Mark 3:20-35
It was a bad day for Jesus. His family, the scribes and Satan all ganged up on Him. The Lord did something good by driving out demons, but the accusations were not far behind.
That’s the way life is. Every time that we try to do God’s will, the obstacles bombard us from every side. The battle started in heaven when there was only one address. Lucifer—means full of light—thought that he was better than God. St. Michael the Archangel led the fight. Satan and his minions were cast out of heaven. Since they are unhappy to be deprived of God’s presence they do not want anyone else to be happy. Humans are the prime targets of their displeasure. The devil always uses lies to raise doubts in our minds about God’s love for us. “Did God really tell you not to eat from that tree?” “Why should God forgive you, you aren’t worthy?” Jesus is our defender, the devil is our accuser. The battle continues. However, we are more likely to listen to negative comments about ourselves than to listen to what is good in us. That’s what evil tried to do to Jesus. “He’s possessed. He drives out demons by the power of demons. He’s just trying to make a name for himself.” Yet, with Jesus the devil lost. Jesus knew who He was and who He is. Jesus did not doubt Himself. The Lord had a clear idea of His mission—to restore the goodness of humanity. A humanity that had stopped believing in themselves—stopped believing in God’s love. Obviously Satan did not want for people to know the truth. What better way to confuse folks than to accuse Jesus of working for the dark side? What better trap than to raise doubts about His goodness? Many eyebrows went up when the Lord refused to fall into the trap.
The devil continues to use the same old tricks on humanity: division, illusion, the lie that we are unloved. Countless fall for the tricks and keep trying to prove themselves worthy of God’s love. Since all of us know that we have sinned, we play hide-and-go-seek with God, just like our first parents who hid in the Garden. They felt guilty, which is a wasted emotion. Our first parents knew that they had disobeyed. Where can we hide from God? Where can we hide from ourselves? God will always come looking for us, especially when we are down. The Lord will remind us that regardless of how bad we have been, His love is unconditional.
The dumbest person is the one who shuts the door on God’s mercy. A person who says, “I don’t need anyone, not even God”, commits the unforgiveable sin. Such a person blasphemes against the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of love—because God will never act against our will. The Lord invites, never pushes and certainly never punishes. We punish ourselves for choosing darkness over the light. In the end, there is no one to blame. We must take responsibility for our actions, or failure to act when given the opportunity. If we get angry, if we hold a grudge, if we refuse to be obedient—check the level of pride. Pride gets in the way of the Holy Spirit. We cannot beat Satan, we can only crowd him out. If we are full of God’s love; if the Holy Spirit is inside of us, there is no room for evil. Our house is united and we know to whom we belong. In a world torn by war, hatred and dissension, we want to keep the focus—doing the will of God. The will of God is that we love one another.
Time to lower our defenses, face our problems and realize that God is here to help. He will never abandon us. On the contrary, His love is unconditional.
It was a bad day for Jesus. His family, the scribes and Satan all ganged up on Him. The Lord did something good by driving out demons, but the accusations were not far behind.
That’s the way life is. Every time that we try to do God’s will, the obstacles bombard us from every side. The battle started in heaven when there was only one address. Lucifer—means full of light—thought that he was better than God. St. Michael the Archangel led the fight. Satan and his minions were cast out of heaven. Since they are unhappy to be deprived of God’s presence they do not want anyone else to be happy. Humans are the prime targets of their displeasure. The devil always uses lies to raise doubts in our minds about God’s love for us. “Did God really tell you not to eat from that tree?” “Why should God forgive you, you aren’t worthy?” Jesus is our defender, the devil is our accuser. The battle continues. However, we are more likely to listen to negative comments about ourselves than to listen to what is good in us. That’s what evil tried to do to Jesus. “He’s possessed. He drives out demons by the power of demons. He’s just trying to make a name for himself.” Yet, with Jesus the devil lost. Jesus knew who He was and who He is. Jesus did not doubt Himself. The Lord had a clear idea of His mission—to restore the goodness of humanity. A humanity that had stopped believing in themselves—stopped believing in God’s love. Obviously Satan did not want for people to know the truth. What better way to confuse folks than to accuse Jesus of working for the dark side? What better trap than to raise doubts about His goodness? Many eyebrows went up when the Lord refused to fall into the trap.
The devil continues to use the same old tricks on humanity: division, illusion, the lie that we are unloved. Countless fall for the tricks and keep trying to prove themselves worthy of God’s love. Since all of us know that we have sinned, we play hide-and-go-seek with God, just like our first parents who hid in the Garden. They felt guilty, which is a wasted emotion. Our first parents knew that they had disobeyed. Where can we hide from God? Where can we hide from ourselves? God will always come looking for us, especially when we are down. The Lord will remind us that regardless of how bad we have been, His love is unconditional.
The dumbest person is the one who shuts the door on God’s mercy. A person who says, “I don’t need anyone, not even God”, commits the unforgiveable sin. Such a person blasphemes against the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of love—because God will never act against our will. The Lord invites, never pushes and certainly never punishes. We punish ourselves for choosing darkness over the light. In the end, there is no one to blame. We must take responsibility for our actions, or failure to act when given the opportunity. If we get angry, if we hold a grudge, if we refuse to be obedient—check the level of pride. Pride gets in the way of the Holy Spirit. We cannot beat Satan, we can only crowd him out. If we are full of God’s love; if the Holy Spirit is inside of us, there is no room for evil. Our house is united and we know to whom we belong. In a world torn by war, hatred and dissension, we want to keep the focus—doing the will of God. The will of God is that we love one another.
Time to lower our defenses, face our problems and realize that God is here to help. He will never abandon us. On the contrary, His love is unconditional.
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