He casts out demons by the ruler of the demons

 

 When Jesus departed from there, two blind men followed Him, crying out and saying, "Son of David, have mercy on us!"  And when He had come into the house, the blind men came to Him.  And Jesus said to them, "Do you believe that I am able to do this?  They said to Him, "Yes, Lord."  Then he touched their eyes, saying, "According to your faith let it be to you."  And their eyes were opened.  And Jesus sternly warned them, saying, "See that no one knows it."  But when they had departed, they spread the news about Him in all that country.  As they went out, behold, they brought to Him a man, mute and demon-possessed.  And when the demon was cast out, the mute spoke.  And the multitudes marveled, saying, "It was never seen like this in Israel!"  But the Pharisees said, "He casts out demons by the ruler of the demons." 

 

- Matthew 9:27–34 

 

Yesterday we read that a ruler of the synagogue came and worshiped Jesus, saying, "My daughter has just died, but come and lay Your hand on her and she will live."  So Jesus arose and followed him, and so did His disciples.  And suddenly, a woman who had a flow of blood for twelve years came from behind and touched the hem of His garment.  For she said to herself, "If only I may touch His garment, I shall be made well."  But Jesus turned around, and when He saw her He said, "Be of good cheer, daughter; your faith has made you well."  And the woman was made well from that hour.  When Jesus came into the ruler's house, and saw the flute players and the noisy crowd wailing, He said to them, "Make room, for the girl is not dead, but sleeping."  And they ridiculed Him.  But when the crowd was put outside, He went in and took her by the hand, and the girl arose.  And the report of this went out into all that land.

 

  When Jesus departed from there, two blind men followed Him, crying out and saying, "Son of David, have mercy on us!"  And when He had come into the house, the blind men came to Him.  And Jesus said to them, "Do you believe that I am able to do this?  They said to Him, "Yes, Lord."  Then he touched their eyes, saying, "According to your faith let it be to you."  And their eyes were opened.  And Jesus sternly warned them, saying, "See that no one knows it."  But when they had departed, they spread the news about Him in all that country.  As they went out, behold, they brought to Him a man, mute and demon-possessed.  And when the demon was cast out, the mute spoke.  My study Bible comments that, according to Isaiah, the messianic age is signified when "the eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf shall hear" (Isaiah 35:5).  These healings, it notes, are a sign that Jesus is the awaited Messiah, as is the use of the title Son of David by the blind men, which expresses their faith in this truth.  

 

And the multitudes marveled, saying, "It was never seen like this in Israel!"  But the Pharisees said, "He casts out demons by the ruler of the demons."   To cast out demons by the ruler of demons is impossible, my study Bible says, for the aim of the devil is to consolidate power, not to destroy it.  Moreover, Jesus cleansed  lepers, raised the dead, and remitted sins -- works which demons could not perform.

 

 We note that the Pharisees, by now no doubt somewhat challenged and alarmed by the fact that the multitudes marveled over Christ's works, call His works evil, saying that He casts out demons by the ruler of the demons.  Already we can see Jesus is growing in fame and renown for the great works He is doing, so that the people marvel, and thus He is becoming something of a rival in the eyes of the Pharisees, the ones who seek to regulate the faith and wield power within the religious institutions of the Jews, especially in interpreting the Scriptures and hence, the Law.  Jesus is not a member of the establishment, not among their number, not a scribe.  Neither is He a part of the Levitical priesthood.  He is an outsider, and His ministry -- as we read when He took on Matthew the tax collector as a disciple (in this reading) -- is a also a ministry that includes outsiders.  In fact in many ways we see Christ's calling not only to those left out, in some sense, who could not be included according to the Law, but also to those excluded for violations of the Law, such as lepers and the woman with the years-long blood flow in yesterday's reading (see above).  In His preaching and teaching to His disciples, and the use of their power and authority in His Church to come, He will also emphasize the care of the outliers, the ones on the edge, the ones with little to no power or social stature.  These He will call "little ones" and His constant call will be to avoid misleading them, offenses in the use of power toward them, and the greatest of care to see in them not only Himself, but also the One who sent Him (see, for example, Matthew 18:1-14).  The parable of the lost sheep found in the last few verses of that passage emphasizes the same.   In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus open His sermon with the first Beatitude:  "Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven" (Matthew 5:3).  The "poor in spirit" are those with the attitude of the poor, those who in their humility are dependent upon God.  They are the outliers, the ones whose heart comes not from social position but the love of God, regardless of outward status.  But for the Pharisees, this "outside" status of Jesus reflects for them only opposition, and so they label all that He does the power of the devil, the evil one, regardless of the goodness of outcomes.  In today's reading, the prophecy of Isaiah regarding the time of the Messiah is fulfilled, and yet the Pharisees still see Him this way, and openly label His works those of the ruler of the demons.  As we know, evil seeks to destroy, but Christ's works fulfill the blessed potentials of human beings, enabling the blind to see, and the mute to speak, restoring humanity as Creator to creature.  It's easy to label our seeming opponents as evil, if we see them as rivals for something, and in so doing, these Pharisees are not only slandering Jesus, they're committing blasphemy.  This same accusation by the Pharisees will come again, even more explicitly, in chapter 12 (notably in the case of a demon-possessed man who is both blind and mute), and Jesus will make it very clear what kind of sin it is to label the works of God evil (see Matthew 12:22-32).  Perhaps there is a great lesson for us in the types of healing in today's reading, in how one sees and how one speaks, for while Christ heals, it is the Pharisees who do not see clearly, and who speak untruths, even blasphemies against the work of God.  It is Christ who heals us in every way, in how we see, and teaches us how to speak, and for this reason we seek Him for our own healing in all ways.  He Himself is the antidote to the blindness of the Pharisees, and their reckless ways of using their power.  We seek Him so that He can do His good work in us.  As St. John says, "We love Him, because He first loved us" (1 John 4:19).  

