was a great blasphemy, because what was done by the Holy Spirit they attributed to the evil spirit: whence in Matthew 12, immediately after this it is said: "Every sin and blasphemy shall be forgiven men, but the blasphemy of the Spirit shall not be forgiven." They burst forth into this blasphemy out of envy: whence Chrysostom says: " Not when he said great things, but when he brought about the salvation of men, then the Pharisees attacked." "For envy does not care what it says, but only that it speaks." "For there is no malice worse than jealousy. For the adulterer quickly completes his sin, but the jealous man never rests."
And because this blasphemy proceeded from malice and envy, for this reason this Gospel is read when the history of Joseph is sung on the third Sunday of Lent. For just as the brothers of Joseph out of envy called him an inventor of dreams, so also these men called Christ an invoker of demons. And they especially name Beelzebub, both because that idol was famous: whence in 4 Kings 1 it is said that "Ochozias sent his messengers saying: Go and consult Beelzebub, the god of Accaron"; and Bede in the Gloss says: "The Jews asserted that the prince of demons dwelt in this image. They said that Jesus cast out demons by his power"; and therefore in the text it is said: By the prince of demons: or because the name of this idol was ridiculous; whence Beelzebub means as much as man of flies: by which name the Jews called him in mockery, as is said in the Gloss, "on account of the filth of the blood that was sacrificed in his temple." Thus they uttered blasphemy, just as in John 8, where it is said: "Do we not say well that you are a Samaritan and have a demon?"
41. (Vers. 16.). Thirdly, regarding the controversy of the adjoined dispute, he adds: And others, testing him, sought from him a sign from heaven. They did not seek such a sign in order to believe as faithful men, but as rebels in order to attack, according to that saying of the Savior in Matthew 22: "Why do you test me, hypocrites?" and in the Psalm: "Your fathers tested me," etc. And this is evil, as is said in 1 Corinthians 10: "Neither let us tempt Christ, as some of them tempted and perished by serpents." Moreover, they sought a sign from heaven, such as thunder in the time of Samuel, 1 Kings 12; or the sending down of fire in the time of Elijah, 3 Kings 18 and 4 Kings 1; or such as the going back of the sun in the time of Hezekiah, 4 Kings 20.
Now this was characteristic of the Jews, whether through habituation; whence First Corinthians chapter one: "Jews demand signs, and Greeks seek wisdom"; and therefore Peter, powerful in signs, was the Apostle to the Jews, but Paul, in wisdom, to the Gentiles: or also on account of unbelief and hardness, according to what Stephen said in Acts chapter seven: "Stiff-necked, and uncircumcised in hearts and ears, you always resist the Holy Spirit." Whence Chrysostom: "Always to learn is a sign of never being able to advance: so always to seek testimony is a sign of never being willing to believe." And this is indeed true; for when they had sufficient testimonies on earth, it was not necessary to seek signs from heaven: whence John chapter ten: "The works that I do in the name of my Father, these bear witness concerning me."
42. Spiritually, however, the Lord gave signs on earth, namely signs of humility and poverty, according to that passage above in chapter two: "This shall be a sign to you: you shall find the infant wrapped in swaddling clothes." But many do not believe this sign, such as the proud and the ambitious, who seek Christ not in the humility of the cross, but in the desire for honor and praise. And yet it is said in Matthew chapter twenty-four: "Then shall appear the sign of the Son of Man in heaven," etc. But the proud contradict this, according to that passage above in chapter two: "He is set for a sign which shall be contradicted," because the state of humility does not please them, but rather that of dignity. Whence in the Psalm: "They have set up their own signs as signs," namely of pride and wantonness, according to that passage in Wisdom chapter two: "Let us leave everywhere signs of our joy," without which signs they are unwilling to follow: whence in the Psalm: "We have not seen our signs," etc.
43. But he, when he saw their thoughts, said to them. After the expression of the Jewish fraud, there is here subjoined the refutation of the fraud expressed. Now this part has three sections. In the first of which is set forth the refutation of falsehood; in the second, the confirmation of the truth, at the passage: When the strong man armed guards, etc.; in the third, the condemnation of deceitfulness, at the passage: When the unclean spirit has gone out of a man, etc.
In refuting falsehood, he proceeds in this order: first he leads to a manifest impossibility, second he brings to an indefensible falsehood, third he leads back to an infallible truth.
