Daily Bible Reading 8th September 2026 // Luke 11:14-26
14 Now he was casting out a demon that was mute. When the demon had gone out, the mute man spoke, and the people marvelled. 15 But some of them said, “He casts out demons by Beelzebul, the prince of demons”, 16 while others, to test him, kept seeking from him a sign from heaven. 17 But he, knowing their thoughts, said to them, “Every kingdom divided against itself is laid waste, and a divided household falls. 18 And if Satan also is divided against himself, how will his kingdom stand? For you say that I cast out demons by Beelzebul. 19 And if I cast out demons by Beelzebul, by whom do your sons cast them out? Therefore they will be your judges. 20 But if it is by the finger of God that I cast out demons, then the kingdom of God has come upon you. 21 When a strong man, fully armed, guards his own palace, his goods are safe; 22 but when one stronger than he attacks him and overcomes him, he takes away his armour in which he trusted and divides his spoil. 23 Whoever is not with me is against me, and whoever does not gather with me scatters.
24 “When the unclean spirit has gone out of a person, it passes through waterless places seeking rest, and finding none it says, ‘I will return to my house from which I came.’ 25 And when it comes, it finds the house swept and put in order. 26 Then it goes and brings seven other spirits more evil than itself, and they enter and dwell there. And the last state of that person is worse than the first.”
Finally, the parable of the home swept and garnished (24-26). What is its message? The consequences of being 'against Christ' have been dealt with in the previous verses, and in 23 the situation is adequately summed up. Now we are shown that incomplete or partial belief is, for all practical purposes, much the same as being 'against Him'. And the one who does what is described in the parable proves the impossibility of being neutral - either you are with Christ, or against Him. There is no halfway ground of being 'delivered' yet not 'committed'. Sympathetic interest, benevolent neutrality simply meant that the house has been swept and garnished, but no new power has come in to take over, and can only lead to a worse state than the first. This, then, is the situation: grace had come to these men, and the kingdom was come upon them (20). And they had refused it. Their blindness was a willing blindness, that no amount of 'signs' would convince or correct. They were so willingly blind as to accuse Jesus of complicity with Satan. It is a parable, therefore, as Calvin says, of the condemnation that awaits those who, despising the grace offered to them, again open the door to the devil.