 

 

Assuredly, I say to you, all sins will be forgiven the sons of men, and whatever blasphemies they may utter; but he who blasphemes against the Holy Spirit never has forgiveness, but is subject to eternal condemnation

 

 And they went into a house.  Then the multitude came together again, so that they could not so much as eat bread.  But when His own people heard about this, they went out to lay hold of Him, for they said, "He is out of His mind."  And the scribes who came down from Jerusalem said, "He has Beelzebub," and, "By the ruler of the demons He casts out demons."  So He called them to Himself and said to them in parables:  "How can Satan cast out Satan?  If a kingdom is divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand.  And if a house is divided against itself, that house cannot stand.  And if Satan has risen up against himself, and is divided, he cannot stand, but has an end.  No one can enter a strong man's house and plunder his goods, unless he first binds the strong man.  And then he will plunder his house. 

"Assuredly, I say to you, all sins will be forgiven the sons of men, and whatever blasphemies they may utter; but he who blasphemes against the Holy Spirit never has forgiveness, but is subject to eternal condemnation" -- because they said, "He has an unclean spirit."

Then His brothers and His mother came, and standing outside they sent to Him, calling Him.  And a multitude was sitting around Him; and they said to Him, "Look, Your mother and Your brothers are outside seeking You."  But He answered them, saying, "Who is My mother, or My brothers?"  And He looked around in a circle at those who sat about Him, and said, "Here are My mother and My brothers!  For whoever does the will of God is My brother and My sister and mother."

 

- Mark 3:19b–35 

 

In yesterday's reading, we read that Jesus withdrew with His disciples to the sea, after the Pharisees and Herodians began to plot how they might destroy Him.  And a  great multitude from Galilee followed Him, and from Judea and Jerusalem and Idumea and beyond the Jordan; and those from Tyre and Sidon, a great multitude, when they heard how many things He was doing, came to Him.  So He told His disciples that a small boat should be kept ready for Him because of the multitude, lest they should crush Him.  For He healed many, so that as many as had afflictions pressed about Him to touch Him.  And the unclean spirits, whenever they saw Him, fell down before Him and cried out, saying, "You are the Son of God."  But He sternly warned them that they should not make Him known.  And He went up on the mountain and called to Him those He Himself wanted.  And they came to Him.  Then He appointed the twelve, that they might be with Him and that He might send them out to preach, and to have power to heal sicknesses and to cast out demons:  Simon, to whom He gave the name Peter; James the son of Zebedee and John the brother of James, to whom He gave the name Boanerges, that is, "Sons of Thunder"; Andrew, Philip, Bartholomew, Matthew, Thomas, James the son of Alphaeus, Thaddaeus, Simon the Cananite; and Judas Iscariot, who also betrayed Him.  And they went into a house.   

And they went into a house.  Then the multitude came together again, so that they could not so much as eat bread.  But when His own people heard about this, they went out to lay hold of Him, for they said, "He is out of His mind."  And the scribes who came down from Jerusalem said, "He has Beelzebub," and, "By the ruler of the demons He casts out demons."  So He called them to Himself and said to them in parables:  "How can Satan cast out Satan?  If a kingdom is divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand.  And if a house is divided against itself, that house cannot stand.  And if Satan has risen up against himself, and is divided, he cannot stand, but has an end.  No one can enter a strong man's house and plunder his goods, unless he first binds the strong man.  And then he will plunder his house."  My study bible comments that Beelzebub, or Baal, was the prince of "the dung heap" or lord of "the flies" in what is probably a Jewish corruption of the Philistine name for their god, which was meant to ridicule  (2 Kings 1:2-16).  Here, this god of the Philistines is called the ruler of the demons.  Jesus alludes to a spiritual war going on behind the scenes, a battle for the plunder which is human beings, for which exorcism means routing the "occupying" demons.   Only a stronger man could take away the "plunder" from Beezebub the "strong man."  My study bible comments that the impossibility of demons fighting against themselves illustrates the irrational pride and envy of the Pharisees in their opposition to Jesus.

"Assuredly, I say to you, all sins will be forgiven the sons of men, and whatever blasphemies they may utter; but he who blasphemes against the Holy Spirit never has forgiveness, but is subject to eternal condemnation" -- because they said, "He has an unclean spirit."  To blaspheme against the Holy Spirit is to blaspheme against the Spirit's divine activity.  My study bible describes this as a blasphemy against pure goodness.  A sin against the Son of Man, my study bible explains, is more easily forgiven because the Jews did not know much about Christ.  But blasphemy against the Spirit, whose divine activity was known from the Old Testament, will not be forgiven as it comes from a willful hardness of heart and a refusal to accept God's mercy.  However, the patristic tradition is clear:  such blasphemy is not an "unforgivable sin," nor does Jesus call this sin "unforgivable."  St. John Chrysostom comments that blasphemy against the Holy Spirit would be forgivable if a person were to repent of it.  Jesus makes this declaration, my study bible remarks, knowing that those who blaspheme the Spirit are calling pure, divine goodness "evil," and that they are beyond repentance by their own choice.

Then His brothers and His mother came, and standing outside they sent to Him, calling Him.  And a multitude was sitting around Him; and they said to Him, "Look, Your mother and Your brothers are outside seeking You."  But He answered them, saying, "Who is My mother, or My brothers?"  And He looked around in a circle at those who sat about Him, and said, "Here are My mother and My brothers!  For whoever does the will of God is My brother and My sister and mother."  My study bible comments that Christ's relatives have not yet understood His identity and mission.  Christ points to a spiritual family, which is based on the obedience to the will of My Father.  My study bible also explains that in typical Jewish usage of the time, brother can indicate any number of relations.  Abram called his nephew Lot "brother" (Genesis 14:14); Boaz spoke of his cousin Elimelech as his "brother" (Ruth 4:3); and Joab called his cousin Amasa "brother" (2 Samuel 20:9).  Jesus Himself had no blood brothers; Mary had one Son, Jesus.  The brothers which are mentioned here were either stepbrothers (that is, sons of Joseph by a previous marriage) or cousins.  When Jesus commits His mother to the care of John at the Cross (John 19:25-27), it is an act that would have been unthinkable if Mary had other children to care for her.

