Monday 29 June, 2015

20 Then Jesus entered a house, and again a crowd gathered, so that he and his disciples were not even able to eat. 21 When his family heard about this, they went to take charge of him, for they said, “He is out of his mind.” 22 And the teachers of the law who came down from Jerusalem said, “He is possessed by Beelzebul! By the prince of demons he is driving out demons.” 23 So Jesus called them over to him and began to speak to them in parables: “How can Satan drive out Satan? 24 If a kingdom is divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand. 25 If a house is divided against itself, that house cannot stand. 26 And if Satan opposes himself and is divided, he cannot stand; his end has come. 27 In fact, no one can enter a strong man’s house without first tying him up. Then he can plunder the strong man’s house. 28 Truly I tell you, people can be forgiven all their sins and every slander they utter, 29 but whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit will never be forgiven; they are guilty of an eternal sin.” 30 He said this because they were saying, “He has an impure spirit.”

When things happen that I do not understand, I am naturally cautious and I believe that this is a healthy thing. Sometimes when I see something that doesn’t fit with my understanding of the way that the world works, it is easier to put it down as the work of the enemy rather than asking the hard questions about why God might operate that way, or why God would allow something like that to happen.

Christ here in verse 26 is using sound logic and reason to refute the inflated religious arguments of the Pharisees. I believe there is a time for reaching out and living in faith, but there is also a time for being considered, cautious and rational, applying careful reason to a situation.

I recently heard a quote from Albert Einstein: “When testing a theory, I like to ask myself, if I were God, would I have designed the world in that way.” I like the way Einstein is applying not only a different aspect of reason, but also striving to think about things from God’s perspective.

Lord, help me to sensibly apply reason where it is needed and faith where it is required. Help me to see things more and more from your perspective. Amen.

Written by Ps. Justin Ware