IN these last verses of this teaching which Jesus has been giving from verse 14, Jesus presses home the message by means of an illustration. The lesson is that it is only by total faith and submission to Jesus as Lord and Saviour can a soul be freed from the dominion of Satan, the strong man. Jesus has provided the way of freedom, but it is only realised, and freedom received, when the soul commits his or her life totally to Jesus as sovereign king and God.

The illustration is of a house, which had been occupied by a devil, but the devil had been cast out, but the house had remained empty. The devil found no rest as he wanders looking for rest. He remembers the house from which he had been cast out, and determines to go back and see the situation there now. He finds the house clean and tidy, but empty, and so he collects other devils worse than himself, breaks into the house, and dwells there again. The condition in the house now is far worse than it was before. It is thoroughly filthy and dirty.

Jesus makes clear that the house is the soul of a man. The devil looked upon the soul of the man as his home. When the devil returns he finds the soul of the man swept and clean, but empty. This is a picture of a person who has had a moral reformation. There has been repentance and a giving up of sins, and now the soul is seeking to live a moral and upright life. But the soul of the man was not occupied. This is a very dangerous condition to be in. An unoccupied house is inviting thieves to come and break in, and for squatters to break in and take up residence. The thief or the squatter has no regard for the home, and just uses it for himself, destroying and leaving filth around. In the illustration Jesus makes it clear that the condition of the man after moral reformation was worse than before moral reformation took place.

The lesson Jesus is pressing home is that the house of our life must be occupied. Being empty is no option. The reason for this, though Jesus will not break in and steal, the devil will most surely do so. Moral reformation, though good in itself, is dangerous on its own. There must be an occupier of the house, and moral reformation will only be of worth if Jesus is invited into the house of our life. If this does not take place, then the devil will come back, and the state of the soul of a man will be worse than it was before the moral reformation.

The fact is moral reformation on its own can never be sustained because all of us are weak sinners. When we fail, that is when the devil comes back, then the soul is in despair. What is the good of trying again when the first time was so unsuccessful. A second moral reformation is so much harder, and there is no confidence that the second time will be any better. The fact is that our life must either be occupied by the devil or by Christ. Neutrality is not viable. There must be an invitation to Christ to come into our life and dwell there. He stands at the door and knocks. If we hear and open the door he will come in and dwell with us, and we will be safe, because in Jesus is the full answer to our sin. Jesus through his death cancels our debt to God, and by his Spirit bestows new life by which we are enabled to live for him. Only in this way has the devil, the strong man, no power to take over our life. He can tempt us to sin, but he can't enter our soul, for our Saviour's obedience to blood has hidden all our transgressions from the view of God.

In the last two verses Jesus presses home this point of total commitment to him. A woman in the company, moved by the wonder and power of the preaching Jesus had given, sees his birth as a very blessed thing, and his mother, which is of course Mary, as being one to be blessed for being the means for bringing Jesus into the world. Such veneration of Mary Jesus immediately crushes. It is not Mary that can help us, but only Jesus. Jesus spoke the word of God, for he was God incarnate. What is necessary therefore is, not only listen and hear what Jesus said, but also to obey his teaching, the teaching of the word of God.

It is not enough to admire Jesus as a teacher of superb quality, and listen to his teaching with delight. It is not enough to understand the teaching of Jesus, and approve his teaching. It is certainly not enough to approve and obey some of his teaching, but neglect or reject what we don't like. The only response to the teaching of Jesus is wholehearted obedience to all his teaching, and receive it as the word of God, and live in obedience to Jesus as king, Lord and Saviour. Jesus must be Lord of our life, and everyday must be spent seeking his will and doing it.