44. (Vers. 17. 18.). First, therefore, He leads them to a manifest impossibility, when He says: Every kingdom divided against itself shall be brought to desolation: in which He intends to construct the following argument: every kingdom divided, by the very fact that it is divided against itself, is destroyed; but if one demon casts out another, Satan is divided against himself; therefore his kingdom does not stand. It follows, therefore, that Satan himself destroys his own kingdom and takes away from himself his power and dominion. But this is a manifest impossibility; and it follows from the statement of the Pharisees: therefore that statement was manifestly false. The major premise of this argument, then, He sets forth when He says: Every kingdom divided against itself shall be brought to desolation, and house shall fall upon house. And this indeed is self-evident and true, because division is the cause of ruin; hence the cause of the predicate is contained in the subject. And this is what Jerome says: "By concord small things grow; by discord the greatest things fall apart." For unity is the cause of preservation, and division of destruction, according to Hosea 10: "Their heart is divided, now they shall perish"; and Proverbs 28: "Because of the sins of the land, many are its princes." An example of this is found in Genesis 11 concerning those building the tower, when they were "of one tongue," where it is added: "The Lord divided them from that place into all lands, and they ceased to build." Hence concerning the destruction of its unity in the final state of the world, it is said below in chapter 21: "Nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom, and there shall be great earthquakes," etc.
Then he adds the minor premise, when he says: But if Satan is divided against himself, that is, fights against himself: which he states conditionally, because this follows from the words of the aforementioned scribes and Pharisees, yet in itself it is not true: for Satan agrees with Satan in evil. Whence Job 41: "His body is like molten shields and compacted with scales pressing upon one another: one is joined to another, and not even a breath passes between them; one cleaves to another, and holding together they shall in no way be separated"; whence in the Psalm: "The kings of the earth stood up, and the princes assembled together against the Lord," etc. - After this he adds the conclusion, when he subjoins: How shall his kingdom stand? Which he says interrogatively, as though it were impossible to maintain that Satan himself casts himself out of his kingdom. For the kingdom of Satan is among the wicked and sinners: Job 41: "He is king over all the children of pride"; and therefore the Apostle said in Romans 6: "Let not sin reign in your mortal body." Lastly he introduces the proof of the minor premise from their own words, since this was the cause of the entire false inference. And therefore he adds: Because you say that I cast out demons by Beelzebub. For if what you say is true, that Satan casts out Satan, then his empire is divided, and thereby tends toward destruction. And in this way the argument is formed in Matthew 12: "If Satan casts out Satan, he is divided against himself: how then shall his kingdom stand"? - Thus it is clear how from their own words he deduces to a manifest impossibility.
45. (Verse 19.). Second, he leads to a false improbability, when he adds: But if I cast out demons by Beelzebub: in which he intends to form such an argument: if I cast out demons by the power of demons, and I gave your sons the power of casting out demons
—this he presupposes and leaves unstated—therefore they themselves cast out demons by the prince of demons. But this is false and improbable both according to their own opinion and according to the testimony of the Apostles themselves. Therefore what the Pharisees hold is false, and what the Apostles testify is true: therefore they themselves shall be their judges.
In this argument, however, the proposition is first set forth, which they assert, when it is said: But if I cast out demons by Beelzebub, that is, according to your assertion; above in the same chapter: "He casts out demons by Beelzebub."
There follows the conclusion, which they do not concede, when it is said: Your sons, by whom do they cast out? As if to say: it follows that they cast out by Beelzebub, which however they themselves do not concede. Whence Bede: "He calls the sons of the Jews the Apostles, who among other gifts which they had received from the Lord, also drove out demons, which expulsion they attributed not to the devil but to God."
There is further implied the reproof which they incur, when it is said: Therefore they shall be your judges: because what you blaspheme as false, they themselves testify to be true, according to that passage of Isaiah forty-three: "Truly you are my witnesses, says the Lord." And not only witnesses on account of their assertion of the truth, but also judges on account of their perfection in the truth, according to that passage of Matthew nineteen: "You who have left all things and followed me shall sit upon twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel." For they are those of whom Isaiah three says: "The Lord will come to judgment with the elders of his people." He calls elders the more perfect, according to that passage of Wisdom four: "Venerable old age is not long-lived, nor reckoned by the number of years. For the gray hairs of a man are his understanding, and the age of old age is an unspotted life."
