“Any kingdom divided against itself is laid waste" "Your kingdom is an everlasting kingdom"

Luke 11:14-36 from the daily reading in the One Year Bible

And He was casting out a demon, and it was mute; when the demon had gone out, the mute man spoke; and the crowds were amazed. ¹⁵ But some of them said, “He casts out demons by Beelzebul, the ruler of the demons.” ¹⁶ Others, to test Him, were demanding of Him a sign from heaven. ¹⁷ But He knew their thoughts and said to them, “Any kingdom divided against itself is laid waste; and a house divided against itself falls. ¹⁸ 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 by Beelzebul cast out demons, by whom do your sons cast them out? So they will be your judges. ²⁰ But if I cast out demons by the finger of God, then the kingdom of God has come upon you. ²¹ When a strong man, fully armed, guards his own house, his possessions are undisturbed. ²² But when someone stronger than he attacks him and overpowers him, he takes away from him all his armor on which he had relied and distributes his plunder. ²³ He who is not with Me is against Me; and he who does not gather with Me, scatters.

²⁴ “When the unclean spirit goes out of a man, it passes through waterless places seeking rest, and not finding any, it says, ‘I will return to my house from which I came.’ ²⁵ And when it comes, it finds it swept and put in order. ²⁶ Then it goes and takes along seven other spirits more evil than itself, and they go in and live there; and the last state of that man becomes worse than the first.”

²⁷ While Jesus was saying these things, one of the women in the crowd raised her voice and said to Him, “Blessed is the womb that bore You and the breasts at which You nursed.” ²⁸ But He said, “On the contrary, blessed are those who hear the word of God and observe it.”

²⁹ As the crowds were increasing, He began to say, “This generation is a wicked generation; it seeks for a sign, and yet no sign will be given to it but the sign of Jonah. ³⁰ For just as Jonah became a sign to the Ninevites, so will the Son of Man be to this generation. ³¹ The Queen of the South will rise up with the men of this generation at the judgment and condemn them, because she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon; and behold, something greater than Solomon is here. ³² The men of Nineveh will stand up with this generation at the judgment and condemn it, because they repented at the preaching of Jonah; and behold, something greater than Jonah is here.

³³ “No one, after lighting a lamp, puts it away in a cellar nor under a basket, but on the lampstand, so that those who enter may see the light. ³⁴ The eye is the lamp of your body; when your eye is clear, your whole body also is full of light; but when it is bad, your body also is full of darkness. ³⁵ Then watch out that the light in you is not darkness. ³⁶ If therefore your whole body is full of light, with no dark part in it, it will be wholly illumined, as when the lamp illumines you with its rays.”

“Any kingdom divided against itself is laid waste; and a house divided against itself falls.” God desires unity, both with Him and among ourselves. From the very beginning man was created in the image and likeness of God, created for fellowship with God.     And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth. ²⁷ So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them. (Genesis 1: 26-27)         They heard the sound of the LORD God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God among the trees of the garden. (Genesis 3:8)   In John 17:20-23 Jesus prays:     “I do not ask on behalf of these alone, but for those also who believe in Me through their word; ²¹ that they may all be one; even as You, Father, are in Me and I in You, that they also may be in Us, so that the world may believe that You sent Me. The glory which You have given Me I have given to them, that they may be one, just as We are one; ²³ I in them and You in Me, that they may be perfected in unity, so that the world may know that You sent Me, and loved them, even as You have loved Me. 

Jesus came to restore the unity that God intended from the beginning, both our unity with Him and our unity with each other. Sin caused the initial separation from God and it was sin that also caused separation between the first brothers, Cain and Able. In today’s text we see:      one of the women in the crowd raised her voice and said to Him, “Blessed is the womb that bore You and the breasts at which You nursed.” ²⁸ But He said, “On the contrary, blessed are those who hear the word of God and observe it.”     It is not the natural family relationships that unite us. It is Jesus Himself and the cross which unite us.   Jesus says:  “Do not think that I came to bring peace on the earth; I did not come to bring peace, but a sword. ³⁵ For I came to set a man against his father, and a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law; ³⁶ and a man’s enemies will be the members of his household…he who does not take his cross and follow after Me is not worthy of Me. ³⁹ He who has found his life will lose it, and he who has lost his life for My sake will find it. (Matthew 10:34-39)

We can be unified or divided by many things. The truth is that the only thing that can truly unite us, restore us to the unity we were created to have is Christ and the cross. Within the church today, we are divided over many things, doctrines, traditions and preferences. Rather than look at the things which divide us we should look to the one who unites us. If we will individually focus on Christ and the cross, if we will first and foremost look to become united with Jesus and the Father, then the things which divide us will be unseen. There is no division in the kingdom of heaven.   “Any kingdom divided against itself is laid waste; and a house divided against itself falls.”  The psalmist rightly says: Your kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, And Your dominion endures throughout all generations. (Psalm 145:13)

Jesus gives us insight as to how we are to rid ourselves of what is unclean and dark in our lives. He says:  “When the unclean spirit goes out of a man, it passes through waterless places seeking rest, and not finding any, it says, ‘I will return to my house from which I came.’ ²⁵ And when it comes, it finds it swept and put in order. ²⁶ Then it goes and takes along seven other spirits more evil than itself, and they go in and live there; and the last state of that man becomes worse than the first.”… and   “ If therefore your whole body is full of light, with no dark part in it, it will be wholly illumined, as when the lamp illumines you with its rays.”     Far too often we try to clean ourselves up, to empty ourselves of the evil and darkness within us. To repent is not to make yourself better. To repent is to turn back to God, to His will and His plan. It does us no good to empty ourselves. If we are empty something will refill us. Rather we should be filled with Christ, filled with His light. Daily we should grow in His likeness. Our desire should be as John the Baptist said: "He must increase, but I must decrease.” (John 3:30) We take up our cross not to die, but to live in Christ, as He increases, we decrease, until He is all that is left and we are restored to the image and likeness of God. Unified with Him, in Christ and unified with others through Him.   

Thank You heavenly Father, Lord Jesus Christ and Holy Spirit from the beginning You created me to be unified, one with You. You made the way, through the cross that I could be restored to Your original plan. I pray that You would daily increase in me, that Your light, Your love and Your truth would fill me and displace anything within me that separates me from You. As I become unified with You and Your will may I see others as You see them and in me may they see You.     Amen.