402 GOSl'EL ACCORDING TO CHAP. XI.
whom do your sons castthem out? thereforeshall
they be yourjudges.
20. But ifI withthefingerofGod castout devils,
no doubtthekingdom ofGod iscome upon you.
Chrys. CHRYS. The suspicionof the Phariseesbeing utterlywith-
in°Mau. ou*;reason,they dared not divulgeit forfearof the multi
tude,but pondered itin theirminds. Hence it issaid,But
He, knowing theirthoughts,said unto them,Every kingdom
dividedagainstitselfwillbe brought to desolation.BEDE.
He answered not tbeirwords but theirthoughts,that so at
leastthey might be compelledto believein His power, who
Chrys. saw intothe secretsof the heart. CHRYS. He did not an-
ubisup. swer them from the Scriptures,sincethey gave no heed to
them, explainingthem away falsely;but He answers them
from things of every day occurrence. For a house and
a cityifit be dividedisquicklyscatteredto nothing; and
likewisea kingdom, than which nothing is stronger. For
the harmony of the inhabitantsmaintains houses and king
doms. If then, says He, I cast out devilsby means of
a devil,there is dissensionamong them, and theirpower
perishes. Hence He adds,But if Satan be dividedagainst
himself,how shallhe stand? For Satan resistsnot himself,
nor hurts his soldiers,but rather strengthenshis kingdom.
It isthen by Divine power alone thatI crush Satan under
my feet. AMBROSE. Herein also He shews His own king
dom to be undivided and everlasting.Those then who pos
sessno hope in Christ,but think that He castsout devils
through the chiefof the devils,theirkingdom, He says,is
not everlasting. This also has referenceto the Jewish
people. For how can the kingdom of the Jews be ever
lasting,when by the peopleof the law Jesus is denied,who
is promised by the law ? Thus in part does the faithof the
Jewish people impugn itself;the glory of the wicked is
divided,by divisionis destroyed. And thereforethe king
dom of the Church shallremain for ever,because itsfaith
isundivided in one body. BEDE. The kingdom alsoof the
Father, Son, and Holy Spirit,is not divided,because it is
sealedwith an eternalstability.Let then the Arians cease
to say that the Son is inferiorto the Father,but the Holy