As Jesus' fame grows, so do -- in some sense, at least -- the impacts of His ministry upon His family.  In the first instance remarked on here, we're told that there are so many people crowding into the house where Jesus is, that no one could so much as eat bread.  At this time, His family comes for Him:  But when His own people heard about this, they went out to lay hold of Him, for they said, "He is out of His mind."   In some sense, the text seems to say to us, all of this public attention is not good for them.  Possibly they are even responding to the fact that by now the religious authorities (the Pharisees) are plotting with the state authorities (the Herodians who support the Roman rule of the house of Herod) to destroy Him.  This might be a way to try to save Jesus from what is happening, and what they fear will come to Him.  At any rate, by now we're told that they are getting involved, and the effort is to stop what is happening if possible.  In the next instance, we're told that His brothers and His mother came, and standing outside they sent to Him, calling Him.  They clearly want to speak with Him.  Everybody tells Jesus, "Look, Your mother and Your brothers are outside seeking You."  But here is Jesus' response:  "Who is My mother, or My brothers?"  And He looked around in a circle at those who sat about Him, and said, "Here are My mother and My brothers!  For whoever does the will of God is My brother and My sister and mother."   We should be careful to note that Jesus isn't really criticizing His family.  Rather, He's emphasizing what is of most importance, and that is communion between those who truly love God.  And that nothing must get in the way of that practice of doing the will of God -- even if the family is terrified or worried.  In Jesus' case, He is called by God on a mission and He's fulfilling that mission, and no matter how much He might love, respect, or revere His family, He is called first to that mission, and so is everyone else -- including other members of His family.  This goes hand in hand with the power of the Holy Spirit to which Jesus refers earlier.  To condemn the will of God -- and the work of God in the world -- as somehow not good, or as evil, is to blaspheme the Holy Spirit.  This is a far more serious sin than anything one might say about Jesus as a Man.  It is, in fact, just that work of the Spirit that we are to understand is evident in His ministry -- just as it was the Spirit who "threw" Him into the wilderness for temptation and trial before He began that ministry, and just as it was that Spirit which rested upon Him at Baptism.  See Mark 1:6-14; Mark makes it clear from the beginning of his Gospel that the Holy Spirit is central to everything that unfolds.  In the Creed, we say that Christ became man, incarnate by the Holy Spirit and the Virgin Mary.  And by what power is it that the demons are cast out of human beings?  Surely Christ has power of His own, but we must also not leave out what cannot be separated from Christ the Son:  the Father and the Holy Spirit.  In Luke's Gospel, in the passage which tells the same story of accusation by the religious leaders, Jesus responds by saying, "But if I cast out demons with the finger of God, surely the kingdom of God has come upon you" (Luke 11:20).   The finger of God is a reference to the Holy Spirit.  So we are to understand that to label the work of the Holy Spirit "evil" is a serious sin.  To sin against another, as all human beings seem to routinely do all the time, is something Christ sets apart from the blasphemy against the Holy Spirit, for the Holy Spirit is a power indeed in this world.  The Creed tells us also that the Holy Spirit is the One "who spoke through the prophets."  And in that statement we must remember that Jesus also tells the religious leaders, "Therefore the wisdom of God also said, 'I will send them prophets and apostles, and some of them they will kill and persecute,' that the blood of all the prophets which was shed from the foundation of the world may be required of this generation, from the blood of Abel to the blood of Zechariah who perished between the altar and the temple. Yes, I say to you, it shall be required of this generation" (Luke 11:49-51).  All of these things combine to emphasize not the power of human beings, nor the conventional understanding of sin and consequences, but the power of the Holy Spirit in the world, and why it is so important that we seek to know the will of God and do it, as Christ says.  For it is the Spirit working through human beings that becomes the true force to be reckoned with, the One who works against the demons in ways we can't see, the One who can work through us, to give true life and true prophetic voice.  We should note that the power of the Spirit is something that works in and with and "in between" (if you will) all things in this world -- and also in spite of them.  The power of human might and empire does not delay it and may seek to work against it, but ultimately it is our own work against the Spirit that has effects we can't stop, and serious spiritual consequences that have a way of working themselves out even in this world when we go down a wrong path too long.  Let us consider the power of Christ and His ministry, a power that supersedes the loyalty of even our deepest ties in this world.

 

 

 

And the multitudes marveled, saying, "It was never seen like this in Israel!"

Christ healing the two blind men, mosaic, Sant'Apollinare Nuovo, Ravenna, Italy, 6th century

 When Jesus departed from there, two blind men followed Him, crying out and saying, "Son of David, have mercy on us!"  And when He had come into the house, the blind men came to Him.  And Jesus said to them, "Do you believe that I am able to do this?"  They said to Him, "Yes, Lord."  Then He touched their eyes, saying, "According to your faith let it be to you."  And their eyes were opened.  And Jesus sternly warned them, saying, "See that no one knows it."  But when they had departed, they spread the news about Him in all that country.  As they went out, behold, they brought to Him a man, mute and demon-possessed.  And when the demon was cast out, the mute spoke.  And the multitudes marveled, saying, "It was never seen like this in Israel!"  But the Pharisees said, "He casts out demons by the ruler of the demons."

