First Reading - Hebrews 9:15,24-28
Gospel - Mark 3:22-30
Today's first reading circles round the idea that ‘if there is no shedding of blood there is no remission’ (v. 22). The passage emphasizes that the sacred blood of Christ is the totally adequate agent of cleansing, by contrast to the blood of the sacrifice of the Day of Atonement, which has to be repeated year by year. In the quotation from Isaiah, ‘to take the faults of many on himself’ there is no suggestion, as is sometimes held, that Christ in some strange way made himself utterly sinful in order to cleanse the world from sin. Rather it means that his sacrifice annuls the sins of many by the blood which seals the New Covenant. The author is not considering the pain and suffering of Jesus on Calvary, but uniquely the function of blood as the ritual cleansing agent on the Day of Atonement, contrasting the repeated sacrifices of the Old Law and the one cleansing sacrifice of the blood of Christ.
Today’s Gospel passage gives Jesus’ crushing reply to the slander propagated by the observers from the Sanhedrin, that Jesus expelled devils using the assistance of the leader of devils. Jesus refutes the false allegation raised against him by the Sanhedrin scribes with three counterarguments and a warning: 1) A house divided against itself will perish and a country engaged in civil war will be ruined. Hence, Satan will not fight against Satan by helping Jesus to expel his co-workers. 2) If Jesus is collaborating with Satan to exorcise minor demons, then the Jewish exorcists are doing the same. 3) Jesus claims that he is using the power of his Heavenly Father to evict devils, just as a strong man guards a house and its possessions from the thief. 4) Finally, Jesus gives a crushing blow to his accusers, warning them that by telling blatant lies they are blaspheming against the Holy Spirit and, hence, their sins are unforgivable.
Dear friends, we are to give the Holy Spirit a place in our lives. The presence of the Holy Spirit will help us overcome the evil forces within us and around us. With the presence of God or the Spirit, we can vanquish the enemies of our soul. Jesus teaches us through the gospel that we can be influenced by the evil spirit if we listen to him and follow him. Hence, we have to keep our souls daily cleansed and filled with the Spirit of God, leaving no space for the evil spirit to enter our souls. Let's fill our heart and mind with God's Word everyday which is the powerful weapon against the evil forces.
Let's pray that we may give due place to God in our lives so that we may overcome evil forces from within and outside.
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