(Audio)
Some of them said, "By the power of Beelzebul, the prince of demons,
he drives out demons."
It wasn't the healings to which they objected. When it comes to demons their own people were said to "drive them out" as well. What bothered them was the person of Jesus himself. When Jesus healed things didn't just return to the status quo. People and situations where forever changed. This was something unique to the authority that only he possessed. He was the one who could tell a paralytic to get up and walk. But he was also the only one who could forgive his sins and make him right with God. Other healers seem to have been able to make an impact on the outside. But the radical transformation of the soul was something only Jesus could do.
But if it is by the finger of God that I drive out demons,
then the Kingdom of God has come upon you.
The people were upset because the finger of God was so close, closer than it had ever been in history. They felt the unpredictable nature of that presence as danger and recoiled. They sought to test, to categorize, and to ultimately tame the divine power. But it could not be tamed. The status quo actually meant that the devil guarded his palace and that his possessions were safe. Jesus refused to leave the world in the possession of the devil.
But when one stronger than he attacks and overcomes him,
he takes away the armor on which he relied
and distributes the spoils
We have a history of not listening to God. We tend to harden our hearts when he speaks. We skip legitimate discernment of the action of God and ignore anything that doesn't conform to our expectations, anything, really, that takes us by surprise. Today the call is to open our hearts and to listen. God is doing something new. If we let it, it will surprise us. But if we don't, we'll miss the opportunity for the grace he gives.
This is what I commanded my people:
Listen to my voice;
then I will be your God and you shall be my people.
Walk in all the ways that I command you,
so that you may prosper.
May our hearts not be hardened as you speak to us, O LORD!
Oh, that today you would hear his voice:
"Harden not your hearts as at Meribah,
as in the day of Massah in the desert,
Where your fathers tempted me;
they tested me though they had seen my works.
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