- Matthew 9:27-34

Yesterday we read that, while Jesus was speaking to the disciples of John the Baptist,  a ruler of the local synagogue at Capernaum came and worshiped Him, saying, "My daughter has just died, but come and lay Your hand on her and she will live."  So Jesus arose and followed him, and so did His disciples.  And suddenly, a woman who had a flow of blood for twelve years came from behind and touched the hem of His garment.  For she said to herself, "If only I may touch His garment, I shall be made well."  But Jesus turned around, and when He saw her He said, "Be of good cheer, daughter; your faith has made you well."  And the woman was made well from that hour.  When Jesus came into the ruler's house, and saw the flute players and the noisy crowd wailing, He said to them, "Make room, for the girl is not dead, but sleeping."  And they ridiculed Him.  But when the crowd was put outside, He went in and took her by the hand, and the girl arose.  And the report of this went out into all that land.

 When Jesus departed from there, two blind men followed Him, crying out and saying, "Son of David, have mercy on us!"  And when He had come into the house, the blind men came to Him.  And Jesus said to them, "Do you believe that I am able to do this?"  They said to Him, "Yes, Lord."  Then He touched their eyes, saying, "According to your faith let it be to you."  And their eyes were opened.  And Jesus sternly warned them, saying, "See that no one knows it."  But when they had departed, they spread the news about Him in all that country.  As they went out, behold, they brought to Him a man, mute and demon-possessed.  And when the demon was cast out, the mute spoke.  My study bible cites the prophesy of Isaiah here.  According to Isaiah, the messianic age is signified when "the eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf shall hear" (Isaiah 35:5).  In that light, these particular healings are another sign that Jesus is the Messiah that Israel has looked toward.  This is also signaled in the title by which the blind men address Jesus, Son of David.  My study bible notes that they are expressing their faith that this is so. 

  And the multitudes marveled, saying, "It was never seen like this in Israel!"  But the Pharisees said, "He casts out demons by the ruler of the demons."  The crowds marveled that something new and distinctive has come to Israel in Christ's ministry.  As on other occasions, the Pharisees respond when the crowds take notice (see, for example, Mark 11:18).  They respond that Christ uses demonic power to carry out His exorcisms.  My study bible says that to cast out demons by the ruler of demons is impossible.  The devil's aim is to consolidate power, not to destroy it.  Moreover, Jesus cleansed lepers, raised the dead, and remitted sins.  None of these works would be possible for demons.

Today's reading, as occurs elsewhere in the Gospels, displays a typical human response to something new and distinctively good.  Let us note first that Christ does things which are stupendous, even defined in the prophesy of Isaiah as the work of the Messiah.  The people of Israel have awaited such a time and such a ministry, in which "the eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf shall hear."  But with the notice of the people, who marvel at what is being seen for the first time, the authorities react.  There is a threat to their hierarchy, their power.  What is uppermost, then, becomes not these stupendous healings, not these marvel-inducing things of good news and great importance.  What becomes more important is who owns this ministry of Jesus.   That is, under whose authority are these things being done?  If Christ were one of them, we might presume, then that could be all to the good, as far as the Pharisees are concerned.  But Christ is critical of the leadership, and entirely independent of them.  He is not a product of a rabbinical school or a faction of the ruling Council.  He has come up from a rather unnoticeable town in Galilee, His followers are mostly uneducated "people of the land," even tax collectors like the author of this Gospel.  Jesus' ministry is, by the standards of the Pharisees, scandalous.  (Nevertheless, there are those among them who will come to faith in Christ, such as Nicodemus.)  But for the majority of the Pharisees, to marvel as do the people at Jesus' healings, to consider them good news, is simply unthinkable.  And so, a different explanation is necessary for so marvelous tidings of momentous healings:  Jesus must be working with demonic power.  An absurd accusation becomes a way to resort to criticism when marvelous things happen.  In fact, what we would say about this is that something so stupendous, so longed for and awaited by the people throughout their history is being swept under the rug by the very people whose work it is to know it, to proclaim it, to see it.  It's as if the Pharisees are telling the people that there is really nothing to see here -- and that in fact what Jesus is doing is actually bad, or evil.  It is a pattern that happens in which the blessings of the divine, which are purely grace and love, become commodities over which human beings will battle for control.  Is the love of God something we monetize?  Is the grace of God a commodity that belongs to one person or another?  By whose authority, indeed, does Jesus do what He does?  There seems, in fact, to be only one "price" (if you will) by which the marvelous things Jesus produces happen, and He names it over and over again.  He called it in yesterday's reading, openly before the people, when He declared to the woman with the blood flow, "Be of good cheer, daughter; your faith has made you well."  He declares it in today's reading when He tells the blind men, "According to your faith let it be to you."  The one thing necessary, at least on the part of human beings, is simply faith.  It is faith that makes the connection with the divine, that enables Christ to do the great works He does among the people (see 13:58, Mark 6:5-6).  In a sense, then, we could say that the declaration of the Pharisees that Christ works through demonic power is designed to attack faith -- the very thing that enables His grace to work among the people for their benefit.  It is this kind of human struggle that results from choosing mammon first over God:  instead of being glad for the marvelous things that are happening, all that results is a fight over who controls what, whose power and authority is involved.  This is the result of seeing these marvelous works as commodities, products that belong to one side or another, one person or another.  It is to fail to understand grace and to fail to understand faith and holiness.  God works by God's rules, not human authority and hierarchy.  If God chooses to work through the weak and the small, as so often is the case in Scripture, then that teaches us something.  It is the opposite of material-mindedness, the ideas of "mammon."   When we fail to understand this, then we fail to understand faith -- and we are not ever going to be able to find the understanding of what Jesus' ministry is all about, and where He is coming from.  The material mindset keeps the Pharisees from rejoicing at what is happening among the people, and sharing in God's glory with Christ, the same way it kept those who lost their swine from rejoicing at the healing of the demoniacs.  When our faith brings us joy in the midst of sorrow, or delight even when circumstances may seem less than perfect, this is a puzzle to those who are incapable of grasping the nature of faith and its working by grace, the intangibles that are at work within us and among us in Christ.  Let us consider joy today.  For what are we grateful?  Where does our delight come from?  How are we capable of joy even when we mourn?  Of love when so much seems lost?  Of kindness even in the face of hostility?  We are to dwell in the Kingdom, which lives through faith, for which Christ will go to the Cross to show us His way.  Let us pray that He keeps us in His joy at all times.

