Satan's Power is Broken

 

“LORD THAT I MAY SEE.2

A SHORT COMMENTARY ON THE GOSPEL OF THE DAY.

A reading from the holy Gospel according to Mark 3: 22-30

It is the end of Satan.

 

1.      The scribes who had come down from Jerusalem were saying: 'Beelzebul is in him' and, 'It is through the prince of devils that he casts devils out.'

2.      So Jesus called them to him and spoke to them in parables,

3.      'How can Satan cast out Satan? If a kingdom is divided against itself, that kingdom cannot last. And if a household is divided against itself, that household can never stand. Now if Satan has rebelled against himself and is divided, he cannot stand either - it is the end of him.

4.      But no one can make his way into a strong man's house and burgle his property unless he has tied up the strong man first.

5.      Only then can he burgle his house.

6.      'I tell you solemnly, all men's sins will be forgiven, and all their blasphemies;

7.      but let anyone blaspheme against the Holy Spirit and he will never have forgiveness:

8.      he is guilty of an eternal sin.'

9.      This was because they were saying, 'An unclean spirit is in him.'

The scribes saw Jesus, but thy were not open to him. Jesus was not a scribe, nor a Pharisee, nor a priest, nor was he educated in the mind of the scribes. He in no way belonged to their group, yet he was preaching and explaining the Torah, just as they did. They didn’t like his interpretation either.

If they accepted that he was without sin and a prophet of God, they would have to listen. That they would never do and so they said his powers come from the head of the devils. 

They heard God speaking through Jesus but they refused to listen and be his disciples. They were too proud to ask for forgiveness. They knowingly rejected Jesus and in doing so rejected salvation.

If we truly open ourselves to Jesus, he can liberate us from all influence of Satan. He is the one who can bind Satan and cast him out of our souls and lives.

We must humbly, sincerely, and wholeheartedly surrender to Jesus. Salvation comes from him alone, not from ourselves.