46. (Verse 20.) Thirdly, he leads back to the infallible truth, when he adds: But if I cast out demons by the finger of God. But, that is, certainly; if, that is, because; by the finger of God, that is, by the Holy Spirit: whence in Matthew twelve it is said: "If I cast out demons by the Spirit of God." For the Holy Spirit is called the finger of God, as it is said in Exodus eight: "The finger of God is here." The reason for this is that the Son is called the arm of the Father, according to that passage of Isaiah fifty-three: "The arm of the Lord, to whom has it been revealed?" He is also called the hand, according to that passage of the Psalm: "Send forth your hand from on high." And the reason for this is that, just as one who works does so by arm and hand, so the Father does all things through the Son, as it is said in John one: "All things were made through him." But the Holy Spirit proceeds from the Father and the Son, as a finger from the body and the arm, and is connatural and consubstantial with him, and therefore is rightly called the finger in the Scriptures. Or, because, just as there is one hand, and through the fingers distinction is made, so through one Spirit the distinction of gifts is made, as it is said in First Corinthians twelve: "All these things one and the same Spirit works, distributing to each one as he wills."
Because therefore I cast out demons by this Spirit, surely the kingdom of God has come upon you, that is, the royal power which protects us, the devil having been expelled, according to that passage of John twelve: "Now is the judgment of this world; now shall the prince of this world be cast out."
And note that he says: the kingdom of God has come upon you, because the kingdom of God comes upon us through grace, according to that passage below in the seventeenth chapter: "The kingdom of God is within you." But then we shall arrive at it through glory, when it will be said to us: "Come, blessed of my Father, receive the kingdom," etc.
47. And note that this consequence is necessary; because, if there is no middle ground such that a man is not under the power either of God or of the devil, then if the power of the devil is expelled from a man, it follows that divine power is introduced.
Now the threefold wicked spirit, about which was discussed above, is expelled by the divine spirit given for three purposes, namely by the spirit of sanctity, concerning which Wisdom chapter one says: "The holy spirit of discipline will flee from the deceitful"; by the spirit of poverty, concerning which Matthew chapter five says: "Blessed are the poor in spirit"; and by the spirit of humility, concerning which the last chapter of Isaiah says: "To whom shall I have regard, if not to the poor and contrite in spirit"?
This threefold spirit the Prophet sought in the Psalm: "Create a clean heart in me, O God, and renew a right spirit, etc. And do not take your Holy Spirit from me. And with a sovereign spirit confirm me"; so that this threefold spirit is touched upon here: right, that is, of poverty; holy, that is, of purity; and sovereign, that is, humble: which spirit whoever has, has justice toward himself and neighbor and God, or has it within, without, and above, and through this has peace and joy, and thus the kingdom of God within himself. For, according to that passage in Romans chapter fourteen, "the kingdom of God is not food and drink, but justice and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit."
48. (Verse 21.). When the strong man armed guards his court. After he disproved the falsehood, here secondly he confirms the truth; in the confirmation of which he proceeds in this order: first he sets forth the preliminary truth, secondly he adds the intended truth, thirdly he subjoins the annexed truth.
First, therefore, setting forth the preliminary truth, he says: When the strong man armed guards his court, in peace are all the things , that he possesses. This is manifest in itself. For quiet possession comes from the strength of the possessor, which does not permit it to be attacked by one less powerful. For strong is this devil, of whom it is said in Job chapter forty-one: "There is no power upon earth that can be compared to him, who was made to fear no one"; and Habakkuk chapter one: "O Lord, you have appointed him for judgment, and established him as mighty for correction." He is armed, according to what is said in Job chapter forty-one: "His body is like molten shields." And because he has such great power and armor, therefore violence cannot be done to him by a weak man; rather, in peace
he possesses, since he does not fear to lose, according to that saying of Gregory: "He neglects to trouble those whom he perceives himself to possess by undisturbed right." And this is the peace of sinners, concerning which the Psalm says: "I was envious of the wicked, seeing the peace of sinners"; and Matthew chapter ten: "I came not to send peace, but a sword." He wishes therefore to say in this that the strong man is not expelled by the less strong. If, then, no earthly power prevails over the power of the devil, but only heavenly power, therefore that which expels demons is not from earth but from heaven, not human but divine.