Here are My mother and My brothers! For whoever does the will of God is My brother and My sister and mother

 And they went into a house.  Then the multitude came together again, so that they could not so much as eat bread.  But when His own people heard about this, they went out to lay hold of Him, for they said, "He is out of His mind."  And the scribes who came down from Jerusalem said, "He has Beelzebub," and "By the ruler of the demons He casts out demons."  So He called them to Himself and said to them in parables:  "How can Satan cast out Satan?  If a kingdom is divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand.  And if a house is divided against itself, that house cannot stand.  And if Satan has risen up against himself, and is divided, he cannot stand, but has an end.  No one can enter a strong man's house and plunder his goods, unless he first binds the strong man.  And then he will plunder his house.

"Assuredly, I say to you, all sins will be forgiven the sons of men, and whatever blasphemies they may utter; but he who blasphemes against the Holy Spirit never has forgiveness, but it subject to eternal condemnation" -- because they said, "He has an unclean spirit."

Then His brothers and His mother came, and standing outside they sent to Him, calling Him.  And a multitude was sitting around Him; and they said to Him, "Look, Your mother and Your brothers are outside seeking You."  But He answered them, saying, "Who is My mother, or My brothers?"  And He looked around in a circle at those who sat about Him, and said, "Here are My mother and My brothers!  For whoever does the will of God is My brother and My sister and mother." 

- Mark 3:19b-35

Yesterday we read that, after the Pharisees began to plot with the Herodians to destroy Him, Jesus withdrew with His disciples to the sea.  And a great multitude from Galilee followed Him, and from Judea and Jerusalem and Idumea and beyond the Jordan; and those from Tyre and Sidon, a great multitude, when they heard how many things He was doing, came to Him.  So he told His disciples that a small boat should be kept ready for Him because of the multitude, lest they should crush Him.  For He healed many, so that as many as had afflictions pressed about Him to touch Him.  And the unclean spirits, whenever they saw Him, fell down before Him and cried out, saying, "You are the Son of God."  But He sternly warned them that they should not make Him known.  And He went up on the mountain and called to Him those He Himself wanted.  And they came to Him.  Then He appointed twelve, that they might be with Him and that He might send them out to preach, and to have power to heal sicknesses and to cast out demons:  Simon, to whom He gave the name Peter; James the son of Zebedee and John the brother of James, to whom He gave the name Boanerges, that is, "Sons of Thunder"; Andrew, Philip, Bartholomew, Matthew, Thomas, James the son of Alphaeus, Thaddaeus, Simon the Cananite; and Judas Iscariot, who also betrayed Him.

 And they went into a house.  Then the multitude came together again, so that they could not so much as eat bread.  But when His own people heard about this, they went out to lay hold of Him, for they said, "He is out of His mind."  And the scribes who came down from Jerusalem said, "He has Beelzebub," and "By the ruler of the demons He casts out demons."  So He called them to Himself and said to them in parables:  "How can Satan cast out Satan?  If a kingdom is divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand.  And if a house is divided against itself, that house cannot stand.  And if Satan has risen up against himself, and is divided, he cannot stand, but has an end.  No one can enter a strong man's house and plunder his goods, unless he first binds the strong man.  And then he will plunder his house.  Jesus' fame grows exponentially. We're told in recent readings that people come to see Him from all over Israel, and even from Tyre and Sidon, not merely from Galilee.  There are such great crowds who come to see Him that no one can even have a meal in the house.  The scribes come down from Jerusalem.  All eyes are on Him, so to speak.   At this His own people begin to panic (that is, His relatives from Galilee); they themselves go to lay hold of Him.  His behavior is unseemly, it's completely public, He's upsetting the leadership.   The scribes claim that He has Beelzebub, and casts out demons by the ruler of the demons.  Beelzebub was a Jewish reference to the god Baal; it was a slur of the title given to Baal by the Philistines who worshiped Baal; it means prince of "the dung heap" or lord of "the flies" (2 Kings 1:2-16).  Here the scribes call him the ruler of the demons.  Jesus replies with a commonsense and rational answer, which also tells us something about Himself:  He is the stronger man who plunders the house of Satan with His own power and authority.  My study bible tells us that the impossibility of demons fighting against themselves illustrates the irrational pride and envy of the Pharisees in their opposition to Jesus.

"Assuredly, I say to you, all sins will be forgiven the sons of men, and whatever blasphemies they may utter; but he who blasphemes against the Holy Spirit never has forgiveness, but it subject to eternal condemnation" -- because they said, "He has an unclean spirit."   My study bible explains that blasphemy against the Holy Spirit is blasphemy against the divine action of the Spirit.  That is a blasphemy against pure goodness.  A sin against the Son of Man is more easily forgiven because the Jews did not know much about Christ.  But blasphemy against the Spirit, whose divine activity these Scriptural experts know from the Old Testament, will not be forgiven.  It comes from a willful hardness of heart, a refusal to accept the mercy of God.  The Church Fathers teach that blasphemy against the Holy Spirit is not an "unforgivable sin" and nor does Jesus ever call it "unforgivable."  According to St. John Chrysostom, blasphemy against the Holy Spirit would be forgivable if one were to repent of it.  Jesus makes this declaration knowing that those who blaspheme the Spirit are calling pure, divine goodness "evil."  They are beyond repentance by their hard-heartedness, their own choice to be so.

