83 - The House Begins to Divide

A Short Walk through Our Long History

Last episode, we talked about the revolutions in Europe in 1848. The United States is about to have a revolution, I mean, another one, at least from a certain point of view. From another point of view, it’s a rebellion. But we aren’t quite there yet.

In the Gospel of Matthew, Jesus is accused by the Pharisees of driving out demons using the power of Satan. And Jesus, in a masterful double entendre, replies, ‘Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation, and every city or house divided against itself shall not stand.’ A house that is internally divided, he’s saying, will not stand, it will collapse. Jesus’ point was that if he was driving out demons by the power of Satan, well, that satanic house would be divided, and it would collapse. But he’s also making the point that the house of Judaism, the house of the Pharisees, is also divided, as many people in Judea had begun to follow Jesus, but the Pharisees had not. The house was divided.

And much later, in 1858, Abraham Lincoln, running for the US Senate, said, quoting Jesus, “A house divided against itself cannot stand. I believe this government cannot endure, permanently half slave and half free. I do not expect the Union to be dissolved – I do not expect the house to fall – but I do expect it will cease to be divided. It will become all one thing or all the other.”