The Return of the Unclean Spirit

The people were seeing various signs of healing from Jesus and yet some could not recognise the hand of God in his works. They even accused him of using the powers of ‘Be-el’zebul’ (chief of demons) to drive out evil spirits. Jesus points out the absurdity of their interpretation that Satan will lend his power to defeat his own associates. Jesus also points out that by condemning him, they are refusing to accept that exorcism is possible only with the grace of God.

Through the parable, he explains that God is the stronger force and he defeats Satan. When we choose to establish the Kingdom of God, there is no neutrality, we have to choose one side  – be with Jesus and against Satan. If we do not stand with God, then we are against him. 

When we allow Jesus to be a part of our lives, we have ‘our house’ in order, but we have to always be alert and aware of the possibilities of ‘sin/evil’ lurking close, waiting to enter our house. Let’s join forces with our Lord to keep ourselves and our brothers from straying to the other side.