Siding with God!

Thursday, March 7, 2024

Jer 7:23-28; Lk 11:14-23

In today’s Gospel, we find Jesus encountering unjustified accusations from his enemies. 

They become so resentful of Jesus’ fame and popularity that they attribute Jesus’ miracle as having its origin in the power of Satan. 

They could not be happy that something good had happened. They were instead resentful that Jesus did it. 

The God they do not have is the very God that Jesus manifests in his healing. 

In their jealousy, they can not only find God but also attribute God’s work to that of Satan. 

When Jesus is zealous, they are jealous. 

Instead of being an inspiration, the success of Jesus fuels their jealousy. 

Secondly, Jesus’ famous argument reminds us of Abraham Lincoln’s ‘House Divided’ speech.

Making effective use of Jesus’ words, Lincoln took on his rival Douglas in 1858 and addressed the danger of slavery-based disunion in the country. 

Lincoln argued: ‘‘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.’

Thirdly, Jesus’ statement in the end makes it clear that between God and Satan, there cannot be any middle ground. Either we are with God or against Him. 

There are three points for our reflection:

1.Jesus is our inspiration. 

2. His mission is our model.

3. When we side with the good, we stand with God. 

Let us pray for God’s grace to be inspired by Jesus’ mission of goodness to side with God!

Fr. Dhinakaran Savariyar