Matthew 12:42–45 with St. Augustine
“When the unclean spirit has gone out of a person, it passes through waterless places seeking rest, but finds none. Then it says, ‘I will return to my house from which I came.’ And when it comes, it finds the house empty, swept, and put in order. Then it goes and brings with it 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. So also will it be with this evil generation.”
In Matthew 12, Jesus explains that a person freed from the power of Satan can end up in a worse state than he was in the first place. Why is the person in this analogy so much worse off after having already been “cleansed”? St. Augustine provides an insightful spiritual commentary on this passage that explains what this can look like in a concrete way.
The Bishop of Hippo explains that “when someone falls away from righteousness, he will also pretend to be virtuous. For when the lust of the flesh has been driven off from its usual actions by penance and does not find delights in which to rest (Matt. 12:43), it returns with greater desire and again occupies the mind of man...” According to Augustine, the seven demons that return with the original demon represent vices that are contrary to the theological virtues (faith, hope, love) and the cardinal virtues (prudence, justice, fortitude, and temperance). The once converted person will now be hypocritical and only “pretend that he has the virtues…”
Augustine explains that this is what happens to the one who “becomes negligent after [evil] has been driven out, so that the word of God may not be brought in as the inhabitant of a house that has been cleansed by sound doctrine.” In other words, this is a passage that exhorts us to be faithful to God’s Word so that we will not be corrupted by false doctrine. It is not enough to drive evil out–we must also let God in. Otherwise, we may continue to appear a Christian, but, in reality, we will undo what God has done in purifying us. Instead of remaining “empty, swept, and put in order,” our souls will become cluttered, dusty, and disordered.[1]
[1] Summary by Michael Barber with the use of Augustine, Questions on the Gospels 2.8 in The New Testament I and II, The Works of Augustine, ed. B. Ramsey (New York: New City Press, 2014), 364–365.
