Mark 3:22-30

Mark 3:22-30

The scribes who had come from Jerusalem said of Jesus,

“He is possessed by Beelzebul,” and

“By the prince of demons he drives out demons.”

Summoning them, he began to speak to them in parables,

“How can Satan drive out Satan?

If a kingdom is divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand.

And if a house is divided against itself,

that house will not be able to stand.

And if Satan has risen up against himself and is divided,

he cannot stand;

that is the end of him.

But no one can enter a strong man’s house to plunder his property

unless he first ties up the strong man.

Then he can plunder his house.  

Amen, I say to you, all sins and all blasphemies

that people utter will be forgiven them.

But whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit

will never have forgiveness,

but is guilty of an everlasting sin.”

For they had said, “He has an unclean spirit.”

Opening Prayer: Lord God, I rejoice in the generous offer of your mercy. Help me to see the good in others and leave the judgment of the human heart to you alone. You know my heart and what I most need. Cleanse me from my sin and grant me your grace.

Encountering the Word of God

1. Divine or Demonic Empowerment? In the Gospel, the local scribes and Pharisees who lived in Galilee were at a loss on how to explain what Jesus was doing. Mark has just narrated five conflicts between Jesus and the local religious authorities. These conflicts culminated in the religious authorities plotting with the supporters of Herod to kill Jesus. But the local religious authorities were still unable to explain the origin and nature of Jesus’ healing power and power to exorcise demons. And so, they called in the “big guns,” the scribes from Jerusalem. These scribes came up with an explanation: Jesus’ power wasn’t divine; it was demonic. The scribes couldn’t deny that Jesus was doing mighty works – healings and exorcisms – but they could try to reframe all of Jesus’ actions. In response to the scribes’ and Pharisees’ accusations, Jesus showed that their logic was faulty. He asked them: Why would Satan empower him, Jesus, to drive out demons and dismantle Satan’s kingdom? It just doesn’t make sense. It isn’t logical. The only real possibility is to acknowledge that Jesus was empowered by God, not Satan, to do his mighty works. The healings and exorcisms Jesus performed were signs that the time of salvation, prophesied by Isaiah and the other prophets, had arrived. 

2. From Conflicts to Parables: Jesus responded to the accusations by teaching with parables. The etymology of the word “parable” means “to place or throw beside.” A parable juxtaposes a familiar, everyday story or image with a deeper spiritual or moral truth to create a comparison. In today’s Gospel, Jesus uses two images to create two comparisons. The first image is that of a divided kingdom. This image was taken from the history of Israel, when the ten northern tribes of Israel broke from the two southern tribes of Judah after the reign of King Solomon. This divided kingdom was weakened, fell into civil war, and was eventually destroyed first by the Assyrians and later by the Babylonians. Just as a divided kingdom that descends into civil war cannot last, so also Satan’s kingdom, if it were divided and working against itself, cannot last. The second image is that of a strong man defending his house. In this case, the strong man is the devil, and Jesus is the one who binds the strong man and plunders his house. Jesus is not working in league with Satan but releasing those in bondage to Satan. 

3. Overcoming Division in Our Lives: The first parable or comparison teaches us that we cannot be divided or two-faced. In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus pronounced a blessing on the pure of heart, those whose loyalty is not divided. Jesus warned the scribes from Jerusalem that they were about to commit the unforgivable sin of blasphemy against the Holy Spirit. This meant that they were hardening their hearts and rejecting God’s forgiveness and mercy. All sins can be forgiven by God except the obstinate rejection of God’s merciful forgiveness. The scribes were calling evil what was good and were denying the good deeds that Jesus was doing. The scribes were calling Jesus’ gifts of merciful forgiveness and healing demonic when they were truly divine. In the Gospel of Matthew, Jesus will pronounce seven woes upon the scribes and Pharisees for their hypocrisy (Matthew 23:13-36). A hypocrite is someone who is two-faced and divided. They outwardly try to appear righteous, when inwardly they are corrupt. Instead of humbly acknowledging their faults, weaknesses, sins, and limitations, they grow in pride like leavened dough and trust in their righteous works rather than in God’s merciful grace. We will only overcome hypocrisy or being divided through true humility and trust in God’s care.

Conversing with Christ: Come, Lord Jesus! I lift my eyes to the horizon and await your glorious advent. You are my Lord and Savior. I am your servant. You are my brother, my kinsman who has mercifully redeemed me from the darkness of sin and death!

Living the Word of God: How am I welcoming God’s mercy in my life? When I see or hear about someone trying to change their life, how do I react? Am I skeptical and slow to forgive and restore others to friendship? Do I hold on to grudges? Or do I rejoice in the good?