Reflection on Lk.11:15-26
Jesus met almost every kind of resistance during His ministry. In any generation, what He had done would have been met with so much appreciation and awe. But it is understandable that the Jewish community where Jesus walked and lived was being threatened of their belief and leadership. Add to this the difficulty of a God becoming human! Therefore, it is but normal that they would cast every doubt they could muster against Him.
The incident in the Gospel today is one of the worst attacks against Him. He drove out a mute demon from a person. Instead of being praised for what He had done, they accused Him of having done it by the very power of Beelzebul, the prince o demons! They are really desperate in discrediting Jesus. Jesus could not believe it. But He knew well this desperation against Him that even the most evil reason would be thrown at Him. In response, He turned the table against them by asking them "by whom do your own people drive them out?" If they believe that only Beelzebul is capable of doing what Jesus did, then it follows, that their own people are also able to do it because of Beelzebul?
It was a clear case of rejection of Jesus no matter what. Whatever Jesus did, they will always have a reason even if the reason is twisted or forced. Jesus was just unwanted and unwelcome, plain and simple. He was a threat to their leadership and He was already becoming very popular, too popular for their comfort.
Jesus took advantage of the situation to proclaim the Good News to them. He challenged them that they may think what they want of Him but He would hold them responsible if it was not true that He was driving our demons by the power of Beelzebul but by the "finger of God"! Jesus used this figure of speech to send the message that He was acting by the power of God. A "finger" may represent part or whole of a human being. But in this case, it represents the whole of God's power! The people were given by Jesus a choice; to hang on to their accusation which they know is a lie or to finally accept Him because He comes by God's power and authority.
Maybe, so many times, we are confused by the things happening around us. True, it is not anymore easy who are telling lies. It is not easy anymore who is doing what. It is not that clear anymore what is real and what are deceptions. Externalities can never be the sole criteria for judgements. There was a time when anyone who wears a Filipino barong is regarded as a respectable man. Now, even criminals wear it while doing their crimes. Bare-headed males used to be seen as bad people because of their similarity with convicts for electrocution. But now, it is ,in fact, a fad among the rich and famous. Bare-headed now is cool! Advertisements use a lot of deceptions. If you are not careful, you maybe had by their come ons! There is a need to discern. We must take time and reflect about things that are put before us. St. Paul has a good advice on this. He tells us that we must look at the fruits. If the fruits are good, then it must have come from the good Spirit. Even in evaluating who to believe, we must not only consider their looks and reputation but more importantly, their lives (family, work, friends, etc) and achievements.
Let us avoid the mistakes of the people in Jesus' time. Because of their strong biased against Jesus and their inability to discern who Jesus really was, they forfeited the opportunity to welcome Jesus and be the chosen people that they were. The salvation that would have been theirs, slipped pass their hands.
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