A believing person must be a realist.

We know different kinds of instructions and guidelines. Instructions for the operation of a machine, equipment, etc. We know that when we keep these instructions and directions, we also benefit from them. Man in the spiritual realm also desires something similar. In the spiritual life, too, we have instructions from the Lord Jesus so that we can embrace eternal life after life is over – and these instructions were summarized by St. Luke the Evangelist in the previous Gospels. In today’s one, he touches on the difficulties of a person striving for spiritual life. They are the attacks of fallen angels-devils.

The Lord Jesus has also taken His stand for our instruction and encouragement. When the enemies of the Lord Jesus could not deny His miracles, in their hatred, they undertook to act dishonestly and, at the same time to teach incorrectly the doctrines the Lord Jesus had duly explained to them. Some Pharisees began to speak of Christ as being associated with Beelzebul-the prince of devils, and using him to cast out devils. This was an open attack against Christ, for many began to regard Him as the expected Messiah.

And Jesus again refutes this claim. He will point to the division of the kingdom-the empire, where civil war broke out. A division – one against the other- significantly damaged the kingdom. It’s nonsense; it’s only to their detriment. And this is what the enemies of Christ are to realize, that even the devil will not fight the devil, and they will not harm each other because both will perish. It is logical that just as in a nation, they need each other and not oppose each other, so it is nonsense for Beelzebub to become an ally of Christ against other devils.

The Lord Jesus has his power by himself. After all, He is God and Lord of the whole world! Even the devil knows this, for he too was created by God as a good angel, but he did not prove himself, and therefore he was cast out of the state of blessedness and cast into the shape of damnation. Here, after all, God cannot associate Himself with His creature, who rejected His love and whom, as God, He justly punished.

The Lord Jesus defeats his adversaries with their weapons: “If I cast out evil spirits by the power of Beelzebub, by what power do your sons cast them out? Therefore, they shall be your judges” (Matt. 12:27). The Pharisees, as the educated class of the nation, knew that there were men of their race in the country who were doing like Jesus, but with the difference that they were commanding evil spirits in the name of God, and Christ was commanding evil spirits in His name. Thus, on the one hand, if they acknowledge the actions of their brethren, they must realize that Christ is something more than anyone before Him.

Jesus does not stop with this explanation of His. He connects them with an example from the life of a more muscular man and points out that they should always strive to be ready and strong, for the devil has strength and power. He tells them that God has also left men with the mind to be vital to resist the devil’s attacks, lest they fall into indifference, for he who does not fight radically against evil will fall into the power of evil sin and be defeated. This is a severe lesson for us as well. Peter the apostle wrote: “Be sober and watch! Your adversary, the devil, prowls about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour. Resist him, steadfast in the faith” (1 Peter 5:8-9).

He who leaves the door ajar, who acts only half-heartedly against sin, will pay the price because he allows the bearer of the power of evil to enter again into his house, into his soul. And such a return is worse. The Lord Jesus expressed it by saying, “When he comes there, he will find it empty, swept clean and decorated. There he will go away, taking seven other spirits worse than himself, and they will enter in and take up their abode there” (Mt. 12:44-45). We can see this in a person who struggles weakly against sin. He may cleanse his soul and confess, but he is worse off when he does not fight radically. That is why someone must also sigh sadly: Through my fault, I am worse! I do not improve myself because I struggle a little. Falling back into sin dulls the conscience, one becomes more indifferent in his faith, his enthusiasm for God weakens, and it can go so far that he becomes an outright enemy of Christ.

If we genuinely want to live the life that one day is to be rewarded by Christ, we must not only sometimes but constantly strive to follow the instruction for a perfect life that the Lord Jesus gives us in the Gospels, which are controlled and taught by the Church. “He who obeys the Church obeys Christ” is an old but proven motto. We realize that the teachings of Christ lead us to a mindset and action that is right and prudent. We are not dreamers, but neither bigots nor unbelievers, but we are people who not only care about this life but also believe in eternal life.

We know the instructions. We know where to look for it, so with God’s help, let’s strive for it.