Church Fathers Commentary Luke 11:24-26

"The unclean spirit when he is gone out of the man, passeth through waterless places, seeking rest, and finding none, he saith, I will turn back unto my house whence I came out. And when he is come, he findeth it swept and garnished. Then goeth he, and taketh [to him] seven other spirits more evil than himself; and they enter in and dwell there: and the last state of that man becometh worse than the first." — Luke 11:24-26 (ASV)

St. Cyril of Alexandria: Following what came before, our Lord proceeds to show how the Jewish people had come to these opinions about Christ, saying, When the unclean spirit has gone out of a man... Matthew explained that this example relates to the Jews when he says, Even so shall it be also to this wicked generation. For all the time they were living in Egypt, practicing the ways of the Egyptians, an evil spirit dwelt in them. This spirit was drawn out of them when they sacrificed the lamb as a type of Christ, were sprinkled with its blood, and so escaped the destroyer.

St. Ambrose of Milan: The comparison, then, is between one man and the whole Jewish people, from whom the unclean spirit had been cast out through the Law. But because the devil could find no rest among the Gentiles—whose hearts were at first barren but were afterwards moistened in baptism with the dew of the Spirit because of their faith in Christ (for to unclean spirits, Christ is a flaming fire)—he then returned to the Jewish people. Hence it follows, And finding none, he said, I will return to my house from where I came.

Origen of Alexandria: That is, he returned to those of Israel, whom he saw possessing nothing divine in them, but who were desolate and empty, allowing him to take up residence there. And so it follows, And when he came, he finds it swept and garnished.

St. Ambrose of Milan: For Israel, being adorned with a mere outward and superficial beauty, remains inwardly all the more polluted in her heart. She never quenched or soothed her fires in the water of the sacred fountain, and so the unclean spirit rightly returned to her, bringing with him seven other spirits more wicked than himself.

Hence it follows, And he goes and takes with him seven other spirits more wicked than himself, and they enter in and dwell there. This is fitting, seeing that in truth she has sacrilegiously profaned the seven weeks of the Law (that is, from Easter to Pentecost) and the mystery of the eighth day.

Therefore, just as the sevenfold gifts of the Spirit are multiplied for us, so upon them falls the entire accumulated attack of the unclean spirits, for the number seven is frequently taken to mean the whole.

St. John Chrysostom: The evil spirits who dwell in the souls of the Jews now are worse than those in former times. For then the Jews raged against the Prophets, but now they lift up their hands against the Lord of the Prophets; therefore, they suffered worse things from Vespasian and Titus than they did in Egypt and Babylon.

Hence it follows, And the last state of that man is worse than the former. In the past, they also had the Providence of God and the grace of the Holy Spirit with them. But now they are deprived even of this protection, so that there is a greater lack of virtue, their sorrows are more intense, and the tyranny of the evil spirits is more terrible.

St. Cyril of Alexandria: The last state is also worse than the first, according to the words of the Apostle: It would be better not to have known the way of truth, than after they have known it to turn back from it.

The Venerable Bede: This may also be taken to refer to certain heretics or schismatics, or even to a bad Catholic from whom the evil spirit had gone out at the time of his baptism. The spirit wanders about in dry places—that is, his crafty device is to test the hearts of the faithful, which have been purged of all unstable and fleeting knowledge, to see if he can plant the footsteps of his iniquity anywhere in them.

But he says, I will return to my house from where I came out. And here we must be careful that the sin we thought was extinguished in us does not, through our neglect, overcome us unexpectedly. He finds his house swept and decorated—that is, purified by the grace of baptism from the stain of sin, yet not filled with any diligence in good works.

By the seven evil spirits he takes to himself, he signifies all the vices. And they are called more wicked because the person will now have not only those vices that are opposed to the seven spiritual virtues, but also, through hypocrisy, will pretend to have the virtues themselves.

St. John Chrysostom: Let us receive the words that follow as spoken not only to them but also to ourselves: And the last state of that man will be worse than the first. For if, after being enlightened and released from our former sins, we return to the same course of wickedness, a heavier punishment will await our later sins.

The Venerable Bede: It may also be simply understood that our Lord added these words to show the distinction between His works and Satan's: that in truth He is always hastening to cleanse what has been defiled, while Satan is always hastening to defile with even greater pollution what has been cleansed.