Then His brothers and His mother came, and standing outside they sent to Him, calling Him.  And a multitude was sitting around Him; and they said to Him, "Look, Your mother and Your brothers are outside seeking You."  But He answered them, saying, "Who is My mother, or My brothers?"  And He looked around in a circle at those who sat about Him, and said, "Here are My mother and My brothers!  For whoever does the will of God is My brother and My sister and mother." My study bible tells us that Christ's family hasn't yet understood His identity and mission and the nature of His unfolding ministry.  With all the publicity and the hostility of the leaders, it is most likely startling and unseemly.  We read above that His "own people" think He is out of His mind,  and we know how His own townspeople will react to Him (Mark 6:1-6).  Jesus points to a spiritual family, which is based on obedience to the will of God.   It also notes that in Jewish usage, brother can indicate any number of relations.  Abraham called his nephew Lot "brother" (Genesis 14:14); Boaz spoke of his cousin Elimelech as his "brother" (Ruth 4:3); and Joab called his cousin Amasa "brother" (2 Samuel 20:9).  Mary had one son, Jesus.  The brothers mentioned here are possibly step-brothers (sons of Joseph by a previous marriage), or cousins.  At the Cross, Jesus commits His mother to the care of John Zebedee (John 19:25-27), unthinkable if Mary had had other children to care for her.

We can imagine how startling and even strange Jesus' ministry must be at this stage.  He's being called one who works by the ruler of the demons by the religious leadership; His family thinks He is out of His mind.  His mother and brothers come inquiring after Him.  We might find it startling that His mother Mary is included here; she, after all, is the one who was given the divine word through Gabriel about the child she was to bear.   She was told that He would be called the Son of the Highest, and that He would receive the throne of His father David.  To all of it Mary replied, "Behold the maidservant of the Lord! Let it be to me according to your word" (see Luke 1:26-38).   But nothing is spoken here of revealing precisely how all this would come about, and what the nature of His ministry would be.  Perhaps the closest a prophesy comes to telling Mary just what to expect is Simeon's prophecy, made when Jesus is presented in the temple as an infant:  "Behold, this Child is destined for the fall and rising of many in Israel, and for a sign which will be spoken against (yes, a sword will pierce through your own soul also), that the thoughts of many hearts may be revealed" (see Luke 2:25-35).  Nevertheless, this is not a rebuke of His mother (nor even His brothers).  Rather it is a statement, as my study bible says, of where true relationship comes from and what constitutes family for Him.  Neither does it exclude His mother.  St. Augustine writes of Mary, "She did the Father’s will. It was this in her that the Lord magnified, not merely that her flesh gave birth to flesh.… When He said, 'Blessed are they who hear the Word of God and keep it,' He was in effect saying: 'My mother whom you have called blessed is blessed for the reason that she keeps the Word of God, not that the Word was made flesh in her and dwelt among us, but that she keeps the very Word of God through which she was made and which was made flesh in her'" (Tractate on John 10.3.2).  In other words, the honor He gives even His mother isn't merely of the flesh, but there's a higher and greater honor in those who love the will of God, and in that Mary is most blessed, as is affirmed here by Christ Himself.  How would our lives look if we gave this honor to one another -- if we honored in those around us the love of God?  It is a focus on the heart, an emphasis that elevates not a kind of coded snobbery of those whose faith is obvious or apparent.  Jesus' railing against religious hypocrisy sees us through that!  Instead, it is a kind of devotion to pure goodness, one that values true discernment, a love of the Good itself, that constitutes true relationship and relatedness to Christ, an internal honor that is in fact the substance of true family.  Let us consider what links us to Him in truth, what we elevate in our hearts, and to Whom we owe true obedience.  It is the most important question we answer, the way we need to find where we belong.

He who is not with Me is against Me, and he who does not gather with Me scatters abroad

 Then one was brought to Him who was demon-possessed, blind and mute; and He healed him, so that the blind and mute man both spoke and saw.  And all the multitudes were amazed and said, "Could this be the Son of David?"  Now when the Pharisees heard it they said, "This fellow does not cast out demons except by Beelzebub, the ruler of the demons.  But Jesus knew their thoughts, and said to them:  "Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation, and every city or house divided against itself will not stand.  If Satan casts out Satan, he is divided against himself.  How then will his kingdom stand?  And if I cast out demons by Beelzebub, by whom do your sons cast them out?  Therefore they shall be your judges.  But if I cast out demons by the Spirit of God, surely the kingdom of God has come upon you.  Or how can one enter a strong man's house and plunder his goods, unless he first binds the strong man?  And then he will plunder his house.  He who is not with Me is against Me, and he who does not gather with Me scatters abroad.  Therefore I say to you, every sin and blasphemy will be forgiven men, but the blasphemy against the Spirit will not be forgiven men.  Anyone who speaks a word against the Son of Man, it will be forgiven him; but whoever speaks against the Holy Spirit, it will not be forgiven him, either in this age or in the age to come."

- Matthew 12:22-32

Yesterday we read that when Jesus knew that the Pharisees had begun plotting how they might destroy Him,  He withdrew from there (see Wednesday's reading).  And great multitudes followed Him, and He healed them all.  Yet He warned them not to make Him known, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Isaiah the prophet, saying:  "Behold!  My Servant whom I have chosen, My Beloved in whom My soul is well pleased!  I will put My Spirit upon Him, and He will declare justice to the Gentiles.  He will not quarrel nor cry out, nor will anyone hear His voice in the streets.  A bruised reed He will not break, and smoking flax He will not quench, till He sends forth justice to victory; and in His name Gentiles will trust."

Then one was brought to Him who was demon-possessed, blind and mute; and He healed him, so that the blind and mute man both spoke and saw.  And all the multitudes were amazed and said, "Could this be the Son of David?"  Once again we observe Jesus performing the signs expected in the time of the Messiah, and so the people ask, "Could this be the Son of David?"

