REFLECTIONS

REFLECTION ON GOSPEL OF LUKE 11:15-26

October 09, 2020

In this gospel pericope, Luke underlines Jesus’ attitude toward his detractors who accused him of driving away demons by the power of Beelzebul. Jesus did not shun away from them but rather He challenged and countered them with a question “If I, then, drive out demons by Beelzebul, by whom your people drive them out?”  and concluded “…Therefore they will be your judges”, exposing their hypocrisy and malicious intent. He, then, declared that by God’s power He has done it and pinpointing to the Divine Reality as He said” but if it is by the finger of God that I drive out demons then the Kingdom of God is upon you. “Jesus stresses God’s supremacy over the evil spirits and his mission to bring the Kingdom of God to its completion.

Then, he confronted and revealed the antagonizing mindset of his hecklers “whoever is not with me is against me and whoever does not gather with me scatters.”, and gave them a stern warning “the evil spirit goes back and bring other spirits more wicked than itself who move in and dwell there and the last condition of the person is worst than the first.”

I remember an incident in our place narrated to me by my niece. There was a group of friends having a good time when all of a sudden one of them acted strangely, with blazing eyes, maligning them, and could hardly be contained. They surmised that he was possessed. Since at that time there was no priest, they decided to beg the Pastor to exorcise their friend. The Pastor adamantly conceded but gave them the instruction to bring the possessed to the Holy Rosary Catholic Chapel where he did the exorcism. There were mixed reactions from the people. Some were just too happy that the man was healed but others, especially the Catholics, disapproved that the Pastor invaded a forbidden territory. Having asked my opinion, I told my niece that God approves the Pastor’s gesture otherwise the man will not be healed. The evil can only be driven away invoking the NAME OF JESUS.

 “Whoever is not with me is against me and whoever does not gather with me scatters.”, This passage challenges me for soul searching, the moment I am abiding by JESUS’ will resulting in joyful service, peace, dedication, and commitment, etc.  and the times I do otherwise, bringing about disunity, discord, chaos, and confusion.

Every moment, we are posed with the challenge to STAND FOR CHRIST or against him. The CHOICE GREATLY MATTERS for the CONSEQUENCE IS ENORMOUS which affects the COSMOS.