The Kingdom
of God can come upon us in a variety of ways.
There’s a line from Luke’s Gospel that comes in the middle of a story of
Jesus casting out a demon from a man who was mute. Jesus said, “But if it is by
the finger of God that I drive out demons, then the Kingdom of God has come
upon you.” Once the demon was cast out, the mute man
began to speak, and all were amazed. And
though some were amazed and grew in faith as a result, others turned their
amazement into irrationality. (Luke 11:14-23)
The irrationality
of some was that they saw what Jesus did, but they didn’t want to accept that
His power was divine. Therefore, some of
them said, “By the power of Beelzebul, the prince of demons, he
drives out demons.”
They couldn’t deny that Jesus drove out a demon, since they saw it happen with
their own eyes. But they were unwilling to accept Jesus’ divinity, so they
jumped to the irrational conclusion that Jesus’ act was done by the power of
“the prince of demons.”
This
irrational stance of some people is one of the most dangerous stances one can
take. It’s the stance of a hardened
heart. They were given the incredible
witness of the power of God at work but refused to respond in faith to what
they witnessed. For those who are
obstinate, when the Kingdom of God comes upon them, as Jesus stated in the
Gospel, the effect is that they react in a violent, angry and irrational
way. This form of reaction is
exceptionally prevalent today in the secular world. Many in the news media, for example,
constantly react violently and irrationally to all that is part of the Kingdom
of God. As a result, the evil one easily misleads many, causing confusion and
chaos.
For those
who have eyes to see clearly, this violent and irrational rejection of the
Kingdom of God is painfully clear. And
for those with faith and an open heart, the pure message of the Gospel is like
water to a dry and parched soul. They
soak it up and find great refreshment.
For them, when the Kingdom of God comes upon them, they’re energized,
inspired and driven with a holy passion to further God’s Kingdom. Irrationality disappears, and God’s pure
Truth prevails.
In my
personal reflection today, I asked myself some tough questions: Am I obstinate
in any way? Are there teachings from
Christ and His Church that I’m tempted to reject? Is there some truth that I need to hear in my
personal life to which I find it difficult to be open? I pray that the Kingdom of God come upon all
of us today and every day and, as it does, that we will be a powerful instrument
of its establishment in this world.
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