Now when the Pharisees heard it they said, "This fellow does not cast out demons except by Beelzebub, the ruler of the demons.  But Jesus knew their thoughts, and said to them:  "Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation, and every city or house divided against itself will not stand.  If Satan casts out Satan, he is divided against himself.  How then will his kingdom stand?  And if I cast out demons by Beelzebub, by whom do your sons cast them out?  Therefore they shall be your judges.  But if I cast out demons by the Spirit of God, surely the kingdom of God has come upon you.  Or how can one enter a strong man's house and plunder his goods, unless he first binds the strong man?  And then he will plunder his house.  He who is not with Me is against Me, and he who does not gather with Me scatters abroad."  Beelzebub was the name used by the Jews to ridicule a god (Baal) worshiped by the Philistines.  It means the prince of "the dung heap" or lord of "the flies" (see 2 Kings 1:2-16).  Here, he is called the ruler of the demons.  My study bible says that the impossibility of demons fighting against themselves illustrates the irrational pride and envy of the Pharisees in their opposition to Jesus.  Jesus puts it very succinctly and in a clear picture:  He is the stronger man.  Satan may be strong, but Jesus is the stronger.  So much so, that His statement about Himself is absolute:  "He who is not with Me is against Me, and he who does not gather with Me scatters abroad."  This is a statement not only about power, but also about the centrality of His Lordship.  He is the One around whom all others will either gather or scatter.

"Therefore I say to you, every sin and blasphemy will be forgiven men, but the blasphemy against the Spirit will not be forgiven men.  Anyone who speaks a word against the Son of Man, it will be forgiven him; but whoever speaks against the Holy Spirit, it will not be forgiven him, either in this age or in the age to come."  Here Jesus invokes the Trinity.  His earlier words speak of Himself as the One around whom all either gather with Him or scatter in separation.  But surprisingly, in this next sentence, He speaks of the Holy Spirit.  He has already taught (in the previous chapter of Matthew), "All things have been delivered to Me by My Father, and no one knows the Son except the Father. Nor does anyone know the Father except the Son, and the one to whom the Son wills to reveal Him."  Where one of the Trinity is, so are the others.  My study bible says that blasphemy against the Holy Spirit is blasphemy against the divine activity of the Spirit; that is, blasphemy against pure goodness.  It says that a sin against the Son of Man is more easily forgiven because the Jews did not know much about Christ.  But blasphemy against the Spirit, whose divine activity they know already (especially the Pharisees) from the Old Testament, will not be forgiven because it comes from a willful hardness of heart.  It is, in fact, a refusal to accept God's mercy.  The Fathers of the Church, my study bible adds, are clear that blasphemy against the Holy Spirit is not an "unforgivable" sin; nor does Jesus call it "unforgivable."  St. John Chrysostom tells us that blasphemy against the Holy Spirit would be forgivable if a person were to repent of it.  Jesus makes such a declaration, my study bible adds, knowing that those who blaspheme the Spirit are calling pure, divine goodness "evil," and are beyond repentance by their own choice.

Just prior to today's passage, we read the words from Isaiah (in yesterday's reading, above) which are applied to Christ.  He is the Servant who will suffer for us in His service.  In yesterday's post we noted that my study bible says the Servant of Isaiah applies not only to Christ, but also to all who follow Him.  What we read in today's reading gives us an idea of the graciousness of God, of Christ Himself.  First He makes succinct and clear statements declaring His greater power than Satan.  So much so, that His power is not merely greater than a "strong man" (Satan), but His power is central to all that is:  "He who is not with Me is against Me, and he who does not gather with Me scatters abroad."  But in the very next sentence, Jesus speaks not of Himself personally and His personal power, but rather of the work of the Spirit.  He makes this doubly clear when He says that "anyone who speaks a word against the Son of Man, it will be forgiven him; but whoever speaks against the Holy Spirit, it will not be forgiven him, either in this age or in the age to come."   As the human Jesus, a figure all are coming to know, He may be criticized.  But that which comes from what they know to be divine, the work of the Holy Spirit (Who proceeds from the Father -- see John 14:16, 26; 15:26), is another matter.  Jesus introduces into the text the ties between Father, Son, and Spirit.   What is truly blasphemous is that which will profane the work of God the Trinity in the world.  Ironically, it is the Pharisees who will bring charges of blasphemy upon Jesus, for which the Sanhedrin will declare He should be put to death.  Throughout Matthew's Gospel, we have been reminded of the work of the Holy Spirit in Jesus' life and ministry:  He is born of Mary by the power of the Spirit, John the Baptist declares that He will baptize with the Holy Spirit and fire, and then later sees the Spirit resting upon Jesus at His baptism (1:18, 1:20, 3:11, 3:16).  It is the Holy Spirit who sends Jesus to the wilderness to be tested and tempted (4:1).  In the prophecy of Isaiah, from yesterday's reading above, it is declared of Christ, "I will put My Spirit upon Him."   The Holy Spirit has been present and at work all along in the Gospel, as the Spirit has been at work within the salvation history given to us in the Old Testament Scriptures.  Jesus reminds the Pharisees what they are dealing with, warning them about blasphemy themselves.  In the realm of the powers in use here, there is the truly strong, and it has been so throughout the tradition by which their "sons" also practice exorcism.  Jesus gives us a stark image to remind us of the powers that lie beyond the world and are also at work in the world.  He invites us in the strongest terms to make a choice, reminding us once again that we will serve one thing or another -- wittingly or unwittingly.  We should consider the choice regarding who or what we serve to be the most important one we make.  We remember that later He will teach that the Holy Spirit will be our Helper, sent to us in our own journey of discipleship and service.

He who is not with Me is against Me, and he who does not gather with Me scatters

 And He was casting out a demon, and it was mute.  So it was, when the demon had gone out, that the mute spoke; and the multitudes marveled.  But some of them said, "He casts out demons by Beelzebub, the ruler of the demons."

