June 7, 2015
Sunday

“If a kingdom is divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand. And if a house is divided against itself, that house will not be able to stand. And if Satan has risen up against himself and is divided, he cannot stand, but his end has come. But no one can enter a strong man’s house and plunder his property without first tying up the strong man; then indeed the house can be plundered.” Mark 3:24-27

“In Mark’s Gospel, Satan is always behind the opposition to Jesus regardless of who or what the vehicle may be. In this case, it is his own family and a delegation of scribes from Jerusalem.

Now Jesus makes clear, in the form of a parable, the scope of what he is doing in his freeing of the demon-possessed. Jesus is coming to plunder Satan’s household and bring about his end, not by division from within but by stealth and force from without. Jesus, who was stronger than John the Baptist (1:7), is stronger than the strong man Satan too. Jesus’ stealthy binding of the powers of evil ultimately undermines Satan so completely that even when he appears to have succeeded in destroying Jesus in the crucifixion, the very destruction of the Son issues not in defeat but in the mysterious victory of God.” June 10, 2012, Meda Stamper, from the “Working Preacher” website

We have to come to and accept the realization that the ways of evil and the devil are truly binding to a person, constricting them from the ways of Jesus — just as the ways of Jesus are truly binding to a person, constricting them from the ways of the devil. What the devil seeks to do is divide us, either as a congregation or as individuals, the devil hopes to divide our attentions — so that we are no longer completely focused on Christ. Every day we should pray that Christ fights the battle for us against the devil, so that our attention and our loyalties are not divided — that we are solely focused on the Christ-like life.

What ways do you use to stay focused on Christ each and every day? Luther threw an ink bottle (supposedly) at the Devil, striking the wall (and maybe the Devil). How do you fend off evil thoughts and the “smooth talk” of the Devil?

Pastor Dave