2 Sam 5:1-7,10 / Mk 3:22-30
It is truly astonishing to see how far away from reality some of us can wander. Sometimes it’s fear that makes us shut our eyes, and sometimes it’s a powerful personal agenda which reshapes and rearranges reality to fit our personal desires. We get a good look at just such a blinding, distorting personal agenda in today’s gospel.
Jesus had been doing what He usually did: heal the sick, cure lepers, give sight to the blind, and expel demons. And what did the scribes from Jerusalem have to say about all that? “He’s possessed by the devil”! They simply refused to let the evidence speak for itself, because to acknowledge the facts would undermine what they valued more than anything else: their own power over the Jewish community.
The Spirit was at work in their very midst, but they simply turned their backs and refused to see the Spirit -- all to protect so little! In part it was a form of despair, thinking that there was no more to their lives than a bit of power over their piece of the “turf.” At the same time, it was a form of presumption, denying that they had any need for God. It was a sin that could never be forgiven, because it locked out the Spirit, saying either “I don’t need your help,” or “You can't help me.”
The Spirit is powerfully at work where you are every day. Don’t underestimate your need or the Spirit’s power. Welcome the Spirit with a hopeful heart, for the Spirit knows exactly what you need today and will give it to you if you ask.
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