Then Jesus said to him sharply, “Be silent and leave this man!” The evil spirit then threw the man down in front of them, and came out of him without doing him harm.
Amazement seized all these people, and they said to one another, “What does this mean? He commands the evil spirits with authority and power.
He orders, and you see how they come out!” And news about Jesus spread throughout the surrounding area.
REFLECTION:
St. Thomas Aquinas writes that to beat an enemy, one has to know him. To overcome demons, one has to identify them. Oftentimes, however,
we stop at just knowing the works of the devil, not try to beat him. We are loaded every day with information about acts of terror.
There are massacres of innocent students in broad daylight. We hear of men, women, and children stacked in boats by human traffickers.
There are drug syndicates preying on poor and desperate drug users. There is wanton destruction of our environment. After watching these information on television,
we switch off and have a good sleep. We have become accustomed to sleeping with the enemy as long as he does not directly attack us.
We cannot singularly beat the devil as Jesus did. It takes a Church or concerted vigilance and effort to drive the devil away.
© Copyright Bible Diary 2020