Homily for June 10, 2018.
“How can Satan cast out Satan? If a kingdom is divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand…. But no one can enter a strong man's house and plunder his goods unless he first binds the strong man; then indeed he may plunder his house.” Mark 3:23-27.
The greatest mistake of the Jews which was responsible for their refusal to believe in Jesus was their overestimation of satan. They believed more in satan’s power than in the power of God. They felt they knew satan so well and the extent of his power such that no one could deceive them with miracles. The Jews (especially their religious leaders) believed that the world was under satan’s control so much so that even when they saw God face to face in the person of Jesus, they couldn’t just bring themselves to admit the truth that Jesus is God.
It is unfortunate that just like these Jews (who radically opposed Jesus), many Christians today are guilty of the same mistake of looking at the world as satan’s domain. Many of us are more afraid of satan than of God. Many of us believe too much in satan’s power so much so that we easily ascribe every single event in our lives to the working of satan, yet, we find it difficult to see the hand of God at work in our day to day events. We are guilty of the same crime as those who insulted Jesus calling him Beelzebub because we empower satan by our thoughts, words and deeds forgetting that by virtue of our baptism, Jesus is in control of our lives.
Why do I say this? First, our behaviour as Christians does not show that we are afraid of God; the level of sin in our lives is outrageous, we are not afraid of the things of God, no respect for the church or sacramental. Secondly, when convicted of sin, the first thing we say is that “it was the work of satan.” As we can see in today’s first reading, this was the same thing Adam and Eve did when God called them after eating the forbidden fruit; they couldn’t take responsibility themselves but empowered the devil by blaming him for their sin.
Dear friends, each time I blame the devil (satan) for my sins, I am saying that I am one of the devil’s play-toys; that the devil is so powerful that he can afford to control me and make me do what is bad. Is this not an insult to Jesus whose body and blood I receive almost every day? How did the devil get to dictate to me? Where was Jesus when the devil was ordering me around?
Again, in the face of disaster, calamity, unfortunate circumstances or even something as little as a mere headache, we Christians are so quick to exult the devil by claiming he is responsible. The first thing we say is: “my enemies are at work.” We become scared even when the devil himself is not aware of what is going on. It is like, in moments of difficulty or pain, our FAITH in God’s power suddenly flies out of the window.
It is so easy for us to explain our circumstances as triumph of the devil (and his agents; witches and wizards) but not so easy for us to acknowledge that GOD IS IN CONTROL; that even though we walk through the valley of the shadow of death, God is there with us, His rod and Staff protects us, that God prepares a table for us in the presence of our foes. The words of St. Paul in today’s second reading says it all: “So we do not lose heart. …For this slight momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, because we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen.” 2 Corinthians 4:16-18.
On the flip side of things, when everything is moving fine for us, when we are recording success after success, when we start advancing in health, wealth and strength, we suddenly forget God. That is when some Christians stop praying, stop coming to church and stop taking the things of God serious. They suddenly become too busy for God because they do not believe God is responsible for the good things in their lives. The same person who once believed the devil could manufacture a headache suddenly no longer believes God made him drive on the road without an accident.
When things are so good for us, we start looking for explanations to push God out of the picture. The same man who fasted days and night, attended crusade after crusade to get a visa lands in America, gets a better life, then he stops going to church and starts seeing his fellow Christians as crazy! Instead of the Jews to be so happy for having God in their midst; instead of them to celebrate the fact that many were being cleansed of demonic possession and all kinds of sicknesses, they turned around to explain Jesus away – they called him the prince of devils.
Just because they couldn’t agree that Jesus is God, they couldn’t understand why he should be so successful in casting out demons, unlike their own people. They couldn’t understand why unlike other preachers, Jesus devoted himself so passionately to the work of salvation that he didn’t even have time to eat. They had not seen such selflessness before, such openness and availability to care for the people without asking for money (tithes, seeds, donations etc.) so even his family relatives concluded that he was out of his mind (insane).
If we fail to see the hand of God in our lives, we become like these people. We begin to give all kinds of explanations to our successes and progress. We even try to stop God’s work indirectly like these relatives of Jesus who came to take him away by force. How I wish they knew Jesus is God that food wasn’t his problem, that as God, He loves us too much to be selfish or care only about Himself. They wanted Jesus to be “normal” like every other person, they wanted Jesus to charge gate fees, to have leisure hours for himself, to use private jets, have bodyguards, marry the most beautiful girl in town, and enrich himself with the best of all life affords since his ministry was booming!
Jesus would not that to happen. He would not allow their inability to recognize his Divinity prevent them from fulfilling his call. He told his blood relatives not to distract him by making them understand that even though they were his immediate family, there is another family he listens to; the larger family of those who hears his word and obeys it. Becoming a baptised Christian is a privilege because it admits you into the family of God. You are a member of God’s household. You command more attention than even Jesus blood relatives. Jesus has to attend to you first before his own immediate relations. Should this be our attitude when we pray?
Finally, there is a statement Jesus made that needs to emphasized again and again and drummed as loudly as possible in the ears of Christians who assign to satan everything that happens in their lives. Jesus asked: “Can satan cast out satan?” This means, for Jesus to have come driving out demons, satan has been defeated already. Jesus said: “no one can enter a strong man’s house to plunder his goods without first binding up the man.” What does this mean? That Jesus has broken satan’s gate, that Jesus has breached satan’s security system, that Jesus has tied up satan (the way armed robbers tie people up during an operation) in other to free satan’s captives. Jesus has defeated satan, chained him down, so let us stop ascribing to satan what doesn’t belong to him, let us stop blaming satan for our sinfulness, let us avoid blasphemy.
Let us pray: Lord Jesus, teach me to fear you, to love you and worship you in every circumstance of my life whether good or not. Free me from the temptation to ascribe to satan what isn’t his and to acknowledge that you care for me. Amen.
*Be Happy. Live Positive. Have Faith. It is well with you. God bless you. (Tenth Sunday of Ordinary Time. Year B. Bible Study: Genesis 3:9-15, Psalm 130:1-8, 2nd Corinthians 4:13-5:1, Mark 3:20-35).*
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