Friday 12 Jun 2020

June 12: Mark 3:20-29

Key Verse: Mark 3:23
So Jesus called them over to him and began to speak to them in parables: “How can Satan drive out Satan?

Devotion:
Sometimes I despair at the way people go about trying to make change in society. Sometimes people can be seen as going too far. But, sometimes, when we stop and actually think about the oppression which has gone on for too long, we can forgive people for what they are doing right now. But, the question I want to look at today is along the lines of “How can Satan drive out Satan?”

When Jesus was doing something different, many leaders were upset because He was not following their rules, not because He was doing things which were not good, but because He refused to continue following the unjust rules set up in society. What was the reaction from some – to say that He had lost His mind! His own family were trying to diffuse the situation by saying Jesus had lost the plot somewhere along the line!

But it was the leaders who were inciting more unrest by saying things which could not be true just so they could take Jesus away; they could if He would be seen as breaking the law. The leaders had built up their own rules to uphold their own societies and nobody was allowed to say otherwise. But when Jesus came along and started to tell people the truth about what was going on, the leaders objected because it would show them up in the light of truth.

But one thing which could never be true was that Jesus was using the ways of the devil, and yet, the leaders wanted others to believe that. If we want to see the kingdom of Christ be enlarged, then the only things we can use are Jesus’ ways and not any unjust ways. Injustice cannot drive out the unjust and injustice cannot uphold the law; the truth has to be seen and the truth has to come out so people can forgive and move on.

Points to Ponder:
Do you get worked up about the way some people uphold lies?

Are you willing to stand up and uphold the truth as Jesus did?