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MATTHEW 12:44 — KING JAMES VERSION 0
Matt 12:43Matt 12:45
“Then he saith, I will return into my house from whence I came out; and when he is come, he findeth it empty, swept, and garnished.”
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. The demon's return to its former home — the person from whom it was expelled — finds the house empty, swept, and put in order. The emptiness is the critical word: the house that was cleansed but not filled with something better is vulnerable to reoccupation. The partial reformation that leaves the house empty is more dangerous than the original condition.

Church Fathers on Matthew 12:44

The Lord had said to the Jews, 'The men of Nineveh shall rise in the judgment with this generation, and shall condemn it;' that they should not therefore be careless, He tells them that not only in the world to come but here also they should suffer grievous things; setting forth in a sort of riddle the punishment that should fall upon them whence He says, 'When, the unclean spirit has gone out of a man.'

Chrysostom · 4th century

Some suppose that this place is spoken of heretics, because the unclean spirit who dwelt in them before when they were Gentiles, is cast out before the confession of the true faith; when after they went over to heresy, and garnished their house with feigned virtues, then it is that the Devil, having taken to him other seven evil spirits, returns and dwells in them; and their last state becomes worse than their first. And indeed heretics are in a much worse condition than the…

Jerome · 4th century

He calls the hearts of the Gentiles, 'dry places,' as lacking all the moisture of wholesome waters, that is of the holy Scriptures, and of spiritual gifts, and strangers to the pouring in of the Holy Spirit.

Remigius · 9th century
Read all 12 entries in the readerCatena Aurea · St. Thomas Aquinas, tr. J. H. Newman · public domain
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Matthew 12:44 — Community Reflections | HolyStudy