Others, testing Him, sought from Him a sign from heaven.  But He, knowing their thoughts, said to them:  "Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation, and a house divided against a house falls.  If Satan also is divided against himself, how will his kingdom stand?  Because you say I cast out demons by Beelzebub.  And if I cast out demons by Beelzebub, by whom do your sons cast them out?  Therefore they will be your judges.  But if I cast out demons with the finger of God, surely the kingdom of God has come upon you.  When a strong man, fully armed, guards his own palace, his goods are in peace.  But when a stronger than he comes upon him and overcomes him, he takes from him all his armor in which he trusted, and divides his spoils.  He who is not with Me is against Me, and he who does not gather with Me scatters."

- Luke 11:14-23

Yesterday, we read that as Jesus and the disciples went toward Jerusalem He entered a certain village; and a certain woman named Martha welcomed Him into her house.  And she had a sister called Mary, who also sat at Jesus' feet and heard His word.  But Martha was distracted with much serving, and she approached Him and said, "Lord, do You not care that my sister has left me to serve alone?  Therefore tell her to help me."  And Jesus answered and said to her, "Martha, Martha, you are worried and troubled about many things.  But one thing is needed, and Mary has chosen that good part, which will not be taken away from her."  

And He was casting out a demon, and it was mute.  So it was, when the demon had gone out, that the mute spoke; and the multitudes marveled.  But some of them said, "He casts out demons by Beelzebub, the ruler of the demons."  In between yesterday's reading and today's there is a passage in which Jesus teaches the disciples to pray.  The lectionary gave us that reading just before Ascension day (see the reading from Tuesday, May 23).  Beelzebub was a pagan god, the name one of ridicule and derision by the Jews, meaning "the Lord of the Flies."  As used here, it is a direct reference to Satan.  Jesus is being accused of using demonic power to effect his healings and signs.

Others, testing Him, sought from Him a sign from heaven.  Throughout the Gospels, Jesus is frequently asked to prove Himself by providing a sign from heaven.  That is, a kind of obvious sign of astounding power meant to "convince" others of His divine identity.  My study bible says that a sign is never given to those whose motive is merely to test God (see 4:9-12).

 But He, knowing their thoughts, said to them:  "Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation, and a house divided against a house falls.  If Satan also is divided against himself, how will his kingdom stand?  Because you say I cast out demons by Beelzebub.  And if I cast out demons by Beelzebub, by whom do your sons cast them out?  Therefore they will be your judges."  Jesus knows their thoughts, one characteristic of His identity and divinity (He is also called the "Heart-knower"; see Acts 1:24).  He responds with logic:  every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation, a house divided against a house falls.  Why would Satan attack his own kingdom.  And we note that exorcism was already a tradition in Judaism, so Jesus asks, "By whom do your sons cast them out?"  Their "testimony," which is accepted as the work of God in the world, becomes the judgment against those who accuse Him.

"But if I cast out demons with the finger of God, surely the kingdom of God has come upon you."  This is as strong a warning as Jesus gives anyone.   The finger of God is the Holy Spirit (Matthew 12:28).

"When a strong man, fully armed, guards his own palace, his goods are in peace.  But when a stronger than he comes upon him and overcomes him, he takes from him all his armor in which he trusted, and divides his spoils."  Jesus makes a clear statement of power here.  The strong man is Satan, whom my study bible says holds sway over the fallen human race.  But the stronger than he is Christ, who comes as liberator or deliverer for human beings (see 1 John 4:4), and clearly a conqueror of evil. 

"He who is not with Me is against Me, and he who does not gather with Me scatters."  Finally, this is a statement of absolute power.  It's unequivocal.  My study bible says that it is the work of Christ to gather the children of God, while those who scatter are in direct opposition to Him.  Those who work in opposition to Christ differ from others who work in good faith toward His purpose, but aren't yet united to the Church (see Jesus' statements and teaching at 9:46-50).  A note quotes St. Seraphim of Sarov:  Only "good deeds done for Christ's sake bring fruit," and thus deeds done for any other purpose, "even if they are good, are deeds that scatter abroad."

Jesus presents us with a spiritual paradigm:  there is a kind of "war in heaven," if we may use that phrase.  There are forces allied on one side and another.  Human beings are involved in this battle, and the battleground in our world is the human heart, the interior of a person.  The heart, in biblical language, is the center of the self, of consciousness.  It contains all that makes up who we are as persons, and depths that we don't know ourselves.  In this context, we should keep in mind that Christ is called the "knower of hearts," literally "heart-knower" in the Greek text (kardiognostes).  His statements here indicate not only a kind of battle or struggle for this world and the human beings in it, but also His own supreme power.  To say that he who is not with Me is against Me, and he who does not gather with Me scatters is really to state that there is no battle and no contradiction; in Him is the meeting of all things.  Whatever it is that struggles against this truth, this spiritual reality, does so in vain.  The one thing that may be missing here for those who encounter this language as the language of a worldly warrior is that mysterious but inalienable ingredient in the equation:  the human heart.  God does not compel anyone to love God, to return God's love.  In this we are free to make our choices.  We, unfortunately, have all kinds of influences on us, and part of the characteristic of the demonic is that it is materially-oriented.  Coercion, hypocrisy, persuasive falsehoods that appear truthful, fear and terror, oppressive violence and force, and many other forms of temptation and manipulation are part of the arsenal of that which is against Christ.  But what we put our faith in is His power to liberate, to be the redeemer, the one who ransoms us from captivity, slavery, imprisonment -- especially in the human heart and soul.  All of this battle takes place on a spiritual level, but we do experience day to day its working out in our world in time.  It may never be obvious -- we can view Jesus' refusal to give a sign as a signal that this is not about what manipulates and coerces!   It is ultimately the loyalty and love of the human heart for which Jesus is here in the world as incarnate God.  As He puts it Himself, He is here not to lose a single soul that the Father brings to Him.  But when we're faced with our own difficulties, temptations, terrors, and evil we can see manifest in the world, our faith must be in Him and His words:  "He who is not with Me is against Me, and he who does not gather with Me scatters."   This is the reality of a universe beyond what we know, the spiritual truth of Christ's identity.  But we walk through a world that will deny its meaning and its value.