Articles

Led by God’s good spirit

Once for all, Jesus offered himself, and there came, negatively, the forgiveness of sins, and positively, the new covenant, the new and permanent union of life and love with God. Once and for all, never to be repeated.
It is strange and really sounds like ill will when the Scribes ascribe the good that Jesus does, especially that he drives out demons, to the power of Satan, the prince of demons. Should they not have recognized that God’s Spirit was working in Jesus? In messianic times, the Jews expected the Spirit of God to overcome the spirits of evil, and in Jesus, the good Spirit was visibly active. We too have to make our option between God’s Spirit and the spirits of evil that make us sin. If we hear the word of God and act accordingly, we let God’s Spirit overcome evil in and around us.

Reading: Hebrews 9:15,24-28

Through the Spirit, Christ offered himself as an unblemished sacrifice, freeing us from all those dead-end efforts to make ourselves respectable, so that we can live all out for God.
It also accounts for why, when the real thing takes place, these animal sacrifices aren’t needed anymore, having served their purpose. For Christ didn’t enter the earthly version of the Holy Place; he entered the Place Itself, and offered himself to God as the sacrifice for our sins. He doesn’t do this every year as the high priests did under the old plan with blood that was not their own; if that had been the case, he would have to sacrifice himself repeatedly throughout the course of history. But instead he sacrificed himself once and for all, summing up all the other sacrifices in this sacrifice of himself, the final solution of sin.
27-28 Everyone has to die once, then face the consequences. Christ’s death was also a one-time event, but it was a sacrifice that took care of sins forever. And so, when he next appears, the outcome for those eager to greet him is, precisely, salvation.

Gospel: Mark 3:22-30

The religion scholars from Jerusalem came down spreading rumors that he was working black magic, using devil tricks to impress them with spiritual power. Jesus confronted their slander with a story: “Does it make sense to send a devil to catch a devil, to use Satan to get rid of Satan? A constantly squabbling family disintegrates. If Satan were fighting Satan, there soon wouldn’t be any Satan left. Do you think it’s possible in broad daylight to enter the house of an awake, able-bodied man, and walk off with his possessions unless you tie him up first? Tie him up, though, and you can clean him out.
“Listen to this carefully. I’m warning you. There’s nothing done or said that can’t be forgiven. But if you persist in your slanders against God’s Holy Spirit, you are repudiating the very One who forgives, sawing off the branch on which you’re sitting, severing by your own perversity all connection with the One who forgives.” He gave this warning because they were accusing him of being in league with Evil.

Prayer

God our Father,
you are the origin of all that is good.
Let our heart not be a house divided
between good and evil.
Send us your good Spirit
to enlighten and guide us,
to give us joy and strength
and to follow your Son wherever he leads us
on the road of goodness and service.
We ask you this in the name of Jesus, the Lord. Amen.

Video available at: bibleclaret.org