We have a somewhat cryptic Gospel today, in which Jesus gives us insight into the tactics of the enemy, and how we ay best defend against him and his vile minions. When Jesus is accused of employing demonic powers to drive out demons, He points out the stupidity of such a charge, being that a force working against itself cannot hope for victory. He asks by what power the exorcists of the Jews drive out demons, and no answer is given, for they realize Jesus has backed them into a corner. For both Jesus and their own exorcists achieve the same result—driving out demons—and yet they claim Jesus does so by Satan’s power; we would assume, then, they believe their exorcists succeed by the power of God. Yet in believing this they are inadvertently saying that Satan is as powerful as God, as both are capable of the same feat. However, to take back their charge against Jesus, they must then admit He drives out demons by the power of God. Jesus then gives them an image of a strong man defending his home and possessions being conquered by an even stronger man who not only defeats him, but robs and humiliates him. The strong man is Satan, “the ruler of this world” who “will be driven out,” (John 12:31), and Jesus is the stronger one who will not only defeat him, but will despoil him. Jesus does not only drive out demons by the power of God; by means of this parable He tells those present that He drives out demons by His own power.
But He warns us to beware, for even if He casts a demon out, if we do not change our ways, if we do not fill in the space in our hearts, our lives, that the demon once occupied, the demon may return and in an effort to not be conquered again, come back with a small army in the hopes of keeping a soul in thrall but also to punish that soul for their earlier humiliating defeat. For if there is space in our hearts, minds, and souls that God ought to occupy, the Enemy will seek to fill it. Therefore, when Christ frees us from sin or from Satan’s power, we must seek to let that transform how we live, just as we change our homes once we have driven out rodents: if we do not take greater care in cleaning, if we do not plug holes and the like, the mice will return. But if the stronger man—Jesus—is allowed to rule the household of our hearts, then we can trust the Enemy will never have us in bondage again.