Gospel: Luke 11:15-26

 

Today's Gospel speaks about a long discussion around the expulsion of a mute demon which Jesus had performed.

 

Before this very visible fact, in front of everyone, there were three different reactions. People were surprised, astonished and applauded. Others said: "it is in the name of Beelzebul ". The Gospel of Mark tells us that it was a question of the Scribes who had gone to Jerusalem to control the activity of Jesus. Others still asked for a sign from heaven because they were not convinced.

 

Jesus uses two arguments to confront the accusation of casting out the devil in the name of Beelzebul. In the first place, if the devil casts out the devil himself, he divides himself and will not survive. In the second place, Jesus gives them back their argument: If I cast out the demons in name of Beelzebul, your disciples cast them out in whose name? 

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Here Jesus leads us to the central point of his argument: "When a strong man, fully armed…”. According to the opinion of the people of that time, Satan dominated the world through the demons. The great novelty was the fact that Jesus succeeded to cast out the demons. This was a sign that He was and is the strongest man who has come. With the coming of Jesus the kingdom of Beelzebul was declining. 

 

When the magicians of Pharaoh saw that Moses did things that they were not capable of doing, they were more honest than the Scribes before Jesus and they said: "Here is the finger of God!".