Thursday of the Third Week of Lent - March 7, 2013
Thursday of the Third Week of Lent
Luke 11:14 – 20
Jesus was driving out a demon that was mute. When the demon left, the man who had been mute spoke, and the crowd was amazed. But some of them said, “By Beelzebul, the prince of demons, he is driving out demons.” Others tested him by asking for a sign from heaven.
Jesus knew their thoughts and said to them: “Any kingdom divided against itself will be ruined, and a house divided against itself will fall. If Satan is divided against himself, how can his kingdom stand? I say this because you claim that I drive out demons by Beelzebul. Now if I drive out demons by Beelzebul, by whom do your followers drive them out? So then, they will be your judges. But if I drive out demons by the finger of God, then the kingdom of God has come upon you.”
In today’s Gospel, Jesus healed someone by casting out a “mute demon” and enabling the person to speak again.
The crowd was amazed, but they also missed the point. They got distracted and thus stayed two or three degrees away from the main point. Some of them wrongly attributed the healing to evil – a contradiction from the outset, that healing and wholeness can come from evil. Others, having witnessed one miracle, wanted to see still more signs. I get the impression they came expecting a magic show.
Jesus did not succumb to the popular opinion about him or to the crowd’s wishes. He was secure enough in himself, in who he was with God, that he did not need to flatter the crowd for their approval.
Jesus “knew what they were thinking.” He was not a mind-reader in the popular sense; rather, he had a high degree of spiritual wisdom and intuition, which came from his connection with the Father. He saw people and situations differently, with a lens that most of us haven’t developed. His God-connection was the center of his life.
Luke 11:14 – 20
Jesus was driving out a demon that was mute. When the demon left, the man who had been mute spoke, and the crowd was amazed. But some of them said, “By Beelzebul, the prince of demons, he is driving out demons.” Others tested him by asking for a sign from heaven.
Jesus knew their thoughts and said to them: “Any kingdom divided against itself will be ruined, and a house divided against itself will fall. If Satan is divided against himself, how can his kingdom stand? I say this because you claim that I drive out demons by Beelzebul. Now if I drive out demons by Beelzebul, by whom do your followers drive them out? So then, they will be your judges. But if I drive out demons by the finger of God, then the kingdom of God has come upon you.”
In today’s Gospel, Jesus healed someone by casting out a “mute demon” and enabling the person to speak again.
The crowd was amazed, but they also missed the point. They got distracted and thus stayed two or three degrees away from the main point. Some of them wrongly attributed the healing to evil – a contradiction from the outset, that healing and wholeness can come from evil. Others, having witnessed one miracle, wanted to see still more signs. I get the impression they came expecting a magic show.
Jesus did not succumb to the popular opinion about him or to the crowd’s wishes. He was secure enough in himself, in who he was with God, that he did not need to flatter the crowd for their approval.
Jesus “knew what they were thinking.” He was not a mind-reader in the popular sense; rather, he had a high degree of spiritual wisdom and intuition, which came from his connection with the Father. He saw people and situations differently, with a lens that most of us haven’t developed. His God-connection was the center of his life.
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